Excuse me if I seem a little unimpressed with this
An anti-social pessimist but usually I don't mess with this
And I know you mean only the best and
Your intentions aren't to bother me
But honestly I'd rather be
Somewhere with my people we can kick it and just listen
To some music with the message (like we usually do)
And we'll discuss our big dreams
How we plan to take over the planet
~Here by Alessia Cara
Jerrica's hands trembled viciously as she held even tighter onto the steering wheel. It had to have been a hallucination, she was sure of it. There was no other explanation. Yet, the idea of Jerrica hallucinating did not make her feel any better. If anyone, Monica, found out that she was starting to see things as well, she would surely be forced to take some sort of medication, or worse, be admitted to a mental institution. She would not be able to handle something like that. Freya needed her and Jerrica needed Freya. Separation would be the worst thing possible for the both of them.
It was with this in mind that Jerrica decided to keep her "hallucination" to herself. She would speak of it to no one, not even her sister. She didn't need to worry Freya at all. Jerrica barely noticed how hard she was pressing down onto the gas pedal until she glanced at the speedometer which read ninety-one miles per hour. A speeding ticket would not help the situation in the slightest.
The rest of the way home, Jerrica attempted to push the events of the day to the back of her mind. She had to be calm and collected before she walked through the door of her and Freya's apartment or Freya would ask questions and it wouldn't take long before Jerrica relented and told her everything. A sigh escaped from her mouth. She so badly wanted to bang her forehead against the steering wheel. This was certainly not how she had anticipated her day to go.
Jerrica hoped above all else that what she saw—or what she thought she saw—was only a one-time thing. No matter what they are, hallucinations are never a good sign and the last thing she needed was another mental disorder added to the already growing list. She never had actually been able to read the file that Monica had for her, but she had been able to catch glimpses once in a while when Monica wasn't looking. The list was long; to be expected after being a patient for nine months, but it was too long for Jerrica to not feel uneasy.
So badly did she want to put an end to her therapy sessions; Freya insisted she still go because talking to someone else besides her was a "healthy release" for Jerrica, whatever that meant. Jerrica didn't want to talk to anyone else. Her problems were her own to deal with. She would get over it soon, she was sure of it. Time is what she needed, time to get her shit together and make something of herself. She would do it, for her own sake, for Freya's…and for her mother's. God, how she missed her mother. She was always there when Jerrica needed her, when Freya needed her. It had been the three of them against the world since before she could remember.
And then one day her mother went missing. It had started out as a normal Saturday morning; the three of them woke up relatively early, Jerrica and Freya getting ready for work or if they had the morning off, immediately retreating to the couch with a cup of coffee in hand. Their mother would leave around ten o'clock to run errands and would come home around two or three depending on where she needed to stop. But that one Saturday, she never came home and to this day, no one knows where she could have possibly gone. She, quite simply, vanished.
A part of Jerrica died that day and she knew the same went for her sister. They were aware of the probability that their mother was dead, how could she not be? It's been two years since her disappearance. If she was still alive, surely she would have come home as soon as she could. For Jerrica, she wished that at least a body would show up so that she and Freya would have some closure. This business of not knowing, it ate away at her.
The complex where she and Freya lived came into view, a tall building and quite sleek looking. That being said, it was pretty expensive for the two of them, but they somehow managed. Freya and Jerrica had already been old enough to cash in the life insurance after their mother's disappearance which helped out tremendously with the expenses. It would definitely have been more ideal for them to move somewhere cheaper, but Jerrica couldn't find it in herself to leave. They grew up there and the thought of leaving the place that she and her mother had so many memories did not sit well with her. Freya had put up a good fight about it for a while. It took a month for Jerrica to convince her sister to stay. Her sister relented eventually, which may have only been to avoid upsetting her sister too much considering she was going to therapy. That had definitely irritated Jerrica.
She sat in her car after parking for a few minutes, making sure that she was completely rid of her anxiety and shakiness from back at the office. Jerrica counted to ten, breathing deeply in between each count, and opened the door of her car, bag in hand. The apartment was a good five floors up, all the way at the end of the hall which didn't bother her in the slightest. It was convenient that they never had to deal with noisy neighbors on both sides of them; only one to the left of their flat who regularly brought his "conquests" from the bar home with him. Those were incredibly unpleasant nights, but Freya would usually just turn the stereo up or increase the volume of the television to block out the inarticulate noises that would sound from next door.
Coincidentally, that particular neighbor was walking through the back entrance into the parking garage as Jerrica approached it. He was good looking, but had that "bad boy" persona that, quite frankly, Jerrica found to be immensely irritating.
"Hey, beautiful," he greeted her with a wink. Jerrica rolled her eyes.
"Hey, Noah."
"Going out to the club tonight. You should come with me, have some fun." There was a smirk on his face the whole time which Jerrica tried hard not let bother her.
"Yeah, I know exactly what this 'fun' is that you're talking about and for the tenth time, I'm not interested. If I wanted to sleep with you, I would have done it already." That, of course, was a lie, but Jerrica enjoyed the slight shock on his face whenever she turned him down. He obviously wasn't used to it.
"You sure about that? I think you're just playing hard to get." Jerrica gave him a bland look.
"Sure Noah." Jerrica took the initiative and began to walk away, completely aware of Noah's eyes on her jean-clad bottom. Noah had tried hard to seduce Freya last year when he first moved into the complex, but after Freya nearly knocked him out with her fist, he quickly moved onto Jerrica. Shaking her head, she stepped through the door and made her way to the elevator.
The apartment smelled like tomato sauce and sausage when she opened the door. Freya was a fantastic cook and would occasionally whip up something if she came home early from work. She found it therapeutic and nostalgic. Spaghetti dinners were always a big deal in the Faulks home. Jerrica saw her sister dancing wildly around the kitchen to Uma Thurman, a spoon coated in sauce in her hand.
"She wants to dance like Uma Thurman, bury me 'till I confess!" Jerrica smiled and decided to chime in.
"She wants to dance like Uma Thurman and I can't get you out of my head!" Freya whipped around suddenly; an amused smile on her face at hearing Jerrica's off key singing and went to turn the music down a bit.
"Howdy-ho sister. I've got spaghetti and sausage comin' up in five minutes." Jerrica let her bag fall to the floor, shed herself of her coat, and sat down at the table, flicking through her Facebook notifications on her phone. She hardly ever used Facebook considering all the notifications she ever received were distant family members asking how she and Freya were doing and if they would be visiting soon. The answer was always no. Her mother's side of the family was ever the judgmental type and much too nosy for Jerrica and her sister to deal with for extended periods of time. Without a doubt, if they found out that Jerrica was going to therapy they would surely have a thing or two to say about it.
A plate of spaghetti with a single sausage link was placed in front Jerrica's hands followed by a knife and fork. "How was your session today?"
Jerrica froze for a second, her fork halfway to her mouth. The events that took place flashed through her mind once again and her hesitation did not go unnoticed.
"Jeri?" Freya called in a knowing voice. "What happened?"
"Nothing," Jerrica said quickly. "I had another attack, but that was it."
"I thought you were getting over those."
"I thought so too," she mumbled to herself. Jerrica stuffed more pasta into her mouth, a signal that she wanted to end the conversation.
"Alright, I'm not going to keep going cause I know you hate it when I do, but, Jeri, if these attacks come back—"
"Yes, Freya, I know," Jerrica interrupted, clearly exasperated. Of course she knew what would need to be done; it was her with the issues after all. "It was one panic attack. I got a little worked up that's it. I don't want medication. That shit screws people up."
"I mean, I'd say you're already pretty screwed in the head." Jerrica glared at Freya, not amused by her attempt to lighten the mood. Her sister put her hands up. "Sorry, sorry, just trying to diffuse the tension."
But then Jerrica smirked, taking her forkful of spaghetti and flung it at Freya's face. The sauce splattered on the clean, white t-shirt her sister wore and into her bleach-dyed hair.
"What the fuck, Jerrica!"
"Just trying to diffuse the tension," Jerrica said with a shrug, attempting not to laugh. Freya scowled, a gleam of revenge in her eyes.
"Oh, it's so on." In a matter of minutes, the two sisters were covered in spaghetti sauce and noodles, some of it splattered onto the walls behind the both of them. Jerrica was doubled over in laughter while Freya pulled a string of pasta from her shirt. These were the moments that kept them going. They might have lost their mother, but they still had each other and that's what mattered. It was now Jerrica and Freya Faulks against the world. Together, they were unstoppable.
"Before I hop in the shower, I meant to tell you," Freya started as she picked up the last noodle from the floor. "Anna called and asked if we were interested in going camping with her and Joey this weekend. I told her I wasn't sure…"
"No, let's go," Jerrica said, surprising Freya. "It'll be fun, I think."
"Wow," Freya said with her eyes widened a bit. "Okay, uh, I'll let Anna know then."
Jerrica knew exactly why her sister was so surprised. Normally he would turn down any offer from Freya's friends. She was normally on the reclusive side, an "anti-social pessimist" as Freya would put it. For some reason, she wanted to do something that would make Freya happy, and maybe it was for her own selfish reasons too. Jerrica was worried about the hallucination still. She wasn't entirely sure what was going on with her, but going outside, getting some fresh air and being in the company of people other than Freya might help her get her bearings.
It wasn't as if Jerrica hated camping either; on the contrary, Jerrica loved the outdoors. It had been a while since she was truly able to enjoy nature as living in the city where the only green you'll find is the artificial turf of the school playgrounds somewhat prevents one from regularly basking in the beauty of the natural world. And, deep down, Jerrica knew she craved some type of adventure. She knew Freya definitely did. The woman would go on and on about how much she loved camping, another reason why Jerrica found herself agreeing to the trip. The city gets to be overwhelmingly suffocating after a while.
After Jerrica and Freya had both showered the sauce off of their bodies, Freya filled Jerrica in on the plans of the camping trip. They would be hiking a majority of the time through the mountains which were absolutely breathtaking during the spring season. Jerrica remembers being in that area before with her mom and sister. It had been in the heat of the summer, but the girls didn't mind considering the numerous lakes that littered the region which they swam in every moment they could. It was a lovely memory, one that made Jerrica smile. She told as much to her sister who had given her a curious look.
"Remember that camping trip we took with mom when we were kids?" Freya smiled sadly.
"I do. I remember you pushed me in the lake cause you were too scared to jump in with me and I kept making fun of you."
"You deserved that push."
"No I didn't!" Freya retorted. "Okay, yeah I did. I was a little shit as a kid, wasn't I?"
"Mom was ready to tear your hair out when you put that garter snake in my sleeping bag," Jerrica laughed.
"I had to get back at you somehow."
"You knew I was deathly afraid of snakes!" Jerrica exclaimed, the smile never leaving her lips.
"And you knew I didn't like being pushed into lakes," her sister said pointedly.
"No, actually, I didn't know that." Freya gave her a flat look to which Jerrica responded with a sheepish grin. They were silent for a moment, both reflecting on the unforgettable trip with their mother.
"We were so happy then," Jerrica whispered.
"We were," Freya agreed. "And we can be happy again someday. I can already feel it coming."
"Yeah?"
"Yeah." Jerrica smiled at her sister again, the latter eventually standing up and letting out a loud yawn. "I'm beat. I was asked to come in early this morning at work. The dumb bitch couldn't work the printer," Freya grumbled. Jerrica had no idea what Freya was going on about, but laughed anyway as her sister was so easily irritated and the most impatient person she knew.
Jerrica tried hard to sleep that night. She was tired, but every time she felt herself drifting off the face of the dark man flashed in her mind and she would abruptly wake up. It scared her. He mentioned a name of something, a name she didn't know, yet it sounded so familiar. For the life of her, she couldn't remember, but the image of the man morphing into some dark creature she could remember, vividly. She tried to think of other things, the camping trip for one, the way her mother would sing her and Freya to sleep when they were children. Jerrica focused hard on the memory of her mother's voice and the soft lullabies that never failed to coax her to sleep.
She imagined her mother was sitting right next to her bed in the small, padded rocking chair that now sits in a corner of the living room. Her dark hair would be loosely tied back and her twinkling blue eyes would be closed lightly as she sang. The memory was so fresh in her head despite how many years it had been since her mother last sat at her bedside. Jerrica didn't have time to acknowledge the fact that it was working because she was already drifting off slowly, her thoughts becoming less and less coherent.
And then Jerrica was jolting forward as the sound of glass shattering on the floor ripped her away from the first stages of sleep. Her heart pounded wildly in her chest at the abrupt awakening. With great trepidation, she lifted herself out of bed and quietly tip-toed out of her room.
"Freya?" She called lowly, wondering if it was her sister who dropped something. But that deduction was quickly ruled out when the door of Freya's room opened and out she came, eyes wide.
"What the hell was that?" Freya whisper-shouted. Jerrica shook her head with a slight shrug of her shoulders.
"Something must have fallen." Hesitantly, the two sisters made their way through the hallway and into the open living room. Clear glass was scattered all around the carpet, indicating that it was their mother's flower vase that had broken. What confused Jerrica was the fact that the vase had been on the opposite side of the living room and would have had too been thrown a few feet in order to reach where the shattered pieces were lying.
"Is it just me, or does this look kinda weird to you?" Jerrica asked.
"The vase was all the way over there, wasn't it?" Jerrica nodded in reply.
There was a quick breeze behind them, as if something had ran past, and the room seemed to grow darker. Shadows danced along the wall which Jerrica found incredibly alarming as all the blinds were closed and their apartment was too high up for car headlights to shine through the windows. Automatically, her face blanched at the thought of another hallucination taking place, but it wouldn't make sense at all considering Freya was right next to her, no doubt seeing the exact same things. Another rush of air came, this time to Jerrica's left causing the tendrils of hair that had escaped her ponytail to fly across her face.
"What was that?" Freya's voice held nothing else but fear and Jerrica, feeling much the same way, found she could hardly utter anything intelligible back. In her head, Jerrica was replaying every horror movie she had ever watched realizing that what was taking place now seemed much too alike. She was just waiting for that demon from Insidious to emerge from the corner and try to take over her body. A loud thud came from back in the hallway, both Jerrica and Freya jumping in fright.
"What the fuck, this is something straight out of the God damn Exorcist!" Freya's voice held no hint of joking whatsoever. Her words were shaky and terrified.
"I'm sure it's nothing," replied Jerrica, her own voice on the edge of hysteria. Suddenly, a wave of darkness, much like a black cloud swept through the air, knocking the sisters over. Jerrica shut her eyes tightly, too afraid to look up and see something she didn't want to see. But then all was still and silence filled the air. Jerrica lifted her head and cautiously opened one eye to see absolutely nothing out of the ordinary save for the broken vase. The shadows were gone and the light noises that had been sounding throughout the apartment had quieted to the usual low hum of the heater. She stood up and looked around the living room, Freya doing the same beside her.
"I don't get it…what just happened?"
"I have absolutely no idea," Jerrica answered. She walked around the living room to see nothing else out of place and moved her search into the hallway to find exactly the same thing. Her heart was still rapidly beating against her chest as she looked at Freya with concern and fear. And then her eyes moved to Freya's chest.
"Freya, Freya, your necklace," Jerrica stammered, pointing at her sister's now bruised and bare neck. Freya's hand went to touch the necklace identical to Jerrica's that was always clasped onto her neck, only to find it gone and a slight sore feeling take place when she applied pressure there.
"Where did it go?" Freya exclaimed, her eyes frantically searching for the silver locket.
"It looks like someone tore it off your neck," said Jerrica, inspecting the purple mark on her sister's throat. Freya shook her head.
"This—this is just too weird. I need to go to bed. I can't…"
"Freya, you need to calm down—"
"Calm down?!" she cried, a look of incredulity directed towards Jerrica. Jerrica sighed.
"Okay, yeah, that was stupid, but seriously, getting worked up over this isn't going to help anything." Freya was silent for a moment, closing her eyes and pinching the bridge of her nose. It was oddly similar to what Jerrica must have looked like earlier in Monica's office. It was then that Jerrica found it funny how she wasn't reacting the exact same way as Freya. She was just as frightened, but her brain was trying too hard to piece some sort of puzzle together.
"I'm going to bed," Freya muttered. "Don't try to pick up the glass right now, I'll grab the vacuum cleaner tomorrow and do it." Jerrica watched her sister retreat into the hallway, listening for the faint click of her bedroom door closing before following suit. Her own door was closed, strangely. She was sure she had left it open. A feeling of dread came over her as she turned the door knob and stepped inside. Something was wrong, she knew it.
And Jerrica was right. On the wall above her bed, was a message scratched into the paint:
Death shall come to all.
So it's been almost a year since I updated this story and I will admit updates to this one may be pretty slow until I finish Into the West. It's going pretty slow right now, I know, but I'm planning on them making it to Middle Earth in the next chapter and hopefully a few things will be cleared up for you guys.
Comment, favorite/follow, and let me know what you think!
Thanks for reading (:
