3.25

Hannah sits by the river, with depressed eyes, staring at a single point. The moon reflects with intense light on the surface of the water, and she ponders her complicated life.

It all started when she and her sister were born, leading to tragedy in the Scott family. Joseph's father showed his true face for the first time, hurting his wife, child, and the twins who were his curse.

However, their destinies are connected, since Hannah found Danielle at the age of sixteen, and a few months later got to Horace Mann, where she met Joseph — the love of her life. She has been through a lot since then, and it seems to her that these problems are dragging on all the time, that there is a curse hanging over her, and it's not caused by Solar. She is part of this sick game, the puzzle of their complicated lives. As a ghost, she participates in their dilemmas, sometimes adding spice.

She may have made Hannah's life miserable at boarding school, but they were annoying games. Most of the unexplained circumstances, however, are illusions that the girl imagined through the beginnings of mental illness. Maybe the fact that she has head issues also has its characteristics, since she sees a ghost?

— Now I know why I have been seeing you again for several months. You showed up because you knew I was in danger. You wanted to warn me about Joseph's father.

Solar crouches in front of Hannah and looks at her with sad eyes.

— I don't know myself anymore if you did the right thing by hurting that asshole. You are also suffering...

— I had to do it. I can't bring my mother into this, I can't take away something she's worked for many years.

The phantom looks nailed down.

— So what are you going to do? All along I've been trying to get you to break up with Joseph so you wouldn't have to deal with his father, but the other day when he chose you, I found out how much he loves you. It's terrible what you did to him....

Her words cause the brunette to strenuously restrain herself from crying. She chokes back tears because she knows that if she sheds even one, it will be the end for her. Then she will completely fall apart.

— If you only knew how torn my heart is.... I seem to have torn it to pieces. This will be the first Christmas I will spend without him....

— But fortunately, you have a deputy at your side, who clearly has his eye on you.

Hannah looks over her shoulder, watching Taylor, who is heading towards her with a quick step. His hands are hidden in the pockets of his black jacket, his head is adorned with a white cap, and with a scarf of the same color, he is dutifully up to his eyes.

The girl smiles at this sight, as she is only wearing a jacket and does not even feel the frigid air, perhaps because she is used to the cold often spending time with Solar.

— So cold, and you're sitting on the ground?

— I have a blanket — she replies, pointing to the gray material. — Physically I'm as healthy as a horse, worse with my psyche.

Taylor sits down next to her and looks at her face with obvious tenderness in his eyes.

— I told you before that he is not for you. You are suffering because of him, Hannah. Can't you see that adversity is trying to make you realize that you should give up on him? His father will not let you have a happy ending.

— I didn't call for you to kill me — she mutters, not taking her eyes off one point.

— I'm going to put you down, girl. I'm tired of looking at your depressed, perpetually lackluster face.

The brunette forces a slight smile.

— And would you walk around smiling if you had so much on your mind? — She shifts her gaze to him. — I'm in such a hole that I'm absent-minded at work. At times, I don't know what I'm doing.

— I would force myself to smile, just to get rid of the pain.

— If you felt what I felt, you would understand that it's not so easy.

— So what can I do to make you stop suffering, if only for this one evening?

— Help me forget about it...

His lustful look, betrays that he intends to take advantage of the situation and make her happy. He wants Hannah to be again the same cheerful girl he knew before he went abroad.

She is his first, youthful love. She is the person he had a crush on for many years, suffering trapped in the cage of friendship.

Now he has nothing to lose.

*

Danielle snatches her hand from the man's grasp and pierces him with a murderous gaze, not showing any fear from herself, even though her heart is restless. She is not afraid, but she is overwhelmed by a strange premonition that something sinister is coming, that she is in danger. Lately, she has been having nightmares every night, dreaming about Reaper, who brings her two, identical rings, which are her and her sister's markers.

Each time, she loses one of them, which leads to the death of either of the twins....

— What do you want? — she turns to him in a sharp tone, losing her balance on her high heels as she steps backwards and hits an uneven surface. He grabs her elbow, saving her from falling.

— I found you because I missed our meetings. Since you left, my wife has started to annoy me again.

— Find a new mistress to sponsor. It seems to me that I properly said goodbye to you that day when I left you tied up in the street. Have you already forgotten that I know all your dark secrets? I can put you in jail, you should stay away from me.

A cynical smile appears on his face.

— I've learned what not to know about you, Danielle. — The girl wrinkles her eyebrows. — It took me a while, there's a reason I'm only appearing now. I know that you cannot reveal my secrets, why? Because I know yours.

He grabs her chin, looking amused. Finally, he notices the concern in her eyes.

— What are you talking about?

— In fact, you are a crazy bitch, since at the age of sixteen you were able to fake your death. Because of you, young people died. — The man smirks with displeasure. — You have the devil behind your ears. Despite your young age, you have managed to commit many sins. You will fry in hell.

— Along with you, dung — she replies in a nervous voice.

The man rubs the back of his nose and sighs loudly.

— I have thought long about how I should hurt you, but I guess to you that physical pain will not move you in the least. You are immune to it.

— Nothing can move me. — The redhead clenches her fists, restraining herself from punching him. She has an overwhelming urge to slap his face; however, she promised Jin that she would start controlling herself. She can't break her word, not now, when she has a chance to get closer to him and get back what she cares about most.

— Are you sure? I've heard that cold bitches like you pretend they have no heart, and what hurts them the most is the harm done to a loved one. — The girl feels the blood drain from her face. She pales. — At first I wanted to hit your sister, since the twins have a profound bond, but the longer I watched you, I began to guess that you don't have a good relationship with her. — Danielle digs her nails into the skin of her palms, yet she feels no pain. — The only person you love is that boy with the pretty face, am I wrong?

Her heart rises to her throat. This is the first time she feels such anxiety.

— If when you say pretty boy you mean Jin, then you are wrong, imbecile. Our affair ended seven years ago.

— It may have ended, but your gestures betray how terrified you are at the thought of him being in my sights. Keep your eyes peeled and don't take your eyes off him because no one knows the date or the hour when I will decide to take revenge, pretty girl.

As the man walks away, Danielle pulls out her phone and dials the number for Jin with trembling hands. Eventually, she runs out of the bar when the boy does not answer her calls.

She has a bad feeling that something tragic is about to happen.

*

This was supposed to make her feel better and make her forget her problems, at least for a while. But all the while, she is wiping tears from her face, and each successive glass of vodka makes her more and more distraught.

Taylor is fed up with having the name of the boy who got her in such a state come out of her mouth now and then.

— This was probably not the best idea. I should take you home — he mutters, looking at the other people who are drinking alcohol under the tent, asking for more bottles of alcohol.

— Why is my life so awful? I've been struggling with serious issues since I was young, and they seem to have no end. Mental illness, ghost sightings, toxic relationships.... — she enumerates on her fingers, pulling his nose. — Another person would have committed suicide long ago in my place.

His eyes open wide as he hears the disturbing words coming from her mouth.

— Don't even think about it, Hannah.

— It doesn't matter that the disease makes me see ghosts, but why can't I at least be happy with the boy I love? Why is life such a pussy that exactly Joseph is the son of a man who hates me? No one will tell me that I was born under a lucky star. I endure my biological mother's punishment for being the child of her lover.

Taylor crinkles his eyebrows, getting lost in her confession.

— Your life is indeed complicated. It sounds like the plot of a soap opera, but stop drinking already, Hannah. I thought I would help you, but apparently alcohol makes you more nostalgic. I'll take you home, how about that? Another moment and I'll have to deal with your corpse.

— For me, there is no salvation anymore.... I should be a corpse and lie in the morgue. It seems to me that this is my destiny.

Her head falls, but the boy catches her at the last moment, saving her from hitting the table-top.

He has no choice. He takes her on his back, puts the money on the table, then enters from the tent. He has to get her home before she hurts herself.

She is light, it seems to him, as if she hasn't eaten normal meals in a long time. She has lost weight, which is most obvious from her face.

He stops a cab to take Hannah home, but before he can open the door, someone grabs his elbow. Taylor looks at the boy, whom he sees for the first time with his eyes. He is accompanied by a friend and two girls.

— Oh my god, Hannah! — Bella puts her hands to her mouth.

— I don't know who you are, but let her go, you bastard. — Jin pulls the girl out of his embrace. — We don't know you, and it looks bad when you try to push our friend into a cab. She is in such a state that she can barely make contact.

— Your friend? I've known her for more than twenty years. We grew up together. She is also my friend.

— Or maybe you're the man Hannah cheated on our friend with! — This is the first time Tom is angry.

— Stop. You know very well that Hannah would never cheat on Joseph. — Bella holds the brunette, who wobbles on her feet. — They are both your friends, Tom. You can't take one side.

— Male solidarity — he mutters.

Jin pierces Taylor with his eyes, making him realize that he should get into a cab and leave.

— Don't mess with her life even more.

Hannah stretches out her arms, wanting to embrace Jin with them.

— Since you are her friends, I hope you have noticed that she is talking more and more about death. Since you don't let me take care of her, keep your eyes on her. I have a bad feeling about her condition. I have known her since she was a child, so I can see when something bad is happening to her. She has been in pain for a long time, although she hides it behind a smile. Don't underestimate it, or tragedy will eventually strike.