The Strange Case of the Jackson Building

Chapter 29 - Borderline

Chapter Twenty-Nine

Borderline

"Are you sure she never mentioned anything about this?"

"No, Mrs. Curtis. If she had said or done anything at all that would lead me to suspect anything, of course I would've done something-"

"You girls are always so secretive and she tells you everything-"

"Mrs. Curtis, I care about Petra. She's my best friend, I love her like a sister. I would never do anything to harm her."

"I'm sure you wouldn't, I'm just saying-"

"Or let her harm herself!"

"Oh, Olivia, I'm not saying you would. Not intentionally. Never. I'm not accusing you of anything-"

"Good. Because to even think that-"

"I'm just saying, Olivia, that maybe she told you something that you thought was harmless at the time but now, looking back, might be interpreted differently."

An uncomfortable silence settled, until Olivia broke it, "Well... she had a few concerns about her building and her neighbors..."

"Concerns?"

"She was too... invested in them, too interested."

"Why?"

"I'm not sure, she thought they were weird. And then there was a crazy old woman that spooked her out... I'm sorry, Mrs. Curtis, I thought it was just Petra being Petra! I thought it was just her usual anxiety and paranoia..." Olivia's voice turned into a gentle sob. "I saw she had cut her hair and she looked ill, like paler and thinner but I thought it was just her insomnia, she told me she had a cold, I... I never thought..."

"I knew something was off. I shouldn't have let her to go live by herself so far away. But she was doing so much better, she was stable and confident and so excited."

"I thought that too. I thought, once she got used to it, once she adapted, that she would've been fine, I never thought she would-"

"I know, Olivia. It's alright. She'll be alright."

Petra had slowly regained consciousness and recognized her mother and Olivia's whispering voices. They both sounded extremely sad and hurt and she could tell her mother had been crying. It broke her heart, it was her fault. She was awake and aware, but refused to open her eyes. She wasn't ready to face them.

She could tell she was lying down on an uncomfortable bed and, by the sounds surrounding her and the characteristic smell, she concluded she was in the hospital.

Her whole body was in hell. Every muscle, every fiber and nerve hurt. She could feel ligatures wrapped around most of her body, including her neck and half of her face. Petra wouldn't dare to move even if she wanted.

In her mind, she could only see disturbing and nightmarish images, quickly passing through like the cruelest of movies. Running, darkness, long fingers and claws, sharp teeth and an evil, animalistic grin, big goat-like eyes, Kyle and Eli, blood, bone, a lock of hair, the scent of rotten flesh, unbearable pain and then she was flying and floating until everything was dark and silent and painful.

Had she really survived? Had she really escaped?

Was she safe?

She tried to put all those terrible memories and thoughts behind her before she started crying. Instead, she focused on the voices to her left, that now included an unknown, male voice.

"We are convinced it was a major crisis, a severe episode, mental breakdown, probably caused by lack of medication which, allied to stress, depression, her previous condition and probably substance abuse, would've caused this."