I take a step back, rolling my eyes. The smell irritates my nose after he exhales a puff. I take another step back.
"To be fair, I did lose my memory. I just lied about when I really woke up. But, I doubt you'd believe me. It'd just sound like some stupid story I made up anyway," I scoff, realizing how ridiculous switching universes sounds. And he believes in free-will, so my story won't make any sense to him. Jean will only think I'm crazy. I cross my arms, waiting for him to finish his smoke.
Jean eventually finishes, the rest of the smoke being silent, as he drops the cigarette on the ground and crushes it with his foot.
"Let's go."
He mutters, heading to the car. As he gets in, he starts the car, but turns to you.
"Was that Kai? What's his deal?" He asks, looking at you instead of backing out of his parking space. It was evident he wasn't going anywhere until you answered him.
I flinch when he says Kai, even though I know he doesn't know Kai's full name. I flicker my eyes to Jean for a split second, but proceed to keep my gaze at the car in front of us. He watches me expectantly.
"I told you already. He was apparently my friend or something in the past, I don't know. If it wasn't clear enough, he likes to hide everything from me. Can we please go?" I snap, exhaustion creeping up on me once again.
Jean gazes at you for a few moments, completely still before turning back to the wheel and backing out.
-
The drive home was quiet, but as the time went on, it grew to be a comfortable quiet. The tension in the air from the parking lot stayed at the parking lot and by the time you two got home, your moods had improved. As you walk into the house, you notice that Anubis is home, playing with Prince. He turns to you and Jean.
"wow i thought jean was taking u to kill u"
wat u mean im ded rn owo
I snicker, smiling to Jean. "If pampering me with clothes is killing me then consider me dead. Would you like to see Jean's new sweater?" I suggest. I hold up the bag, pulling the stupid little cat sweater out and showcasing it to Anubis.
His expression makes me laugh. "Jean? Wearing something other than his infamous blue piece of shit? You've changed," Anubis teases.
Jean rolled his eyes at the both of you, Anubis standing from the seat in front of the piano. Hmmmm wonder what he was playing ',:).
"And what about you, Ms. GG? What did you get?"
He grinned, his sly eyes rolling back up to Jean as Jean's face grew red, despite his efforts to hide it.
My eyes widen at the tease. Oh OO K oOH oko aa Y ok oh ok oyeah ok . ok.
"Um, well," I stutter. I pull out my clothes from the bag, but sort of fail due to being overly flustered. I hold up each item. "Jean picked it. Can you believe it? He has a sense of style!" I gasp, getting yet another eye roll from Jean. "Sorry we didn't get you anything, but I assume that Jean's shit fits you too."
Anubis shrugs and sniffs, looking back at you.
"He's a fast learner. Also, yeah, I don't care, I wear Jean's clothes all the time."
This appeared to be news to Jean, but he didn't say anything.
"Anyway, we're going to have to do more research on Jenny, for her sake and ours." Jean murmurs, looking from you to Anubis as Anubis exchanges glances with with you and Jean. The realization sets in for Anubis as he turns out of the room to grab his computer.
I smiled solemnly, hoping they'll find something other than my vague social media that I apparently had. "You won't find anything about Yuki and Celia though," I murmured a little too loudly. just a little. just enough for jeanny boy to hear. fucking tak e the hint jean. listen to me. i am not who you think i am. i am the real anubis. oh no ive said too much
it just came out man i didnt plan for it to go that direction
As Anubis returns, he already had several tabs pulled up.
"This is your Instagram, like I said, it's not much other than photos of you and Kai. I looked through your email and it doesn't seem like anything too out of the ordinary, at least when it comes to my kind of curiosity, but feel free to look through it later, I mean it's your email." He pauses as the three of you sit on the couch, with Anubis in the middle, laptop in his lap and his legs crossed.
"I wasn't able to track down your phone which means it's either disabled or destroyed. Additionally, I tracked the IP address for your Instagram posts, and found the common location which should be where you live."
He clicked to another tab, which was actually Google maps.
"Oddly enough, the address belongs to a cemetery."
i big cry for awhile
Anubis shows me my Instagram, which has a few silly selfies of Kai and me, and others more aesthetically pleasing and photographer-like. He then switches tabs to the IP address, revealing something- what the fuck? I lean in towards the computer, brows furrowed, hotel trivagoed.
The cemetery is in Alexandria, Virginia, only a couple hours away from here. "So, I live in a cemetery? Well, I posted in a cemetery. Which is just as weird." I tap the directions. "I could totally drive there right now. Maybe someone will recognize me?" I want to say how odd that is, but I don't know anymore.
"Or you'll recognize someone's name." Jean mutters under his breath. Anubis turns to the both of you with excitement in his eyes.
"Road trip?" He whispers.
-
time skip to y'all in virginia and it's like 8pm
"The gates are locked," Jean starts, but by the time he finishes his sentence, Anubis is already halfway through climbing over them. He looks at you and shrugs, hopping up onto the gates and lifting himself over the gates. The three of you trudge through the cemetery with flashlights, looking at the names. There is one statue of a lady looking down on the structure was the most prominent feature of the area. For a while, the names seemed unrecognizable and the dates were old. That is, until you paused.
"MacKenzie Parkwood
1980-2012
Beautiful mother who deserved more."
Where have you heard that name before?
The cemetery had a calming nature to it. I had a distant feeling of nostalgia, as if I enjoyed cemeteries or something. There was a memory, somewhere, but it was like an itch you could not scratch. Nonetheless, I didn't recognize this place whatsoever.
As I walked through the grass, my light unveiling each grave like a spotlight, I found a specific name that read 'Mackenzie Parkwood.' I called to Jean and Anubis, not entirely sure why they were looking. "I know this name. Somehow. It's like, agh, I don't know. I do know, but I don't." u do kno wjenny,,,, u know. fuck outta here.
They stare at you blankly after giving the gravestone the same expression.
"Can't say I know who that is." Jean mutters, but Anubis already had his phone out.
"Says here she killed herself, but police are suspecting foul play. Reports say her daughter acted weird about it, too."
He puts his phone back in his pocket, shrugging.
"Sounds like it lines up with this. No problem there, then. I'll write her name down so we can research her when we get back home."
As you looked through the gravestones, reading the names, none of them really seemed familiar to you,
"Sophie Amundsen
'Happy Birthday Hilde'"
"Avery Dowlen"
"Leilana and Makaio
Out of this world"
You, Jean, and Anubis decided to switch drivers every two hours so everyone could get some sleep, since by the time you started driving back it was 10pm
I take the last driving shift while Jean and Anubis sleep. The roads are empty for the most part, so it is just me really. Driving felt oddly normal, and I don't know how I remembered how to do it, but I did. I keep one hand on the bottom of the wheel, the other resting on the window. I can't recall what music I like, and I didn't have my phone so I kept the random piano that Jean had been playing while he drove. The only other sound was the GPS and it's occasional directions.
Eventually, I drive up to the familiar house, my eyelids begging to close. I look to the boys, Anubis stirring from the bounce of the car on the curb. I gently shake Jean's shoulder. "We're home." I don't remember much afterwards, except crashing on the couch.
He practically stumbles through the door.
What time is it? How did he get inside? Didn't Jean say the door was locked? You gaze at him curiously. He felt your presence.
"Don't worry, this is a dream." He assures you.
"That's exactly why I'm worrying."
He shakes his head. He's wearing his blindfold.
"No, no, this is the only way I could contact you. Can you meet with me when you wake up?"
He utters, slightly distracted, as if he was nervously waiting for something drastic to happen.
You didn't object, so he continued.
"I'll be at Easton Town Center. I'll see you soon."
You bolted awake. Despite being incredibly tired, it was only 6:43 AM. Either Jean and Anubis weren't awake yet, or they weren't home. The lights were all off.
I did not want to be awake, but Kai talked too urgently to ignore him. I quickly scramble around for a piece of paper and pen and write a note for Jean or Anubis, just in case they wake up before I get back. Although, I doubt it.
'Looking for something, took your car - don't worry, if I'm not back you can come kill me. -Jenny :)'
I throw the note onto the counter and take the car keys that I had left last night. "Easton Town Center," I mutter to myself. I can't believe I'm listening to my own dream.
He was waiting for you. For how long, you didn't know, but he was there. Did anyone else see him? Tyler wasn't there. As soon as you approached him, he started talking.
"I'd like to start with apologizing for everything. I knew you were different from everyone else, but I didn't know how you'd react to knowing about the whole deal. I panicked when you grew upset, okay? I shouldn't have listened to Tyler, but I made a mistake," He paused, sighing heavily. Had he rehearsed this? He remained fixated in your direction.
"So, will you forgive me?"
I stared blankly at him, blinking. "What the hell are you talking about?"
A smile grows on my face, seeing his flustered and guilty state. I put a hand on his shoulder.
"How much anxiety have you been putting yourself through? If you were really my friend in the past, you'd know despite my outbursts, I forgave you awhile ago. So quit worrying," I said, pulling him into a reassuring hug.
Kaiholo relaxed immensely, as if a heavy weight lifted from his shoulders.
"I'm so glad to hear that," He spoke with a cracking and shaky voice in the hug. He reached into his pocket and handed you a phone.
"I got you a new phone, I hoped that would help a little bit." He sniffed. "I'm sorry I have to disappear a lot, I have a plan, one that's better than what we've tried before, but for it to work, I can't be written about for very long."