Soul Catcher

Chapter III. Jool.

A few days have passed since me and my friends visited that strange house, personally I was not affected and thank heaven, neither was my girlfriend Lizzy, none of us have dared to talk about what happened. Stevie became more shy than normal, Jool mysteriously doesn't appear anywhere (since neither of them are that worried, he usually does it when he's involved with his other friends, selling drugs or anything else), although Rave tries to find him and as for Jull...the very unfortunate sons of bitches of her "relatives" abandoned her in a shrink, we tried to get her to eat or say something about what had happened, but all she does is stare at some point, lost in her mind, as if Jool had drugged her so hard that she couldn't react to things, but that sounds a little irrational and I doubt that's the case, she doesn't talk much either, she just babbles from time to time and it's like... "stay away", "blue”, “danger” and… “them”, all on different occasions.

Which by the way, regarding Jully's pet, he's here with me, tangled and clinging to my index finger as I narrate this, but I go off topic just to distract myself a little, my head just spinning around and around trying to figure out what the hell Jully means, although I'm not smart like Stevie or Rave, nor good at these things, I've never stayed so many days without leaving the house, which makes me feel strange and... it's not like I understood what happened to my friends. two friends, one thing I do know is that I have only one desire... a kind of impulse, and that is to return to that house.

Lizzy is sitting on the floor while Jully is on the rocking chair, Lizzy caresses her hair and braids it gently, a sad expression covers her face as she looks at her friend in that state, without realizing it, tears fall from her eyes and She takes his hand, placing it on her forehead as she lets the drops soak into her friend's hand, sobbing silently.

- I don't know...if you can listen to me, but I would be able to tell you a thousand times if necessary, to ask for your forgiveness...because...I am partly to blame...for...what is happening to you and...it makes me feel...so terrible! -she apologized through tears and with a voice so broken that she made small efforts to be able to speak clearly.

Jool was holding his knees, sitting in an abandoned alley, the sunlight was shining directly into his eyes, he hadn't been home in a while, he didn't even have a phone anymore, because it hadn't been the only time where he wasn't unable to fall asleep, his dark circles made his white complexion look quite bad, the stench that his body and clothes gave off was similar to that of the garbage dump, he had had to spend everything on drugs, even sell some of his items, the only thing he wanted was to fall asleep or at least clear his mind of those horrible thoughts, because since he set foot in that house...he feels that something is watching him and nightmares invade him every time he sleeps a wink.

He is constantly looking back or to the sides, with his sanity hanging on him by a thin thread, he walks unsteadily, he no longer makes jokes and has given no signs of life to any of his acquaintances. Jool can't handle his life anymore...he feels like his bad thoughts are dragging him down, he constantly feels afraid and on a worse day he hears voices, well one...a seductress, he feels like they hug him from behind or grope him from time to time while he tries to fall asleep, he always listens to her...

When he could close his eyes for a short time, among all the dreams, there was one that his mind was not able to erase... it was of himself on a bed with no cloth covering his body, sleeping peacefully, there was always a woman, also naked, It was always the same woman, raven hair with long, light curls, with red cheeks and the tips of her ears. She was always sitting in the corner of the bed, then she turned to look at him, smiling, and she slipped between the sheets to get closer to him. his ear.

- Come with me to the house... the blue house... stay with me in the blue house, love... -whispered that feminine and seductively hypnotizing voice.

Everything about her felt so cold, he couldn't move his body, even open his eyes, push her or anything. She climbed on top of Jool, settled inside him, moving her hips and with her head back gently caressing her breasts, the legs of the bed squeaked and the girl made sounds of pleasure until she began to laugh...and laugh without stopping, then a blurry figure entered the room, it seemed to be a man, he arrived with an ax in his hand to stab her right behind, the blood flowed down her back but she continued jumping on him and laughing, the strange shadow threw his arm back, detaching the ax from her flesh and the girl arched her back backwards, then the shadow slammed the ax into her back again, burying itself in her flesh and staining the white sheets with blood, as her laughter sounded more exaggerated and louder, as at the same time you could hear how he began to choke on the blood that came out of his mouth. Jool would wake up, his heart racing, his hair stuck to his forehead from the cold sweat and with chills, when he removed the sheets... his pants were wet, as if a glass of cold water had been poured on them.

He walked desperately through the streets, with his hands stuck in the pockets of his sweatshirt, his yellowish hair covered his forehead and made him sweat, he took the fastest steps that his emaciated body would allow, trying to avoid the loose laces. made them fall.

He arrived at his small and unstable apartment after a long time, as expected, it was dirty and neglected, there were dirty underwear in a corner, there was no furniture and the pantry was empty except for a bag of bread full of mold, he stared. the deteriorated paint on the walls through which the cockroaches crawled, multiple letters had also arrived from Rave, even so he continued on, slamming the door behind him and even went to the bathroom, there he searched through the drawers desperately, he wanted to put an end to everything as soon as possible. With the knife in hand, he leaned against the wall and sliding down he sat on the floor, observing the sharp object, thinking, those thoughts invaded him again... human bodies cut into so many pieces and so beaten that they looked like deformed creatures, the blood, the screams, disfigured faces, mutilated parts, flesh of corpses torn in certain areas already greenish and blackened while the worms devoured it...without realizing it he found himself scratching his head to the point of scratching his skin, Jool, this time without Hesitating further, he removed the sleeve from one of his wrists, tightened his grip on the knife...he was scared and indecisive.

Suddenly someone knocks on the door, Jool lets out a heavy sigh, releasing the razor to leave it on the sink as he stands up, when it rests behind the front door, someone sighs on the other side, he looks down and through the door. small space under the door, a letter slipped between his feet, this paper becoming part of the others in the pile that Jool had noticed he was stepping on. He looked at the mess of cards on the floor and then heard footsteps coming down the stairs.

It took him minutes to get there, Brixton was not that far from Dulwich... but he did it, with his hands in his pockets and sweating. He approached the door, there she was... on an old, dirty piece of furniture full of dust, that woman was no longer naked, she was wearing a dress similar to old pajamas. of a pale blue shade that reached her bare ankles, she looked as beautiful as ever, her fingers had that characteristic purple as did her lips, along with her fleshy red cheeks. He watched her from a distance, still with one hand on the doorknob, he seemed a little surprised... Was she that woman from her dreams real to her? As she took short steps towards him, looking at him sensually, when she was close enough to her, she embraced him with her cold arms around her neck.

- It was real before, darling. -She whispered in his ear while one of her hands caressed the back of his neck.

Ring, ring, ring, ring, Pol's cell phone rang, Rave and Lizzy, who was caressing Jull's hand, turned to look at him as he pressed the phone to his ear.

- Yes, I know him... Jool, what's wrong with him? Where is he? -Pol spoke into the phone in a curious tone.