[23rd December]
"I'll see y'all in school. Don't tell anyone about this," Jay warned as we approached the gates of his mansion. Fearing for our lives, we decided to walk each other home. We even pitched in to pay the taxi fares for the last person going home. We were hoping to see everyone in one piece tomorrow.
We anticipated for Jay to enter but he halted when he was a step away. Was he okay? I watched as he took a deep breath and his shoulders descended before he jogged over to me. I was taken by surprise when he held onto my cheeks and planted a gentle kiss on my forehead.
My cheeks glowed red as I stared up at him. "Stay safe, alright? You got to be in one piece so we can go on a second date," he whispered, disregarding the two gagging boys behind us. I slowly nodded.
"I will,"
After we waved him off, the three of us continued down the road to our next destination-Ethel's home. We walked side by side in quietness, still shaken by what we have seen. At least we didn't get our hands bloody.
The street was deserted and calm, only the sound of snow falling and wind whistling in the chilly night.
"Well, this is my stop," Ethel awkwardly broke the silence, pointing to the house on our left. Ethan's eyes grew.
"Isn't that-"
"Bye, Ethel! See you in school tomorrow!" I screeched over Ethan's voice before narrowing my eyes at the eldest. After Ethel had secured the door behind him, Ethan started going off.
"I-isn't that Dylan's house!? Do they live together? What!?" I struck a hand over his mouth to end his rant.
"Ethel and Dylan are cousins," I stated, causing his brows to knit together.
"Hm?" his voice was muffled. I released my hand with a sigh.
"I thought y'all knew,"
"Well, apparently not." Ethan pouted, not appreciating the fact there were secrets kept from him.
"Dylan probably has his reasons." I wrapped an arm around Ethan's shoulders to calm the boy.
"Pfft, what kind of reasons..." he mumbled, crossing his arms. He attempted to swing my arm off but with no effort whatsoever.
"Not fair that he told you though," Ethan struck me with judging eyes.
"You did say I was his most trusted friend." I hummed in entertainment.
"Ooh! You wanna build a snowman?" Ethan's face lit up.
"It's literally one in the morning."
"Come on, it'll be fun! Moreover, we'll be having classes all day in a few hours! Let's shake off some steam!" his grin was broad as he bounced over to a pile of snow ahead of us.
"Okay fine!" not gonna lie, I had wanted to build a snowman ever since it began snowing.
"I wish we had a carrot," Ethan suddenly uttered. He was shaping the snow with his bare hands. They were turning bright red.
"God, you're going to fall ill tomorrow!" I clicked my tongue at him. But then again, I was doing the same.
"We should make one in their front yard!" I pointed to the cousins' house. Ethan immediately agreed to the idea, saying it would be a brilliant surprise.
It was actually so much pleasure, even though the soft snow kept falling apart in our hands. We were quivering, but we got the job fulfilled in thirty minutes. The both of us took a couple of steps back to get a complete view of our masterpiece. "We did a pretty good job, don't you think?" Ethan asked, a contented smile on his face.
"Hm, it's missing colors," I hummed and rubbed my chin in thought. Suddenly, I got the idea to encase my scarf around the snowman.
"You're the one who is going to be sick tomorrow!" Ethan laughed wholeheartedly when I removed my shawl to fasten it around the snowman's head securely.
"See? It looks better already!" I retreated to Ethan's side, rubbing my nose that was beginning to get a little runny.
Purple and white went well together.
"Let's go before we get caught messing around!" the both of us giggled and decided to sprint to my house. We felt so carefree as we chased and shoved each other around on the snowy pavement. Street lamps lit up the path for us. For that moment, we pretended as if we didn't have a care in the world. For that moment,
I acted as if I was Johnny.
"Right, I'll see you tomorrow! If you make it out alive." I joked, turning around to the door. I watched Ethan get into the taxi outside my front yard before shutting the door before me. I removed my coat and shoes before hiking up the stairs in complete darkness.
It was rather strange to not have my parents call to verify when I would return, like Ethel. Was Johnny always out this late?
Silently, I closed the door to my room, loosening my uniform tie as I trudged to my bed. I fell onto the thick mattress with a thud, worn out from the late-night snowman making with Ethan. A smile crept up my face as I recalled the memories. It was blissful.
I felt for my phone and swiped through the pictures Ethan and I had taken together. Our smiles were so gleeful as we posed with the snowman. It was amusing to reminisce.
I had perched my phone into the snow-filled pavement, set a five seconds timer before speeding to Ethan and the snowman. I swiped a little further and a video preview was displayed on the screen.
I rapidly sat up straight and hit on the play button. The video was a tad bit shaky but I could roughly make out what was happening. It was terrifying. I paused the video halfway before casting the device onto my nightstand.
It all made perfect sense now; how no one at the park testified to the deaths nor discovered the murderer. The guards were killing the victims themselves!
I recollected how they also mentioned something about their foreman. Who was their boss? If my guesses were true, they might be accountable for Ethan's death on his birthday.
What was their relationship with Ethan then?
Ethan didn't look like the type to involve himself in shady businesses but who was I to judge? I've only been here for about a week.
-
"You should've changed out of your uniform," the lady's voice was laced with repugnance as she lectured. I groaned, lifting myself from the bed. I glanced around the room in disarray. My eyes locked with the crimson lady's as she perched herself on the loveseat across me. I groaned in consciousness and threw myself back down with a thud.
"I want to see Johnny!" I flung my arms around before allowing them to land on the ruffled sheets.
"I have important matters to inform you. After this, you'll get to meet Johnny." at that, I perked up.
"Okay, what is it?"
"It's about after the day of your death," she started, squishing her cigarette bud on the cigarette receptacle by her. Where did her pipe go?
"When the clock strikes twelve on that day, Johnny will return and you will have to make your choice." I hummed.
"If Ethan does survive, can I go into his body immediately after that?" I did a diving motion to illustrate.
"It will be determined by how well you've accomplished your task, Ethan," the lady stated.
"Oh," I rubbed my chin in thought.
"Then where will this world's Ethan go? His soul, I mean." I asked her.
"Your souls will combine and you will be one." I hesitantly nodded. I wasn't really sure what that meant.
"What…what happens if Ethan dies?" I held my breath.
"Well, it depends whether you've found the murderer or not,"
"What if I didn't?" the crimson lady simply smiled at me.
"I'm sure you will," she assured.
My lips thinned and I glanced away. The curtains next to me flowed with the wind. It was so peaceful, unlike the atmosphere in the room.
The lady sighed heavily, making me turn to her. "You're still with him." there she went again.
"Sorry but I don't see it as a dilemma, and I'm making it up to Johnny for wrecking his confession plans." she arched a brow.
"Confession plans?"
"He was going to profess when I showed up." she hummed apologetically. It was also partially her doing.
"Talk about wrong timing," the lady chuckled before leaving her seat to reach for the doorknob.
"Where are you going?" I watched as she opened the door to nothing. It was completely white on the other side.
"You have school tomorrow, kid. Get some rest." I snickered and she raised a brow in puzzlement.
"Aww, is crimson lady being nice for once?" her eye twitched in agitation.
"Excuse me? I'm always nice! And I have a name," she rolled her eyes.
"Well, what's your name? I'm kind of bored of addressing you the crimson lady." I yawned, adjusting my head on the pillow as I awaited her response.
"It's Lilith."