Killer

Chapter 27: Reality Bites Hard

I was awoken by the sound of bells ringing and a girl's humming. At first, I thought it was Christmas morning, and a group of carol singers were approaching our doorstep, asking if they could sing a song to us. It was coming from the front door of my house. Someone was ringing the doorbell from downstairs. I quickly threw on a spare t-shirt I found in my dresser and some pajama pants, heading down the steps to see who it was.

By the time I reached the door, I gasped. It was Rachel Davis. She was still tall and had an elegant posture. Her long, cherry-red hair was straight, and the makeup over her freckled face looked fresh as if she had applied some just minutes ago. She was wearing the same nurse costume from Mila's Halloween party and looked, well, dry.

"Sunny!" She brightly smiled when she saw me and pulled me in for a hug. "How's the living?"

"What the..." I stuttered on my words, blinking so confusedly at her. "Are you okay?"

Her dark green eyes were twinkling. "Why wouldn't I be, girl?" She playfully joked and was being so strangely friendly.

I shook my head. "So, wait. You're alive. You're not dead."

Rachel twirled around in front of me, looking so much happier in a way that made her glow, ignoring what I just said. She gave me a long look, and a nasty rash was starting to form around her slim neck. "I just wanted to stop by to apologize to you. I never knew how much of a vindictive bitch I was when I was alive and free."

"Your...throat..." I pointed it out. Suddenly, a burning hole was expanding at the center.

"Oh, don't mind it," she sweetly said. "I am just dead."

I jerked up in my bed. Cold sweat stained my back as much as before. The early morning sun shined its way through my bedroom window, and I heard soft snoring next to me. I touched my throat to check if it was burning, but my hands were so cold.

Oh my god.

Then it hit me.

Memories from last night came back to me like a solid wave. I was flushed with fear. Rachel was found dead in Mila's pool, and I knew from the looks on everyone's faces that they were just as shocked as I was to see something horrifying like that. It went from being such a good time to an absolute tragedy. Like the blue sky turning into a harsh gray as an unpredictable storm was about to arrive. It was a tough pill to swallow.

I wondered, why? Why did she have to die?

I turned to see Jace sleeping so peacefully. It was perfect to watch him look like an innocent angel until he was mad. I softly sighed as I traced my thumb along his jawline, sniffing the air in my bedroom. It smelled like pure must and a guy's cologne. At first, I thought the scent was coming from Jace, but then I realized it was me. I rolled out of bed and headed to the hallway's bathroom since I didn't smell too great.

I made sure to close the door and lock it, taking off my bride Halloween costume that I still had on from last night until I was completely naked. I stared hard at myself, running my hands from my shoulders down to my firm thighs, tracing soft lines on my skin. I felt like a dirty girl all of a sudden.

Another thing that happened last night was that I almost lost my virginity to Tre. I remembered being in a serious moment with him and letting him roam his hands over me as we deeply kissed. I believed this was the period when Jace was having a smoke break to calm himself down when I fooled around with Tre behind his back, now feeling guilty about the situation. I didn't want to keep this from him and lie any further as I stepped into the shower.

The hot water came on and tensed my body as I softly cried again. On the shelf inside, I grabbed my mango-scented body wash and scrubbed every inch of me until red marks appeared on my skin. I didn't want any trace of Tre's touch or anyone else's on me. I even squirted some into my blonde hair as it stuck on my back and around my face. I wanted to be by myself in the long shower I was having.

Someone knocked on the bathroom door. "Sunny?" I turned off the faucet. It was Jace's voice.

"What?" I asked. I wanted nothing but to be alone right now, and shower times were usually the best for me to gather my thoughts.

"Why didn't you wake me up and ask me to join you in the shower?" He sounded so disappointed. Was he serious?

I stepped out of the shower; my body was dripping wet. "I don't think that's the time for that, Jace."

He knocked again. "Can I come in? I want to see you." I could sense his body up against the door.

"No," I told him, and I yanked a purple towel from its rod, quickly wrapping it around my body.

I wanted to get rid of the bloody white wedding dress I wore to Mila's, along with the awful memories that came with it. Jace was now twisting the doorknob, as it was still locked, so that him or my mom didn't burst in. "Sunny, what's going on with you this morning?" He groaned.

I leaned against the counter and revealed it to him without giving it any thought. "Rachel threw a drink at me before she died and called me a whore."

A part of me wanted to throw something right back at her when she did that to humiliate me once again. I wanted to finally stand up for myself and her evil ways. If I had known the outcome, then I would've guessed things would probably go a lot differently.

"I'm sorry about that, but at least it's over," Jace said from behind the closed door. "You don't have to worry about it anymore."

I bit my lip before saying. "Yeah, but it happened right after we had our little argument," I then asked him, trying to remember all the details from last night. "Where did you go after our fight?"

"I went to my car to smoke for a bit," Jace answered right back. His hand was still holding onto the doorknob, wanting to come in for some reason. I held onto the towel, fearing it would drop and he would see my bare body, even behind a closed door. "Why?"

"Just wondering." I stepped back.

Drake — Yebba's Heartbreak

"Where did you go?" Jace now asked me. My face flushed with so much embarrassment.

I was quiet for the moment, asking myself if I wanted to tell him the truth or not. But I couldn't bring myself to do that as warm droplets of water were falling from my wet hair to my skin. I knew that I would have to eventually tell Jace about what Tre and I were going to do if I had plans to end things with him. I could picture his handsome face looking hurt, probably vowing to never talk to or see me again. Although we were in a new relationship, I still cheated on him with someone he didn't like. I honestly kind of felt like we rushed things super fast. I needed some time to seriously think about this.

"Hello? Sunny?" Jace called.

I shook my head, even though he couldn't see me. "Jace, I think you should go home. I need some space right now."

I heard a defeated sigh from him behind the door, and then footsteps trailing away down the hall. I took a seat on the closed toilet lid, bringing my knees against my chest. I pressed my quivering lips against my wounded scar on my knee, which was healing fast. Thinking so much in the moment.

Last night was a series of moments I didn't ever want to relive again. It was playing different vivid scenes in my mind. Jace was groping me in front of everyone. Rachel's livid face when she saw me and threw a drink. Tre and I were passionately kissing in the bathroom while he tried to take my costume off after I told him what had been bothering me. Then, seeing Rachel's floating body in Mila's pool as the crowd watched. It was so crazy to even believe that this all happened.

I had no clue what was going to happen next.