Chapter 9

𝑪𝒉𝒂𝒑𝒕𝒆𝒓 𝑵𝒊𝒏𝒆

°. ⋆༺♱༻⋆. °

I knocked on her door at exactly 8:58pm.

This time, a woman opened it. I assumed it was her mother. She was in her mid-fifties, with her hair cut in an elegant bob and dressed refinedly in pearls and sequins.

She batted her eyelashes at me in confusion. “Can I help you, dear?”

“Yes, ma’am. I am here to see Jennifer.” I put on the most polite smile I could muster.

Jennifer’s mother smiled tightly, as if she was not used to her daughter having any visitors.

“Of course, dear. Come on in,” she opened the door widely and I walked in.

The house looked just as I remembered it, only now it was warmer, brighter.

“Jennifer is upstairs, in her room. I am sure she is waiting for you.” Her tone was kind but it was clear she did not believe what she was saying. When I turned around and walked up the stairs, I could have sworn I felt her incredulous gaze burning into my back.

I arrived at Jennifer’s room and I knocked on the door twice. I could hear music. I recognised the band. Low Shoulder. They had had a concert here last autumn, and the bar had burned down. It sent chills down my spine. I wonder if Jennifer knew.

If she had been at the bar that disastrous night.

After what felt like aeons, Jennifer opened the door. She was dressed in a plain white shirt and pink leggings. She smiled widely when she saw me.

“Lils! Come on in. Make yourself at home,” she sat on her bed, her eyes glinting mischievously as though she was reminiscing about our kiss on that very same bed.

I sat down next to her. She turned off the music. “Low Shoulder, huh?” I asked curiously, “did not peg you for a fan. Were you at their concert last year?”

Jennifer’s smile faded at that. “Yes,” she smiled rigidly, just as her mother had, “As a matter of fact, I was. Needy was there, too.”

“Oh, gosh, Jen,” I paled, “why did you never mention it?”

She scoffed. “Because it’s stupid. Don’t ruin what can be a very lovely night, Lils. I intend for you to sleep over for real this time.”

“And I would love that.” The words escaped my lips before I could help it. I realised that I was not lying. I genuinely craved Jennifer’s company and I wanted to stay in her cozy bed as long as I could. “But I need to know if you are okay. After the fire at the concert, and after falling off my bed and hitting your head.”

“I am fine, Lils. Really. Look.” She reached for a pair of scissors on her nightstand. Damn, this girl never failed to catch me off guard.

With a start, I realised that she was about to bring the scissors on her pale skin. “Jen, no-“

Jennifer simply giggled, as if she knew something I didn’t. She sliced through her wrist with the scissors. I yelped as I saw the blood trickling down her arm.

However, Jennifer did not wince. She did not flinch, she did not even grimace. She just looked at the wound as if she was patiently waiting for a magic trick to occur.

And it did.

Well, sort of.

But something magical happened. The wound healed, the blood seemingly being absorbed. Jennifer licked the blood off the scissors —yikes— and she tossed them aside. She smirked widely at me, giggling impishly.

“Jen… How did you…?” I could not believe my eyes. I rubbed them and blinked. Still, Jennifer’s wrist was perfectly healed.

“Don’t be shocked, Lils,” Jennifer tucked my hair behind my ears and leaned it, her lips hovering over mine. “I never want to scare you,” I could see the sincerity in her eyes, “I just want to be honest with me, like you asked me to. You deserve as much.”

“So then… How… What… How did you just do that?”

Jennifer chuckled. “You asked about the concert last year.”

At first, I felt frustrated, thinking that this was just another one of her riddles, her dodging a question. But I could tell from the seriousness in her eyes that what she was about to say was something that I needed to listen to.

“Needy and I survived the fire, unscathed. The reason why we went, or, rather, why I made her come with me was because I was smitten with the band’s leader, Nikolai Wolf. He and his friends set the fire.”

“They did?” I gasped, “and no one ever found out?”

Jennifer smiled melancholically. “Oh, Lilith. These are men we are talking about. Rich, famous men that everyone is in love with. Do you seriously think they couldn’t get away with it? They did. It made them more famous, actually. People sympathised with me, heroised them, even. But I knew them for the monsters that they were.” She said this bitterly, as if she had encountered them again after the fire.

“Jen… You are talking about the fire, right?”

She seemed distracted. “Oh, the fire, sure,” she said it as if she had already forgotten about an event that had killed people, that she was almost killed by, too. “No, Lil. They were real monsters. Satan’s servants.”

“Satan’s servants?” I asked disbelievingly, “metaphorically speaking, right?”

“No, Lilith, don’t you understand?!” Jennifer snapped, “they are evil! They did this to me!”

“Jen… what did they do to you?”

“They took me in their van! When I was vulnerable and helpless. They dragged me into the woods and they… they…” Jennifer’s voice cracked.

I feared the worst. “What did they do, Jennifer?”

“They killed me.”