FLASHBACK
(prologue book 1)
Her hands full of blood, Leah gasps.
"Help me out, please" Alexia orders, out of breath.
While Leah couldn't move anymore, she just watches as Ingrid helps grabbing the dead person's feet, as both her and Alexia lift it with difficulty, before dropping it in the hole they've spent hours to dig.
Setting her jaw, Alexia just says:
"After tonight, we are not allowed to talk about it anymore. We will pack our bags and leave the city, and never come back."
The other two nod.
***
And they indeed never talked about it ever again.
The months following Jason McCabe's disappearance and Marìa Leòn's death were heavy on the consciences of the good people of Saint Ives. Nobody dared to go out at night in the streets. Childhood friends that used to always get together were cold toward each other all of a sudden.
It took the school three weeks to heal from the past events and put together a graduation ceremony for the seniors of their beloved high school to receive their diplomas.
But nobody was talking about Kyah Simon, who indeed disappeared that night as well - but her history of fleeing her violent parents' house having come to light recently prevented people from thinking something terrible actually happened to her. They just thought she finally was gone to a better place, without her evil parents.
Jenni Hermoso and Kyah Simon had secretly been seeing each other for two years, and one might say it was love at first sight. While Jenni was using her free time developing a drug business, Kyah was one of the soccer team's best player. They met one day during a science project at school, and never left each other until Senior Prom Night.
The night everything changed...
FLASHBACK
The dark clouds were threatening to release their account of rain for the night when 18-years-old Jenni enters the ball room. Tonight, she and her associated had scheduled a big hit for their last time doing business together (or so they thought), and everything was going according to plan. High school students were secretly taking drugs, and everybody seemed so very happy - apart from a few people throwing up in the toilets already, 'tolerance zero' they called it.
Jenni found Mapi as expected, and when the two women embrace each other, the blonde lets out:
"Wow, you really did dress up, uh?"
"What can I say: I've got a girl now, Leòn."
"Yeah I've heard" the other girl just said, before smirking. She looks around, before adding: "I'm happy for you, gringa, you deserve it. Now, I've got stuff to do, and so do you. See you once this night is over, eh?"
"Count on me!"
With that said, Mapi disappeared onto the crowd, and it was the last time they saw each other alive.
Jenni found her way through the crowd, saluting a handful of her friends, all smiles; she came across from Ada, who was visibly in this fight with her sister (as always), but also Pernille who was busy with customers, and Sam, who was hitting on pretty girls on the edge of the room. Jenni smirks, but they were not the women she wanted to see.
She only had to turn her head a fraction of seconds to see Kyah entering the ball room. Her hair were down and straight, while the tight dress she was wearing was just revealing enough to make Jenni's eyes endorse heart shapes: she was to die for - literally. The Spanish immediately rushes toward her girlfriend, a red rose in hand.
Without really thinking about anything else than the Australian, Jenni leans in and kisses the blue-eyed passionately, as whistles and applauses are heard. Kyah grabs Jenni's hand, as she leans away and asks:
"What happened to us being discrete and secret?"
Jenni smirks.
"Te quiero, chica" the dark-haired just lets out, and Kyah did not even have to speak a word of Spanish to know exactly what it meant. Jenni sees how surprised she is, so she adds: "I am done hiding the best thing in my life, novia" (English: novia = girlfriend)
Kyah's smile is bright.
"I love you too, Jen."
Both women walk down the stairs they were on top of, before enjoying the party. They dances together, and even got crowned Prom Queens - nobody could ignore the hotness of the bad girl of Saint Ives and the high school's star soccer player, neither could they ignore the love that bounds them together.
Only, good things do come to an end, always.
As Kyah and Jenni were living their best lives on the dance floor, Pernille comes to them and whispers into Jenni's ear:
"We've got a problem."
Nodding, Jenni just turned toward Kyah and said:
"I'll see you after I deal with this, okay?" and, as Kyah nods, knowing exactly what business Jenni and her friends were running, she just smiles as Jenni adds: "I love you."
"I love you too, moron. Now go! Your friends need you!" Kyah says, kissing Jenni.
If only they knew it was the last time they'd see each other, maybe Jenni wouldn't have left her side ; Kyah wouldn't have gone onto the gardens looking for her girlfriend two hours later ; they could've just danced 'till death teared them apart.
But life is not always a happy story.
When Kyah realised it had been a few hours since Jenni left, she decided to go looking for her. Alcohol would make her steps and vision blurry, as she would bang herself on every turn of the building, until she found her way outside.
Under the influence of alcohol, Kyah follows the shadows she saw from afar, but the more she would walk into the woods, the less she would see them. The voices had faded away, and only the basses of the music could be heard at this point. At the time, the City Hall of Saint Ives was surrounded by big gardens, and a forest where the Australian was now walking.
She suddenly comes face to face with Leah Williamson.
"Holy fuck, Williamson, you fucking scared me!"
Leah seemed out of it.
"What are you even doing here, Kyah?" she asks, confused.
"I'm looking for Jenni, have you seen her?"
"Yeah, you two are the hot couple now, ain't ya?" Leah sarcastically says, visibly different from usual.
Thinking that it was the effect of alcohol speaking on her teammate's behalf, Kyah frowns and asks:
"Uh, Leah, you okay?"
The blonde bursts into a cold and inanimate laughter, while Kyah just stares at her, confused.
"Oh, you know what? I'm fucking great! Somebody drugged me, but for some reason I've never felt more alive ! It's like... y'know, raw energy running through my body right now! Do you see the cats all around the floor?"
"... nah"
"You're fucking blind my friend" Leah goes on, smirking, "I mean, it is a big mystery how you got promoted team captain instead of me. You're just a hypocrite."
Kyah seems more alarmed about Leah's present state than angry about what the latter said, so she just frowns and says:
"Maybe you should sit down, Le-"
"Don't fucking tell me what to do!" Leah screams, but people were too far to hear her.
Jumping a little bit, Kyah just starts feeling uneasy.
"You're just mean at this point, so I'm gonna leave and find Jenni. See you around at training."
As Kyah turns around, Leah's voice seems even more dark when she exclaims:
"You're got it all, don't ya?" and, when the brunette turns around, the other girl goes on on the same tone: "The strong girlfriend, the coach's favours, the great family... Everything, you've got it all, right Kyah? Even the stupid accent, eh?"
"Leah, what the Hell?" Kyah asks, as the other girl was getting on her nerves. "I'm just gonna go now, yeah?"
As Kyah turned around once more, it was the last thing she did.
Leah threw herself at her and, as both girls fall harshly on the ground, Kyah's head hits the ground, which gives Leah just enough time to grab a sharp rock right by her own knees and repeatedly hits Kyah's head without ever stopping.
Something was finally expressing itself in the depths of her being, as she would stop when Kyah's head was absolutely smashed to the bone. A crazy and perfidy laughter comes out of her throat, almost evil.
***
"That's how we found Kyah's body: her head just smashed on the ground" Alexia says, tears rolling down her cheeks.
"Wait, I don't get it" Lia comments, frowning, "when did this occur ? Like, what's the timeline here?"
Ingrid sighs, setting her jaw - she had gotten here to tell their story, and to support Alexia in this reopening of what they thought was a closed chapter of their lives.
The Norwegian takes her time to find the right words, and declares:
"I just got rid of Jason McCabe's body, and when I came back to where Mapi's body was, I found Alexia holding Leah inside her arms. She was covered in blood, and we didn't know what to do."
"Your best friend is a fucking psychopath, and you helped cover everything up?" Shelina asks, her eyes going wide.
Alexia sighs.
"We were so young... and frightened" the Spanish continues, setting her jaw. As her fiancé just throws her a look in disbelief, she goes on without even looking at her - she couldn't: "We thought it was the right thing to do. Leah told us Kyah was jealous of her and attacked her, so she had to defend herself... But recently..."
Ingrid puts a hand on Alexia's shoulder, as the brunette unexpectedly bursted into tears - she was always so strong and never barely cries, which makes it even more honest - and Shelina's heart breaks into a million pieces. Although the Canadian was confused and upset, she reaches for Alexia's hand, squeezing it in support.
In the meantime, Ingrid continues:
"Recently, we got a text from the hidden number, just Ale and I, telling us that Leah wasn't the woman we thought she was. The person behind the texts told us to meet with them that same night because they had proofs and wanted to bring justice. So we met with them... With her, actually..."
"Wait, you know who the hidden number is?" Jill asks, absolutely confused and shocked with everything she's come to learn.
"Yes, but everything in due time, okay?" Ingrid insists, before adding: "It's important we finish what we told you, because Lia's life depends on it. Leah had mental health issues - we thought it was just a phase, but it turns out she has dissociative personality disorder : we got our hands on medical records that had been kept off the books by Leah's parents' money so that she would have a shot at a real life."
Jill frowns.
"So..." Shelina tries to sum up, confused, "... Leah killed Kyah because she was jealous of her, just like that?"
Ingrid nods her head.
"She was off her meds and was having an episode, according to... well... the hidden number person..."
"Enough already!" Shelina suddenly shouts, highly annoyed. She lets go of Alexia's hand, before adding: "I'm done with the secret, Ale: tell me who the hidden number is or I am done, do you hear me? I am so do-"
"Wait" a voice says behind them.
They all turn around, and suddenly things get even more blurry.
"... Sakina?" Jill whispers, highly confused.
The French woman stares at them, visibly uneasy, while Frida and another woman - Lucy Bronze - were on each side of her.
As everybody but Jill get on their feet, Lucy encourages the French woman to come forward and express herself.
Setting her jaw, she just says:
"I know this doesn't make any sense right now, but you need to listen to me carefully: Jenni Hermoso has been trying to avenge Kyah's death all this time. But she was never the one in charge of TVK..."
Lucy Bronze takes a deep breath that seems to last for hours, before she sets her jaw and finally speaks out:
"... Mapi was and still is."
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what are your thoughts on this story now?
ready for even more twists and turns in the next 7 chapters?
brace yourselves.