Chapter Four
1082 Words
Dominick was the quietest of the three, but not the most oblivious.
He noticed things, things his brothers overlooked while they were busy licking their wounded egos.
He noticed the way Luana’s hand twitched when she passed the old east wing restroom. The way her eyes lingered just a beat too long on the hallway where Jessica had once slipped and hit her head, the bruise hidden beneath her collar. The way she knew exactly how to cut them down, where to press to make it hurt.
Only someone who’d been hurt by them would know.
And then there were her eyes.
Those eyes had haunted him for a year. Jessica’s eyes. The way they lost their light that last week, just before…
No. He couldn’t think about it. Not unless he was willing to face it.
But Luana's eyes were the same. Different shape. Same soul.
It couldn’t be true.
And yet, some part of him already knew.
---
Dominick made his move the night of the full moon, when most students were outside celebrating under the stars, dancing and basking in the moonlight.
Luana didn’t attend the celebration. That alone raised his suspicion. Jessica had never liked full moons either.
He found her dorm hallway empty, the lights flickering just once before going still.
Her locker sat at the far end, a sleek silver thing, decorated with nothing but a single moonstone charm.
It was locked. Of course.
But Dominick had been born into a world of secrets. He knew how to pick them.
Click.
The door creaked open.
What he saw inside turned his blood to ice.
Folded neatly on the top shelf was a tattered pink sweater, the exact same one Jessica had worn on her last day alive. Beneath it, a worn biology notebook with doodles in the margin… doodles of wolves, stars, and a small, broken heart.
He knew that handwriting.
He’d seen her drawing it during lectures, while pretending to listen to Professor Harren drone on.
But it was the photograph that ended all doubt.
Tucked inside the notebook, barely visible, was a polaroid. A grainy photo of a younger Jessica in front of an orphanage sign, holding up a graduation certificate.
He staggered back like he’d been punched in the chest.
His hands shook.
Jessica… was alive?
No… she couldn't be alive. They all saw her body sprawled on the ground in the bathroom. So if she was alive, why hadn't he seen her.
Dominick gand trembled as he reached for the notebook and then it finally clicked.
His eyes widened with realisation.
Luana was Jessica. The girl they had humiliated. The girl they had helped destroy. The girl who had died in the third floor restroom… was back.
But she had been reborn… Jessica was back but as Luana.
And she had come for them.
He stumbled over his feet, slamming the locker shut and running to his room.
He needed to tell his brothers.
---
He didn’t sleep that night. Neither did his brothers after he told them.
David nearly vomited.
Damien punched the wall until his knuckles bled.
All three sat in stunned silence for what felt like hours, grief and disbelief twisting together like a noose.
“She came back,” Damien whispered, his voice raw. “She came back to punish us.”
“Can we blame her?” Dominick said, staring at his bandaged arms. “After what we did?”
“No,” David said quietly. “But maybe… we can make it right.”
The brothers looked between themselves and then nodded.
That's all they needed to do, to make this right. They'll start my doing their best for her forgiveness.
---
The next day, they cornered her outside the academy’s old amphitheatre. She had been walking with Alex when they approached her wanting to talk.
Alex felt somewhat protective over her and didn't want her to leave but Luana told him not to worry that she would be fine.
Luana stood calmly, watching them squirm where they stood.
“Jessica.” Damien whispered her name.
He waited for some sort of reaction but all he got was a bored look and a raised brow.
She didn’t deny it but she didn't show that they were right either.
Dominick took a slow step forward. “We know… We know it’s you.”
Nothing.
“Please…” David began, his voice cracking. “We didn’t know. We didn’t understand—”
“You did know,” she finally said, her voice, stiff and dark. “You knew you were tormenting me. You just didn’t think I’d matter.”
“We didn’t kill you,” Damien said desperately. “We didn’t know someone else—”
“You made it easy for them,” she cut in coldly. “You made me vulnerable. Alone. You handed me over, piece by piece, with every cruel word, every shove, every whisper in the dark. You three didn’t need claws. You bled me with your popularity, your cruelty, your pride.”
They flinched.
“We’re sorry,” David said. “We didn’t know how much it affected you.”
“I screamed and cried every night,” she hissed. “And none of you heard it.”
Silence fell again.
“Please…” Damien reached for her. “We want to make it right. Whatever it takes.”
She stepped back.
“You can’t. Nothing can make up for what you did to Jessica.”
“We were kids,” Dominick said quietly. “Stupid. Angry. Spoiled. But we’re not those boys anymore.”
Luana’s laugh was soft and bitter.
“You think apologies erase blood?” Her gaze turned to Damien. “You flinched when I spoke Jessica’s name a few days ago. Now you use it like you’re worthy of it.”
He opened his mouth, then closed it again.
“I’m not looking for redemption stories,” she said. “You’re not the victims here.”
“Then what do you want?” David whispered. “Revenge?”
She tilted her head.
“No. I want balance.”
She stepped closer, so close Damien could see his reflection in her eyes. “You caused pain. Now you’ll live with it. You’ll remember every humiliation. Every nightmare. Every laugh that used to be yours is now echoing against you.”
They said nothing. What could they say?
“I don’t forgive you,” she said.
Not yet.
Not ever.
- Writer
