Vile Shade [Book 3] [Jeff the Killer x Reader] [JTK]

Memory 7: Mercy (Day 33)

Last night was uncalled for. I didn't mean to frighten her, but she didn't recognize me at first. When I came to the door, she finally came to her senses, but paranoia is strong in someone who has no one to watch over them. Like a small pet, she needs someone to take care of her.

"I'm sorry about yesterday," she says, sitting in the chair next to the coffee table.

"It's alright," I state. "Anyone would have slammed the door. Not just you."

I sit up on the couch and pull my feet over the side. The cushion my head was previously resting on starts to inflate and shift back to its normal form.

"I meant about asking you to stay here," she mutters.

"It's understandable. I don't mind," I say.

She really is a scared one. She explained yesterday that she was having trouble sleeping in an empty house. Regardless of her knowledge of me or my ties with her family, she asked if I could stay the night and keep watch. She had a feeling that her attacker was near. And being the Good Samaritan I am, I gladly agreed to stay on her living room couch.

"I never got your name," she states.

"Jeff," I reply. "And I know who you are."

She gazes at the wooden flooring and hugs her knees next to the arm rest. The fireplace is running, even at midday, because it's quite chilly this time of year. February is the peak of winter, and houses in this area aren't insulated. As a result, everyone has to gather planks from the forest and wait until they're dry before they stick them in the furnace. Great for global warming.

"I'm sure you're happy that you're okay now," I mumble. "After going through all that..."

"No," she says. "Not at all."

That's interesting. She wishes she was dead? She wishes she could take the place of her parents? Does she think she doesn't deserve the life she has? I can try to put on this act for a while longer, but if she keeps spitting out depressing quotes like that, I'll just have to blow my cover. Unloved vibes tend to attract unloved visitors. Unwanted ones.

"I'm surprised you don't remember me," I yawn.

The sun shines too bright in this room. But it illuminates her face perfectly.

"You said you were only a friend of my parents," she says.

"Yes, but," I start, "we actually knew each other really well. Before the incident."

"Are you saying I have amnesia?"

"No, nothing of the sort."

She's definitely on her toes. Not with suspicion, though. She's curious. She wants to know if she really is missing critical information. I feel bad lying to her, but I want to make a connection. I want to get closer to her and try to understand her. I might as well, given the enormous amount of time I'll be spending with her. And it would be easier if she was more open.

"I think you're choosing to block out memories of us," I push.

She shifts her eyes to stare into mine and a blank expression fixes her face for the millionth time. "Memory loss."

"No, just... If that's what you wanna call it."

A while later, she starts talking about her time in the hospital. Apparently she was treated like a sore thumb by one of the nurses and requested a new one half way through her stay. But by then she was already used to all the nasty visitors and ended up switching back after finding that her new nurse mixed up her medical records with those of a cancer patient. Oh, and she never got to try any of those small chocolates they're supposed to leave on your pillow whenever you aren't in the room for any reason. And that wasn't the worst part eithe-