Chapter 5
1124 Words
After the party, Therese and I bid goodbye to Brent. His mom was busy in the kitchen so we just said goodbye to him. He even wanted to take us home, but I refused because the guests might look for him.
"You'll be going later, right?" he asked me with his pleading eyes.
There would be a night party later by the river— a bonfire and barbecue party. Of course, drinks were present.
"Of course! We can't miss that," Therese answered.
I didn't know if I would be going. We were already outside the gate and just waiting for Brent to go back inside before we left. But he also seemed to be waiting for my answer because he was looking at me intently.
Therese was already looking at me, too. Based on the looks she was giving me, one wrong answer and I would be saying hello to her fist.
I looked back at Brent then smiled at him. "We're going."
Even though I really didn't want to. But it was also an opportunity for me to see another circle of our friends. In that case, I could at least have an idea of who had a secret grudge against me. The type of grudge that could kill me.
One more thing, if I didn't go, they would be surprised. Especially since Brent had already informed everyone that he was already courting me.
"I'll pick you up."
I just nodded and didn't refuse anymore. We had a car, but I didn't want to drive. Especially if it was a party with hard drinks. I was not a drunkard, okay? It was just that Brent's house was along the way from our house. So it was better to just go with him.
We started walking home. It was just a few blocks away from our house. Meanwhile, Therese was on the other street. She just left her bicycle at our house. That was what she always do when we were still attending school. She would leave her bike at home and we walked together.
Sometimes when I was in the mood to drive, I used our pick-up. Sometimes we go with Brent, too.
Therese hooked her arm around mine as what she was always doing. "I'm so happy for you, Alli!"
If maybe I didn't die, live again, and would find out that someone was badly mad at me, maybe I would jump being overjoyed.
I reciprocated and imagined my former self. A happy-go-lucky girl. Funny. My old self smiled to almost everyone. What I didn't know was that someone was not happy being with me around. That there was someone out there that was planning to kill me.
So far, I only knew Cindy, who had a secret hatred on me. Obviously, he liked Brent. I knew she was even angrier now that Brent was courting me.
But, there was a part of me saying that she was not the killer. I didn't know the reason, I just felt it.
We passed the abandoned house, which was known to be a haunted house, and I immediately stopped Therese from walking. I am facing the house now. It was not that old, but no one had lived here for a long time. We always passed this house, but only now did it steal my attention.
Since I returned to my physical body, my feelings, thoughts, and the way I talked had changed.
There was something in this house that I couldn't name.
"Hey, you have a problem?" asked Therese.
"Who's house again is this?" I turned to Therese when I heard nothing from her. I caught her staring at me.
"You know... you've been weird since this morning. It's like you've been possessed by an evil witch."
I immediately scolded her. Yeah, I knew some witch. "I'm serious."
"Do I look like joking?" she asked with a serious tone etched in her voice.
I smirked at her and looked back at the house. "Will you just answer me or I'll just pull you in there?"
My grip on her hand tightened as she was about to remove her hand from mine.
"You're not funny anymore, Alliyah."
"I'll just need an answer but you're being too nosy."
"Are you sure about your question? Or maybe you're just throwing a prank on me?"
I looked at her and tried to pull her into the gate of the abandoned house.
She immediately pulled her hand back. "Just kidding, you little piece of cake!"
"What now?"
She approached me and put her mouth to my ear then whispered. "Our nerd classmate in college who moved to the city."
My forehead furrowed at her response. "The what? We have a nerd classmate?"
She frowned. "You're really acting weird, Alliyah! You're scaring the hell out of men!"
I really didn't remember anything.
Wait...
Why I didn't remember anything from my college years? Even in my junior and senior years, I didn't even remember a thing.
I looked around, hoping to see Nicole. But I couldn't find her.
"Are you looking for something or someone?" Therese asked and mimicked what I was doing.
I focused my gaze on the house again. Why do I had such a strange feeling in this house?
"I'm really scared of you, Alliyah."
I looked at the house one last time and pulled Therese away from there.
"Are you really okay, Alliyah?" Therese asked when we arrived at our house. It was the nth time she asked me that question.
The afternoon wind blew and leaves were falling from the trees. The wind freely blew our hair, too.
Instead of answering her, I asked her back. "Is there something you don't like about me?"
"What kind of question is that?"
"Just answer."
She looked at me with serious eyes. "Your life is so perfect."
I didn't expect her answer.
"With your life so perfect, I'm afraid that's going to be the reason our friendship will break down."
I didn't know if I need to trust her now of what she just had confessed. I could see various emotions in her eyes. But I saw no envy nor anger at all.
We just stared at each other for a few more minutes. She was the first one to look away.
"You already passed your weirdness to me. See you later."
She immediately got on her bike and I could do nothing but follow her with my gaze, while still confused by her answer.
I was hoping...
She didn't kill me. It would really hurt me that much if I found out that she was my killer.
You're my best friend.
A sister.
I can't stand the fact that you are capable of killing me.
- Writer
