Chapter 8

Two months ago. It was the day of Gail’s party.

Lunch time, seven hours before that night, Dave finally decided to get rid of something. A medium-sized box on his huge bookshelf. 

“Go to a very far place where no one can see you, and please burn this.” Dave handed the box to Yenny. “I’ve been keeping that for 3 years now, and I think it’s best to finally get rid of that box through someone I trust the most. And it’s you.”

Yenny nodded in response, but with a puzzled expression because she was sure it was Jeremy Dave trusted the most and not her. Also, it was the first time in four years that he had allowed someone to touch his personal things because after his mom passed away, he became extremely agitated about it. 

“Make sure you won’t tell anyone about it.” Dave gave her an anxious look. 

She couldn’t help but feel uneasy. Why would he want her to burn the box in a very far place? And why shouldn’t she tell anyone about it? However, she couldn’t ask him these questions. Dave’s condition had been getting worse, and one mistake would make him throw a fit. 

“Should I do it now?” she asked a different question instead. 

Dave nodded. “You better leave now. Aren’t you gonna attend Gail’s party tonight?” 

Right, Yenny forgot about it. She had to be there at the party not for Gail but for Jeremy as he had requested her to come so he could finally make her and Serin meet. 

“Then, I’ll get going now.” She hurried outside without looking back.

Dave, left in the room and still sitting on the edge of his bed, stared at the balcony across from him but the sight of it began to agitate him. He stood up and faced the bookshelf standing in the corner. But he felt more anxious, seeing the empty spot in that bookshelf where the box had been. His whole body trembled in an instant. 

“No!! Stop thinking shit, Dave! I trust Yenny! She will burn everything!! She will!! She will not open the box! She will burn it!!” Couldn’t control his unstable state anymore, he punched his head repeatedly while going back and forth in his room. “You’re stupid, Dave!! You are so stupid!!” 

He banged his head on the wall and regretted why he had written all his evil secrets in his journal for the past four years. But what could he do? He couldn’t dare tell anyone the horrendous crime he had committed back then. Unsettled and quivering a lot, he rushed to his bed and sat at the edge on it again. Tears rolled down his face, for all the demons in his head began to torment him. 

Meanwhile, Yenny’s uneasiness pushed her to disobey Dave. Instead of heading to a very far place, she went to her apartment in Lewis City and opened the box. She took the  journal. To her crippling shock, it had a detailed and cruel confession to a horrendous crime. 

“I killed you not because I wanted to but I had to. If you only listened to me, I would not drag you to the balcony. Damn!!! You kept messing with me even though I was strangling you. Instead of leaving me alone, you sent me over the edge! You crossed the line!! How could you ask me to stop taking it???? Who are you??? You're just my mom!!! Fuck this life!!! I don't--”

She furiously threw the journal, for she could no longer continue reading it. Her hands couldn’t stop shaking. The torment wouldn’t stop shattering her heart. She was so devastated, bursting into sorrowful tears. Leona Sean, the woman who had shown her great kindness, was brutally killed by her own son. She cried harder. Though she wanted to burn everything in the box, she couldn’t because she shouldn’t destroy such important evidence.

Gathering a little strength, she stood up and got her phone. Then she pressed her speed dial. 

“Why?” Jeremy answered her call right away, for he would always immediately take calls from anyone at their home in Horizon Town after losing his precious mom. “Hello?? Why aren’t you answering??”

But Yenny was still in silence, suppressing even her cries. She couldn’t tell Jeremy the truth, afraid it would put him in danger. If Dave had committed a devilish thing to his mom without anyone knowing it, he could also possibly do it to his brother.

She wiped her tears and cleared her throat. “Where are you now?”

“Still in Hopkins. Why?” Though Jeremy finally heard Yenny speak, he still had a bad feeling about her silence a while ago. He could tell that something was wrong. “Did Dave hurt you?” he asked without hesitation. 

Hearing Jeremy ask if Dave had hurt her had Yenny crying devastatingly again. She covered her mouth and took seconds to reply. “No.”

“Then why are you calling me now?” 

A moment of silence again, longer this time. 

“I just want to tell you that I can’t come to Gail’s party tonight.”

Jeremy was sure now that something was wrong. “Why? What happened??” 

“I’m sorry. Promise I will make up for it.” 

“Don’t dodge my questions.” He already sounded frustrated. “Why will you not come? Didn’t Dave tell you that he’s okay with it? You will just be gone for a few hours, so what’s--”

“I’m going home tonight.” 

He paused. He knew very well that Yenny dislikes going home on her rest days because she worries for Dave a lot. And because of that, Jeremy would always force her to take her days off whether she liked it or not. And just now, she had told him she would go home not even the next day but tonight? Something really didn’t feel right. 

“About Serin, I promise I will make time to meet her personally.” Yenny ended the phone call.

Jeremy almost flew to the basement parking lot and drove out of Tiffany Blue with growing uneasiness. The fact that Yenny had called him out of the blue when she could have waited for him to be home to tell him she wouldn’t attend Gail’s party was unsettling.

Meanwhile at Sean’s mansion in Horizon Town, Dave couldn’t take his eyes off his watch because the night had already fallen but Yenny wasn’t returning yet. Agitated, he left his room and headed straight to the kitchen to make some juice. It’s for his dad. He should make him fall asleep earlier than his usual bedtime to avoid any problems in case Yenny arrived and didn’t do what he had asked her to do. 

“Dad, drink this.” Dave handed his dad a tall glass of juice. “That’s organic, it will help you relax.” 

“Thanks, my son.” Tony Sean smiled warmly at him then drank the juice with such a good mood, completely clueless about what’s going on with his son. “This one tastes lighter. I like it.”

“What a relief you like it.” Dave faked a nice smile. “Continue reading your book, dad. I will make one for Ms. Fei, too.” 

The old man nodded, then Dave left the room, rushing back to the kitchen. When he finished making the juice, he poured some powder in it, like what’s in his dad’s, then went to Ms. Fei’s room. The old woman drank the juice with gladness, for it’s very rare for Dave to be doing such a thing. Now the only problem was Jeremy, his younger brother. What if he arrived home first before Yenny did? He hurried back to his room and waited anxiously. 

Half an hour flew by, and Yenny returned home, without making any noise. Despite hesitation, she still ended up going back to the mansion to do what was right. She had made up her mind, and that was to reveal the truth to Jeremy. But he wasn’t home yet, so she rushed to her room.

While waiting for Jeremy, she started gathering her important stuff and put it in her bag. When she’s done, she decided to leave already, for she couldn’t be staying at the mansion anymore. She would just go to Gail’s house and wait for Jeremy there. 

Quietly and very cautiously, she went downstairs, but just when she reached the last step of the stairs, Dave suddenly went out of his room to get something to drink. As he took the winding stairs, he suddenly heard the huge door by the living room close. He almost flew outside. And there, he saw Yenny walking to the gate with haste.

He raced behind her. A dangerous smirk glinted on his face. “You must be in a hurry.”

Yenny was so startled she almost screamed. But good thing she was able to control her shock and fear, for she should not make it obvious that Dave was now a monster in her eyes. She turned around, dread creeping on her.

“Gail’s party has just started.. that’s why I have to hurry.” She hoped she didn’t sound nervous nor trembling. 

Dave threw her a creepy smile, then looked at the bag in her hand. “Who brings a big bag to a birthday party?” 

Yenny cleared her throat, refusing to show any hint of fear. She even smiled fakely. “I will go home after the party. Chris will drive me to Lewis City. I already told Jeremy about it.” 

Dave stared at her. Yenny couldn’t help but compare how Dave was before and after she found out the truth. Before, whenever he was throwing a fit, he would never cause her fear, even the slightest. But now, only his presence was already spine-chilling. 

“Isn’t it unusual that you have packed a lot of things for a two-day off? Don’t you usually carry a small bag whenever you go home?” Dave was becoming more and more terrifying in her eyes. 

“Well.. These are the things I don’t use anymore, so I--”

“Liar.” Suddenly, he grabbed her wrist and dragged her to the far end of the mansion, like a mad beast. 

In the storage room, Dave let go of Yenny from his brutal hand and faced her with a furious expression.

But despite the fear surging in her like a disastrous storm, Yenny looked at him with courage. “Why are you doing this to me? Did I do something wrong?”

Dave laughed devilishly. “I didn’t know that you’re such a good actress.”

The darkness in the storage room couldn’t conceal the fury in his monstrous eyes. And because he could no longer unhear all the demons in his head, he pressed Yenny on the wall forcefully. Couldn’t hide her dread anymore, she quivered already. Dave was merciless, vicious and so frightening she felt helpless that she would also die in his own hands like how Leona Sean faced her tragic death. 

While Yenny struggled to breathe, tears overflowed in her eyes. She was in so much pain. Her heart was being ripped to pieces. This was what Leona Sean had experienced before. It was knocking, it’s unavoidable. Yenny was facing a cruel death.

She closed her tearful eyes, for she hated to die seeing a monster. What she wanted to see at the last moment in her life was not a tormenting picture but a beautiful memory, so she recalled how she had met Leona and her good family. She was only 4 years old when her dying mom took her to Hope Orphanage. She then became Tony and Leona Sean’s sponsored child. While growing up, she had never felt she’s an orphan because the Sean family showered her with genuine love and care.

With such a precious memory, she could see Tony, Leona and Jeremy smiling at her, casting beaming rays of hope to her. And that was when she realized she should fight for her life and not just accept a merciless death. For Tony, Leona and Jeremy. 

“D—Don’t.. k–kill me.. p–please..” 

Dave stopped strangling her. 

She opened her eyes, heavy tears wouldn’t stop rushing while she was gasping for air. She had just escaped death, but suddenly, her vision got blurry until everything faded into complete darkness. She fell to the ground. 

Panicking horribly, Dave hurried outside. He was sure Jeremy would arrive soon, so he had to be in his room. Only a minute later, as he stood behind the curtains, Jeremy’s car came rushing to his sight.