Silver Memories

Chapter 9

Once again , you decide not to call the cops. You are unsure of what to say anyways, thinking that 'Well, yeah, this masked guy came in, gave me a spleen as a gift apparently, and then left.' isn’t a proper thing to say for a police report . However, you simply are not able to relax in the following week. You don’t encounter Jack again during this time, which only fuels your paranoia to the point it is showing itself in your behavior , even at work. While Cath is constantly trying to get you to take a few days off , the thought of being alone at home with a strange and most likely crazy guy being after you doesn’t appeal to you in the slightest.

To your surprise, however, the murders have also stopped. While before there have been 3 murders in only 7 days, it now has been over a week and nothing has happened so far. No murders, no organs, no masks, no Jack. You tell yourself that the incidents are unrelated , that Jack isn’t a murderer, that there hasn't been a murderer standing in your room a couple of days ago. You can almost convince yourself that it has been nothing but a dream , if it weren’t for the now burned pillows and bed covers, and their ashes are still waiting for you in the black trash bin outside your home.

But your paranoia doesn't wear off anymore . Since the incident with Jack standing in your room, you haven’t entered your home on your own , waiting at work and pulling overtime until you are sure either Ange or Rachel (or any of the other girls) are already home. And the cash on your bank account is dwindling as you take the safer route, taking either a taxi or the bus back home more often than before.

Markus, just like Cath, is quick to catch onto your growing paranoia as well, approaching you one late night and asking you about what is making you so jumpy. Happy to have someone else to confide in, apart from Jess who doesn’t really work at the estate and isn’t there 24/7, you tell him about having seen Jack around your place and knowing he is following you. You don’t tell him about Jack having been in your room though, or even having contacted you directly, because that, for some reason, sounds like you'd be crazy, and to be honest , you don’t want to be pulled further into this crazy situation anyways. Markus, ever the sweet guy, listens to you and nods as you are explaining your fear. Eventually, he gives you a hug.

"You know, maybe at this point you're just being paranoid. You should relax, I'm sure nothing will go wrong. Even the streets are safe to walk again. And the forests? I've been going home by foot myself the last few days, it's as safe as can be now."

His words strike you as odd, since you have definitely seen him get in his car often the last few days, but you shrug it off. Considering his friend has died and he is in direct contact with the police, he is sure to know more about the situation at hand than you being the paranoid person you are.

When Jess returns a week and a half later, since the appendectomy of her uncle has infected and he has to stay a bit longer at the hospital than initially expected, she asks you if you want to stay at her place, but you refuse . This is becoming ridiculous, you tell yourself. Now that Jack knows that you aren’t the girl he apparently has thought you would be, he surely will stay away from you.

As if to prove your point, as well as to prove Markus's words true, you walk home that night by foot, even going so far as to look the devil in the eye and sticking exceptionally close to the forest, and you congratulate yourself when you get home and not a single thing has happened. Not a rustle, not a squirrel, not a whisper. See, [Name]? You just have been over-reacting. Markus was right.

Of course, Jess knows something had happened anyway, as you are still shooting quick looks over your shoulder every once in a while, not yet able to overcome your paranoia fully. Being her best friend, you recount the entire story and stay at her house for four more days after that, just to convince her you are indeed OK and that nothing and no one is chasing you.