2. Chapter Two

Chapter Two

" W here do you think you're going?" Amelia was standing beside the door with one hand on her hip and tapping her foot like she was a dorm monitor.

Jenna rolled her eyes and shrugged before she looked at her cousin. It was like looking into a mirror, but Amelia had blue eyes with a brown ring around them, courtesy of her parents. They always intrigued Jenna, who had stormy gray eyes.

"Is it a sin to leave the house?" It was a nice house, a little like the one she used to live in without the neighbors from hell next door. This one had three bedrooms. The third bedroom was small, a nursery or a home office, but she and Amelia loved it.

"You're just not an outside type of person." Amelia was right, she wasn't.

Maybe she could have been. But she refused to go down that line of thought even as shivers of dread rolled down her spine. Some lives were filled with loving parents and grandparents. Others were filled with pain.

"As much as I'd like to sit on the couch and run the world from in front of the television, I have to go out. I'll be back in about three hours and don't go telling on me to Bella." She frowned at Amelia before smiling. Her cousin loved her, and she needed to remember that. "Thanks, coz." She hugged her tight, more for her safety and security than Amelia's.

"If I had a choice, I'd stay here but…"

"It's the voices, isn't it?" Amelia sank against the light blue wall of the living room.

"If I had a choice, but I don't." Amelia nodded, but she wasn't buying it.

"Make sure you get back here in time to go to Bella's for dinner."

Jenna coughed and looked at the couch. It was a cozy place to rest, and they even had a fireplace in the living room.

"I think I'm coming down with a cold and by the time I get back I won't be feeling well enough to go to Bella's." Amelia's foot tapped harder, and Jenna gave up on the dream of sleeping on the couch with a roaring fire while Amelia went to dinner.

"I heard something similar the last time Bella invited us to dinner. This time she informed me I wasn't to take a no from you. Unless you want her to come here and drag you to her house for dinner, and we both know she will, I suggest you be ready."

Fire and tarnation. Amelia wasn't lying. Bella would keep her word. Now that she thought of herself as a warrior, a pregnant warrior, she was much more hands-on.

"I'll be here." She opened the door before jumping back and slamming it shut. Something smacked against the door.

"What the?" Amelia opened the door to see the backs of two people running around the corner.

"Teenagers. How do they keep finding me?" This was the second house they rented since Amelia decided to live with her. She knew the question was rhetorical. Somebody said I saw her, and it eventually got around to someone with a reporter in their family. The reporter went underground and dropped her name and before you knew the entire city, if not, the entire world knew where she lived. It was getting tiring, and she wanted it to end.

Jenna was going to miss this place, but they couldn't continue living there now that their cover had been compromised.

"Amelia, do you—."

"If you're going to ask me if I want to get a place by myself, I will tie you up and beat you with multiple wet noodles."

Of course, she was going to ask that. One look at Amelia's face told her to back up. "I was going to ask what time Bella wanted us to show up." Amelia's grin was enough to let her know she didn't believe a word Jenna said.

"We need to be there no later than seven. You leave and I'll clean up outside." Jenna shook her head.

"I need to change. Thanks for cleaning up." She escaped to her bedroom. They could smell the feces through the closed door. Teens weren't all that creative when it came to the harassment of adults.

Jenna found a big floppy hat to wear. She applied a foundation that was three, maybe four, times darker than her skin. A salesperson at a counter in a store once told her a sister should look like a sister, and you don't look like one. She handed her a sample and had the nerve to say, you're welcome as Jenna walked away. Jenna had pocketed the sample and put it in a desk drawer when she got home and never thought of it again. She applied it liberally along with the longest false eyelashes she had. Those she bought for Halloween last year.

One look in the mirror showed a creature that might be a monster, but it didn't look anything like her. The dark foundation was a brilliant touch. She wore an ankle-length skirt and a shirt that said I hate myself. No one would think it was her. She was proud of her body and the pounds she wore like a badge of honor. You don't like your women thick, don't look.

They were living in a ranch-style house. Everything was on one floor with a basement. There was no hope of sneaking past Amelia, who had the eyes of an eagle when it came to Jenna.

"What did you do to your face, and why are you wearing that hideous hat?" Amelia was right, the hat was hideous. It was an orange and yellow number that was supposed to be all the rage at the beaches. She highly doubted that. It helped to hide her face while throwing it in the shadows. Beggars couldn't be choosey.

"The salesperson assured me this was all the rage." She couldn't remember where the hat came from, most likely online.

"You can't wear that. Next time you go shopping, I'm coming with you."

"I have to wear it at least once I bought it." She gave her coz her best clueless and innocent look. She didn't want Amelia to get a good look at the makeup beneath the hat.

Amelia opened and closed her mouth, looking like a fish, before throwing her hands up in the air.

"I swear you're clueless, Jenna. Try to stay in the shadows or hug a wall."

Jenna hit the wall by the door. She had a newfound hatred of walls. "I'll be back soon." She opened the door to see that Amelia had cleaned up the mess.

"I'll start looking for a new place to live." Jenna flashed her a smile.

"Sounds good. See you soon." She closed the door behind her and walked down to the bus stop. She never drove because of the voices in her head.

Jenna stepped off the bus in front of the mall. This was the last place she wanted to be. Crowds made her nervous. The voices in her head, yes, they were actual voices, along with the visions, said she had to be here. When they first started, she was sure she was cursed. Her mother told her otherwise and was helping her deal with them. Then the sperm donor killed her mother. She was on her own after that.

Tugging the hat further down, she walked into the mall. The bus let her off at the front where there weren't any stores. There were several benches to sit on and wait for the bus or a ride. People talked and mingled in this part of the mall. You were either coming or going and no one paid attention to whoever was hanging around. She hurried past and soon was standing in front of the first store with a wide-open door and large windows showcasing beautiful outfits. Unfortunately, that store didn't sell anything in her size.

Jenna moved quickly. She came in on the second floor, but she needed to be on the first floor. She took an escalator down refusing to look up or stare at any of the stores she was used to shopping in virtually. The need to blend in was riding her hard. She grabbed a coffee and a pizza pretzel. At the end of the mall, there was a spot where they had Santa at Christmas and the Easter Bunny, along with all the other holidays. This time, there was a meeting of people who were mumbling and getting louder.

Jenna sat on a bench and wondered how the storefronts around the area felt about the gathering that looked like it could get out of hand. She casually looked around, not meeting anyone's eyes, stopping when she saw a man in the corner. He was wearing jeans. She was sure that he paid several hundred for them. He paired them with a button-down shirt and a pair of brand-new tennis shoes. He was wearing an old bomber and a baseball cap pulled low over his head. It was the bomber and the cap that made him blend in. A shiver went up Jenna's back. Was he the power behind the rants? Maybe.

The leader of the group was a white male with scraggly brown hair. He looked like he needed sleep and food, not necessarily in that order. The woman encouraging him was black. That seemed strange to Jenna that they could be so hostile to another race, as if they forgot there was a time when blacks and whites hated each other. She guessed it was genuine hatred that brought people together.

"Did you see the purple circle in her eyes?" The man shouted to be heard over all the other voices. "That's how you know one is pregnant with a monster's seed." The voices around Jenna rose several octaves. "Look at her the next time the news takes a picture of her. Look at her face, you'll see the circles. That's how we will know they are spawning."

Jenna waited until they were all bolstering. He stirred their courage before she said anything. "Who made you the monster whisperer?" She said loud enough for everyone to hear her.

"Who are you?" The man looked her over, dismissing her as a sloppy fat chick. Just what she wanted. Her breath was in her throat as she answered him.

"A concerned citizen. Which woman told you that a purple ring was a sign of spawning?" Sorry, Bella, she apologized to her sister. "Are you a friend of Bella's? Did she tell you?" The man shuddered violently.

"I'd never talk to her unless it was to tell her to go on a diet." It took everything in Jenna not to laugh or spit in fury.

Some people were too busy judging others to realize they needed to look into the mirror.

"So, this is just supposition." The man sputtered. He was angry, she could see it in his eyes.

"Mark my words. It is a sign of them being pregnant. We need to put them out of their misery before they start birthing hell beasts." Jenna laughed at him, but she didn't find any of it funny.

"Hell beasts? Do you write horror, or fantasy for a living."

"As if I would ever associate with those losers," he said. Jenna looked him over from his unkempt clothes that needed washing and stitching to his messy hair and beard. The man appeared to be in need of... The man looked like he needed the money for a makeover. Some fantasy writers paid their bills writing and some made mad money. But he didn't want to be one of them. One prejudice led to another.

"No matter, you don't have any conclusive proof of what you're saying. If you did, you would show it."

"Mark my words, you'll be back asking for my forgiveness." She rolled her eyes before standing.

"You guys can stay here and listen to this drivel or take care of what brought you to the mall." She walked away like she didn't have a care in the world, although her heart was pounding so hard she couldn't think. Close to three-fourths of the people listening walked away. The others were the hardcore haters. There was nothing she could do about them. She picked up speed when she was further away from them. Her heart was in her throat, and she was sweating. The makeup was running down her cheeks and one eyelash was stuck to the god-awful hat she was wearing. She was looking ahead, eyes slightly cast down, when a hand of steel grabbed her wrist.

"Sweet Jenna, Is that you?" Fudge!

She didn't have to look up to know that her ex-neighbor, Jeffrey Johnson, had her wrist in an iron-clad grip.

"Jeffrey." His name came out low and weak. He scared the hell out of her although she tried not to show it.

"I told the Mrs. It was you." The Mrs. was his wife, Marilyn. She was just as awful as he was. "I'm surprised to see you out and away from that ball and chain that was your sister."

"Let me go." Her heart was beating so loud she wondered if he could hear it. Bile was crawling up her throat, burning her along the way. Soon she knew that she'd throw up. Right now, she was trying to take deep breaths and ignore the hand holding her still.

"Let me go." She was trying to instill Bella's forcefulness into her voice.

"Why would I do that?" Jenna turned her head. Some people were ignoring her. They had that classic I don't want to get involved in someone else's drama look. Others watched with furious eyes. It was the ones who slowed down like they knew what was happening and were just waiting for the word.

Those were the ones she was counting on to help her. She yanked at her arm and got nowhere. Jeffrey was a good-looking man on the outside. She thought that the first time she met him. It didn't take long to realize that the outside and inside didn't match. Over time, Jeffrey looked like a sick, demented slug to match what he looked like on the inside. He loved to terrorize women. Jenna thought he might live for it.

"Let me go?"

"Why would I do that? I finally have you where I want you."

Authorities had charged Jeffrey with rape and beating some women to death. It didn't stick, but Jenna didn't need the court system to tell her he was guilty of more rapes and deaths than the cops knew. He wanted her to be his next victim. That was the main reason she had never gone back to that house. It was up on the market for sale, but they wouldn't sell to single women or young married couples. They wanted a single man, hopefully ex-special military.

"I will yell fire if you don't let me go." She'd learned long ago to scream fire if you were in danger. It would attract more attention.

"You wouldn't dare?" He was right, in a sense. There was a time when she would have let him put his hands on her, but watching her sister stand up for justice had changed something inside of her. Despite being scared, that didn't stop her from taking a stand against being used or abused one more time.

"Five, four, three—."

"Let her go. We found her once, we'll find her again," Marilyn said laying a hand on her husband's chest.

How could she condone this? She was a woman. Was it a case of Stockholm syndrome or did she find joy in her husband and his evilness? He glared for a minute before he released Jenna's wrist.

"I'll find you again and next time you won't get away." She ran, not stopping to argue with him.