One Night

14:00

"You seriously think I would fall for that?" Jane rolled her eyes, turning her head. Jeana stood behind her, a cheeky smile spread across her face.

"But I did get you, didn't I? Not even a little?" Jeana giggled, flinging her Hello Kitty school bag onto the couch.

"Har Har. Real funny Jeana. Real mature." Jane quipped. Getting up, she noticed the massive, hot pink Hello Kitty imprint on the bag, "Oh, what in the blue heavens is that."

"It's my new limited edition Hello Kitty school bag!"

"You can't be serious Jeana."

"Why not? I think it's really cute. If you look closely, it's got this really cute Hello Kitty logo by the side too."

"But..." Jane paused to breathe. Exhaling, she recollected herself. "Alright... so how was first day of school?"

"Oh, school was great! Our teacher's called Mr Blackwood and he's really funny. He would make all kinds of jokes. Like, there was this one time..." Jeana rattled on for nearly an hour, leaving no story untold, no question unanswered. One moment she was jumping on the couch, describing her tales animatedly. The next she was lying face-flat on the marble floor, describing how grueling her first Physical Education lesson had been. Jane couldn't help but laugh at her little sister, generously egging her on with further probes. Afterall, joy in this household was hard to come by ever since the tragedy.

"Ooh! And then there was this bad word that was spreading around! I think it's... it's..." Jeana suddenly fell silent, her gaze distant. "It's..."

"Wait, what's the name of the boy who taught you the bad word again?" Jane laughed and asked politely - ready to destroy the culprit who dared taint her little sister's innocence. Just then, she noticed Jeana seemingly dazed. "What's wrong?"

"Oh, no it's nothing. I just thought... I thought... I saw a man standing outside our window earlier, staring directly at us."

"What?" Jane turned towards the window. Nothing. Nothing but the clear blue sky, littered with fluffy cotton-candy clouds.

"Pretty freaky huh. His face had this really creepy smile." Jeana leaned in towards Jane, clutching on to her arm, "In fact, I think he was trying to say something."

"What was he trying to say?" Jane whispered.

"I think he was trying to say... I got you now."

Jane's heart stopped for a second. She stood up to check if the windows were locked. "Wait, hold on. You said you saw him try to communicate the words 'I got you now'. But what does he mean? I mean, how did you even..." Jane was flustered. A thousand possibilities ran through her mind, a large portion of them unnerving. Then, one of them stood out from the rest. Jeana buried her face in her hands, barely keeping her laughter in. Heaving a sigh, it finally dawned on Jane what her scheming little sister was up to.

"You're returning the bag tomorrow."

"Why? It's... done... no wrong," Jeana replied, interrupted by intermittent outbursts of laughter.

"It's only been the first day of school Jeana, you don't need two bags."

"But it was 50% off at the school bookshop! Oh and it glows in the dark too, come and see! It's really cool."

Jeana proceeded to cup her hands around the Hello Kitty logo, beckoning Jane to see it glow. Jane shook her head in response, taking notice of the time displayed on her electronic clock.

"I'm going to make lunch. Ain't got time for your bullshit."

"Bullshit! That's the word Tim taught me earlier in class today!"

Jane nearly put both feet in her mouth.

--

Meanwhile, in his rusty pickup truck, the Ripper readied his tools. Looking into the rear view mirror, he smiled to himself. His next victim was right where he wanted.

TO BE CONTINUED

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