Wicked Exertion

Chapter 7

An insane laugh escaped Ash's throat, no trace of humor in it.

"You're very tense, Hyacinth. You're acting like some paranoid freak. What are you looking at, anyway?"

"Why are you holding a knife?" I ignored his remark.

"Funny, because I'm not holding any knife." Ash confidently smirked.

Looking at his hand again, I realized that there was no knife. His fist was slightly clenched, but it didn't seem like there was anything there.

Leaning in closer to my face, he said, "Tense, Hyacinth. That's what you are. Relax a bit, then maybe you'll stop hallucinating."

He began putting one of his hands on my shoulder, before I swatted it away. I quickly got up and went inside the bathroom. After locking the door, I sat on the floor beside the bathtub and wondered if I was really losing my mind.

.

It was four days later that the Jacobs held Missy's funeral. And we were invited.

An odd inkling told me that either Mrs. Jacobs or Mr. Jacobs weren't going to attend, but I turned out to be wrong when I spotted them with the priest.

Mr. Jacobs was talking to the priest intently, more like he was talking to a friend or some person for work, instead of talking to the man who was going to participate in his daughter's funeral.

Ash and I stood side by side, Cecilia behind us, tapping away on her phone. We blended into the sea of black soon after we just arrived. It was as if we were at a sort of party, where the whole town was invited–everyone was chatting and laughing normally like they weren't at the ceremony of a young dead girl.

I stared at the ground, and as I was looking around, my eye caught Missy's gravestone. It was a large one, so despite the quite far distance that I was from it, I was able to read what it said.

Missy Claire Jacobs
8th December 2002-26th June 2018
Loving daughter, friend, and cousin

Claire.

That was her middle name.

It couldn't be the person Ash was texting. Ash didn't know the Jacobs–much less Missy–before he was assigned on this case. And they couldn't met up because Ash was all the way in New York.

My eyebrows pulled together in frustration, confusion, and curiosity–all the emotions that I've been feeling ever since I got to Kingsrey.

A warm hand was placed on my shoulder. I jumped in response and automatically looked behind me.

"You okay?" Ash questioned. He was acting as if nothing happened the night I caught him with a supposed 'knife' in his hand.

"Yeah," I said. Although for some reason, my voice didn't really come out. So I cleared my throat and repeated myself.

"You seem very jumpy these days, ever since we got here," Ash laughed. I frowned at the way everyone was acting here–normal and unhurt. Even Missy's parents weren't looking the least bit sad.

Maybe all these people had a lot of funerals in this town, and they're simply used to it. But even if that was the case with me, I would've shown some respect.

"This town is creepy. And dangerous. Like you said." I told Ash.

"True. You sad that your friend is gone?"

"She wasn't my friend. I met her once, and it was really weird." I shivered–both at the memory and at the cold air nipping at my skin, despite my black leather jacket. "But still, she didn't deserve it. And it's sad."

Ash only nodded.

"It's a chilly day today, isn't it?" Cecilia said from either side of me.

"Exactly! The town is supposed to be hot and humid." Ash agreed.

"How long are we staying here for?" I interrupted.

They both looked at me. "This funeral?" Ash asked.

"This town," I clarified in an unconsciously harsh tone.

"Until we finish investigating." Cecilia answered. "But our boss is giving us time until probably next month. He'd give us more time though, considering we've spent the last four days doing nothing 'cause it's been so hard talking to the Jacobs."

"Hmm," I murmured, thoughtful.

It wasn't long before the ceremony started.

The priest began with a prayer, a speech, then told us that some people closest to Missy were going to give their euologies.

Something unexpected happened then: Mrs. Jacobs went to step up on the podium, ready to give a speech. I would have thought that with her illness, she wouldn't do it. Then again, I should be used to abnormal things happening here.

"My daughter may have been seen by many people as a sweet, young, innocent girl. Most people in town liked her and enjoyed her company." Mrs. Jacobs was saying, and I was intently listening, as I felt Ash's oddly burning gaze from beside me.

"She didn't have many friends at her school," Mrs. Jacobs continued, chuckling darkly. "But she was friends with many of the adults in town. She was well-known among them and friendly with them." Her intense eyes laid upon me. I wondered if it was meant for someone behind me, or beside me.

"So friendly..." Mrs. Jacobs heaved a heavy sigh. "That she was infatuated with an adult. In a disgusting, forbidden relationship with one. Who happens to be here!" She laughed again.

I turned to Ash and saw that he looked angry and worried. Pieces of the mad puzzle was coming at me, and I figured out what happened.

Around me, people whispered their own little gossip and rumours. Why wasn't anyone stopping her from saying this?

"Ugh, such big drama in such a small town." Cecilia whispered at me.

Ash's hand grabbed mine. "We're leaving," He hissed in my ear.

No matter how much rage I had for Ash at the moment, I complied and started following him through the crowd.

"Where are you two off to?!" Cecilia exclaimed confusedly.

"Oh, look at that! He's leaving!" Mrs. Jacobs shouted.

Finally, Mr. Jacobs rushed to his wife's side and tried getting her to step off the podium. She wasn't cooperating, considering the kicking and screaming she was pulling off.

I felt kind of bad that everyone was just witnessing her throwing a tantrum.

The crazy scene in front of me that was playing out soon stopped when I noticed that Ash and I had already reached the outside of the large cemetery grounds.

"You have to tell me the truth, Ash. What was that?!" I practically screamed.

"It's complicated, Hy—"

"I don't care!" Looking behind me, I realized that Cecilia was nowhere to be seen.

"Not here. Let's go somewhere else and I'll tell you everything. I promise."

Ash looked at me with such sincerity that I followed him to the car and let him drive us somewhere. My guess was the motel, but I was wrong, and it turned out that I wasn't able to escape danger after all.