Always Something There to Remind Me (A Black Lightning Jen X Khalil Fanfic)

Chapter Thirty-One - Rain Turns into Tears

Chapter Thirty-One - Rain Turns into Tears

Jen’s POV

Sunday morning.

Jen stared up at the ceiling of her dorm room, lost in her thoughts. The past few days had flown by in a blur of names, faces, all mired in the sadness and loneliness that sat heavily on Jen’s spirit.

After sitting with her for about half an hour, Khalil had left Jen to her vigil. Suddenly, the dark, element exposed space had felt very lonesome without his comforting presence, making Jen wish she’d accepted his offer to walk her back to the residence hall. But no, she had to be stubborn and refuse in order to be alone with her thoughts, anger, remorse and numbing guilt swelling through her body till she felt she couldn’t breathe. She wasn’t one for pity parties, but lately it seemed she couldn’t help herself. Keeping herself busy was the only thing she could think of doing, and her first task would be to avenge Angie.

Maya was going down at Jen’s hands, and there was no stopping her. It was all Jen could think of to ease the guilt that seeped through her, especially since she wasn’t even able to pay her final respects to Angie, because her family had moved so fast with the arrangements.

Twisting the slim silver coated ring around her index finger, Jen tried to piece together the quick succession of events that had happened after she went up to the observation deck on Thursday night after finding out about Angie’s death.

Friday had dawned with a miserable patter of light rain. Jen had dragged a despondent Quinn to the canteen for some breakfast which both of them barely picked at. Since it was the first week of the semester, there were no classes on Friday, which worked fine for Jen because she was in no state to go to class and pretend to pay attention as her mind scrolled through memories of Angie. Quinn curled up next to Jen under the covers, sniffling.

“It still doesn’t seem real to me,” she muttered, her voice husky from tears. “I keep thinking she’ll barge in, saying we’re all going for mimosas or something. Then I remember that she’s gone.”

Quinn was unconsciously echoing the thoughts that had been circling Jen’s mind restlessly ever since she heard the news. Could it be a mix-up? Maybe they would be called in to identify the body and discover that it wasn’t Angie after all, but a lookalike. The AVPD might have made a mistake, which wasn’t shocking considering the type of officers on their payroll. Sure, Lieutenant Carmichael had mentioned dental records, but how could they have contacted her dentist so fast to identify Angie?

Nodding, Jen was just about to reply when there was a knock on the door. Wide-eyed, she stared at Quinn, who had a confused yet spacey look clouding her delicate features. Making a mental note to check Quinn’s hospital bag to see exactly what meds she had been prescribed at the hospital, Jen pushed to her feet and walked slowly to the door as a second knock came. Her heart was beating rapidly with trepidation.

The last time someone had knocked at the door, it had plunged Jen headfirst into the nightmare she was living now. Who could blame her for feeling anxious as she opened the door this time?

Her hand shook as she turned the door knob, and her uneasiness grew as the door opened and she found herself staring at someone she had never seen before. The slender young Black woman with curly hair was wearing an all black jumpsuit which looked expensive. Incongruously, she also wore dark-tinted sunglasses, despite the drizzle of rain drumming against the windows.