Urban stories are similar to the lifecycle of a butterfly — it keeps changing and changing, but unlike how beautiful the latter's transformation is, the former just keep getting worse.
Larnswick in Lucien's stories always sounded different. The streets were darker, and the town resembled more to a graveyard. It consisted of men who didn't have shadows and monsters who were nothing but shadows.
In reality, the only scary part of the town was the story of Lucien, how the evil demon would tear off kids' heads if they didn't go to bed at a proper hour. The stories certainly helped the parents get some rest, and having an urban story might be peculiar, but also fun. Anyone would live in a town full of supposed ghosts than a town full of actual ones anyway.
Even now, Mona wasn't sure how Lucien could possibly be here. Obviously, he wasn't a demon nor did he tear off anyone's head, but how could he be real? She mentally made a note that if she ever got out of the situation she was in, the first thing she'd do is to make Lucien sit down and answer all of her questions and answer them properly. But now, she was in a rather tricky situation with possibly dangerous people, so the current problem would be for her to actually stay alive.
There weren't many things Mona kept her eyes on, but she knew the moment Shadows walked in, Lucien had disappeared. For all his talk about best friends, he sure did not hang around to help.
The plan was to improvise if anything went wrong, so she decided on that. It's not like she had other options.
One quick scan said Jerry wasn't with them. Not yet anyway. Maybe he was parking his car or standing outside to take a smoke, but all she noticed was his absence and she clung on to it like it was her lifeline.
"Hi! You must be Jerry's friends," Mona tried to sound pleasant. She did not want to look even more suspicious than she did that second. "Where is he?"
"He's outside, who are you?" The man in the front asked, taking a step forwards.
Lie, clench your teeth, and lie.
"This is awkward," Mona laughed nervously. "I'm his ex, I was in the neighborhood after watching a movie with my friend and stopped by to pick up my stuff."
"In the middle of the night?"
"I live on the other part of the town, and I didn't want to travel this far again tomorrow. Besides, it's not like I broke in. Jerry let me in! Before he urgently left to get something from Jule's Workshop, of course."
That only got the man more confused. He hid his feelings well but Mona could figure out what he was thinking - why would Jerry let her be here in the venue of their meeting?
"Expensive suede jacket you got there!" She laughed nervously. "Someone's making it rain, am I right?"
The two men behind him exchanged glances. A woman to their left seemed uninterested in everything that was going on, but Mona could make out a gun holster in her belt.
"Anyway, see y'all," Mona shrugged and walked past them, not looking back. No one stopped her or asked her why she wasn't curious about a meeting with this many people past midnight — at least, not till she was outside.
"Oi, who's leaving this early?" She heard someone ask.
"Your ex-girlfriend, apparently." The man from before replied.
Fuck. Mona walked faster, and she could hear the dim voice of Jerry saying, "Wait, Olivia was here?"
Her steps became quicker as she heard something that resembled footsteps behind her. The last thing she needed was Jerry to follow her. She didn't stop at the car, knowing that Jerry would look at the license plate and memorize it for later if it was indeed him who was following her. She wasn't stupid enough to let herself be identified in any way possible.
The pavement ended with a turn to the left, but that way led straight to a brick wall. Mona gulped, knowing she was probably trapped.
The footsteps stopped. She wondered whether to turn around or start screaming while there wasn't a cloth over her mouth.
Don't be ridiculous. You weaved your way out of that house, this must be easy.
Mona turned, and as luck would have it, it was none other than Jerry.
"You're not Olivia," he said, mostly to himself.
"I'm just going to go—"
"Wait, who are you?" He raised a hand to motion stop, not aggressively, but not particularly politely either.
"Do you want to know who I am or what I know?" She asked cautiously.
He frowned. "What does that even mean?"
"Don't play dumb, Jerry. Experimental and possibly lethal drug to teenagers?" She said in disappointment. "How cruel is that?"
Her inner Liza was showing, she knew that. But if her dead friend could persuade Fin to reexamine his actions, couldn't she do the same with Jerry?
"Drugs? Miss, we're a book club," he pointed out, but the way his eyes were guarded said that there was indeed something he was hesitant about.
"Then let me go instead of blocking my way as if you are hiding secrets," she said firmly, but he didn't budge.
"You broke into my house, I think I deserve some explanation," he scoffed. Mona met his eyes with curiosity.
She couldn't stop the question from forming in her brain — what if Shadows doesn't exist and Fin was trying to flee? Very low chances, she knew that, but there was something missing. She felt it might be important to clear it up first.
"I know about the Shadows," Mona said, throwing all the caution into the air.
He showed no surprise, but his eyes flared. "Who told you?"
Against her better judgment, Mona heaved a sigh. "So yes, you're part of a street gang called Shadows?"
"Answer my question."
"Again, that doesn't matter."
"It does. Who told you?"
This was the part in her plan that she didn't think about. Jerry took a step forwards, almost as if he was contemplating how to trap her, as if she's his prey. There was no more playing innocent from his part. If she knew everything already, she wasn't a random stranger but a liability. His glare said that he did not like having liabilities.
"Who tol-" his words were cut off, and his face held pure shock. He fell sideways to the pavement and Lucien stood on the spot grinning, with what looked like a steel bottle in his hand.
"Sorry I was late," Lucien said with a shrug.
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Mona Liza Lies
الفكاهةFeatured on @fright and @crime | A funny take on the serious lives of the people in Mona's life, where urban stories, death, and ducks keep them up at night. ━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━ Liza died of overdose. Her boyfriend Dennis likes to deflect from the...
