Midnight Angel [Jenlisa FF]

~'~'~ Chapter 11 ~'~'~

~'~'~

The moon shone down on her from high overhead as Lisa walked the beach almost two hours later. Work had held her for a while, then she'd managed to get some laundry started. She'd hoped sleep would follow, but she'd found herself restless, and after staring out the window for ten minutes, she'd walked out and onto the sand.

A few feet away, the waves slapped roughly at the beach. There must be a storm coming in soon, she thought, though the sky was still clear. It would probably rain the next day. She didn't mind. It would be the weekend, and she wouldn't have to go in to work so she could spend the whole day in her house. The perfect place to be on a rainy, stormy day.

Lisa knew Jennie was there before she stepped up beside her. Just like she'd unconsciously known she would come., and that she wanted to be there. To see her, to talk to her. Lisa didn't look at her, only continued to gaze at the dark ocean in front of her.

"It's beautiful," Jennie said softly.

"Yeah," Lisa agreed, stuffing her hands in her pockets. "I like waking up and seeing it outside my windows every morning."

"I like to come here most when the moon is full," Jennie told her then sat down, sliding off her sandals so she could bury her feet in the sand.

Lisa glanced down at her, wondered if Jennie wanted to be alone. She'd talked to her though. She hadn't ignored her. So, she eased herself down next to her, making sure to leave a generous two feet between them. Lisa didn't want to frighten her or make her feel threatened in anyway.

"I leave my windows open sometimes at night so I can hear the waves," Lisa relayed for lack of anything else to say.

Jennie sighed, linked her arms around her raised knees. "Sometimes I think I could fall asleep out here. Then maybe..."

"Maybe what?" Lisa prodded gently.

"Then maybe...maybe the nightmares wouldn't come."

What was she supposed to say to that? Lisa supposed she should have said something soothing or pacifying, but there wasn't anything she could say. There was nothing she could do to ease whatever pain she felt inside. So, she said nothing and continued to watch the lapping of the waves under the pale light of the moon.

The beach was quiet except for the calming ocean sounds. There were no gulls squawking overhead, no chattering tourists or townspeople, no roaring of traffic, just the ocean. They were completely alone. And it never occurred to Lisa to feel fear over the fact that she was alone with someone who had supposedly murdered three members of her family. Aside from her uncertainty at what to say to her, Lisa felt comfortable.

Beside her, Jennie rested her chin on the tops of her knees and closed her eyes. She loved sitting or walking on the beach. It was one of the few places she didn't feel trapped. Her rooms on the third floor of the house on the cliffs were well-furnished and entirely liveable, but they were her prison. They were where her father had told her she had to stay. She thought more often than not that he would prefer she wasn't there at all. She was his burden.

No one ever came to see her. The only person she ever saw was her father. Everyone else had abandoned her. Or died. And all of it was her fault. She couldn't blame anyone but herself. But she wondered...

"Why did you all come today? To the house?" Jennie clarified, turning her head to rest her cheek on her knees.

Who was she, Jennie wondered. She'd seen her around the pretty Victorian house recently. She wasn't one to be easily missed with her tall height and strong build. Once, she'd watched her while she'd stood on her porch at night, taking pictures. The yearning to talk to her, to anyone, had almost driven her across the sand and up the steps to her. But her father had told her not to talk to anyone or let them see her. And she was someone she didn't know. So, Jennie slipped back into the woods and up to her house, allowing her tears to fall freely the whole way.