Chasing Jenna (22 page)

“Once again, University officials are not commenting on the apparent death of this student, or the name of her missing roommate. Local police are telling us the roommate has not been named a suspect but they would like to talk to this person, to find out if she has any information that could help solve this brutal crime.”

I grabbed my head as the word “No” spilled over and over from my lips. She was dead – he’d killed her. I fell to the floor in a ball as shockwaves hit my body. My lungs deflated and refused oxygen. The world dissolved and I lost control of my actions. Somehow though, I made it to my feet. I threw open the door and stumbled down the hallway, weaving between the stair railing and the wall.

The pain in my chest was crippling and I didn’t know what to do with it. I clawed at my face and neck, trying to let everything out.

I ran down the steps and out of the building, letting the sunshine hit me in the face. I stood there silently screaming, waiting for someone to rescue me; no one came.

The pain of losing her pounded in my head. My heart screamed her name. Mindlessly I wandered around – I was destroyed. I wanted to die with her, I begged for it.

I turned the corner and started down the alley, running my hand along the bricks of the building to keep my balance. No real thoughts formed in my head, only scattered words: “apparent death”, “brutal crime”, “suspect”.

My legs shook and I knew they weren’t going to carry me much further. The shaking made its way up my torso, attacking me violently, taking over every inch of my body until I had nothing left. I leaned one hand against the building and emptied my stomach over and over.

The world spun uncontrollably as I crashed to the ground next to the garbage dumpster. The cement was cold, wet and unforgiving. The burn of scraped skin on my forehead registered for a split second, followed by the warmth of blood. It wasn’t enough to make me move.

I decided this is where I would give up, so I closed my eyes and dreamed of death.

>CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE<

“Hey…hey, are you okay?”

Everything was blurry; I blinked as the outline of a woman came into view. Her face seemed familiar. I squinted against the pain in my head. She stood the alley’s width away, obviously uncomfortable talking to me.

“I said, are you okay?”

Using every bit of energy I could, I pushed myself to a sitting position, but the spinning started again. I tried to steady it by closing my eyes and putting my face in my hands.

“Whoever did this to you must’ve been pretty pissed.” I slowly looked up at her again, my vision blotted with white spots.

Her eyes darted to something over my shoulder. “He hasn’t left your side.”

I glanced over my shoulder to see the alley dog sitting there. It was the same dog that had chased a man down this alley earlier. He looked even bigger up close than he did from my window.

“I’ve seen that dog in this alley, but didn’t realize he belonged to someone.” My head hurt so badly, I couldn’t even tell her he wasn’t mine, I just stared at her. She was nervous but continued. “I was going to try to shake you awake, but your friend made it very clear I was to get no closer to you than this. He is very protective – probably smart to have in a neighborhood like this.”

I tried to swallow, but choked on the dryness in my throat. I coughed a few times and my chest felt like it would explode.

“How long have I been out here?”

“Well, I first noticed you when I looked out my window an hour ago. I thought you were dead.” I cringed at her relaxed view of death. She talked about it as if it was as simple as asking me what I wanted for dinner.

“About fifteen minutes ago I heard Cujo going crazy. I looked out and some scumbag was trying to get close to you. Of course, your security guard here was not about to let that happen so after he scared the guy off , I decided I would come down here and try to wake you up. The longer you lay here, the better chance someone sees you and calls the cops. When the cops come, they make all sorts of trouble. The last thing I need is a bunch of cops hanging around asking questions.”

I must’ve looked confused because finally she said, “Bad for business, you know?” She attempted a smile, but the action seemed unfamiliar to her. “Anyway, let’s get you up and see if you can walk.”

She took a step toward me and the dog lunged. I could see the hair standing up on his back and heard the low warning growl. I don’t know why, but I reached out and put one hand on his back. He steadied his stance, so I leaned on him as I got myself to my feet. I gave him a quick scratch behind his ears.

As soon as I stood up, I could feel the strength coming back to my legs, but I wasn’t ready to walk yet. I stood for a second, looking around. The alley was framed in by tall buildings on either side. I looked up and found my window. The one I was looking out this morning … when I heard the news about Katie.

“I can help you back to your room.” She said from a few feet behind me. I knew she didn’t want to get any closer to me because of the dog. “I just live down the hall from you.”

I turned to look at her. “You do? I’ve never seen you before. I mean, I’ve seen you standing on the corner but …” I almost felt ashamed that I didn’t know she lived in the same building – but it’s not like I was out looking for friends.

“It's okay, but a word of advice … when you live in a neighborhood like this, it’s very important to know exactly who your neighbors are. Then go about your business like you have no idea who your neighbors are.” I nodded my head at her – I knew what she meant. From the window I had guessed her to be middle-aged, but now that I was closer to her, she looked much younger.

“And don’t trust anyone … ever,” she added.

“Not even you?”

“Not even me,” she said flatly.

We walked down the alley and turned the corner to go into our building. There was no foyer or happy manager to greet you. The mixed smell of garbage and mold hit me and was strangely comforting. It was like when you open the front door to your own home and the aroma of your life hits you. This had quickly become the essence of my life – and how fitting it was.

The stairway stood open in the middle of the building, any floor could look down and see straight to the bottom. We headed up the steps to the third floor. My companion never left my side, staying right in step with me.

“What’s your dog’s name?” she asked.

“Actually, it’s not my dog,” I said as I reached down and touched his back.

“Well he is now. You should call him Killer.”

We continued up the steps in silence.

“His name is Angel,” I whispered. Katie’s face flashed in my mind. The way she looked when I first met her. Her beautiful smile, her laugh that made you laugh, even if you didn’t want to. My heart grew heavy, as I remembered the last time I saw her. I squeezed my eyes shut and shook my head, trying to remove the memory.

We walked down the third floor hallway and as we passed a door she whispered, “This is my room. My name is Becky, by the way.”

“Jen ...” She shook her head to silence me.

Leaning toward me she whispered. “It’s best if people don’t know you’re in the hallways, it’s safer that way … always whisper.”

I wanted to thank her for helping me. To tell her she didn’t have to stand on that damn corner every night. There was more to life than that. But what did I know, my best friend was dead, I was on the run, and I had no idea what I was going to do. I started rubbing my forehead, trying to remove all of the hopeless thoughts. I sucked in air quickly when my hand ran over dried blood.

Then I heard Angel. The growl was deep, low, and quiet, not meant to scare something away, but to gain our attention. He stood at my door, his back end dropped a bit, ready to spring at whatever was going to come out.

Becky grabbed my arm, “We gotta go.” I pulled my arm away and took a step toward my door. “If you’re that stupid fine, but I’m not waiting to see what that has dog all fired up.” She put her key quietly in the lock. She was right, I needed to hide; someone was in my apartment.

“Hurry, please hurry.” I whispered right into her ear “They’re here to kill me.” Just as those words passed my lips, the key turned and the door was open.

“Angel!” I spit out, quickly he returned to my side.

I pressed both hands up against the door, straining my eyes to see through the peep hole. Becky paced back and forth behind me. She mumbled to herself. “I knew I shouldn’t have gone down there. What was I thinking? I know better than this.”

“SHHH,” I said as I waved my hand behind me.

“Someone wants to kill you? And I’m with you, which makes me as good as dead.”

I couldn’t take my eyes away from the hallway. I needed to see who was looking for me. The hair on the back of my neck stood up when I realized; it wasn’t who was looking for me, it was who had found me.

“Do you have any weapons?” I asked, still with my face pressed against the door.

“What?”

I turned toward her, irritated. I didn’t have time for these stupid games. “Listen Becky, I know what you do for a living. Do you have anything we can defend ourselves with or not?”

She scurried over by the bed and pulled out a baseball bat. I frowned as she handed it to me – then she pulled a knife out of her purse.

"This is it? You really need to get some serious protection.” She shrugged her shoulders at me.

“I’m not ready to die, are you?” She stared at me with shocked eyes, as she slowly shook her head.

“Okay, I’ll let Angel out first; whoever is in there won’t be expecting a dog. I’ll crack him over the head with the bat; you come in with the knife only if we need it, okay?” She nodded.

I turned back to the door where Angel was still standing. I knelt down to him and rubbed behind his ear. I was putting a lot of trust in an animal who had only been “mine” for about thirty minutes. When I stood up, he put his nose right at the door; like he understood the plan. I cracked open Becky’s door, and had the perfect view of my door from here.

My heart beat drowned out all other noises. I concentrated on the coolness of the bat in my hand. One hit was all I needed. I knew if I pictured it too much in my head, I wouldn’t be able to go through with it. Already, my conscious told me that I couldn’t do this; I wasn’t a killer. But it was him or me. There was no choice – and when I told Becky that I wasn’t going to die today, I meant it. Whoever came out that door would be Quinn – in my mind. A strange calmness came over me. I could do this.

As my door cracked open, I felt Angel stiffen next to me – I tightened my grip on the bat. Whoever was coming out of that door was going to die.

The door opened wider and I could see the back of him. He wore a black hoodie pulled up over his head and a gray denim jacket pulled tight across his broad shoulders. He slowly backed out of the door like he was waiting for someone to invite him back in.

I pictured Quinn’s face. He was the one who had killed my friend – the one who had done unimaginable things to her. I wanted to see his face, wanted to see who had found me and for some reason, wanted my face to be the last thing he saw – for Katie.

Picturing her face one more time, I swung the door open. Angel bolted toward Katie’s killer.

He didn’t have time to fully turn around before Angel had a hold of the back of his upper arm. I lifted my bat, waiting for the perfect shot.

Katie was the only thing on my mind – how she looked the last time I saw her, and what she had to endure to keep me safe. I could feel the rage of her death rising in me. I was ready to make someone pay for all the fear and pain I had felt in the last few days.

The stranger yelled in agony as Angel pulled on his arm in an attempt to bring him to the ground. But something in that yell made me stop. Something made me lessen my grip and scream Angel’s name.

“Angel! Come here!” Angel let go of the stranger, but paced between us, not wanting me to get any closer.

The stranger dropped to his knees and then onto his side, grabbing at his arm. I could already see the dark stain of blood coming through his coat as he moaned in pain.

I took a few steps toward him. My bat still raised and Angel between us.

“Who are you?” I yelled, but he didn’t respond. I moved a little closer and lowered my voice. “Tell me who you are or I swear I will turn you into a dog toy.”

Angel growled and the floor made a terrible creaking sound as I walked a few steps closer.

He slowly rolled over into a sitting position and the hood fell from his face. Tears streamed down his cheeks and I felt my head start to spin as he looked at me.

“They killed her, Jenna. They killed my Katie.”

“Marcus?”

>CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX<

“We have to get inside.” I grabbed him by his other arm and helped him to his feet. He trembled against me. I used my foot to push the door open further and shuffled him into the apartment, steadying him on the wall. He gasped over and over for air, trying to calm himself.

“They killed her, Jenna.”

“Come on.” I grabbed the chair and moved it over by the sink, helping him lower himself onto it. He grabbed at me, desperate for something.

“I know.” I kept my eyes down. I couldn’t let him see her the way she was when I had seen her last. I was afraid that if I looked at him, he would somehow be able to see my memory of her. He was already broken – if he saw what I saw, he would crumble.

“Stay here. I’ll be right back.”

The hallway was empty. I inched along the wall but kept my eyes toward the stairwell. I tapped Becky’s door with the end of the bat and waited. Nothing. I tried the door but it was locked. I couldn’t blame her for not wanting anything to do with me; I had known her for fifteen minutes and asked her to stab someone.

Slowly I backed into my apartment and closed the door.

Marcus sat in the chair, his head hanging down. I swallowed to fight off the sob that had a tight grip on my throat. I could feel his terror and disbelief – I knew it well.

“I’m going to get your arm cleaned up. We need to make sure you don’t need stitches.” The only thing I could do right now was avoid. He’d want to know all the details, and I’d have to tell him. But right now I had to do something other than think about Katie.