Needy walked through the pouring rain. She tilted her head up, letting it wash over her. Washing the blood off. Washing them off.
She clutched her BFF necklace as she spoke. "I avenged you, Jennifer. You and everyone else. All the other innocents that died because of them. It'll all be okay now."
"Yeah, it will."
Needy jumped, snapping her head towards the sound. Nothing. "Probably just the wind." She breathed.
She carried on walking. She saw neon signs up ahead. A motel. "Somewhere to stop for the night." She walked through the rain, scrubbing away the remaining blood on her hands and face. She waited until the man behind the desk had his back turned and grabbed a room key.
She walked up to the room, unlocked the door and relocked it behind her before stumbling through the dark.
"Wanna play boyfriend-girlfriend?"
"What the fuck?" Anita exclaimed, switching on the light. No one. "I'm losing my fucking mind. After I was in the psych hospital. Just my fucking luck."
With that she took off her wet clothes and belly flopped onto the bed, falling asleep instantly.
"Get up, sleepyhead." Someone said, and Needy jolted awake. Sunlight poured on her face through the dirty window. She looked at the end of the bed.
"Oh my God! Jennifer?"
"The one and only." The girl smirked. The girl stared at the new arrival, wide eyed. "Jeez, Needs. Take a picture." The brunette smirked.
"Might have to." The blonde muttered.
"What do you mean?" Jennifer asked, confused. "OMG, you totally think you're dreaming. You're so dumb sometimes. You know that, right?"
"Okay, first off, I am smart. Second, you're dead."
"Nope." Jennifer shook her head.
"Fine. A zombie." Needy rolled her eyes.
"Guess again." She smiled.
"Some form of hallucination brought about by the new psych meds they put me on in the hospital." Needy guessed.
"What?" Jennifer frowned.
"The loony bin I thought I escaped last night but apparently never actually left."
"Needs..."
"Yeah. Your mom saw me with the fucking letter opener in hand and called the cops. They blamed me for your death and all the other shit that went down. Jury verdict got me sent to a mental hospital. I got out of there. Hitchhiked to the band's hotel. Killed them with this knife I found in a puddle on the side of the road." Needy explained.
"Well, that knife... kinda why I'm here." Jennifer shrugged.
"What?"
"That knife... was the knife they sacrificed me with. Remember when we were kids playing in the sandbox and I got a pin in my hand? What did you do?" Jennifer asked.
"Took the pin out."
"And?"
"Kissed it better."
"Yup."
"So?" Needy frowned. Jennifer rolled her eyes.
"Don't you get it? You basically drank my blood. It got absorbed into your bloodstream. We have a connection. That's why the knife appeared to you."
"Huh?"
"That hole in the lake has no bottom. Things never reappear. That knife went in one end, and found another because of you. So you could go all avenging angel on that band's asses and I could show up here. So, hi."
"There's something you're not telling me."
"I'm here to offer you a choice." Jennifer confessed, wincing internally as she did at how cliché that sounded.
"Great. Just when I think I got my biff back she's here to literally offer me a deal from the devil."
"Well... not the devil, per se..."
"No fucking way. You got into heaven even with all this shit?" Needy asked, amazed.
"Yup. Shows that playing hello titty and sex before marriage isn't really high up on the top 40 sin list or whatever."
"So... you gonna tell me the deal?"
"Yup. Here goes. Promise you won't hate me." Jennifer asked/pleaded.
"Pinky promise." Needy confirmed.
"The deal. Option one: You can go on as you are. The CCTV got a pic of you. The cops are on their way. You got about ten minutes until they get here. They'll take you back to wherever you were before you escaped, which, apparently, was a mental hospital. Option two. The G man can get you cleared of all charges. If you can pretend to be sane enough for a psych test, you can go back to how it was, minus me, Chip, anyone else who died. And people might talk about it behind your back for a while, but you and I both know that'll be old news in a week. Option three. Total reset button. But if you screw it up this time, you'll have to go through all that all over again. No way out. No takesy backsies. And it could be worse this time around. It would all depend on one moment in time. One decision. If we go to the club-"
"Bar." Needy corrected.
"Seriously? Now? Fine. Bar. If you can keep me the fuck away from that band, this'll all go back to the way it was. There's just one little thing..." Jennifer trailed off.
"What would that be?" Needy prompted.
"It's actually to do with the contract. Your signature, if you want."
"What do you mean?" The blonde asked.
"If you go with option A, you tell me and I walk. Option B, I snap my fingers and you pass out until you're safely bundled in the cop car. When you wake up, everything I said will have happened. Option C, you have to..."
"What?"
"Kiss me." Jennifer blurted out.
"Kiss you?"
"Yeah. And when we end up back where we were you and I would be a couple and Chip would be in the friend zone just like he was before the two of you started going out. Turns out the guy in the sky is just a big old perv." Jennifer rolled her eyes.
Silence.
"Look, if you don't want to, then that's totally fine." Jennifer shrugged.
"...Would you want to?"
"I wouldn't be totally... against it..."
"You sure? A lot's changed."
"Of course I'm sure. You remember playing mommy and daddy, right?" Jennifer smiled.
"How could I forget?"
"It's just like that."
"No, it isn't, though. It's so much more than that. Can't you take anything seriously?"
"I am taking this seriously, Needs. Needy, look at me."
She did.
"I really doubt that anyone, except maybe you, could be taking this more seriously than I am right now. I love you, Anita Lesnicky. And I would love to be with you, but I don't want to take this anywhere you're uncomfortable with. You can still go with A or B. It's totally up to you. So, what d'ya say? I don't mean to rush you, but you have about thirty seconds... Twenty five... Twenty... Fifteen..." Needy pushed Jennifer down onto the bed and straddled her. Jennifer stopped talking. Needy leaned closer.
Outside, someone banged on the door. "Police. We know you're in there. Come out with your hands up. You have until the count of three. One... Two... Three!"
A thud was heard. Then another. Then the door came off it's hinges. Needy lunged forward and kissed Jennifer.