Double Jinx (Wattys2017)

Chapter 10

It was two minutes to midnight when grandma finally returned home. I had been waiting up for her in the living room, too terrified of that night's events to sleep. Grandma told me Donna was a mess, rightfully so, but what made it all the worse?

They hadn't caught the murderer.

Maybe because I was bandaging his injuries in my living room.

I sat here in solitude now, hoping to spend the entire day hiding in my room from many different things but mainly from this thought I couldn't get out of my mind. Ace has been nothing but incomparably sweet to me during this past week, the same ole Ace that I remembered. But what if he wasn't the same, what if he was the reason Donna's husband was dead?

Ace was surely capable of committing such a crime. He was strong, powerful, built from a childhood that forced him to fight for survival each and every day. I held no doubt that physically he could do it. But mentally, he would never. He knew first hand how deadly someone's fists can be. He wouldn't do to someone else what was done to him for so many years.

Right?

I had to have faith that the man at the center of all my thoughts for ten years isn't a monster like his parents. He became better than them, he grew past their abuse. But if I believed wholeheartedly that Ace wouldn't do something so awful, why was I so uncertain?

It was ridiculous for me not to trust him. He saved my life, probably more than I ever realized. But that was a long time ago. I didn't know who Ace was anymore, and that scared me more than any murder ever could.

My phone buzzed from my pocket and I saw a text from Jason strewn across the screen.

Good morning, today's the day. I just got to finish packing my things. My plane should be arriving around five so I'll see you then. Try to contain your excitement ;)

A smile slipped onto my face. I've been waiting all week to see this text. Finally, Jason would be joining me here in Barren Valley. He would know what to do about all of this: the candles, the murder, Ace ...

Well maybe not the last one, because I still haven't told Jason about Ace yet. For all I knew, maybe Jason already knew that Ace was alive. Maybe he's known this whole time but if he didn't, I wasn't going to break the news to him over phone. It had to be in person. But I wasn't good with words, how would I explain it to him?

I sent a quick text back to Jason expressing my 'uncontainable' excitement.

Then I sent one to Ace, informing him that Jason would be arriving today. I've probably told Ace about it at least fifty times as the days to my brothers arrival counted down. And honestly, Ace is probably just as excited for my brother to get here as I am. I could only hope that our reunion with my brother would go smoothly.

But we don't always get what we want.

It's been four days since Donna's husband was murdered. This was my first Saturday back in Barren Valley and it would be spent with me sitting in my room, waiting for Jason to arrive. At least that's what I originally thought.

Then another message popped up on my screen, this one was from Ace.

Get ready. I'll be there in ten minutes, I want to show you something.

My heart skipped a beat at reading these words. What could he want to show me? And why was I suddenly so nervous? All thoughts of his possible participation in a murder went out the window, besides, this might give me the opportunity to ask him about it. We haven't had a moment alone since Tuesday when we snuck out of gym class.