chapter 23

JANE'S POV

I could not understand why the rest of the attendants were so scared of that lady who had been nothing but awful to the poor girl. It felt rather silly especially when no one would talk about her behavior and had been silent. I had to step up for her and answer the man only to realize that the wicked lady was actually his mistress and his wife was the one being bullied. It did not make sense at all and I wished I had done more instead of just speaking. A mere mistress with so much power over even the wife did not make any sense but eventually, they had finished with their shopping and I and the others started sorting things back and rearranging them.

"You shouldn't have said anything, at least not before Jessica, Jane." Scarlett, a friend of mine said to me.

"You all are acting weird like she owns the world. That lady was threatening the real wife." I pointed it out to her.

"Yes. And the real wife was not saying anything. Didn't you wonder why?" She asked me.

Indeed, it was a thing to get worried about as the wife had seemed to be scared of the mistress but then, we all had our private battles which we fought and the best thing we could do as humans was to help others regardless of what their outlook presents, the best we can. Hence, even if we could rewind back to the past and I had knowledge of this question on my mind, I would still help her.

I argued with my colleague that perhaps she had something strong on the wife and it did not matter actually because all I wanted was to lessen her burden, whatever it was. It would not matter at all if I had to expose a mistress. She said she understood but then, everyone feared Jessica.

"I am not everyone." I said to her,

"How about you come spend the night at my place? Just for tonight." She asked me and I scoffed.

Why on earth was she acting totally like some weirdo? She was acting like I had Jeffery Dahmer up my ass and was trying to save me. I smiled at her and then patted her shoulder.

"Stop overreacting, Scarlett. It's going to be fine. I have to be home so I can get ready for that exam I told you about." I said to her and she nodded.

"Very well then but you have to be careful and the moment you suspect something seems amiss, call me." She said to me and looked really serious about it.

She was staring at me solemnly and I was forced to concur with her worries as I had to get her off my back. For a brief moment, I found myself wondering who this woman was that sent shivers down everyone's spine. We all went about our varying duties and I could see everyone glancing at me awkwardly and I felt uncomfortable. I managed through the job and thought that I should probably go out for a drink with my friends. That way, I would feel better about all of this.

I was about to leave when I noticed Scarlett waiting outside for me. I had been really startled when I saw her and I nearly reared back.

"You feel it, don't you?" She asked me.

I glared hard at her. Seriously, I was going to call her bluff.

"Feel what? You startled me, Scarlett." I said to her,

"And for the first time, you're startled.. Jane, surely you do feel the fear all of us feel whenever she's around. It's like there is this power about her that forces us to want to please her.

I scoffed.

"Now you're becoming super weird." I said to her,

"You would not understand it because you joined recently. Even the manager fears her." Scarlett said to me.

"Shut up. We all know that the manager fears nothing and no one. She's only being nice to her customers and that is just about that. There is nothing special about that lady. Nothing scary!!!" I stated vehemently.

But now, I was actually unsure if I was trying to convince Scarlett or myself over the lady. I kept screaming to myself in my head that she was just an ordinary lady with no biggie about her and everyone else was overreacting. I was more than ready to prove it to all of them that their attitude was of no use to either of us and they needed to stop it.

Scarlett had asked me where I was going when she noticed that I was not headed home. I explained to her that I was going out for a drink and that she was invited to join me of course. She thought about it for a while and I started walking away from her which clearly prompted her to make up her mind and follow me.

We arrived at the crowded bar and sat down with my crazy friends who had made the bar their next favorite place.

"Hey, Scarlett." Jamie greeted me as I went to hug him.

He was the closest and we have history although we respect each other mutually now. I greeted them all one at a time.

"This is Scarlett. My colleague at the office. She is actually really shy around people." I said to them,

"That's not true." Scarlett said as she said hello to all of them.

We spent a greater time of the night drinking until I felt I had just about enough and bid goodnight to Scarlett. I rose up to get home when Jamie insisted on dropping me home.

"You were rather too quiet tonight." He said to me,

I could not believe it as I actually thought that I had been able to tuck away that weird woman from my mind and focus on my friends.

"Was I? I would have thought I was even more chattery tonight." I said to him honestly.

"But you weren't. You just withdrew to yourself and I actually thought something happened. Did something happen, Jane?" He asked me.

"Not really. There was this weird woman at the boutique today but it's nothing." I said to him,

"Good. I miss us though." He said to me,

I sighed.

"Me too." I said to him,

"Does this mean you forgive me and would let us get back together?" I asked him.

"Only if I am certain that you stopped dealing." I said to him,

He quickly reached into his pocket and handed me a test result. It showed that he was clean after every analysis.

"For you, I would change." He said to me,

I smiled at him as I reached over and kissed him. Tomorrow, we shall start again but then, I went inside and locked my door. I had just entered and was about to make my way to where the switch was when the lights came on and I shuddered to see the woman from earlier looking really grim before me.

"Hello, Jane." She said to me,

"How did you..?" I began as I ran for the door but she was there as she slashed me across the chest with her fingers.

They were not fingers but claws and I noticed the change in her eye color.

"What are you?" I muttered.

"You'll see." She said to me,

I started walking backwards.

"Please, I don't want to die. Let me go." I pleaded for my life as I now realized why Scarlett feared her.

"I would have if you had not ruined my life. You made him toss me out of his chambers and get me that disgusting costume." She said menacingly approaching me.

I wanted to say something but then she reached for my throat and pulled out my windpipe. My blood splattered all over the place and on her too as I started falling. I could not scream but the pain was overwhelming.

I landed on the floor with a thud as I saw my blood flowing. A single teardrop escaped my eyes as I closed my eyes and embraced the darkness.