Death and Destruction (Jeff the Killer Fanfic)

34. Clean as a whistle

Kitty

Chelsea was feeling well enough to drive the next morning, the wounds on her body already looking ten times better than the day before. I caught her hugging Nina as I packed the tent into the back of the SUV, whispered words passing between them; I'm sure she was telling Nina she didn't blame her for hiding. Thomas sat up front while I took the middle seat, letting Jules sleep beside me with Nina tucked into my side, snoring the day away. We all felt safer on the road so I'm sure they were taking full advantage of the peace and quiet for the rest of the journey.

"Where should we go first?" Chelsea asked, a question I'd been pondering myself for a while.

"Delilah's," I suggested, glancing to my left, "I want her to look Jules over. Make sure something isn't...wrong."

"Yeah I was thinking about that too," Thomas mumbled, "if Operator brought her back there might be some kind of catch."

"For all we know she could be a proxy in disguise. I'd like to rule it out," I said under my breath, "I'm sure she'll be happy to see us, too."

"What are we going to do about her? The whole world thinks she's dead."

"That's probably the best thing for her right now," I told Tom, "she could start a new life. Away from us."

Chelsea and Thomas glanced back at me with narrowed gazes as we finally crossed state lines into Oregon. I loved Jules, so much so that even having her back was far too dangerous for her in my opinion. Would I have gladly taken her back under any other circumstance? Yes, but with Thomas, Nina, and I all being wanted killers...I just couldn't see forcing her to stay with us.

"I think I know how Jeff felt now, when things first started with he and I," I sniffled to myself as I tried to hold back tears, "when you love someone so much you only want the best for them. I can say I am far, far from the best. She deserves so much more than this life we've been living. What the hell am I gonna do with her?"

There was and unspoken understanding in their voices while they continued to whisper, my own thoughts muddling my mind until we finally reached the end of our journey. The sign for Silver Cove appeared just as Jules stirred, blinking until she focused on the familiar buildings we passed by. My heart slammed against my ribs and my throat squeezed while I remembered the last time we were all here, just a bunch of teenagers trying to make it to graduation.

Chelsea wound through town until we approached the little house tucked into the woods, her truck in the driveway and her lights on indicating that she was home. Jules seemed a little wary but I knew she was happy to be here and not fucking off in some other state in the middle of winter. Thomas pulled his key from his bag and unlocked the door, the smell of sage and cinnamon washing over me and bringing with it a hazy kind of comfort, like I could finally let my guard down.

"Delilah! Delly!" Thomas called out and to our surprise a patchy tabby cat came trotting down the hall, bell jingling with each step before the witch herself emerged from her bedroom.

"Oh, you guys are—!" She brightened up until she saw the familiar stranger, to which her face then paled considerably as she froze. "J-Juliette?"

"Hey Delilah," she laughed from behind me, a wide smile crossing her face before she stepped forward. Delilah took a moment to reach out but she took Jules's hands in her own before she cracked a teary smile.

"Juliette, oh my God but— but how—?"

She glanced back over at us and her eyes landed on me, that mossy green filling with a sadness I'm sure was mirrored in my own irises. She hurriedly moved to wrap her arms around me and the warmth seeped into the cold corners around the edges of my body. When I pulled away she already knew what had happened, I could see it in the tears that washed over her cheeks.