Four

Jessica spent a restless night thinking about what happened to her. She can't stop having constant flashbacks of the long claws and the green eyes and the voice in her head. She twisted and turned on her bed, wondering what the hell happened to her earlier. She still hasn't figured it out, but she has come up with theories.

Maybe she went to hell and a demonic possession brought her back to life, and the demon is still in her. Maybe she was experimented on, maybe she died, and this is hell, or maybe she's in a coma and this is just a dream.

She hasn't come up with any other theories. Just those, but she knows for a fact that something is wrong with her, something is seriously wrong with her. But she doesn't know what exactly. She's hoping that voice will come to her aid and tell her what the hell is going on.

But in the meantime, she's going to be spending time with her best friend Sofia, who wants to take her out for coffee.

"I promise to take care of her, Mr Humphrey," Sofia says with a gracious smile on her face.

"Oh, I trust you always, Sofia. You're always there for my daughter no matter what." Mr Humphrey says, and a proud Sofia looks at Jessica and smiles.

"What are friends for?"

Jessica smiles right back at her because even though she and Sofia met in college, she's been a real friend to her. Jessica knows for a fact she would never have sex with her boyfriend behind her back. Sofia hates cheaters as much as the next person. She has been cheated on in the past, and her mom was cheated on by her dad.

This coffee date is a way for them to trauma bond.

Wow, a coffee date without Renee. The last time they did that, Renee was having exams, and they never had a coffee date without each other since then. Until now.

"Alright Jess, you ready?" Sofia asks in an almost British accent. Jessica nods her head.

"Okay, good to see you, Mr Humphrey." She almost curtseys, and then she walks toward the door.

"It was good seeing you, too, Sofia," Dad says and then turns to Jessica. "Be careful, Jessica."

"I will. See you later," she says and then follows Sofia out the door.

She and Sofia are in Sofia's car, a white Volkswagen Golf, and Jessica looks at the car like it were a weird oddity. She can't be scared of cars forever. And speaking of cars, she doesn't think she'll ever see her baby again. That car has been destroyed; it's damaged goods. She doesn't even think she'll be getting a car any time soon.

Sofia has been venting throughout the ride, but Jessica isn't listening; she's too busy being frightened that a car or truck might hit this car.

She tries to calm down, tries to listen to the voice that calmed her down before. She will not be having PTSD. Never.

She doesn't need the voice, though, because she's calming down, the fear is dying, and just like that, she's okay again.

It's good, but it's weird to her.

They're at Florence Coffee shop, their usual coffee stop. Sitting on the table side by side. Sofia sits with her blond hair in a bun and her legs crossed. She's American, born and raised, but she has always acted like she were from the UK.

She has an obsession with the royal family, has a crush on Prince William, calls cookies biscuits, drinks tea with her pinkie out, and loves dresses and acting like some Duchess. She's been this way since Jessica met her, but according to people who have known her the longest, she has been acting like that since she was little.

"Wow, you don't look like you got out of a car accident. I hope I look like you if I do get into a car accident." She's about to drink her coffee, but she pauses and looks at her. "Oh my God, too soon?"

"No, no", Jessica giggles. "That was funny."

Sofia lets out a silent laugh, but a sad laugh because she has just thought of the possibility of losing her best friend, which is something she never wants to think about, ever.

"I still can't believe Renee would do that to you," Sofia says. "She's supposed to be your best friend. I mean, I remember the first time I saw you guys. I wanted to be your friend for a reason. Your sisterhood was just too strong." She pauses. "I cannot believe that she would do that."

"Well, you think you know people, but you don't," Jessica says. Then she shrugs.

"I'm truly sorry, Jessica. I know you truly loved them. You don't deserve that." Sofia says, sounding genuine and honest, Jessica just wants to move on. She doesn't want to think about them again. They're a lost ugly sweater that she doesn't want to find.

"So none of them visited you in the hospital."

Jessica shakes her head after drinking from her coffee. She's thankful none of them visited her because then she would end up dead again.

"Huh, pathetic. Honestly, I am done with Renee."

"No, you don't have to do that."

"Yes, I do." She says strictly, which takes Jessica by surprise. "You know how much I hate cheaters and cheating. I can only imagine what it's doing to you right now. Poor girl, it's probably eating you up."

It is, but she doesn't want to admit it. She just wants to move on. Right now she wants to change topic.

"You know I'm here for you, right? Always." Jessica nods her head.

"Yeah, I know." At least it's a good thing that she still has a friend. "So how's the book coming along?"

"Oh, I just submitted my draft to a publisher. So fingers crossed." Sofia says nervously. Jessica doesn't understand why she's nervous. She has read Sofia's work and she can safely say that Sofia is a talented writer. A lot of people have said so, and she has won a lot of awards from the short stories she's written.

She knows they're going to accept her work, and she knows she's going to be a successful published author.

"You've got this," Jessica tells her, and she's serious about it too.

"Aww, thanks, Jess." She blushes. She knows she's going to kill it.

"Hello ladies." A voice interrupts them both. And from the sound of the voice, she knows it's going to be nothing but trouble.

And she was right because when she turns around, she sees two ugly, short, round men who look like Trump supporters standing next to them. Jessica is not impressed.

"Why hello, gentlemen." Says Sofia.

"We see you guys need more coffee. Can we please get you another one?"

"No thanks, we're good. " Jessica says, which comes as a shock to both Sofia and her. Because she's always been the shy one of the group. When men come to talk to them, she doesn't say anything. It's Renee who does the chasing or the teasing.

But she doesn't know where she got the courage to tell them off.

"Oh, come on, ladies, we're good men. We can get you another coffee." The reek of desperation pisses Jessica off.

"Fellas, thank you, but we're good. We can get our drink."

"But you can't-"

"But we can!" Jessica snaps. "Why don't you guys just leave us alone?" she says and then turns around. She's so fucking tired of men. She doesn't want to lash out right now. She doesn't have to, but then one of them reaches out to her by touching her shoulder.

Now she's more pissed.

"Get him!"

She rises to her feet and then grabs one of them and throws him to the ground, and then pins them with her leg.

Sofia gasps and people watch from afar. The other man just watches in awe; he doesn't want to interrupt lest he be next.

"What part of no don't you mother fuckers understand, huh?" Her leg is on his neck, and he gasps for air. People watch, some record this badass moment, some bring it to the manager's attention. Sofia begs her to stop.

"JESSICA YOU'RE KILLING HIM!" Sofia brings to her attention, and Jessica stops at once. She looks around to see people staring at her. Sofia looks at her in shock. Jessica immediately removes her leg from the man's neck, and then she runs out of the cafe.

"Jessica!" Sofia calls for her, but she doesn't listen.

As soon as Jessica runs out of the cafe, she's hit with lots of noises, a lot of sounds. People talking nearby, people talking from afar, cars honking, people screaming. It hits her all at once, and then she hears dogs barking.

They're not far away from her. Loads of dogs bark at her. Different breeds, all of them barking seriously.

She doesn't hate dogs, but this moment she wants to kill all of them. Just kick them until they fly to their death.

She does the unthinkable. She hisses at them. The dog owner is taken aback. People around her are taken aback. She notices what she did, and she herself is taken aback.

She looks around her at the faces of confusion, and then she turns around and runs away.