NOVEL NEXT Chapter 35
If Jason was honest with himself, it wasn’t the worst bus ride he had been on. The driver had to be half blind because he didn’t even turn his head when two injured teens slipped onto his bus and darted to the back. Either that or the white haired bus driver wasn’t paid enough to care. Given that the section of the city that they were headed to was considerably less populated than Jason’s own meant the bus was almost completely empty. There was only one other passenger, a twenty something year old lady who was passed out on one of the seats. Jason and Jessica found a seat and slunk down into it. The bus rumbled away from the mall and began its zig-zagged route through the city. A few more passengers boarded and departed, but nobody sat close enough to notice anything wrong with either Jason or Jessica.
The knife wound on Jason’s stomach had stopped bleeding around halfway through their journey, though Jason was fairly sure it would open back up if he had to run or fight again. Jessica watched him with open concern as they traveled.
“I’m really fine.” Jason assured her.
His words only served to deepen Jessica’s frown.
“You’re going straight to the hospital the moment we’re done over there.” She said firmly.
“You probably need to as well.” Jason nodded at her still bloodied arms. “I’m just glad none of yours were as serious as mine.”
Jessica shook her head and turned towards the window.
“Thank you.” She breathed out quietly.
“I wasn’t just going to watch her stab you.” Jason shifted in place and winced as the movement threatened to reopen his wound. “I can’t say it went as well as I had hoped it would.”
“Not that… I mean not just for that.” Jessica corrected herself.
Her violet eyes fell from the window and lingered on her own hands in her lap.
“Thank you for stopping me. It’s a strange feeling, not knowing if my actions stem from my own emotions or something artificial.” Jessica clasped her hands together and shot a wary look at Jason. “It scares me how easy it is to fall into. I wanted to hurt her. To make sure she never came close to you ever again. Even after everything we talked about. I fell right back into those thoughts so easily.”
Jason reached over and placed his hand over Jessica’s. She blushed shyly but pushed her fingers between Jason’s own. Jason hesitated and felt blood rush to his cheeks. He hadn’t actually meant to hold her hand. Not that he was opposed to the idea but he had only wanted to reassure Jessica that he was here for her by a small hand pat. Deciding it would be better not to bring up this embarrassing fact, Jason simply gave Jessica’s hand a comforting squeeze and kept his hand in its place.
The pair got off the bus on its second to last stop. After taking a moment to orient themselves, Jason and Jessica began to jog in the general direction Jessica remembered the map pointing to. This section of the city was… strange. Jason had no other way to put it. The housing was all high end and probably extremely expensive, but most of it stood empty or abandoned. There was a certain air of danger in the air that Jason had only felt in high crime areas. The atmosphere and the location seemed to be on two ends of a very wide spectrum that should never loop around on one another. The few places that did seem inhabited had extremely high walls around their property and security cameras watching every angle.
“What is this? Gang central?” Jason asked Jessica.
His childhood friend shook her head. “I didn’t think so. At least, I’d never heard of anything happening out here.”
Jason reached the next intersection and paused. A light to the right caught the edge of his vision and turned his full attention down the small side street. Despite it being the middle of the day, the two street lights down this road were flickering on and off intermittently. On a hunch, Jason turned and began to walk in their direction.
“What is it?” Jessica asked as she followed.
Jason didn’t answer, he simply pointed out a red door that was now visible halfway down the street. Like the suburbs around them, the door felt out of place. It was the color of red wine and had no signs of wear, unlike everything else around here. Jason felt confident that they had found what they were looking for. Jason raced to the door and looked it over once more. There was no mistaking it. This was it.
“Jason…” Jessica called out with a warning tone.
“Red door.’ Jason turned to find the girl’s head cocked and one of her ears high in the air.
Jessica placed a finger to her lips and whispered. “Listen.”
Jason fell silent and immediately picked up what Jessica had already noticed. A car engine. They had seen a few cars while walking around in this area of the city, but none of them had been traveling as fast as this one. The engine roared through the streets and grew closer the longer Jason listened.
“We should get inside.” Jessica warned and Jason nodded.
He reached out and tried to twist the handle but found it locked. A cold bead of sweat began to form on the back of Jason’s neck. He had been so focused on getting here he didn’t actually know what it took to get inside. Doubts entered his mind that maybe he had been misreading the signs and this wasn’t the correct door after all. Not sure on what else to do, Jason knocked loudly on the door. The sound echoed around like Jason was standing in a tiled room. It made no sense given his current surroundings. On the previously empty patch of wall just to the right of the door a small plaque appeared out of nowhere.
“Only one party may enter at a time.”
Jason’s eyes widened and he glanced up at Jessica. She stepped closer and read the plaque as well.
“I don’t like this.” Jessica grabbed Jason’s elbow. “Are you sure this is the only way?”
The car could only be a block or two away. It could have nothing to do with him. It could belong to some hot shot teenager who was out for a joy ride. Despite all of the logical reasons his brain could come up with to explain the approaching vehicle, Jason knew deep down that it was coming for him.
“We could come back.” Jason offered.
“No, we can’t.” Jessica pulled him in for a quick hug.
She turned and began to run further down the empty street, away from the sound of the approaching vehicle.
“Go, but please stay safe.” She called back to him as she ran.
Jason ground his teeth and turned back to the door. If there was a better option, he couldn’t come up with it in time. All he could do now was make this as quick as possible. Jason lifted his hand to knock again but the door opened before he was able to. A man in a white suit swung it open wide and greeted Jason with a smile.
“Well well well.” The man had a smooth voice that carried a lot of expectation. “If it isn’t the man of the hour.”
Jason froze. The man before him had an aura that reminded Jason of Remi. The only difference was this man’s presence was dialed up to an eleven. He was powerful, confident, and above all, he was evil. Jason could feel it in the air circling around this man. He may look human, but every nerve in Jason’s body screamed that he wasn’t. The man flashed Jason a toothy grin. It was brief, but in that short time Jason noted that the man’s teeth were a little too sharp.
“Shall we step inside?” The man gestured for Jason to enter. “I get the feeling you don’t want to be out here much longer.”
The blood red eyes of the man shot Jason a knowing look. Jason clenched his hands. If he didn’t he was afraid they’d start shaking out of panic. He wasn’t ready for this. How could he be ready to meet and deal with this… creature?
I have to end this. Jason saw flashes of each of the girls he’d affected in his life. No matter what it costs, I owe it to them to end it.
A sinister light flashed briefly behind the stranger’s eyes. He beckoned for Jason to enter once more. Jason took a steadying breath and stepped through the door.
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Jessica once again cursed herself for leaving her swords at home. It had been stupid and reckless to leave them behind. She had been too eager to leave and find Jason. Even though the blades wouldn’t really help her against what was coming it would have still felt good to have some form of protection with her.
Jessica made it to the end of the street just in time to turn around and see Jason step into the red door. Moments after her beloved disappeared, a red sport's car drifted around the distant intersection and careened down the street. Jessica leapt around the left corner and rolled out of sight. Peeking around the street corner, Jessica confirmed what she already suspected. A bruised, deranged Courtney kicked open the camaro door and stumbled out of the driver’s seat.
The girl had fully lost it. The calm and calculating rival that Jessica had fought against had been replaced by a lunatic. Courtney shambled over to the red door and began to claw at its exterior. When the door remained closed Courtney resorted to stabbing the wooden entryway with the same blade she had fought Jessica with before.
Is… Is that what I would act like if Jason rejected me? Jessica felt chills run down her spine at the thought.
She was certain Jason had feelings for her. If he didn’t care about her so much then why would he go so far to make sure she had control over her own mind? Jessica was confident that her love towards Jason wouldn’t change in the slightest after he removed his curse. After all, she had felt this way ever since she left him behind in middle school. That proved it wasn’t just this weird power he had over the others, didn’t it?
Jessica’s conflicting thoughts were interrupted by further movement down the street. After failing to make headway with her knife, Courtney was getting back in her car. The momentary relief that filled Jessica was instantly replaced by cold dread when she realized the nut intended on ramming her car through the red door.
I can’t let her get to him!
Jessica wasn’t sure how that plaque appeared on the wall. Nor what limits the magic or whatever power resided in that place had, but she couldn’t risk letting Courtney potentially ruin Jason’s chances at fixing things. Just as Courtney had turned her tires towards the entrance, Jessica stepped out into the open.
“Hey!” Jessica shouted down the street.
Courtney’s eyes immediately locked onto Jessica and her mouth curled down into a monstrous snarl. White smoke flew from the tires as Courtney slammed her foot down on the accelerator. Jessica felt her heart skip a few beats.
I guess I got her attention.
