Chapter 8
Stepping out onto the solid concrete pavement where she had stood, what seemed like a lifetime ago, Jessica froze on the spot, for she had not prepared herself for what would happened when she eventually reached her home. It just seemed too surreal for her to absorb. The bright florescent police tape surrounded the front of her house, in a bid to restrict curious onlookers from the dull red stains on the pavement.
"Mrs Fletcher" said Andy. By this time he had got out of the car and approached her cautiously.
Almost paralysed where she stood, Jessica was all but numb from the distressing flashbacks racing through her head.
"Mrs Fletcher" said Andy once more. This time his volume had increased in an attempt to try and break her away from the cruel images that had engulfed her thoughts.
Snapping out of her hypnotic state, she then turned towards the deputy.
"We did it early this morning ma'am" said Andy, referring to the police tape.
"The sheriff gave us a call around 12:45am to let us know what had happened" he said in a calm manner, taking off his hat at the same time to show some respect for his fallen friend. Sensing that Jessica needed some time to herself, Andy returned his hat to his head, opened the car door and buckled himself in shutting the door behind him.
"Mrs Fletcher, if you need anything then you call me, ok?" he asked.
"I will, and thank you Andy" Jessica replied. Andy then drove off down the road, leaving Jessica to herself.
The street was unusually quiet as Jessica stepped around the taped off area and made her way towards her front door up the garden path. Glancing around the neighbouring houses, she could see the occasional net curtains flutter from the curious eyes surveying her return home. She then reached for her house keys, unlocked the door and then concealed herself inside.
Stepping over the threshold, Jessica felt something underneath her feet, panning down to the floor she noticed a rectangular piece of white paper. It was an envelope addressed to one Mrs J.B Fletcher. Scanning it, something seemed familiar about the handwriting on the front, as if she had seen it somewhere before, but with no return address, she could not identify the sender. So taking the letter in her hands, she headed upstairs.
Reaching the four poster bed that held residency in her bedroom, she sat back onto it and placed down her belongings. She then began to scrape her hair off her face with her hands, becoming angrier with every second until she could conceal it no more. A flourish of tears began to fall from her face, the distress and anguish that she had been feeling all surfaced once again. Surrendering to her heavy heart, her angry expression melted away into a saddened frown, and her head fell into her hands. She then laid back onto the bed, pulled her legs up to chest and with the tears still falling, she cried herself to sleep.
Even in her dreams, Jessica could not escape the world around her, all she was able to think about was Seth's condition. Her heart all but breaking from the thought of losing another man that she loves, the flashbacks inflicted so much grief and sorrow that it appeared that she could no longer try and escape through her dreams. Not being able to lay there any more, Jessica pulled herself up using the oak bed posts, picked up a towel from her airing cupboard and made her way towards the bathroom, in a bid to wash away at least some of the memory of last night.
Once in the shower, she allowed the warm water to wash over her entire body, glancing down towards the plug hole she could see the reddened water draining away. It took more than once for her to scrub away the blood stains on her hands, after which she then washed the rest of herself. Then when she could no longer bare to stare at the bloodied pools beneath her feet, she turned off the shower, dried herself down and changed into a stone coloured pair of pants, with a white collared blouse and a brown jumper. Perching herself back onto her bed, she opened her bedside drawer, pulled out a brush and began to comb through her mousy blonde hair. Scanning around the room as she did so Jessica noticed the letter that she had neglected was still lying on the bed next to her. Putting down the brush she picked up the letter, and opened it to see something that sent shivers down her spine.
There on the white paper held a message, it read;
It's too late to undo what has been done, I am coming for you and this time I wont miss...