Chapter 2: Jealousy kills
Pikachu awoke early the next morning. He yawned as he stretched his limbs and perked his ears.
"Man, I just had the CRAZIEST dream. There was this weird Zangoose. She was nice at first, but then she turned all evil and attacked me. Well, I'm just glad it's over."
Pikachu noticed that Felix was snoring; not enough to disturb anyone but loud enough to where Pikachu's sensitive ears could hear him.
"That thick-headed….he's gonna be late for school again…" though Pika.
Pikachu crept across the bed over to where Felix was nested. That's when Pikachu froze in shock. To his horror, he noticed that he and Felix weren't the only two people sleeping in the bed.
"Oh, God. No…" thought the yellow mouse.
Under the covers, snuggled next to Felix was Zangoose. That same Zangoose who attacked Pikachu. That same Zangoose who threatened his life just last night. Pikachu tried to hold back a gasp as he realized that wasn't a dream. It actually happened and this Zangoose was out to get him.
Well, Felix still needed to wake up for school. Pikachu figured he could handle Zangoose if she tried anything funny. The yellow mouse carefully crept over to Felix's face, being careful not to wake up Zangoose. Pikachu began tapping on the boy's face and nudging his shoulders. Zangoose stirred a bit.
"Come on….come on, wake up, Snorlax!"
Finally, Felix began to wake up. His eyes slowly opened as he mumbled a few indecencies. Felix sat up, and blinked a few times. He then turned toward Pikachu, who had a concerned look on his face.
"Hey, buddy. Good morning." Said Felix rather loudly. Pikachu began shushing the boy, hoping to quiet him down before-
Suddenly, Zangoose woke up. Her eyes opened in a flash and her cat-like pupils adjusted to the light. Pikachu face palmed. Zangoose noticed that Felix was already awake. She gave him a big hug and purred into his side.
"Good morning, Felix." Said Zangoose very cutely.
"Good morning, Zangoose." Said Felix returning the hug.
"Felix, I'm hungry. Let's go eat, then we can play!"
"Sorry, girl but I have to go to school, remember?"
"But, Felix….." said Zangoose sadly. She wanted Felix to stay home and spend time with her all day.
"We can play when I'm done with school. Why don't you and Pikachu play together while I'm gone?"
"Pika! Pika!" *which meant* "HELL no! I'm not staying anywhere near this chick!"
Zangoose glared at Pikachu and he glared back.
"Actually, Felix, I'm going to go home. Maybe I'll take a walk around today." Said Zangoose.
"Well, okay then." Said Felix getting out of bed and getting ready for the day.
"Maybe I'll see you later today?" said Zangoose.
"Sure." Smile Felix.
Felix got ready for the day, ate his happy breakfast, said goodbye to everyone, and headed out the door for school. Pikachu stared through the front window, looking at his naïve master leave for the day. Zangoose walked up behind him and spoke…
"What are you still doing here? I thought I told you to beat it." Growled Zangoose.
"You won't get away with this. When Felix finds out what you truly are, he'll hate you and you'll be the one who leaves." Said Pikachu, still looking out the window.
Just then, Felix's parents walked into the living room. Father had his work attire on and was about to leave for his job. Mother had her coat on and her purse around her shoulder.
"Bye, Pikachu and Zangoose. Father is leaving for work, and I'm going to go run some errands. Zangoose, I hope you can stop bye later sometime." Said Mother.
"Don't worry. I've got a feeling you'll be seeing plenty of me." Chuckled Zangoose. Pikachu was the only one to get the double meaning of that statement.
The parents left out the door for the day, leaving the Pokémon alone at home. Soon, Zangoose went to the front door to leave for the day.
"Where are you going?" asked Pikachu sternly.
"None of your business, rat."
With that, Zangoose was out the door and down the street. Pikachu stayed at home slumping on the living room couch….
Zangoose walked down the street, in the same direction Felix had taken to school. She sniffed the air for his scent. When she had picked up on it, she began to follow it directly to the school. Zangoose was planning on spying on Felix again. She figured if she could not spend time with him right now, she was at least going to watch him from a distance.
Soon, Zangoose was in front of Felix's school. It was a pretty large school building, it had to be; it held grades 6th through 12th, so there were a lot of kids going here. School had already started by the time Zangoose had arrived, so no one was around to see here sneak inside the school building. Zangoose continued to follow Felix's scent through the school. Down the halls, up some stairs, she easily followed his smell, separating the scents of the other kids from his. But there was this one lingering scent that seemed to surround Felix's scent. It was artificial-strawberry perfume. It was a bit intense, to, burning the inside of Zangoose's sensitive nose. Nevertheless, Zangoose ventured on in search of her dream boy.
Soon, the trail led to a door, a classroom. Zangoose peeked inside the window of the door. There was a good number of children in the classroom, listening to the teacher in the front. Soon, Zangoose spotted Felix in the middle of the room. Like every other kid, he was sitting at his desk, taking notes on what the teacher was saying. But, sitting right behind him was this girl. This brunette wearing a skirt and dress shirt, looking quite studious and preppy. What this girl was doing was what made Zangoose grit her teeth. This girl, with her shiny black hair and perfect smile, was constantly poking Felix on the arm tickling him slightly and making him snicker a bit. Felix blushed as the girl continued playing with him.
Zangoose's eyes went wide with rage as the girl then poked Felix in his side, making him squeak with laughter. The teacher stopped writing on the board and turned to face Felix.
"Is there a problem, young man?" asked the teacher sternly.
"N-no, ma'am." Said Felix. The teacher went back to writing on the board as Felix smiled at the girl behind him, telling her to stop playing around. The girl whispered something in Felix's ear and they both smiled. Zangoose had seen enough of this. She concluded that this girl was the source of the strawberry perfume, which would explain why it was so close to Felix's scent: they must have been walking through the school together. Zangoose began to walk out of the school, growling silently as she walked. She walked out the front door and climbed into a nearby tree to think.
Zangoose slumped on a branch in the tree and thought about what she just saw. She instantly became filled with rage and jealousy. Why was Felix with that girl and not her? What did that bitch have that Zangoose didn't? Did Felix like this girl? Was he tired of Zangoose? No, that couldn't be it. Zangoose couldn't stand the thought of someone else being with her dreamy Felix boy. Zangoose tried to calm down and think of another explanation.
"Maybe that's just how human females interact with males….yeah, that's it. I'm the one Felix likes."
Zangoose calmed down a bit, reassured with her answer. She closed her eyes to rest for a while….
The sound of a loud bell woke Zangoose from her slumber. She was still in the tree when she saw various kids starting to leave to the school. Was school over had she slept through the whole day? No the sun's position in the sky told her that it was about 12 noon. Zangoose saw that the kids leaving the school were merely going to sit on the grass out on the school's front lawn. They began eating food, telling Zangoose that it was simply lunch hour at the school.
Zangoose figured that Felix would have some free time during his lunch break. Some free time that he could with her. Zangoose snuck around to the back of the school to see if she could find a way into the school to find Felix. Zangoose found an entrance way on the side of the school, presumably used by the janitor. Once again, Zangoose was back inside the school searching for Felix. Zangoose kept searching until she found a big door on the main floor. The door led into the cafeteria, where the most of the students eat their lunch (if they don't decide to eat in front of the school). There, in the middle of the huge hall-like room was Felix. He was sitting by himself and chewing on a slice of pizza. Zangoose smiled as she saw that this was her chance to have Felix all to herself. She was about to call Felix over to her when that girl, that same girl from earlier, showed up out of nowhere and sat down right next to Felix.
Zangoose gritted her teeth and balled her fists. She stared daggers at that brunette.
"This skank just won't let up." Grumbled Zangoose as she watched the girl flirt with Felix. Zangoose noticed that whenever the girl would speak to Felix, Felix would start to blush. What was she saying to him? Zangoose decided to ease drop. She adjusted her sensitive ears and focused in on Felix and the girl.
"….so, come on, Felix. Don't you think that would be nice? You told me that you would give me your answer at soon, so tell me." Said the girl intently.
"Uh….well, I've never been in a relationship before, so I still can't believe you asked me if you could be my girlfriend."
Girlfriend….
That word echoed inside Zangoose's head. The Pokémon couldn't believe what she just heard. How dare this girl try and steal Felix. Her Felix. She had to stop herself from lunging out and attacking that brunette-haired demon. Against her better judgment, Zangoose continued to listen in.
"So what's your answer?" asked the girl
"Come on, Felix, say 'no'. Say that you don't want this girl and that I'm the one you love." Thought Zangoose.
"Uh…look, can I give you my answer tomorrow? I'll definitely have it for you tomorrow morning. This is all very new to me so I just have to think about this for a while. Don't worry….I like you. If I didn't, I would have just said 'no' already." Said Felix.
"Well…okay." Said the girl understandingly. She gave Felix a small hug and the two continued with their lunch. The inside of Zangoose's head was swirling. Did she just hear Felix say that he 'likes' this girl? Zangoose wasn't going to take that. Not over Felix…
The school day ended and Felix went home. On the walk back home, Felix expected Zangoose to pop up and play with him, but she didn't come. When he got home, she wasn't there either. Felix figured she just didn't want to play today and figured she would come over tomorrow.
Meanwhile, across town….
That girl, the very one who was flirting with Felix all day, was currently walking home. She had headphones on her head, listening to music and singing along to the beat of a song that was playing. The music was playing quite loudly, so she had no idea of the approaching figure behind her. She had no idea that she was being stalked. She had no idea that her stalker was carrying a long piece of rope and had her claws ready to strike…
Nightfall came, but that girl never reached her house….
Back at Felix's house, the whole family was watching a little bit of television. There was a comedy show featuring Pokémon playing. The parents were sitting on the couch, whilst Felix was sitting on the carpet floor with Pikachu sitting in his lap and enjoying the absence of Zangoose. Just then, someone knocked on the front door.
"Who could that be at this hour?" said Father as he went for the door.
To everyone's surprise, it was Zangoose at the door with a big smile on her face. She was welcomed inside with happy smiles, by all but Pikachu who looked away in irritancy.
"Hello again, Zangoose!" said Father.
"Yes, hi. Welcome back." Said Mother.
"Hi, Zangoose. I thought I wasn't going to see you today, but you came by sort of late." Said Felix getting up to greet her.
"Oh, its okay, Felix. Zangoose can come visit anytime she pleases. She's a very good friend. You should be nicer to her." said Mother.
Felix blushed a bit as he tried to change the subject.
"W-well, uh….do you want to come in and watch TV with us?" said Felix still blushing.
"That would be great, Thank You." Said Zangoose very politely.
Pikachu looked at the cat Pokémon suspiciously. What had she been doing all day and why did she drop by this late? Plus, Zangoose wasn't as perky as she usually was around Felix. Right now, she was just calm and nonchalant. Felix returned to his seat and Zangoose sat down next to him. She instantly began cuddling with Felix and purring at him. Felix scratched the back of her ears as Zangoose blushed from the attention she wanted.
"It's good to see you again, Zangoose. I missed you today." Said Felix.
"I missed you, too, Felix." Said Zangoose licking the boy's face.
"Aw, look at you two love birds." Joked Mom
Felix began to blush again. Pikachu groaned.
Soon, the Pokémon show ended and the evening news came on. Nothing special tonight; just talk about local business and advances in medicine. But then, a news story came on about a local tragedy.
The news reporter began to speak.
"A tragic event took place today, as a young girl, around the age of 15, died earlier today."
The TV then showed footage of a familiar girl hanging from a tree with rope around her neck and deep cuts all throughout her body. Felix gasped and covered his mouth with his hand.
"Oh my God…."
The news reporter continued.
"From the looks of things, it seems the girl committed suicide, but not before cutting herself all across her body. What a sad loss to society."
"Oh my God…that girl….that's the girl who I….." Felix couldn't finish his statement. He was in shock. He couldn't believe what he just saw.
"Felix, did you know that girl?" asked Father.
"Y-yeah…I was just speaking to her earlier today….I ate lunch with her in school….she asked me if she could…be my girlfriend…." Said Felix weakly.
"Well, what did you tell her? Maybe she couldn't handle your answer." Said Mother.
"I told her I'd think about it…..oh my God…I killed her…she couldn't handle me not saying 'yes' when she first asked me…." Felix began to shake. Pikachu tried to calm him down, telling him that he had nothing to do with her death. But, in reality, he did…..
As everyone silently mourned the death of the girl, Zangoose only smiled. No one heard her as she silently chuckled to herself. No one except Pikachu and his sensitive ears. Pikachu glanced over at Zangoose to see just what was so funny at a time like this. The yellow mouse saw that Zangoose had a certain look on her face. A look of accomplishment.
Felix got up from his seat.
"I need some air…" said the boy as he went outside to the front lawn to breathe. Mother and Father went into the kitchen to get refreshments for everyone in an attempt to brighten things up. Now, only the Pokémon were left in the room.
Zangoose just continued to smile and look at the TV, which was still talking about the girl's death.
"What's so funny?" said Pikachu suspiciously.
"Oh, nothing….It's just funny how life is. That girl didn't have to die."
"What do you mean 'she didn't have to die'? You're saying it as if…."
"As if she didn't commit suicide? As if she was murdered…?"
Pikachu went wide eyed at Zangoose's statement. He tried to speak.
"Oh my God….you…."
"She wouldn't have 'committed suicide ' if she only stayed away from Felix…" said Zangoose using air quotes.
"OH MY GAWD. You're a monster. You're a psychopath. A crazy, insane girl!"
"I told you no one is gonna stand between me and Felix…."
"Oh, Felix isn't gonna like this when I—"
"When you WHAT? He can't even understand you. How the HELL are you going to tell him anything? The only reason I'm telling you all of this is because I know you can't tell anyone. Because if you could, I would kill you…." Said Zangoose matter-of-factly.
Pikachu said nothing. He knew she was right. He also knew what Zangoose could do now. She was much stronger than he was, and he doubted that his electrical attacks would be enough to stop her.
Soon, Felix walked back into the house, a bit calmed down now. He sat back down on the floor and Pikachu instantly went to lie in his lap. The parents came back into the room with drinks for everyone. The news reporter had just finished up giving his reasons on why the girl died, talking about teen angst and low self-esteem.
"I can't believe I did that to her…" said Felix.
Zangoose wrapped her arms around Felix from behind and purred into his back. Felix felt a bit more relaxed at her soft touch. She spoke.
"Don't worry Felix. You can't blame yourself for all of the reasons for why she killed herself. She may have had problems that you wouldn't even know about. Just try to relax, okay?"
Felix nodded his head silently. He grabbed onto Zangoose's arms.
"Thank you, Zangoose. You're so nice to me….will you stay over again tonight? Please?" asked the boy.
"Felix, DON'T!" thought Pikachu.
Zangoose licked the back of his ear.
"Sure I will, Felix."
The cat Pokémon leaned forward to whisper into the boy's ear.
"Don't worry. You still have me…I'd never leave you…..ever…"
