Sunflower

Background color
Font
Font size
Line height

"Are you sure you're okay?" Jasper asked for the 10th time now since we left that old barn shed. I respond the same way with a small nod. Not convincing.

We stopped at the front lawn of my house and I stare at the empty building. There were no lights except for the light at the front step which was set on a timer. I could hear Spot barking inside. He already senses I am near. This makes me smile a little. What did we do to deserve dogs?

Jasper remains standing by his motorbike, hands crossed against his chest. He was still not dropping the issue. After I had found that note and almost ran out of there, there really was no time to talk about it. Not that I wanted to. Something didn't feel right, but I could not finish the puzzle that has formed in my head. What was I not seeing?

"Hey...," he says and when I turn to him, I am caught of guard by the emotion in his eyes. It was something I would have never expected to see. Especially in Jasper.

"I know you're scared," he says quietly, looking away from me now and I wonder if he is trying to recall what had happened to him all those years ago. I didn't want him to reopen old wounds. Especially since he was much younger than me then. He was probably 11 or 12 when he had received the first delivery of flowers. And his sister. Something inside me feels like it's being crushed. Oh god, I wonder how old she was? And how afraid she must have been.

"But- you're not alone in this," he still doesn't make eye contact and it tears me apart knowing that he had been alone. Without thinking, I go over to him and wrap my arms around him, wanting to tell him that he was not alone too. That I hope, even if its late, that I could bring him some comfort. He tenses under my touch and for a moment I think it is a bad idea. But then he relaxes, and we find ourselves in that position for a long time.

When it is finally time to say good bye, he waits until I get inside the front door before leaving. I watch him go with a little comfort knowing he was just a couple of houses away from where I was. After I fed Spot, I went to my room to try and ease my nerves about the whole event at the barn. It was terrifying to know Jasmine's captor was just watching me. Was that person watching me now? I shivered at the thought, tempted to ask Jasper to come and sleep over again. But that wouldn't be right. Instead, I try calling my boyfriend. His comment earlier had made me paranoid.

He answers on the third ring.

At first, I hear only muffled sounds. He was talking to someone, but I can't hear the other person's response before I hear a door slamming and then it was quiet.

"Hey, babe," he says.

I lie on my bed. "Hey, just wanted to check up on you."

"Shouldn't I be checking up on you?" he asks with a slight laughter in his voice. It calms my nerves. Nothing is wrong.

"Yeah, definitely. When are you coming back from that trip?"

"Sooner than you think." He says this with a mild ominous tone, making me think he was up to something. He had always been good at planning surprises. He always planned our dates. I guess it made me feel like I had some sort of control over my life that way. Like I could schedule everything into one whole day. He could.

"What's up, by the way?" he asks, and I feel myself thinking if I should tell him about the flowers or not. I decided not to. He doesn't need to get worked up about this. But he is my boyfriend? And his family is well known...he could have lawyers that could help. I bite my lip, weighing my options.

"Pat?" His voice sounds worried now and I sigh into the phone.

"Nothing, I just miss you and...I'm afraid of sleeping tonight because I'm alone," I tell him, smiling at how foolish I sounded.

"Isn't Spot with you?" He asks, and I found it weird he would be asking about the dog. As if Spot heard it, he pushed the door open to my room and proceeded to walk around, looking for something to chew on most likely. Jasmine always complained about that, but she laughed at it, so it wasn't really a complaint.

"Yeah, my guardian angel is here," I say as I pat on the bed, telling Spot to climb up. He does so after he takes one of my socks from the laundry basket. He settles at the edge of the bed, chewing on it and watching me like I was about to snatch it away from him. I smile.

"Yeah, you're right," I tell him even though he didn't really say anything. "I'm safe."

He laughs at this before saying good bye, saying he needed to finish something. Before he ends the call, I hear the faint sound of a music in the background. It sounded like the old nursery rhyme I used to sing as a kid.

When I drift off to sleep, the song plays in my head, a vague image of children dancing around in a circle. Each of them had a basket of flowers, each different from the other as they sing and dance.

"Ashes, ashes, we all fall down..."

Right in the middle of their circle laid a girl, clutching a rose on her chest. Her skin was pale, a stark contrast to the redness of her hair.

Jasmine.

I surprise myself when I wake up. I didn't scream, seeing my best friend in a field of flowers and surrounded by children didn't scare me. But my cheeks were wet. Stained by tears I must have shed. I get up, just as the sunlight crawled through my bedroom floor. Spot was no longer where he slept last night, but my socks had seen better days.

I get down, trying to forget my dream but something about it made my heart do a kick start and I was not sure if I was terrified or just panicking. I walk over to the kitchen when someone knocks on the door.

I open it to find Jasper. He didn't look like he slept at all last night.

"What's wrong?" I ask him, terrified of the expression on his face.

"They found a body." Was all he said and the next thing I knew we were inside my car driving to the scene. My hands were sweating.

Please. Please. Don't let it be her. Don't let it be her.

When we stop. I felt relieve to find us in a place where flowers can't grow. Still, I was terrified. This was a small town. Nothing exciting ever happened here. And now, bodies were piling up. Missing cases remained unsolved.

Jasper steps out, but I stay behind. My feet wouldn't move. He looks at me from outside. His eyes telling me he couldn't do it without me. I breathe out and step out of the car. I want to reach out to him, to hold his hand. Anything. I settle with holding on to the sleeves of his jacket. There was a police line surrounding the café me and Jasper went to. Jasper was out of grasp in the next second.

The police try to stop him as he pushed through the police line and walked towards the café. I stay behind. Something inside me feels like it's being gutted.

Rosemary's. Scattered everywhere.

No.

I hear an agonized scream. Something I never thought could come from a human being. But I knew who it was. I didn't have to see it. I cross the police line Just as the sheriff leaves the café. He doesn't stop me as I barrel past him to find Jasper kneeling down on the floor. Nana was on the ground. A pool of blood surrounding her.

She held in her palm a single rose. I kneel beside Jasper. The rose was wilted, and I tried not to think of my dream. But I do. What was happening? My eyes catch something in the blood. A piece of paper already soaked in it.

Your game was long over.

What was this?

"It's a warning," he says quietly. I turn to him. A warning for what?

"For interfering with your game," he answers like he read my mind. "My game was already over."

"What kind of sick person would do something like this?"

Jasper does not respond. It takes me a moment to realize he was crying. I hold him, wrapping my arms around his shaking shoulders. My eyes keep drifting to the dead body, but I couldn't look long enough without imagining Jasmine's body. Whoever had her was sick. If that person can kill a defenseless old woman to issue a warning. Then what more could he be capable of?

--

When we finally exit the crime scene, I find myself alone with Jasper again in my car. We sit in silence as I drive around, trying to figure out where to go. I couldn't really read Jasper, so I didn't know what to do next.

"We need to end this," he finally talks, almost making me jump at the sudden sound.

"How?"

"I don't know," he answers and then we are back to driving around in silence.

"Should we tell the cops? I don't think the one who has Jasmin is trying to keep silent about it anymore," I tell him. "I mean, that was a pretty big show."

"That only means we are getting close," he tells me, and I wait for him to continue or explain when we pass by the familiar road to Nathan's place. I drive to his house, not really knowing where else to go.

I've been to his house a couple of times already. I even know where they kept the spare key. We park outside his house and I stare at his bedroom window.

"Where are we?" Jasper suddenly asks, and I turn to him.

"Nathan's house," I answer.

"Oh."

When I turn away from him, I see a shadow moving inside Nathan's room. Strange. No one should be in the house. I get out of the car before I even realize it and walk to the front door. I could feel Jasper's eyes on me as I ring the doorbell.

No answer. I'm sure him and his family won't mind. I find the spare key hidden under one of the legs of the coffee table in the porch and open the door. Jasper does not follow me in, but I hear him get out of the car.

"Nathan?" I call out. Thinking of the worst possible things. The one who has Jasmine probably found out Nathan is my boyfriend and if Jasper doesn't back out...Nathan would be next.

I climb the stairs and push the door to his room open. The curtains where not drawn open fully, so the room was still in semi-darkness. I look at his things, all neatly placed. He has always been so organized. I walk over to the window and see Jasper leaning on the car waiting for me. I feel a weird chill on my skin.

I turn around to leave but something catches my eyes from his cabinet. I look at it, biting my lip. Should I really be prying on my boyfriend? Well...it doesn't hurt to look, does it?

I walk over and open the cabinet to find his clothes neatly arranged in color and I chuckle. My eyes look up and there were stacks of books. I read the title of the first one but before I could read it I hear Jasper calling my name outside. I roll my eyes.  I close the cabinet doors and walk towards the door, glancing back at his desk.

I find the picture of me, Nathan and Jasmine staring back at me. I didn't know Nathan had a copy of that picture. I smile, staring at the picture and how close we were. But something in Jasmine's face made me feel weird. She didn't look...comfortable. I sigh and step out of the room.

---

Authors note: To be honest, I find nursery rhymes creepy when it is being sang, by children. Don't you guys find it creepy? Anyway, what did you think of this chapter? Hehe, you probably have this thought at who has Jasmine...you may be right, or maybe I want you to think you're right. 

You are reading the story above: TeenFic.Net