Chapter Five

Jin cleaned the car two nights ago. His parents used it a few times already but had not noticed anything. 

It was eleven. He woke up late. He was more exhausted than he thought. It must be the fear of getting caught that exhausted him. 

He went to the kitchen. His parents had already left. His father was a doctor and his mother was a nurse. Sometimes they did not return home at night. 

In the refrigerator, his mom left him his breakfast, which was pasta. He reheated it in the microwave. His phone started ringing. 

Jin clicked on 'accept'. 

"How is your ankle?" he asked. 

"Could be better," Nes said. Nes and he did not greet each other. They simply started stating business. "Anyway, there is news."

"What happened?"

"Two police officers came to our house," she said. 

He felt a rush of adrenaline. "Did they question you?"

"Yes. The usual things, you know, about if I knew about Maia more, which of course, I gave usual answers. But they actually came to question Theo."

"Theo?" It was not what Jin expected. Theo had no reason to be questioned about anything related to Maia. 

"Apparently, my big brother had been talking to Maia for the last two weeks or so," Nes said mockingly. "They talked about this and that. It wasn't romantic. Anyway, the important part is, that night they were texting too. Around two, she said a friend needed help. You see what it means?"

"It means the police now know that whoever called her from the burner phone was her friend. Nes, this is bad." Jin's appetite was gone. He wanted to throw up. 

"I don't think they suspect me yet. But… Jin, if they decide to take my fingerprints… I could not erase my fingerprints completely. I didn't have the things with me," Nes said. This time, her voice sounded a little worried. "Theo made things worse, I swear. If they had not been chatting…"

"There is no point in thinking what would happen if this or that," Jin said. "You have an alibi. They can't just take your fingerprints."

"Your doorbell camera showed you left after 3. We don't have a camera. At least, that's fine. We can say you arrived at our place after I called you and said I fell down the stairs. But Jin, why would I call you when Alex was home?"

"How about…? Nes, if it comes to it, we will say we are in a relationship. I went over to your place because well, hormones. Then, you fell from the stairs when I was there. We told Alex the same. Normal friends have no reason to go to each other's place at 3 in the morning. We got to be in a relationship. That will explain it all," Jin said. 

"Right," Nes murmured. "Right- Meredith said Theo had a relationship with Maia. Theo said it's bullshit. Their chat seemed to suggest no such thing either. It would make things even more complicated."

"I didn't guess anything when we saw Maia's dead body, you know. Theo did not act- like he was heartbroken or something," Jin said thoughtfully. "Was he acting?"

"He said yes. He said mean things to me. I didn't lose my temper though," Nes said. "If he doesn't apologize within tonight, I will burn his favorite t-shirt."

"That's not necessary, Nes. And have you burned your clothes?"

"Yes. Don't worry. I saw a frog today on my wall."

"Is that important now? Shouldn't you like worry about what would happen if…?"

"I'm worried, yes, but I'll be fine. Anyway, that frog was very disgusting looking. I love animals, but that thing was heinous. I showed Alex and she was screaming like a banshee. Theo threw it out. He said it was poisonous, but I don't think so," Nes said. 

"It was a tree frog. They are not poisonous," Jin said. 

"Only tree frogs can climb walls, right?"

"Yeah," Jin said. 

Jin told her how his parents did not suspect anything. He also told her they asked how she was now. 

"Hey, how about you come here? I need help showering anyway."

"Tell Alex to help," Jin said, but he was already putting the pasta away. 

"Nah, she will question the stitches on my thigh."

"Ah, yes. I forgot about it." Even if Nes did not have anything to hide of her body from her siblings, she would still rather get naked in front of Jin than any of them. 

Jin's family owned only one car. Nes's place was not far from here, but was not close either. He began walking. He liked walking. To clear his head, he sometimes took long walks. Nes hated the idea of walking. She would never join him. 

He was ten minutes in when he felt eyes on him. Nes told him a few times that she most probably had a stalker since she always felt like someone was watching her. Jin did not dismiss the idea entirely. It was not too unlikely for young women or girls to have stalkers. She was careful. Now, what if the same stalker was stalking Jin? 

He turned hastily. As expected, there was no one there. 

Fucking hell. One thing after another. Give me a fucking break. 

Jin placed his hand in his pocket. He kept a pocket knife there on Nes's request, although it was more like an order. She gifted him it and showed him how sharp it was. It was the size of a pen but very effective, according to Nes. Jin had no way of knowing it since he had had no reason to use it. 

His fingers wrapped around the hilt. For the first time, he was grateful for agreeing to keep the knife with him. It might not be a serial killer, but a stalker could be just as dangerous. 

He could hear footsteps now. He turned around, but there was nobody. Then, he heard rustling. And flapping of wings. 

He had no idea why, hearing the sound of wings gave him shivers. He started running. He was certain that a bird of some kind was following him, because the sound of wings did not stop. It was louder now, although he could see no one. Not that he would turn around to see now. He needed to get away first. 

Seeing the gothic mansion never gave him more relief before. He ran to the front door and opened it with his key. Nes gave him the key when they were eleven and began to go to each other's houses. 

"You okay?" Alex asked. She was on the couch watching news. 

Jin nodded. "Jogged here," he lied. 

"Nes is in her room," Alex said and turned her attention back to the TV. Jin did not understand why she said it. Of course, Nes was in her room; it did not need to be said. 

As he climbed up the stairs, he looked through the living room window. He was certain he saw a glimpse of a woman. The funny thing was- it looked like the woman had wings.