Chapter#20: Things are messed up

The next day passed but there was no change in Jenifer's attitude. Jenifer herself thought that she was right. The article was almost done. Jenifer was not satisfied but they were left with a week only. Jenifer arrived home in the cold dark evening. She was resting on the sofa when the bell rang. She got up to see who was at the door. It was Jack.

"Jen are you alright?" Jack asked.

"Yeah, why what's wrong?" posed Jenifer.

"You're acting strange these days." Jack mentioned.

"I'm acting strange! What are you both acting like? Only making me feel that I'm in misery."

"You're not getting us right."

"That's because you both are not having good views about Medora."

"We're your old friends. Well, I am not but Lauren is."

"But she's jealous and I hate it that way."

"No body's jealous here. You can't trust that person who just came into your life only a week ago."

"How can you say that? You don't even know her."

"I don't want to know her Jen. I just don't want to see you caught up in such pain."

"Pain…do you even know what pain is like? You can say that easily because you're not at my place and why would you even care." Jenifer started to shout.

"Because I love you damn it!" Jack yelled while grabbing Jenifer tightly from her arms.

Jenifer's eyes filled with tears and they rolled down her face. This was the moment she was waiting for but she could do nothing. She slammed the door and rushed to wash her face.

In the bathroom she started to cry loudly and started cursing herself. After sometime, Medora came back home, "What happened Jen?"

"Nothing." Jenifer sighed.

"You seem a little off."

"No I'm alright. I was just thinking about my fears. My dreams…they're getting stronger day by day."

"Soon everything will be fine."

"How was your day?" Jenifer asked.

"It went great."

Medora and Jenifer talked about their day. Jenifer trusted Medora with her eyes closed but she told her nothing about what was happening between Jack, Lauren and her.

After sometime the doorbell rang. It was John.

"It seems you're having a good life Mr. John?" asked Medora.

"Why won't I? I'm having the best wife and the most loving children." John smiled.

"I suppose you've always been living happy like this." Medora gave a mock smile.

"I had many ups and downs in my life. I can't say anything about that." John uttered and went to the living room.

Della then called everyone for dinner. There was silence at the table. Dalton and Kate looked afraid. After the dinner, Jenifer asked Kate and Dalton about what had happened to them. They told her that their dreams were getting stronger to such an extent that they could also see and feel them when they were awake. Jenifer got much terrified and worried. Things were messed up now. The problems were getting more and more day by day.

Meanwhile John asked Della about Medora. It seemed as if he knew her.

"What work does she do?" asked john.

"She works in an ice-cream shop. Not far from our house." Della told.

"How did her parents die?" he asked.

"Well, Medora told me that her parents got divorced when she was seventeen. She lived with her mother then. Her mother died due to a heart attack last year. She moved to this city some months ago."

"And do you believe what she told you is true? Have you asked Jen about what happened with Medora before?"

"I haven't. John, stop overthinking. Get some sleep and let me sleep too."

"I guess she's not the same girl." John murmured in his mouth.

Meanwhile, Jenifer and Medora were in the kitchen making coffee for them. Medora asked Jenifer that she could go to her room because she seemed tired and Medora would bring the coffee upstairs to her room.

Jenifer when reached to her room, she found her father standing there.

"Dad do you need something?" asked Jenifer.

"No, I'm only here to talk." told John.

"Talk…about what?" she inspected.

"I only want to tell you that I live so happy with you all." uttered John.

"Dad I know you're happy to live."

"No, you won't understand me." John started to roam around the room and he grabbed his head from his hands.

"Dad, are you okay?"

"I'm so happy….so happy to live." John kept on saying these words.

"Dad take a breath, I'll bring water for you."

"You're not going anywhere until I show you how happy I am."

John stopped, looked at Jenifer and gave her a strange smile. Jenifer stood still looking at her father. Something was not right. John then went to the study table, picked up a pair of scissors, turned to Jenifer, put a point of the scissors on his throat and started to cut it.

"See! I live so happy that I don't even feel the pain." cried John in a dreadful tone and laughs. The blood came out of his throat and mouth.

His color changed. His eyes turned to red and his grey face cracked.

Jenifer screamed and ran outside her room. There was Medora on the stairs. Jenifer could hardly breathe. The sweat of dread rolled down her body. She was wet with fear and her throat dried.

"Th…there's dad in m…my room."

"Jenifer calm down."

"I sa…..saw him cut…cutting his throat."

"Were you sleeping?"

"I…I just came u…up stairs."

"Wait here let me check."

Medora went to the room. There was no sign of such thing happened. Everything was normal.

"There's no one there." Medora told Jenifer.

"Bu….but I saw my d…dad."

"Jenifer, come with me." Medora held her hand and took her inside the room.

Jenifer was shocked to see that everything she saw was a dream but how could it happen?

"Jenifer" Medora held Jenifer's hand, "Try to kick these things out of your mind."

"I don't know what to do."

"Just be brave."

"My dreams will kill me some day. I remember when I was a child I wished every night for having a dream because I rarely had them but now I wish I never sleep ever again."

"Your sleeps will soon become peaceful but for that you have to focus on something else except for the dreams."

"Today Dalton and Kate also told me that their nightmares felt like coming to life. They could see and feel them with open eyes. Same happened with me today."

They both talked for a while, finished their coffee and Medora made Jenifer sleep before sleeping the last words of Jenifer were, "why things are so messed up in my life?"