Freeing Anvi

Chapter Nineteen

The living room is the next place that I find myself, cornered on the couch next to Jackson and facing Delia, who paces in front of the murmuring TV anxiously. She locks her fingers behind her back and mumbles to herself every now and then, the tea in front of her growing cold as she neglects it.

"Delia..." Jackson hesitates. He moves to stand up, then stops himself and sits again. Carefully, his arm goes around my shoulders, as though he's hesitant to touch me now that I know that he and Delia have kept a secret from me.

"Delia, maybe you should sit down," I speak when Jackson can't. His head whips towards me, surprise evident by the saucer-like size of his eyes, but I stand from the couch and help Delia back into the seat that she had gotten out of moments ago. "You've been getting up and down constantly for almost thirty minutes."

"Sorry, sorry." Delia's skin is paler than usual. I've decided that she's got more of a Morticia Addams figure after getting to know her, but today she looks even paler than the Addams matriarch and resembles more so a vampire. "I'm sorry..." she fiddles with the hem of her skirt. 

She's scared, I realize because the face she's making is a face that I recognize all too well. The pursed lips, accentuated worry wrinkles, the pupils that drown in the whites of her eyes, all full of fear. I look at Jackson, who's staring directly at me, his gaze unwavering. Slowly, he pats the couch again.

"I'm sorry," he whispers. "I wanted to tell you - I just found out, but I didn't want to spoil our date..."

I shrug. "It's fine. I'm not angry if that's what you're worried about." The couch squeaks with Delia's weight. "It's not bad, is it?"

"No, at least, I don't think so," Jackson says. He nibbles on his lip, then carefully lifts his steaming mug of coffee to his mouth. "She'll say it eventually..."

"Eventually..." I play with the cuffs of my shirt. The sleeve rides up a bit, exposing the tan lines that I've fought with Hailey to keep hidden for so much of my second year. I touch them lightly, and with the tickling sensation I get, I also receive a memory in my mind like the stab of a knife, which is how I got most of my scars anyway. 

I pull my sleeve down halfway when I notice Jackson looking. He always seems to be looking at me; like I'm the opposing pole of a magnet or something. His gaze makes my cheeks feel hot, and I discard my sleeve. 

"Don't, please." He stops me from hiding my wounds. As gentle as a flower petal, his thumb brushes my temple, up to my elbow, then towards my shoulder. His touch is electric and makes me shiver; the only man to ever make me feel so sensitive in a pleasurable way. 

"Okay. Okay." Delia's voice breaks us from the spell that love has cast upon us. Jackson and I move away from each other slowly and turn to look at Delia, who is once again standing. "I...no, I can't do this." She makes for the door.

"Delia." Jackson stands and stops her by holding her arm. She meets his gaze, and something in the way that he looks at her makes the wrinkles on her face soften. "You know you can't run from this."

"I know. I know!" Delia wrings her wrists. "I...I..."

Jackson and I lean closer to her, even though Jackson already knows Delia's secret, it seems. 

"I know who the killer is!" Delia blurts. Quickly, she covers her mouth. 

For three seconds, the room is silent save for the incessant ticking of the clock that Jackson's just bought. For three seconds, we all look at each other in a triangle of shock. 

But it's only for three seconds. 

"What?!" Jackson bellows, and with the sheer astonishment that glazes over his dark eyes, it's clear to me that this was not something he was evidently aware of. "You know who killed Helene, Hanako, Han-Seok, and Hailey and you didn't say anything?"