Her breath was throttled. She felt the doomsday has arrived. Everything has come to an end. She was going to die. 

Ross shut her eyes tight. She figured the end was near. Just as she stood there holding her breath, she heard a soft whisper in her ears.

“Sheriff’s daughter should not be found jaunting here alone at this time.” 

There was something familiar yet quite distinct about that voice. It was a girl for sure. As Ross was still thought-processing the sound, she was forcefully turned around on her heels. 

By degrees, the face was getting exposed. A hooded someone, face covered with a mask, hands had gloves on, everything was black. Someone standing at a distance might not even notice it in the dark. 

Ross blinked her eyes several times to adapt to the figure standing in front of her in the deep darkness. Taking a step towards the back, the person doffed the face mask with one hand while taking down the hood with another.  

The face revealed in the dim streetlamp. A blonde, seemingly mature girl, approaching her 20s. Hair, as smooth as silk, tied up in a short ponytail. Eyes were grey, with dense eyelashes covering them. Sharp eyebrows and the perfect face cut. Cheekbones were quite prominent, and her nose was perfectly sharp and didn't bulge out too much. The peculiarities of her looks were to die for. 

"Ann!!! Is that you?" Ross finally spoke up with a light of hope kindling inside her. 

"What are you doing here? Were you expecting someone else?" A strong, bold, and euphonious voice demanded. 

"Uh-I...I was just passing by. You know…" Ross feigned nervously. She was fidgeting her fingers tensely. Seeing her restlessness, I held her wrist to lead the way towards the dark, dense, forest-like area. 

Yes, this is where I, the narrator, enter the story. I am Angela. Rather more officially known as Christina Hans. Two names? Suspicious!!! Isn't it? You'll find out. 

"Where are you leading me? It's all dark in there. Are you gonna answer any of my questions?" She blurted out of annoyance due to my constant silence. 

Nevertheless, I didn't answer her. Instead, I just turned around and gave her a sharp glare, after which she didn't dare speak a word all through the journey. 

We walked past the bushes in utter silence. Only the voices of jungle insects could be heard. A howl or two of, most probably, a wild hyena, not considering it could be a werewolf, would also delight our walk. 

Frightened and engulfed in anxiety, Ross walked behind me with trembling steps. We trekked as I made my way through the long, overgrown prop roots of the nasty trees. After quite a while of our tramp, I lifted up the last set of vines hanging partially over a tree, and soon, we entered a place that mostly looked like a hideout in the middle of the jungle.

It was a small cottage with lots of antennas stacked on one side and a bicycle parked right in front of the door. And when I say small, I mean it. On seeing from the outside, it could be interpreted that the cottage might not comprise more than just an open sitting area. 

"Whoa! What's this!?" I heard the surprised voice of Ross from a distance. No answer as usual. I walked towards the door, unlocked the bicycle, and cleared the way for the entrance. As I turned back to signal Rossie to get in, I saw her keen eyes observing my movements. 

She followed my sign and quietly got in, her eyes avidly checking out the tiny yet well-built cottage. Although small from the outside, the interior was pretty massive. The entrance is marked with a short pathway. On one side, there was a room seeming to appear as a living room with two sofa chairs and a tea table in the middle, also a chimney. There was also a window beside the chimney. 

Towards the right, there was a door. It opened into a small area that seemed kind of a changing room. Coming back at the entrance pathway, on the other side, there was a compact kitchen having a kitchen top and some cabinets. To sum up, it was a bijou little residence. 

I went inside and took off the leather jacket I was wearing. Untying my hair, I picked a pair of clothes left stranded on the sofa, and before heading towards the changing room, I stated,

"Get yourself comfy! And maybe unstuff yourself a little. If you're hungry, you can have something from the kitchen. Get settled until I am back. Then, we need to talk." 

I turned on my heels and slammed the door behind myself. Ross glanced over her appearance just to discover that she has actually stuffed herself a bit too much. She had her regular clothes on. On this, Ross wore a long shrug-like jacket, which she pretty much used to wear on all her clothing items. Then she covered it under a large-sized overcoat, probably one she borrowed from her brother. And to top it off, Rossie had something resembling a toga on. Well, she really got herself stuffed. I was right. 

A few moments later, both of us could be seen sitting face to face on the sofas. Two cups of cappuccino were placed on the table, with fog lifting up from them and disappearing somewhere in mid-air. It was half an hour past two, night-time. Crickets' chirping and some howling sounds blessed the background with an intense milieu. 

I sat on my sofa leaning forward with ascetic looks decorated on my face. Rossie, on the contrary, was sitting on the sofa chair. She sat like a cat on a hot tin roof. 

"I came here because I got this note, more appropriately a threat. It's not the first time I have been given an anonymous threat the day before I was intruded in my room. This guy who wrote this letterhead broke into my room from the window and warned me to cut ties with Jessie. If I wouldn't he would do something that I wouldn't want to happen with her. And then he waved a photograph in front of my eyes." Ross narrated the whole scenario with her trembling voice breaking more than once.

The mere mention of the photograph was just enough to bring fear-laden tears in her eyes. She was holding herself from bursting out into tears. There was so much she was holding herself from. But now, sitting in front of someone she knows she knows she can trust, Ross started shattering all her threats. 

"What kind of photograph?" I asked, giving a perplexed look. 

Ross swallowed a ball of tears, and gaining courage, she spoke out,

"A photograph of a girl resembling Jess hanging on the branch of a tree with blood dripping off her body and split everywhere on the ground. I yelled my heart out when I saw it. It was horrible." 

And as she ended her statement, shadows of dread overpowered her existence. Shivers went down her spine. Tears, rolling down her cheeks. 

"I was just trying to protect her. I don't want my best friend to get hurt. If I have to stay away from her to protect her, let it be so." Ross said in the middle of her cries. 

I moved towards the edge of my seat and placed my hand on her knee to comfort her. I knew what she was going through. The harshness in my character that has overshadowed me was now gone. Instead, a caring, thoughtful expression masked my face. 

"Don't worry! Everything's fine. Jess is fine. She is at her house with her brother. She also has Emma by her side. Anything you should be worried about is who was it that made use of Jess to manipulate you?" I said, trying to access all kinds of possibilities. My train of thoughts paused when suddenly I heard Rossie's firm voice,

"I know who he was! I bet you, he couldn't be any other person." She sighed as if the thought that she knew who it was more tiring than the fact of what he was up to. 

"What? You know him? Who is he? Someone from the town?" I asked suspiciously. The person I have been trying to find for a long time, Ross knew him!?

Ross nodded her head and started speaking,

"It's Mr. Mudson. The one who abandoned us from Western Parks. The one who used to live there."

"Whoa! Wait a minute! Rossie, you know what you're saying, right?" My brows furrowed. 

Ross didn't do much but gestured a confirming yes.

"But you-you know he died some years ago, don't you? His funeral was held. And his casket was buried right in front of his house at the entrance of Western Parks." I was astonished rather than being aghast. 

"Do you know the reason for his death?" asked Ross, her eyes filled with skepticism. 

I shook my head left-right. The reason for his death was actually never made clear. However, it was said that they found a finger near the region where his car crashed, which proved his death. 

But the questions like how did the car crash? What made it crash? When did this incident happen? No clues about any of those. The police kept saying they're still investigating until the people mostly forgot about it and moved on with their lives. 

"I don't think he died. The burnt body they brought for the funeral inside the casket, I never saw it. As a matter of fact, no one ever saw it. But you know what? I saw his finger. The person who crashed into my room that night didn't have one finger. And I recognized his voice. His creepy old voice." Ross spoke as I felt the pain that she was feeling throughout her body from the look of her eyes. She was shivering and sniffing heavy breaths through her nose at intervals. 

We had speculation, yet we needed more. While I was busy thinking about theories as to why Mr. Mudson would start this off, Ross spoke out as she abruptly remembered something she forgot a long time ago. 

"Wait, wait, wait! You never answered MY questions. What are you doing here?" She said, rolling her eyes all over the cottage and then continued,

"And how do you know everything that has happened here? You even knew the incident that took place with me. How on earth are you so aware? I thought you were in Nashville." The sad, frightened Ross has now gone. Instead, a Ross whose sixth sense was tingling grew out. All kinds of her suspicions pointing towards me.

"Well, I couldn't appear out of nowhere. Trust me, it's a long story. Maybe some other time." I stated hesitatingly.

The looks on my face made it pretty clear that I didn't want to talk about it. So, before Ross could prepare any other thesis of her own, I added,

"I am here to help you and Emma and Jessie. I wouldn't wanna leave you OR Jess in a situation like this. Long story short, now I am here. And I am here for help."

Nevertheless, Rossie's expression didn't change. She continued glaring at me. 

"You left Jess 10 years ago. Why would you be here now? You don't know anything about what she is now." Ross asserted, reading the expressions on my face.

"It's not me who doesn't know anything. It's you. So, it's better we just don't bring it out right now," I said, a little blasé. 

"Listen up! I spoke out. Now it's your turn. It's almost two o'clock. You have an hour to clear your side. I need to head home before three, so I may be back in my bed without getting caught by the cops. So, if you may, please." She said sarcastically. 

"God! You're so annoying." I mumbled in displeasure. 

"Okay! I'll tell you. But you need to promise me you won't share this with anyone. You got it?" I claimed assurance. 

Ross nodded her head up and down like a child, preparing itself for a bedtime story. 

I sighed and then began,

"It all started when, like yours, I had my first encounter. The intruder you're talking about, 10 years back, when I was just 11 years old, the exact same incident happened to me. That photograph, I saw it too." I was saying, emphasizing each word I said. And Ross shifted towards the edge of her chair, holding her breath.

"He told me to cut ties with Jess as well. The only difference was he didn't allow me to scream. He said if I made the slightest noise, he would go kill J at that very moment. I was scared. I didn't do anything. Some days passed, and I couldn't figure out what to do. I kept myself locked inside my room until one day, Mama and Baba themselves showed up and asked me for answers. It was too much to bear, so I spilled up, and the best way we could figure out was to make me leave. This could protect me as well as J from any kind of threat. I was small, didn't know much, so I did as they said. No longer than a span of two days, they flew me off to Nashville. I lived there for three years and continued my studies. Until I heard the devastating news." I paused to take a glance at Rossie's face, which was filled with lots of anticipation. 

"What news?" Rossie demanded anxiously. Reading my heartbroken appearance, Ross herself made a guess,

"Are you talking about Jessie's parents leaving her?" She inquired, a bit scrupulous. 

"Kind of." I swallowed.

"Hey! Relax. You can tell me what it is! I'll make sure to help you out!" Ross made an attempt to calm me down as my voice trembled. 

"You cannot help Rossie. No one can," I said, wiping a tear that came rolling down my cheeks. I continued taking great courage to say those words.

"They are dead, Rossie. They are gone. Forever!!!”

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