Nina
First day off of parole and it felt like a goddamned dream. With good behavior I'd gotten my sentence down to three weeks instead of the full four and I felt triumphant as I pulled my new dress on over my head, layering it with a mesh long sleeve and my black socks. As I stood in the mirror I pulled my hair up into a ponytail with the silky red bow I'd gotten back in Silver Cove, something I wore almost daily now. A little piece of home sweet home. I'd just been playing with the little O-ring on the neckline when I heard a knock at my door, opening it to find my mom on the other side and looking...defeated.
"Here," she handed my phone over, the purple kitty case squishing in my hand when I reached for it, "keep it in your bag and stay away from those kids. I don't want to find out you got in another fight."
"There won't be another fight if they leave me alone," I corrected her as I shoved it into my backpack, swinging it up onto my shoulders without a second thought. "Claudia hasn't bothered me much since. I don't think you have to worry about anything."
"Good," she sighed, "where did you get that dress? I don't think I've seen you wear it before..."
"Birthday present from a friend," I hummed to myself as I passed by her and ran down the stairs, "bye Mom!"
Chris was waiting for me at the end of the driveway just as the bus pulled up, he and I moving to our usual spot while I pulled my other birthday present from Kitty from my bag and handed it over. I enjoyed watching him play more than I did playing myself, although I had found a couple games I liked. Before we got to school I checked through my phone, my heart dropping when I realized my gallery had been sorted through. The video was gone. She'd even been smart enough to delete it from the trash bin and I sighed, my shoulders dropping in dismay. Luckily I kept the letter from Kitty and the picture she'd included with me at all times, leaving no trace of the surprise visit for my mom to find if she chose to go through my room.
The one solace I had was that my voicemails were left untouched, the sound of Kitty's voice through my earbud making me smile as tears pricked the edges of my sight. I still had a little piece of her left. As I exited the bus and stepped onto school grounds I took a good look around, spotting Claudia and her two twerps lingering outside. She got a good look at me and I passed her a wink, her face paling as she turned to look back at Yoni and Malcolm. I absentmindedly traced the tiny scars on my knuckles where they'd scabbed after the hits, proof of my little victory.
I was a good girl at school today and passed through my classes like a ghost, keeping to myself and not bothering a soul until the end of the day finally came. Of course, being off of house arrest meant I was going to abuse the privilege to the best of my ability and I emptied out my bag when I got to my bedroom, stuffing my jacket and the console into the depths before I slipped the red and black knife into the top of my sock, the black clip the only thing visible on the outside as I pulled the bag back over my shoulders. Mom had just gotten home from work when I rushed past her, yelling something about meeting friends at the arcade in town before busting out the door.
"Finally!" I groaned, stretching my arms in the air as I sauntered down the sidewalk. The afternoon sun was hot but it felt good in this outfit, my dress billowing in the breeze while I plugged my earbuds in and listened to music. I'd managed to find one of Kitty's playlists and I always had it on repeat, singing the lyrics that I remembered and dancing along to the beat.
I'd just made it into town by the time evening rolled around and I stopped into a local coffee place, sipping on an iced mocha that just didn't have the right taste. Chelsea's coffee had spoiled me and nothing could beat it, but I still took what I could get. I didn't necessarily have a real destination in mind but being out of the house for the first time all month felt good. Halloween was just around the corner and it made me giddy as I passed by Jack-O-Lanterns and purple lights, taken by a strong desire to decorate to my tastes for once. Strong enough to lure me into the closest big name store and send me straight to the Halloween section, eyeing the lights until I found a set that I liked. A devious smile crossed my face for a moment as I slipped the box into my bag, walking out with the most angelic of smiles on my face so that they'd wouldn't suspect a thing.
Man, this place was easy to schmooze, I laughed to myself as I finished off my drink, watching the sun while it set over the water. My mindless wandering paused for a moment as I took a seat on the path, watching the fiery painted waves as they lapped at the bricks beneath my feet. Tempe was pretty but Silver Cove was prettier. I thought about what I might do when I graduated next year and going to live up there was definitely on the list. I might've been out on Kitty as a roommate but Chelsea might not mind me being around as long as I did my share. The thought made me happy but as everything started to get dark my smile eventually fell.
"I wish I could see you," I sighed as I went through my bag, finding the picture she'd sent me and staring at her smile. She always brightened up whatever room she walked into and seeing her and Chelsea both looking as happy as ever in the snapshot made my heart hurt, "things were so much better with you around. I don't give a rat's ass what anyone says, you were still the best goddamn cousin I could have. You felt more like a sister..."
A tear rolled down my cheek and I quickly wiped it away, stuffing the photo away safely before I got back to my feet. If I wasn't home before ten Mom would kill me so it was best I started back toward the house while I had time left to spare, scolding myself for not taking my longboard the whole way. I realized after a while I was the only person out and about, most people inside and tucked away for the night. It didn't bother me one bit, after all, I knew the killers on the news by heart. Just as I'd thought about them I paused, watching as two figures moved in the darkness; something in me twitched and I crept after, catching up just close enough to spot something familiar: a white hoodie, damn near unmistakable.
"No fucking way."
Eyeless Jack
The drive down to Tempe was an exhausting eight hours and I drove for the first half, Jeff napping in the passenger seat for most of the trip while I tapped the steering wheel to the beat. I missed Kitty's Renegade but the Cherokee wasn't a bad trade, the SUV handling pretty much the same as the tinier version. One thing I was happy about was saying goodbye to this God forsaken state though, finally.
Jeff switched off after I roused him and I sipped on a hijacked Red Bull as I held my hand out the window, tracing the breeze with my fingers. The welcome sign for Arizona came to pass and my body eased from a tension I hadn't known I was holding onto. I guess this place really still got to me after all these years. Jeff's obnoxious singing pulled me out of my thoughts and it was all I could do to shake my head and grumble. I still didn't quite like the guy but he put up with me and I put up with him, so that was good enough.
We'd actually managed to arrive earlier in the afternoon that we'd expected, ditching the car on the outskirts of the city before we followed the road in and went straight for our destination. The house was much smaller than Kitty's and painted an ugly shade of brown but as Jeff produced the polaroid and held it up for comparison we confirmed that it was the place. A quick glance around and we figured out no one was home but all the doors were locked, our only point of entry looking to be a window on the second story. Same one in the picture, too. Kitty must've known the house would be locked up tight.
"Rock-paper-scissors on who gets to climb," he snorted and I whipped my fist out, shaking it a couple times until he came out victorious with his rock over my scissors. I groaned and pulled myself up onto a lower branch, glad for the strength training finally coming in handy for something other than hauling around bodies.
After a couple failed attempts I finally managed to wiggle the bedroom window open and roll into the room, finding a pretty typical girl's room as I assessed the situation, albeit there were a couple destroyed paintings stuffed under the bed. I halted my investigation to run downstairs and unlock the front door for Jeff who came waltzing in like he owned the place.
"Well it seems pretty lived in, so I'm assuming it's inhabitants are just out for the day," he observed as he moved back to the living room, "anything upstairs?"
"I was just about to go take a closer look," I nodded and he gave me the thumbs up, my steps thumping as I jumped back up the staircase to search the rooms.
The master bed was empty, a couple family photos about that I didn't care to look further into before I checked the other room. There were Minecraft posters and a gaming console on the ground so I figured this was a boy's room, nothing of real value to us laying about. I went back into the girl's room and poked through the closet for a moment, a mix of dark and light color options greeting me alongside a few pairs of shoes on the ground that didn't look worn. Jeff joined me and looked just as confused as I felt, helping me to go through the room until he let out a curse under his breath.
"What happened?" I asked, turning to find that he'd sliced his finger on something before he stuck it in his mouth and reached under the desk, prying a pink knife from the spot it had been taped to.
"Isn't this one of Snow's?" He questioned and I nodded, recognizing that blade from the fact I'd watched Jules buy it for her myself.
"She's been here," I stated, "let's stick that back where we found it and come back later, see who all is with her. It's best we don't just wait around."
"Agreed, I'll go lock the door and meet you outside."
I hoisted myself back out the window and dropped onto the roof, hopping the rest of the way down before I turned to watch Jeff do the same a few moments later. The town was visible in the distance and luckily it didn't seem like there were too many people out today as we stuck to the shadows, scoping everything out and keeping our eyes peeled as the sun began to set. Even less people were out the longer we waited and we stopped to pull our coats out as a chilly breeze swept through the streets.
"Fuck I thought this place was supposed to be warm," Jeff laughed as we started walking again, "remind me never to move to the desert. It's pretty and all but I'm getting real sick of it."
"Trust me I lived in it for the first twelve years of my life, I understand," I chuckled to myself as I stretched my arms into the air. "I miss Oregon. I'd even take Washington at this point. I can understand why she's avoiding the area though."
"Yeah the cops are probably still crawling around Silver Cove," he snorted, both of us pausing when we realized we could hear something. Footsteps. I traded a look with him before I reached into my pocket and saw him do the same, bracing ourselves before we turned around. It took me a moment but when I heard her voice my grip instantly loosened, my suspicious look falling away to disbelief. There's no way...