I would have laughed hysterically if it wasn’t for who walked in beside Nancy.
Jill Forester.
No one spoke. Everyone was unsure how to react.
Including Jill.
She just stood there with a mixture of uncomfortable defensiveness.
“Yes?” I couldn’t seem to stop the attitude from my voice. Old habits die hard, and I was still trying to calm myself from the previous tension so I took it out on Jill.
“Forget it,” she mumbled and turned to leave.
Nancy was going to let her go, but Bill gently touched Jill’s arm to stop her.
Jill looked up at him with a kind of insecurity I almost found heartbreaking simply because I could relate to it. I used to look at Ryan like that before I knew he liked me. I tried to read Bill’s face to see if he returned the affection, but he was a brick wall.
Bill’s tone was comforting and kind, as he said, “Jill, what is it?”
Jill turned away from him and her eyes met mine. There was still some hostility there, but there was also something a lot more prominent: fear.
“After yesterday… “ Jill began with trepidation. It must have been quite intimidating with seven people you barely knew and quite frankly hated up until…(well still probably hated), staring at you. “I started thinking about… my dad.”
Everyone was silent during her pause so she could gather herself together. No one wanted to say or do anything that would either make her angry or, well... make her cry.
Jill took a deep breath. “If he was killed like you said, then there had to be a reason for it.” Jill pulled out a holo-chip (which was a small circular device that records footage and information).
Jason’s eyes immediately lit up. And it was in that moment that I realized how alike Jason and Jill looked. Their black hair and green eyes could have made them brother and sister. I wondered how I never noticed it before. Weird. I noticed that Nancy was making the same connection I had, but I could tell she thought it made them a good-looking couple instead. I just hoped Nancy’s temper wasn’t going to boil over.
“I remembered the last day I saw my dad… alive. He gave me a locket and told me it was a family heirloom. About a year ago I found the exact same necklace in the Tiffany’s holo-logue, but I just figured he had bought it for me and didn’t want me to know how much he paid. I know you probably won’t believe this, but my family, especially my dad, was very humble and didn’t want me to ever brag about how much money we had.”
“Ha!” Nancy couldn’t help herself. We’re talking a lot of years of Jill rubbing her riches and power in all of our faces and to hear that her dad tried to teach her how to behave the exact opposite was a little hard to take.
Jill immediately crossed her arms defensively. “I don’t have to tell you anything, so be quiet, Nancy!”
“You’re giving me orders in my house?!” Nancy’s fists were actually starting to clench so I stepped in.
“Nancy, just let Jill finish.” I gave her the look. The look that only best friends can give each other. It’s the, “I’m with ya, but this is important” look.
Nancy nodded, but didn’t look happy.
I looked over at Bill and nodded him toward Jill. Bill immediately took the cue and placed his hand on her arm supportively.
I shouldn’t say I was surprised at the way Jill leaned into him. I knew that she’d had a crush on Bill for as long as anyone could remember. But what did take me aback was how much Bill actually seemed to enjoy it. I wouldn’t really describe my emotion as jealous, but I admit it did make me feel a little betrayed. It’s not like I wanted Bill for myself, but… well… I didn’t really want him with Jill. As much as she was trying to be helpful, I still harbored a ton of resentment for her. She had made my life torture since I’d known her and two months of exile from her throne of power just wasn’t enough punishment for all the pain she caused most humans.
“Anyway. It got me thinking and I broke open the locket and found this.” She handed the holo-chip over to Jason’s greedy hands.
“Do you know what’s on it?” Jason asked completely oblivious to the tension between Jill and everyone else in the room. Who was I kidding? Jason probably did notice, but when it came to juicy news, he just didn’t care.
“It was encrypted. I thought maybe you guys would be able to crack it.” Jill leaned in closer to Bill and he didn’t push her away.
Lame.
But still…
“Thanks, Jill. I know how hard it must have been to come over here,” I managed to say. As much as I despised the girl in the past, it really did take a lot in coming over to your worst enemy’s abode and handing over the reason behind your father’s death.
“Yeah, well… anyway, I should go.” Jill pulled away from Bill and reached for the exit door. “You’ll let me know what’s on it,” she said it as a statement rather than a question.
“Of course.” Jason pushed past her with a grin, out the door and most likely headed for George’s holo-computer to try to de-code the chip.
“He’s charming,” Jill said sarcastically and opened the door herself.
“He’s also the one who’s going to find out why your dad was killed, so a little more gratitude, thank you very much!” Nancy was full of piss and vinegar again. And besides, in Nancy’s book no one could mess with Jason except her.
Jill stopped in the doorway and instead of anger, she turned to Nancy, her eyes starting to tear up. “You’re right. I’m sorry. Just call me when you find something.”
Jill was through the door before she went into full “bawl” mode. Vianne gave Nancy a look that instantly made her cringe with guilt. “Go after her, you little brat.” Vianne nudged Nancy forward.
Nancy sighed and followed after Jill.
“I’m going, too,” I said, but when Bill and Ryan moved to come with me, I put my hand out to stop them. “This is a girl thing.”
I left the kitchen and wondered why I’d said that. It wasn’t really a girl thing, I just didn’t want to see Bill comforting Jill. What’s my problem? I really didn’t want Bill to have feelings for Jill. I was such a jerk! He deserved to be happy. But with Jill? I wasn’t ready for that.
And another reason I didn’t want them to come was because after Ryan and Bill’s confrontation I wanted them to be stuck with each other for a little while. Maybe come to some sort of happy ground again. Was I delusional these last couple of months when I thought they were becoming close? No. They’d probably be best friends if it weren’t for me. My fault again, what a shock.
I caught up to Jill and Nancy near the front door in the foyer.
Jill was wiping away fresh tears and Nancy was awkwardly standing in front of her. “Look, Jill, we have a lot of history. Bad history. I’m really sorry.” Nancy sounded genuine.
“Don’t apologize. I get it. I should just go.” Jill tried to make it to the front door, but I grabbed her by the arm.
“Jill, stop. You shouldn’t drive home like this. You could get into an accident,” I said before I knew what was coming out of my mouth. Was I actually asking Jill to stay? With us? In the same house? For more than five minutes? The lack of sleep from Elisha tromping in my brain must be frying my synapses.
Jill was like waterworks now. What did I say?
Jill turned to me almost angrily, “Why are you always so nice?! It’s infuriating!”
It was such a strange accusation, Nancy and I actually laughed. After a second or two Jill started to smile through her tears.
“You think I’m nuts,” Jill said, but there was no anger behind it.
“A little. But I also think you’ve been hurting for a very long time, and that would make anyone crazy,” I said trying to break her out of her downward spiral. “Why don’t you stay here with Nancy’s parents and Jason for a while. Get yourself together and maybe Jason will be able to figure out what’s on that holo-chip,” I suggested.
“Where are you guys going?” Jill wiped her face clean.
“Somewhere that isn’t safe. But we won’t be long,” I said, hoping she’d drop it. Yeah right.
“What do you mean it isn’t safe?” Jill was curious now.
Great.
“I mean: you should stay here. None of us really wants to go, but we have to,” I said very clearly. I really didn’t want Jill near me when going to Brady’s. It was going to be hard enough as it was.
“Can I come?” Jill asked as if she didn’t hear a word I just said.
“No, Jill. I’m serious, it’s too dangerous.” I tried to be firm.
“Is it something to do with Vice President Turner? Chelsan, he killed my dad, I want to know everything. Please.” Jill’s eyes were desperate. She was looking for answers I couldn’t give her. I was tempted to tell her Turner was my grandfather, but I was still unsure how she’d take it. Our relationship was about as fragile as you could get and anything could send her over the top.
Nancy turned to me. “Maybe she should see first-hand what he did to you.” She had a defiant kind of gleam in her eye, almost like she was proud at how I escaped Brady and wanted to brag to Jill about it.
“Take me with you. Please,” Jill said and her voice was quavering.
Why was I such a softy? I used to think this girl was evil and now I actually felt sorry for her. Maybe it would be a good idea for her to see Brady’s. To see how insane Gramps really was and show her what I had gone through on top of the way she treated me at school. Seriously, serial killer.
“Okay, but no crap from you. I’m not kidding.” I wanted to make it clear.
Jill nodded, her green eyes determined. “I promise.”
Bill and Ryan had come up behind us without me noticing. Ryan wrapped his arms around me from behind and leaned down to rest his chin on my shoulder. “Let’s go.”
“Shotgun.” Nancy claimed not giving Jill any special privileges, which meant Jill was going to be in the back with Ryan and myself.
Why did I agree to this again?
George and Vianne saw us off and we were in the air before we knew it.
I sat in the middle and leaned in close to Ryan on my left. Jill sat on my right and stared out the window, not saying a word. I tried not to stare out the window myself as we flew closer and closer to our destination. The trees were the only way to tell we were headed to the poorer parts of town. The richer the neighborhood, the more expensive the trees. Bill’s, being the richest, was full of perfectly coifed bonsais and cherry blossoms while Nancy’s upper middle class was pine. Brady’s neighborhood was lower middle class, which mainly consisted of bamboo trees. The lowest of the low was where I grew up. We hardly had any trees, just fields and fields of wild flowers. I felt a pang of emotion at the thought. It wasn’t that long ago that I’d sit under my favorite willow tree amongst the flowers and just chill. It wasn’t that long ago that my mother was still alive. It wasn’t that long ago that I was locked in Brady’s basement with only dead roaches to save me…
I shuddered despite myself. The memories were fresher than I’d like and as we approached our destination my fear was starting to grow.
It was then that I noticed Jill staring at me. “Where exactly are we going?” she asked. “You look petrified.”
“I can open that door and let you off here if you don’t keep your mouth shut.” Ryan apparently didn’t like Jill’s accusation.
“Calm down, Ryan,” Bill defended Jill. Her face lit up and I couldn’t be mad at Bill, I just didn’t want Ryan to argue back.
I squeezed Ryan’s hand to let him know I was okay and to ignore Bill. I looked back at Jill. “I am petrified.”
“That story about the serial killer. That was true, wasn’t it? That’s where we’re going.” Jill didn’t react to Ryan’s threat she was so pleased with Bill defending her. She actually seemed upset. For me. It was very surreal.
“Yeah. Turner hired him to kill me,” I answered quietly.
“What an a-hole,” Jill said in a near whisper and went back to staring out the window.
I smiled briefly. Quite honestly it was the nicest thing Jill had ever said to me.
Bill landed in front of Brady’s house.
“You need a sec?” Ryan asked me gently. “You can wait in the car.”
“No. I need to tell you which room,” I said and practically crawled over him to get out of the car.
Ryan got the hint and exited quickly so he could help me the rest of the way out.
And there it was.
My former prison.
My former nightmare.
Scratch that. My recurring nightmare.
I never really saw it from the front before. Brady had knocked me out to bring me here. And when I escaped, I ran out through the back.
It was a simple house, white with brown trim, a wrap around porch and a solid black door. The grass was as fresh as ever from the automatic sprinklers, but it was like a jungle of green since no one had cut it since Brady’s arrest. The holo-line surrounding the house, flashed the words, “Do Not Enter! Crime Scene!”
“Won’t that set off an alarm if we cross it?” Jill asked. She was taking this all in and I could tell she was making an effort not to be too intrusive.
“I got it,” Ryan answered as he made his way to a small rectangular floating device that was the source of the holo-line. It took him a few minutes of tinkering, but in the end the holo-line shut off and no alarms were sounded. “Let’s get this over with.”
Bill went to his trunk and pulled out what looked like a metal laser gun. George had given it to us so we could cut off a piece of the metal to bring home.
“Are you sure you know how to use that?” Nancy asked Bill.
“We’ll find out.” Bill shrugged and led the group inside.
I was the last to enter, with Ryan leading me by the hand.
The smell made me gasp for air. I hadn’t even thought about it when I was making my escape, but now that I was back just the smell of the place rocked my insides. It wasn’t even abnormal, just a little musty, but it brought me back to that week of my life. I had never been so scared. So alone.
Everything was how I left it: the smashed chair, the round wooden table and the orderly sparse furniture that made up Brady’s home. Only the bodies were gone. Brady’s victims. That I used to attack him…
“Behind that door. The metal walls,” I said, nodding to the door that was almost off its hinges from the amount of times Brady and I fought to keep it open and shut.
Bill was already through the doorway. A moment later I could hear the sound of the laser carving its way through the metal.
Why did I come here?
I could have easily told them where the room was.
It wasn’t exactly brain surgery.
I guess I thought that if I came back maybe I could finally be done with this fear.
Sometimes I found it almost funny how, out of everything that had happened to me, this experience terrified me the most. Even over everything Turner put me through, from fighting off his dead armies, to almost being executed by him in the Principal’s office, Brady was different. He was born to kill. Born to terrify. I loathed the fact that he had that much power over me.
And Brady wasn’t even alive anymore.
But the real fear came from knowing that there were others like him. Others that Turner sanctioned to “control” the population. What if Gramps sent another one of these monsters after me again? What if he surrounded me with this metal and I couldn’t use my gift to save myself the next time?
I felt naked and helpless.
I turned to see Jill looking at me with more sympathy than I ever thought her capable of. I knew in that moment that she got it. Even just seeing the remnants of the aftermath was enough for her. And there was more to her expression than just sympathy. There was guilt. Guilt and an overwhelming sense of responsibility. She was speechless, but her eyes were speaking volumes.
“Thanks,” I said and then everything went black.
/> Oh man.
I was in the utter darkness again.
I searched for Elisha, assuming she had gone inside my head once more. It made me furious. Furious at her for her disrespect of my privacy and furious at me for not knowing how to stop her.
“Elisha! Show yourself! This has got to stop! I mean it!” I screamed in the blackness.
“How dare you!”
That wasn’t Elisha.
I whirled around and suddenly I was in a bright grey room facing…
Roberta. My grandmother.
Really?
She was grotesque with her stretched skin and frozen features. Roberta was the quintessential Feline.
And though Roberta’s face could barely make an expression, I could tell she was furious.
“What are you doing here?” I asked feebly, but tried to sound brave. Knowing that my body was vulnerable and stuck in Brady’s house while my mind was facing Roberta made my insides shake.
“You stupid child! How could you help her escape?! How could you?!” Roberta was breathing through her nostrils like an enraged bull.
“She was going to be executed! By you! I’m glad I did it!” I screamed. I may have had my pangs of indecision about helping Elisha, but I wasn’t about to let Roberta know that.
“Trust me, fool, you should have let us kill her. And taking the twins? Congratulations, Granddaughter, you may have successfully ended the entire world.” Roberta’s tone was angry, but more importantly she was dead serious.
How could two brain-dead kids end the world?
I was about to ask this when suddenly Roberta’s face was directly in front of me.
I screamed in spite of myself.
“Let’s see what kind of memories you’ve got for me, and I might just be able to save you from your own idiocy.” Roberta grabbed my head and I felt a sudden pulsing like a migraine in every part of my brain.
I cried out from the pain. “Stop!”
Roberta pulled her hands away, her eyes flared with anger. “Up to even more trouble? A holo-chip, huh? Only Jill can decrypt that chip and only Geoffrey and I know how she can do it,” Roberta smiled wickedly, “Well, Owen could too, but you blew him up now didn’t you?” Her feline eyes narrowed, “But I’m not going to give you and your gang the chance to figure it out. Say good-bye to Jill Forester, sweetheart.” Roberta’s face was frozen and icy, “And don’t let Elisha in your head! She’s after your memories now, you stupid twat!”
The Riser Saga Page 42
