Chapter 3

The room, the decorations, the people, all went blank. The candles had been extinguished. Faint gray wisps of smoke, trailing off of the red embers, were breathlessly whispering the echoing laughter.

 

Chapter 3

             A scene faded from black, deep sleep into a colorful dream. 

Laughter skipped and danced about the room, fluttering like birds through openings in chairs and into half filled water glasses set on the table. The walls, coated with a buoyant cream, light as a layer of sweet vanilla frosting, radiated soft rays of delight among the gathered company. All that was held captive on their faces were pictures of excitement and joy, no sign of fear or pain in the curves of their smiles or the movement of their eyes.

There was a single thought filling the room, a seventeenth birthday; a celebration of a sister, a daughter, a friend. Her name, known to most, was Abby. Red layers of hair fluffed about her heart shaped face as her eyes reflected the candles’ illumination on the chocolate cake.

     The festive party was small, but not lacking entertaining jokes and stories. Jenny’s mother and father were watching Abby make her seventeenth birthday wish. Jenny and Sophie, Abby’s twin sisters, were sitting across from Abby, ready to help blow out any remaining candles after the first blow.

Cassie and Emily, two best friends of Abby’s, were also sitting at the dining room table, bathing in happiness just as the rest of them. It was a Friday night, the beginning of the weekend and Abby’s birthday, March 19^th.

Jenny was home once again, back to the way things were. This was her world, family close, smile lines bunching at the eyes. But, even as this was a joyous occasion, there had been something troubling Jenny for almost a week.

At the table, colorfully wrapped gifts were being handed to Abby. Jenny, deep in thought, was not paying any attention to the birthday proceedings and, thus, was not aware when she was supposed to be passing over the iTunes card she bought for her sister.

Jenny’s mind had been elsewhere for almost a week. While signing on to chat with her friends, an unlikely fried had mistaken her email address for another's. She had seemed just the normal, bubbly teenager, but there remained the question of who her friend was.

When Jenny had first chatted online with Sara, the girl had mentioned that she was in the hospital, looking after her injured friend, Quijano. He had apparently been attacked by a “gang” which Sara believed he was no longer associated with. Slashed across the throat, almost losing his life, and barely managing to escape, he was unable to speak for probably for the rest of his life.

Jenny rubbed her forehead and left her eyes drift off as her thoughts progressed. The giggles erupting from Abby’s friends and her sister were piercing her ears, making it harder to concentrate. This feeling of happiness was unsettling her stomach. Who could possibly be happy when these fears were rolling like a twenty pound bowling ball through her mind? She tried to mute the sounds and smiles as her reflection of the recent past continued.

Jenny had been given a chance to talk to Q, a name which Sara had stated many called him because his Philippine, Quijano, was too much for others to remember. She observed that he was just a normal, quiet young man that wasn’t too interested in socializing.

She remembered very time of day when things had begun to grow stranger; as Q’s friend Pyro, or P, took over on the computer while Quijano went out for a walk.

The fact that Pyro had called Q “Boss” and that his excellent grammar and manners preceded anyone near his age, ignited Jenny’s curiosity and she had been swept away by the questions popping up in her head.

She had coerced Pyro to explain to her what this whole business what about. It turned out, Pyro and his friend Ace had been assigned to Q to assess whether or not he was planning to leave the Crew, a worldwide, secret organization. The word “Crew” sparked Jenny’s curiosity once again. Pyro, for some insane reason, had blurted out everything he knew about the Crew. Later, Jenny discovered that the information she now had could prove to be fatal to her and to Pyro.

Jenny’s stomach grinded as she thought of being killed because of her knowledge. She began to feel almost sick. Jennifer hadn’t told anyone about these new discoveries because one, she was sure people wouldn’t believe her and two, she did not want her parents to worry.

More presents, bows and ribbons placed on top, were passed down to Abby. The room began to spin, clockwise then reverse, up then down. Jenny’s tongue began to move to the side, as if she was about to throw up. The candles on the cake seemed to grow brighter, too bright to see. Her hands began to tremble subtly under the table. But, tried as she did, Jenny could not stop thinking about what had happened.

It turned out that Q did indeed wish to be rid of the Crew, but not just for himself. Q wanted the entire organization to be brought down, and he had to start by disposing of one who could easily prevent this; his brother, K88.

The friends and parents had begun to sing the “Happy Birthday” song. Jenny followed mindlessly as her thoughts dragged her violently back into the folds of her memory.

Pyro was not cognizant of the fact that Q was a Pure or what his plans were. All he knew was that Q planned to leave the hospital.

“Happy Birthday, dear Abby. Happy Birthday to you!” Everyone except Jenny clapped as Abby prepared to blow out her candles. 

What everyone did not know was that-

The room, the decorations, the people, all went blank. The candles had been extinguished. Faint grey wisps of smoke, trailing off of the red embers, were breathlessly whispering the echoing laughter.

Author's Note

Did make a few minor adjustments.

Reviews

[r]

o.o!! I love the way you ended it, with interrupting her thoughts and ending what i imagine was her dreaming, remembering the past. I love thw way you changed it to third person and gave us a background story. Amazing, and I love it!!!

[J.M]

This was really good, and the reader was really drawn in by the way Jenny seemed to be separated from her family by what she knows. I particularly loved the last line which was very beautiful.

[Kiynteyh]

This chapter only added to my questions and curiosity. I'm eager for more still, so keep on writing! Hopefully, Jenny's questions, as well as my own will be answered. :)