Jessica pulled at a loose thread on the seam of her jacket sleeve. The tension between the teenagers as they stood there waiting for their friend to gather the supplies he needed was extremely high.
I mean, why wouldn't it be. The supplies they were waiting on him to gather were to kill Sam.
A droplet of sweat formed on Jessica's forehead, which she quickly wiped away before it began to fall. The grocery store was surprisingly hot considering it was October. The shop was pretty clean, and smelled strongly of clorox wipes. The only sounds that could be heard were the refrigerators running, water splashing around, plastic bottle clanking together, and the heavy breathing of her friends around her.
The thread snapped with a small pop. Kate was the only one who heard it, and she grabbed Jessica's hand that had previously been pulling on the string.
Simon finally finished collecting what they needed, and he dropped the items down on the counter in front of the group.
"A few months ago, my brother Timothy had an unfortunate experience in which he ingested too much of a... certain substance. He was dead for two minutes. But..." He drummed his hands on the counter. "We got him back!"
"Kate." Deena began, causing Kate's grip to loosen on Jessica's hand. "It's time for your close-up."
Kate nodded, and got to work opening the pill bottles. She dumped out the contents and sorted them into their corresponding piles with ease as Simon explained everything to Sam.
"You need to take these in order. Pile one takes the edge off. You're gonna feel like you're being... fucked by a unicorn! Pile two is gonna bring your core temp wayyy down." He emphasized the way. "You may feel slightly sick."
Sam nodded as Kate continued moving the tiny pills around.
"You need to take a five minute interval between pile two," he pointed, "and pile three. That's really important ok, pile three is what brings you down and out so you've gotta take that 'take five' or this is all gonna go to shit!"
Kate finished, and picked up the pile of boxes Simon had placed down.
"How many of these do we have?"
He took them from her.
"Tons, like a thousand."
"Wait - epipens?" Deena interjected.
"Epinephrine also known as adrenaline! This is what brings her back. This is Jesus!!"
Sam sighed, and nodded her head once more.
"Ok. Let's go." Jessica said.
• • •
One by one, the group dipped their hands into the bucket of blood mixture Deena had mixed up when they arrived.
Jessica wiped it on her t-shirt, creating a big red X. Like a target. She wiped the remaining blood onto her leg, and moved next to Kate by the snack aisle with Sam and Simon.
"Remember half an hour ago when you guys wanted to murder me?" Sam joked, attempting to make light of the serious danger they were in.
"You don't have to do this. You can leave."
"Remember when you decided to sacrifice yourself for us?" Kate countered with a small smile. "We're ending this together."
"Yeah. We're not leaving anyone behind." Jessica added.
"Die well, my friend." Simon patted Sam's shoulder.
He and Kate walked off, but Jessica stayed for a moment. She wrapped Sam into a hug, which Sam happily returned.
"It's gonna be fine."
Sam smiled in agreement, and Jessica went off the others, leaving the girl to stand alone and think about what she was about to do.
"We've got back door patrol." Simon announced, placing his arm around Josh's shoulder.
Jessica ran up to them and grabbed Simon's arm, pulling him into a hug too. He wasn't really a hugger, but this was a special circumstance. Considering they might die and all.
She went back to Kate's side.
"We'll run interference up here." Kate told them, and grabbed Jessica's hand like she always did, swinging their arms ever so slightly as they walked.
"We're gonna get out of this, right?" Jessica whispered to Kate, moving closer to her.
"Of course we are." Kate replied confidently.
She placed a kiss on Jessica's lips, not even noticing that Simon and Josh could see them.
"Fucking told you." Simon whispered to Josh, who just laughed in return.
Kate picked up a shopping basket, and began to put items inside. She grabbed nail polish remover, then hairspray, and a lighter.
Jessica looked around for anything she could add to the basket, but her search was interrupted by a clanging sound.
"What was that?" Kate breathed, a look of terror spreading across her face.
"I don't know."
The two girls shared a look, Kate's eyes staring deeply into Jessica's.
"I'll go."
Jessica nodded, and reluctantly let go of Kate's hand. She didn't want to let her leave. She wanted to keep her right there and make sure she was safe.
Jessica continued walking quietly. Her legs shook violently as she stepped on the aluminum floors.
She heard another bang, and yanked a pan from its hook. She gripped it like a baseball bat, the metal just above her shoulder.
Her heart pounded in her chest, and she felt like she was going to vomit.
Jessica was never the type of person to put her life on the line. She had things to live for, like her family, and her friends. But all of her friends were here, risking their lives for each other, so she felt like she could too.
She crept around a corner, her pan not moving, and scanned her surrounding anxiously. She was in the produce section now. Everything was eerily still. Like something should be happening, but it wasn't.
Deena screamed.
There it is.
Jessica ran towards the sound. It felt stupid, running at the danger instead of away from it.
She then heard the sound of something being sprayed, and Kate's voice shouting.
"Go!"
Jessica froze. She didn't know what to do or where to go. Should she try to find Kate, or Sam and Deena? Should she stay still? Should she continue patrolling, looking for danger?
• • •
Kate threw her lighter and her hairspray down, and ran. She only had a few moment before the killer would put the fire out and come looking for her. Hurriedly, she ducked behind a display of poultry.
Her breathing was fast and heavy, and her eyes were wide with fear, tears prickling in their corners.
Silence.
She looked around at what she could see, which wasn't much. Just a wall with containers of meat lined up to be purchased.
On her right, she could see the freezer section. Frost etched into the corners of the doors, making you unable to see your own reflection. On her left began the desserts, ice cream eventually blending into cakes down the line.
She looked up, and saw the lights on the ceiling.
The lights on the ceiling, and a white masked figure reaching down to get her.
Kate didn't have time to react before he grabbed her hair, and dragged her backwards across the display.
Normally, in a situation like this, someone would say their life flashed before their eyes. Not Kate. She went into survival mode. Her instincts kicked in, and she grabbed his hand trying to pry his fingers from her hair.
The ice burned Kate's back, leaving trails of red on her skin as she was pulled forcefully towards her impending demise.
Skull Mask threw her to the ground with a thud, causing her to hit her head on the cold floor. As Kate tried to sit up, he grabbed her again and pinned her against the end-cap of the cereal aisle, his knife clanging against the metal.
Kate struggled in his grip, trying as hard as she could to get out. But he was just a bit stronger than she was, and she was stuck.
The killer drew back his arm, preparing to stab her. Kate screamed, and frantically felt around the wall of the end-cap she was stuck to, trying to find something to get her out of the situation.
As the knife was about to plunge into Kate's stomach, she managed to grab a bowl, and quickly put it in front of the knife, blocking the attack.
She used the killers moment of confusion as an opportunity to kick his stomach as hard as she could, making him stumble back, and giving Kate enough room to slip by. She tried to run. Her vision was still fuzzy and she couldn't focus on anything around her.
Her unawareness of her surroundings was her flaw. She didn't notice Skull Mask quietly approach her from behind. She also didn't notice that his knife was drawn, ready to wrap around her torso and stab her in a second.
The sudden force of someone pulling her back made Kate scream again. She punched and kicked and tried to escape his grip, but was not successful.
The tip of Skull Masks knife began to drive through Kate's stomach.
She yelped in pain, still trying to kick him off of her. The pain was excruciating. Kate watched as the room around her began to spin. She wasn't ready to give up. She didn't want to die.
And she didn't have to.
The pan Jessica had been carrying around the store smashed into the side of Skull Mask's head, and he let go of Kate as he fell to the floor.
Kate grabbed her wound, her fingers grazing against the blood soaked fabric of her top. The injury wasn't terrible. The knife had barely punctured her skin when Jessica showed up. Thank God she had.
Jessica pulled her into a hug.
She had just almost witnessed the scariest thing she could ever imagine. Losing Kate. She meant the world to her.
Kate was her everything.
If Jessica lost her, she would lose herself. Life had no meaning without the girl she loved.
She loved Kate.
Jess pulled back from the hug, and moved her hands up to Kates jaw, cupping her face gently. She smiled softly with tears in her eyes.
"I love you."
She whispered those three words. So simple, so plain. But they made Kate's heart explode. Made her stomach leap with happiness.
She grabbed onto Jessica's arms that stayed holding her face so tenderly. Tears flowed freely down her cheeks, causing them to shine in the fluorescent lighting.
"I love you too."
Jessica smiled, and kissed Kate's soft lips gently, and hugged her again after a moment.
She never wanted Kate to leave her arms. The mere seconds they spent standing there together felt like hours, sweeping her away and making her forget everything around her.
No feeling could compare to the love they shared for each other.
• • •
A/N
HEY!!
I HAD SO MUCH FUN WRITING THIS CHAPTER OMG.
THANK GOD FOR JESSICA HAVING SOME COMMON SENSE AND GOING WHEN KATE WAS SCREAMING (🙄🙄 something the others couldn't do /j)
👩❤️💋👩👩❤️💋👩👩❤️💋👩
LOVE CONFESSIONS!!!
i really didn't want it to seem rushed but you gotta remember that they've known each other for like 6 years and they loved each other before too so yas.
there's not really much to say about this chapter.
i hope you enjoyed it :)
pls leave me feedback!! i love to hear from you guys <3
ily all!! <33