Chapter 18
R ae snapped her fingers and Jenna went silent.
“I’m not going to hurt you, girl,” Rae huffed.
It was like she’d put Jenna in a trance to stop her screaming. Rae swooped over to me and cupped my face, all while Jenna stared with eyes as big as saucers.
“Are you alright, love? Did he hurt you?” Her voice was urgent now, the anger completely gone from her tone.
I nodded. “Yeah, but I’m okay,” I wheezed. My throat was on fire from Alex’s hand and my arm twinged when I straightened it. Rae bent down and kissed my lips as she hovered over me with her body parallel to the ground.
Giving her a reassuring smile, I shifted my attention to Jenna. She’d just experienced her boyfriend trying to beat her to death in a graveyard on Halloween night, and now she was watching her best friend make out with a wraith. She was having one hell of a night.
I crawled on my hands and knees to where she sat in the dirt. “Jenna,” I cooed. “Honey, are you alright?”
“Jade?” she questioned, finally finding her voice like she’d been in a trance. “What the fuck is that?” she exclaimed, her tone growing frightened as she pointed to Rae who’d straightened to her full height.
“I asked if you’re okay. Did you hit your head when he slapped you? Why were you here? How did he get you in the woods?”
She didn’t look visibly harmed, but her hair was caked with dirt and leaves clung to her clothes. Her eye was already turning purple. Brushing strands back from her face, I gently tugged so she would look at me instead of Rae.
I willed her to answer with my stern gaze. “Are you hurt, Jen?”
Finally, she shook her head. “No. Just sore from the falls and running and my face hurts,” she stammered. Her voice had grown childlike, her lower lip trembling as if she was fighting back tears. “I’m sorry, Jade. I’m so sorry.”
She flung her arms around my shoulders. “I should’ve listened when you said he was an asshole. I’m sorry I got mad at you and I’m sorry I’m a mess all the time,” she rushed, sobbing freely into my shoulder.
I brought a hand up to rest on her head and encircled her with my other arm hoping to quell her cries. “Jen, it’s alright. None of that matters now, but can you tell me what the actual fuck happened?” I said, pulling her back to look at her.
“He…he said he wanted to play a game in the graveyard for Halloween. Like a sex game or something,” she sniffled.
“You know me, I’m always down for shit like that, but when we got here he told me to run and he was going to chase me.
I didn’t try very hard. I wanted him to catch me, but instead of fucking me he grabbed me by the hair and threw me to the ground.
He was cheating on me. He found out I went through his phone and even though I didn’t find anything, he admitted it before you showed up. ”
“What the fuck? Shit, Jen, I’m sorry. Fuck,” I couldn’t believe that asshole did that to my best friend. I was glad he was dead.
“Is he…is he dead?” she asked, glancing to where his body lay in a heap beside a tree.
“Yeah, I think so. I’m sure Rae didn’t spare him like she didn’t spare the asshole who attacked me a month ago.”
Jenna’s head whipped back to me. “Rae? You mean that?” She pointed in the direction where Rae quietly floated, her hood still fixed firmly in place. She was as she had been until she revealed herself to me. Just a shrouded figure. “It has a name? What is it, Jade?”
It was my turn to explain. “Remember when I told you I met someone? And that they weren’t human?
” I asked, lowering my voice, irrationally hoping that would keep her from freaking out.
“That someone is Rae. She’s a wraith. She saved me from the fucker who caught me out here before.
She took care of him just like she did Alex. ”
She stared at Rae in disbelief, her voice coming in a whisper that matched mine. “You weren’t lying. Still doesn’t excuse you blowing me off, though.”
“Yeah, about that. I’m sorry, Jen. I shouldn’t have canceled on you. I didn’t know things were this bad with Alex. I thought it was a lack of attention or something. I didn’t know he was actually hurting you. I'm a shitty friend for not being there for you.”
Jenna studied her hands. “It's okay. It wasn’t like this until now. Before it was just yelling.” Her head snapped up.
“Wait, you said she? How do you know it’s a she?
” She slapped a hand over her mouth realizing what she said might’ve come off rude.
“Sorry, I didn’t mean to put it that way, but what does she look like? ”
I looked over to Rae and she slowly drew her gray hands up and pushed down her hood. Her black hair framed her cracked face and her expression was indifferent. She looked like a statue when she wasn’t moving.
A harsh intake of breath drew my attention back to Jenna. “She’s beautiful,” she said in awe.
Quickly glancing back over my shoulder at Rae, I agreed. “Yeah, she is.”
Jenna turned back to me after a few minutes of taking in the unworldly goddess that was my girlfriend. “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have acted the way I did. I promise I’ll be better. I was a cunt.”
I scoffed. “I deserved it for blowing you off. I’m sorry, too. The only requirement I have for you is no more fucking cocksucker boyfriends.”
Jenna chuckled softly. “You’re right. He was a jealous homophobe anyway. Maybe I should try going back to dating women. I think I’ll stick to humans, though.”
I laughed and I heard Rae’s audible smirk behind me. “That’s okay. I’ve already called dibs on the wraith.”