by DD Cooper
“Oh, Sophie,” Lucy seemed awfully calm and nice. There was no hint of anger in her voice, or in her face, whatever wasn’t covered in blood and gore that is. “Didn’t I tell you all this while I was still among the living? Jack is not a one woman man. Or should I say one person, to include both sexes? Things get so confusing. Anyhow, you should have listened to me. I might have been a raging bitch sometimes, but I was your friend. What do you have now? Jack? Good luck, girl, good fucking luck.”
Lucy’s reflection looked around from left to right, then continued. “This is a nice place. Where exactly are we?”
“Upstate New York,” I said, and wasn’t sure why I decided to talk to what was obviously a hallucination conjured up by guilt and fear.
“Mmm, nice. I approve! Much better than Ravenswood, that’s for sure. Though my favorite so far has been Paradise island, and not just because of the show you three were putting on. If only Henry was alive to take some pictures. Imagine the scandal: ‘JACK STARK, LOVE AFFAIR WITH MAN AND WOMAN!’ Imagine the shock on the looks of all his young female fans. I have no doubt most of them would hate you, though, as much as they wanted to be you. What did he ever see in you, Sophie? I mean you’re not ugly or anything, but you’re just there. Do you have any sort of personality? Is there something behind those sad eyes of yours, or do you look that way so you’d seem more interesting than you actually are? Of course, I know what lies behind those eyes. The soul and heart of a murderess.”
“Stop it, Lucy! You brought this on yourself! If you hadn’t sent Henry after me none of this would have happened!” I was sobbing now, kneeling by the stream, trying to look away from its twisted reflection, but failing miserably.
Lucy floated this way and that. It looked as if she was trying to get to the surface, but there seemed to be a barrier blocking her. “Blah, blah, blah. It’s not all about you, Sophie. You had to read that journal. You had to find out what my father did.” She tried to float up again. “Goddamn! Being a spirit sucks. You can only manifest occasionally and then only in certain conditions. This stream is quite powerful and full of energy, but everything around it, not so much. Come closer, Sophie, I want to really look at you.”
I stepped back instinctively.
“It’s not like I can hurt you, come on.”
I put my hands over my ears and rocked back and forth. “I’m losing my mind,” I told myself. “I should have stayed with Jack. He is my anchor to the world of the living. We must never be apart.”
I heard Lucy laugh loud and clear even though my ears were covered. Since it wasn’t helping I uncovered them. I took a rock by the stream and threw it straight in her reflection. The look of shock on her face just before the rock hit the water was priceless. Her reflection shattered into a million pieces until she was gone. I looked at the calm normal stream again, until I saw her image reforming right before my eyes.
“Ouch! You can be such a cunt sometimes, Sophie! Do you know how long it took me to manifest? Well, it’s hard work for a spirit like me, and you shattering my reflection was just not nice, especially since I manifested to give you some helpful advice.” She fixed up her hair a bit. It didn’t look any different to me, but she seemed pleased. “There, good as new. Now where were we?”
I sat back down on the ground. I wanted to run and hide, but this was just too weird. “You were telling what a loser I was,” I said as I made myself comfortable. There was no use in fighting this. Lucy had a point. She was a spirit now. It must have been hard work for her to manifest herself to me so clearly.
“Oh, yes,” Lucy lifted one finger. “But you took that the completely wrong way. I’m here to help you. So you wouldn’t be such a loser anymore, as you said.”
“I’m out of here,” I said and turned to go.
“Wait!” Lucy yelled after me. “Wait!”
I turned around and humored her. “What now, Lucy? More lies? Did you find another way to tell me what a loser I am?”
Lucy looked thoughtful. “No, I think I made that pretty clear. But the real reason I’m here, haunting you I guess, is because I am your only friend and that’s really sad, cause I’m dead and shit, but anywho, I’m here to tell you to follow Jack the next time he goes into the city. I don’t think you’ll like what you find. Oh, and if I’m right, please come back here and take some of this water in a cup or something.”
“And why would I do that. The cup thing I mean?” Though I wasn’t planning on following him either. It’s not like he had any reason to go into the city again.
“Oh, so I could always be by your side silly. Being dead is boring!”
“And why would I want you by my side. A spirit who blames me for her death?”
“I blame Jack more. He’s the one who actually killed me. Once you follow him, you’ll know I have your best interest at heart and then we can be buddies, just like in the old days. I’ll tell you when you’re being stupid and warn you when trouble arrives, okay?”
I couldn’t believe my delusion was getting so complex, so real. It actually felt like I was talking to an apparition of my dead friend. I really must be losing my mind, I thought.
“Go now, Sophie! But please do come back. I’m sure we’ll have lots to chat about! Ciao!”
And with that she vanished and the stream was just a stream again. I walked away slowly, every hair on my body at attention. That was some creepy shit I just experienced. I pinched myself for good measure a couple of times as I made my way back, to see if I would wake up, but it seemed luck was not on my side. I was awake the whole time.
Chapter Twenty-Six
I was still angry at Jack. We slept in the same bed, but that’s all we did: sleep. Well, I mostly laid awake thinking about my little mental breakdown. I wanted to tell Jack about what had happened, but I was afraid that he would think the same as me: that I was crazy. He tried to initiate things during the night, but I just brushed him away and told him that I just wasn’t in the mood.
Eventually, I managed to fall asleep and when I woke in the early morning I found Jack already fully dressed.
“I have to go back to the city,” he said. “Sorry if I woke you.”
I remembered Lucy’s words. Follow him. But how the hell would I do that? It’s not like I could drive. Before I could protest Jack was already out the door. I quickly got dressed and went to the only place I knew: Hunter’s bedroom.
I knocked on the door. He looked pretty groggy as he opened it a minute later in nothing but boxers. He had a pretty nice body with some interesting tattoos.
He saw me staring. “Sophie, what are you doing here?”
“Can you drive me somewhere?” I quickly asked when I came back to myself. I looked away from him, because otherwise I knew I would stare.
“When?”
“Now,” I said impatiently.
I waited outside the door as he dressed. He didn’t bother to close it, but I didn’t peek. Well, mostly.
I hurried him out to the courtyard. I saw Jack’s silver Audi in the distance. “Come on! Come on!”
When Hunter turned on the engine and both our seatbelts were on, he looked over at me. “And where are we going in such a hurry?”
“Follow that car!” I almost yelled out. If we lost him now we’d never catch up.
Hunter saw the urgency in my eyes and started to drive. We were in a jeep rover. After a minute of silence, as we waited at a stoplight, behind a couple of cars that were behind Jack, Hunter turned to me. “And why are we following my brother?”
“It’s just a hunch,” I said biting my nails. “Just make sure he doesn’t spot us. Can you do that?”
“I can try,” he said. “But this feels wrong. Every man needs his privacy.”
“Privacy for what exactly?”
That shut him up. I turned on the music and a CD started playing. An oddly familiar voice greeted me through the speakers.
“Is this...?”
“Me? Yeah. They’re just demos,” Hunter reached to turn it of
f but I stopped him. Our hands touched. I quickly withdrew mine.
“No, I like it. Please leave it on. And no I don’t care if it’s rough or a work in progress. My whole existence could be described as such. And I might just be going crazy, but that’s neither here nor there. Just please leave it on.”
Hunter withdrew his hand and focused on the road.
“I’m just saying, this is not a good idea.”
I didn’t answer him. I took to staring out the window and listening to the sound of his voice coming in through the speakers.
We followed Jack for over an hour until finally he stopped in front of what looked like a hotel. Hunter parked far enough away so we wouldn’t be spotted.
“Stay here,” I said to him. “It’ll be weird if he sees both of us. Plus, I’ll probably be back in minute or two anyway.”
Hunter wanted to object but I stopped him. Eventually he gave up and put his hands up in surrender. “Fine, I’ll wait here like a good little boy.”
“Good,” I said and closed the door behind me. I saw Jack enter the big double doors of the hotel and I wished right then that I’d at least gotten a hat or something. I went back to Hunter’s car and knocked on the window.
“Do you have a hat or something?” I asked him as he looked at me quizzically.
He looked around in the back and then he opened the front compartment. “Here’s one,” he handed me a baseball hat.
I thanked him and put it on after pulling my hair back. I might have looked like a creepy stalker, but maybe that’s exactly what I was. I quickly ran up the steps and saw him enter an elevator. Floor number twenty it seemed. I quickly entered the other elevator before anyone could ask any questions and pushed the number twenty. Thankfully, I was alone in the elevator. I waited with bated breath as the numbers slowly climbed. Faster, faster, I told the ascending light, and finally when it hit twenty and that ding dong sound sounded, I could breathe again. I slowly got out of the elevator and saw Jack in the distance, turning a corner. I followed and stayed behind the corner, observing as he waited in front of the door. I assumed he knocked, but in the excitement and adrenaline rush, I couldn’t hear anything.
Then the door opened. I couldn’t see who was on the other side from where I was standing but I definitely heard her voice and saw Jack’s face. “I’m glad you could make it,” a woman’s sweet voice said.
Jack smiled. “I’m glad too,” he said and entered. Just as I turned the corner, the door closed. “Goddamn it,” I whispered to myself. I needed to know what the hell was going on in there. I put my ear to the door but all I could hear were muffled voices. I looked around like a wild animal, for any sign that told me how to get the hell into the room. At this moment, I wished Lucy was around, because she’d definitely know what to do in a situation like this.
Then I saw it. Way at the need of the hall. A service door. I tried to open it and found it blessedly unlocked. Inside I saw several trays with clean linens on them. This was obviously where maids came to get their stuff. I knew a little about it, since I was a maid at a crappy motel for a couple of months. One of the worst jobs ever. I much proffered waitressing. I looked around but saw no master keycard. It looked like this was a waste of time. And then the door opened, and an astounded maid looked at me.
“You no suppose be here. Go away! Shoo girl!”
I saw a precious keycard dangling from her belt.
“Please,” I cried. “My boyfriend is probably cheating on me. I wanna catch him in the act. Please let me borrow your keycard,” I cried a bit more, trying to make myself look as desperate as possible.
The maid looked at me coldly. “No, no go away! I call security!”
“Wait, wait!” I put my arms up then I remembered I had brought along some money just in case Hunter needed some for gas. Money that Jack had left in the dresser for me in case of emergencies. “I’ve got money!” I handed her over eight hundred dollars. “Just let me borrow it for a minute!” She looked at the money and by the look in her eyes I knew she was going to take it. I just hoped it wasn’t too late.
“You have one minute,” she said as she handed me the keycard. “Open door and hand card back to me, understand?”
I nodded. “Thank you,” I said as I took the damn card. I went to the door I saw Jack enter and slipped the card in. As the green light shone I jumped up a little. I handed the card back to the maid and slowly entered the room, making as little noise as possible. This was a fancy room that looked more like a suite. There was a small hallway that led to the kitchen, and then another one that led to the bedroom. I could hear familiar sounds coming from the bedroom. Moans, mainly.
“Oh, fuck yeah, baby,” I heard Jack’s voice say. “You’re so tight.”
I knew what I would find when I turned the corner but I turned it anyway. Jack was on top of her, fucking her hard, the look on his face clearly showing his satisfaction as he kept on banging the young woman beneath him. She looked even younger than me. Probably barely twenty years old if that. She moaned beneath him. “Fuck me baby,” she urged him on. “Oh, Jack, that’s the spot,” as he drove himself deeper inside of her.
They didn’t notice me standing there, either of them. They were so engrossed in their fucking. Hot tears streamed down my face.
“Oh, yeah, oh fuck yeah,” Jack moaned as he fucked her hard and fast, and then he looked up and saw me.
After the shock wore off his face, he lifted one finger in the air. “Give me a minute, I’m almost done,” he said and went back to fucking her.
I stood there shocked, watching him as he orgasmed. He pulled out his semi hard cock and I saw that he didn’t wear a condom. “Wanna join the fun?” he asked, without any hint that he was doing anything wrong.
“I hate you!” I screamed and ran out of there.
“Sophie! Stop! I’m coming with you!” I heard him yell behind me but I ignored him. I took the elevator and just before the doors closed I saw him come running out half dressed, yelling obscenities.
I dropped down to the floor of the elevator and cried my eyes out. Lucy was right after all. About everything. Jack was a pig and he only cared about himself. Or his dick. I didn’t know which was worse to be honest. After all the promises, after everything I’d done for him, and this was how he repaid me? He didn’t even have the decency to stop after he saw me standing right there. He had to finish his business first. I saw him for who he truly was at that moment: a despicable human being just like I thought every man out there was for years until I met Jack.
The elevator doors opened and I ran outside as fast as I could until I reached the familiar jeep. Hunter’s jeep. I opened the door and got in the passenger seat. “Drive,” I said, tears streaming down my face.
“What happened?”
“Just drive! I’ll tell you when we’re as far away from this place as possible,” I said, trying to wipe away tears, but only fresh ones replaced them.
When I was certain Jack wasn’t following us, I started to open up. “I saw him fucking another girl.”
“Oh, Sophie, I’m so sorry,” Hunter said, trying to soothe me, but there was nothing he could do to make the pain go away. I thought Jack loved me the way I loved him, and now I saw with my own eyes that that wasn’t true. I was so angry I wanted to smash everything in sight, but being in a moving vehicle, Hunter’s vehicle at that, made that impossible.
“What are you gonna do?” Hunter finally asked the question that I was asking myself. Where would I go? I had no one left in this world. Not even my enemies were longer living, I had made sure of that.
“I don’t know. But could you please take me somewhere else? I know he’ll be looking for me at the house.”
“Our family has a cabin in the woods not too far from where we live. I doubt he’ll look for you there. It hasn’t been used in years.”
“Perfect,” I said. “I just need some time to think.”
The familiar sound of my ringtone played from my pocket. I took out the cel
l Jack had bought me as soon as we arrived in New York, “just in case” he had said, and when I saw his name on the screen I immediately hit ignore.
When it rang again a couple of seconds later I turned the phone off for good measure.
Hunter, to his credit, didn’t say a word.
It took almost an hour but we arrived at a secluded place in the woods. The cabin was all wood and I admired the surrounding area as Hunter parked the car.
“The keys should be above this window,” he said as he searched for it. “If I remember correctly, that is.” Then he caught something. “There, found it.”
He unlocked the door and the place looked surprisingly clean for not being used that often.
“Maybe one of my brothers did use it recently,” he said.
“Probably Jack. Bringing some bimbo to fuck here,” the very thought made my blood boil.
“I’d like to tell you probably not, but it seems entirely possible. He’s a fucking idiot, Sophie. To cheat on a girl like you? Crazy.” Hunter said as he locked the door behind us. I immediately felt safe. I sat down on the big comfy bed and Hunter sat dawn next to me.
“Do you want something to drink? There’s probably something in the fridge.”
I shook my head no and then I found myself doing something unexpected. I put my hand on his thigh. He looked up at me with a question in his eyes. He shifted uncomfortably on the bed as I leaned in for a kiss. He returned it quite eagerly, and then stopped. “If you’re only doing this because...” he started to say but I put my fingers over his lips.
“Yes. Partly. But I like you Hunter, and don’t you want to get back at him for sleeping with your girlfriend?”
“Fuck yeah,” Hunter said and kissed me harder. We basically tore each other’s clothes off, as we planted kisses on each other, our hands all over one another. I couldn’t get enough of Hunter. Yes, it felt good to get back at Jack, but it also just felt good, period. I abandoned all my rational thought that told me to stop and let myself be swept by the lust and anger both of us felt.