Part Three






            White ghost face, held under the water with the fingers of tree limbs. Eyes opened and staring back at the one who brought her to this place. Lips pressed and swollen forever closed. The line. The line still circling her neck, still pressing her skin. In this place. This place.

            This place.

            The dying.

            Claire.

            Jessie shot up in bed. Her heart thundered in her ears and her feelings raged so loudly inside that Jessie could barely keep herself together. She had to hold herself in place. Had to keep herself from coming undone.

            Claire was dead. She knew that.

            'I shouldn't have brought it up at dinner.' Jessie took a few deep breaths as she rationalized her nightmare. 'It's just been so long.'

            It was almost nice. Not losing Claire. That had been Hell. Pure Hell. It was just, all she did 'was' talk about it. She couldn't stop. Then her family over reacted and she realized she needed to keep it to herself. She needed to keep it inside.

            It hurt Jonny. Claire had been his friend too. It hurt to hear Jessie ramble on and on trying to glue all the pieces together. In order to do that, she had needed every horrible detail of Claire's death. Every moment. She needed to drown in the river and stare up at the sky just as Claire had.

            'STOP IT!' Jessie felt her heart try to leap from her chest with pain. She had to stop it.

            The Bastard had gotten away.

            Jessie looked at the sunlight as it reached across the burgundy carpet. She took in the detail of the fabric drapes and elegant paintings that hung in her room. She focused on the detail of the woodwork of her furniture.

            She had to let Claire go. For now.

            Jessie untangled her legs from the twisted bed sheets and padded across the floor to the bathroom. She was going to be sick.

            She sprinkled the cold water from the sink onto her face and neck. She looked at her reflection and saw the yellow translucent skin and sunken eyes. She looked horrible. She 'felt' horrible.

            'Probably coming down with something.' Jessie walked back to her bed and looked at the small travel clock. 2:30? How did she sleep so long?

            Jessie looked at the bed. She actually felt as though she could crawl right back into it and sleep until the next day.

            'I just need to eat something.' Jessie threw her hair up into a loose ponytail and pulled on her jeans. She smoothed out her beige top and took a deep breath just before she opened her bedroom door.







            Jonny stood quietly in the hallway his ice blue eyes unwavering from the door in front of him. Who could still see Jessie's green eyes as she glared at him last night. She had been so mad when she found a bug in her purse. She had refused to acknowledge him.

            Jonny shifted his weight and leaned against the wall. She had every right to be mad. Bugging someone to hear their conversation was low.

            The problem?

            He wasn't the one who put it there. But he had an idea of how it got there. The question now was why?

            No more games. Jonny watched as the doorknob turned. He wanted answers.