MONDAY


"…act now and Ground Zero will provide a…"

Click.

As you groggily wake up, you're wondering if you should bother even taking your TV with you considering the stations just play Ground Zero commercials half the time.

You look at the time and see that you've slept for most of the morning, but it doesn't matter considering your sister isn't going to pick you up until the afternoon. You just hope that she remembers to come get you period. While your sister isn't as flaky as Julie, she still doesn't have the greatest sense of responsibility.

You also check your phone and see that Bobby's still trying to reach you, but you still don't feel like dealing with him. MAYBE later, right now you want to focus on one major decision at a time and moving out of a place where you've lived your whole life certainly qualifies.

All your stuff is packed and ready to go, and since you can't do much more until your sister gets here, you just wait.

As you continue to wait, you start to get anxious. You start to worry if you're making the right decision or not. You start to pace in your room weighing all the pros and cons of what you're doing.

"Ugh, this is so stressful…I need to calm down…" you say and start unzipping one of your packed bags to get old reliable to relax you.

20 minutes later…

"Hey Suzy?! You down there?" you hear Donna call from upstairs.
"Huh? Uh what?! Yeah! Hold on!" you exclaim and stop your stress relief session.

As you hurry to get dressed, Donna continues to call down to you.

"I called you know, why didn't you answer?"
"Uh, I guess I didn't hear it. Sorry about that. Be up in a minute."
"I thought you were ready. What were you doing? Splittin' the kitten down there?" Donna laughs. You don't answer; you just finish dressing and grab your bags.

When you get upstairs, Donna greets you. She's wearing a shirt that is obviously trying to call attention to her small breasts and pants that are one size too tight to make her ass look like its more filled out, but she's dressed fairly conservative all things considered.

"Were you just taking what's in your bags? Because we could probably put more into the car."
"Nah, I need to get out of here now. I mean maybe later I could get someone to come get my couch or some of my furniture though."
"Okay, but really I don't think you'll need to, Julie's got spare beds and such. Plenty of space you know."
"Yeah I know. Let's get going."

You and Donna leave the house and after throwing your bags in her car you and her are soon on your way.

Along the way Donna puts on some music. She takes mercy on you by not listening to that techno dance crap that you hate so much, but instead listens to the bubble gum pop crap that you hate slightly less.

"So…I found an area of the house where I think you'll be happiest at yesterday." Donna says.
"Oh? Is it the basement?"
"Hah, nah. That's being used for other things. I was thinking of Julie's dad's old office on the far left of the house. I mean Julie never uses it, and besides a few people wandering from the main party to have a quickie in there it's never used anymore."
"Gee, you make it sound so appealing."
"Well it's either that or one of the upstairs bedrooms and I can't promise you won't be disturbed on regular basis there. At least with the office you can lock it and it's far enough away from the usual party grounds."
"I guess it's the best I can hope for, thanks I guess for thinking ahead."
"No problem. You know I'm glad you're coming to live with us. I mean I know you probably don't believe it, but I missed talking with you. Julie's fun and all, but even I get tired from partying ALL the time."
"Well thanks Donna…hey this is like the twelfth police car I've seen pulled over and cops arresting someone." You say looking out the window.
"Yeah, I dunno if you've noticed since you tend to hang out in the basement most of the time, but there's been an increase in crime which also means an increase in the cops using that as an excuse to be assholes… like this. Shit!"

Nothing like talking something into existence. A cop car puts on its siren and a bullhorn tells you to pull over. You briefly worry that your sister isn't going to pull over, but she does. Swearing and sighing the whole time.

Doesn't take long before a policeman approaches the vehicle.

"Alright where are you going in such a hurry?" the cop asks.
"Nowhere. I wasn't even speeding!"
"Is that right honey? Not according to my radar you weren't. Besides, you ignored a stop sign back there. I think you need to step out of the car."
"Are you kidding me? There wasn't a stop sign!"
"Aren't you supposed to ask for her license and registration first?" you add.

The cop suddenly points his finger at the both of you.

"The both of you need to shut the hell up right, before I run you both in for obstruction of justice. Now both of you out of the car now!"

Your sister looks at you like she really wants to just try to turn the car back on and try to drive away, but you both know that wouldn't do any good save for getting yourselves in a whole lot of trouble.

The cop calls over his partner who looks equally uncompromising. He tells him to search you, while he starts searching the car while he puts Donna up against the car and starts patting down Donna.

"Getting a good feel, you bastard?" Donna remarks.

The cop frisking you is slightly better, since you don't get your girl parts molested, but he certainly comes close. He snickers a bit as you tense up from this indignity.

After you and your sister have been frisked. They tell you both to go sit on the curb with your hands locked behind your heads while they search the car.

This is a bad situation anyway since you're obviously dealing with two asshole cops, but who knows what the hell Donna's got in her car which will give them even more of an excuse to march you off to jail.

Speaking of which, Donna whispers to you.

"We need to run."
"What?" you ask in a whisper.
"Those two fuckers are going to find something in the car."
"You're driving with illegal drugs in the car?"
"Not that much, well at least I don't think I am…hell I'm not even sure, but I can't take that chance! We gotta run!"
"And where the hell are we gonna go?"
"I dunno! We could probably still hide at Julie's house."
"You're joking right? That place is probably the first place they'll look! Shit, Donna! I knew I shouldn't have left the goddamn basement today!"
"Look…they're pretty involved in searching right now. If we ran we could probably at least lose them until we came up with a better idea."

You get the impression Donna is going to run no matter what and you can't see how that's going to be a good idea in any way. You're also concerned that if she runs and you stay, these two cops will just pin everything on you (whatever that may be).

Still, if she sees that you're determined to stay, maybe she'll keep to her common sense and won't run too.

You don't run

Regardless of what your sister does, you're not going to get yourself into more trouble by running.

"Look Donna, I can't stop you from running, but I'm staying here."
"What? You can't do that. You're supposed to be supportive!"
"I'm not going to be supportive in your resisting arrest attempt! Now like I said, I won't stop you, but if you're going to do it, you'll be doing it alone."
"(Sigh) I should've known you're still the same old goody two shoes that follows all the rules. You're a goddamn idiot Suzy, one of these assholes just felt me up when he frisked me. You really think if they're just going to arrest us when they find something? Chances are they're going to drive us to some secluded area and make us suck their cocks and god knows what else! I'm getting the hell…"

Just as Donna is starting to get up, both cops have taken notice of you two again.

"HEY! I told you to stay put! Don't give me an excuse!" one of them shouts nearly going for his gun and it's enough to cause Donna to rethink her actions.

"Despite the pair of you acting mighty suspicious, you appear to be clean and so does the vehicle. Don't think you're getting out of a ticket though!" the cop says and shoves a ticket at your sister who takes it. Looks like Donna had a drug free car after all.

At this point the cop's partner says to him that they're needed at the mall since apparently a small riot has broken out there. You are left with another verbal warning and they drive off.

As for you and your sister, the pair of you get back in the car without another word and continue your drive to Julie's house in silence.

When you arrive, the place is much more subdued than your used to. You don't even hear loud music coming from inside.

"No party going on?" you ask.
"Probably will be some folks coming over later. I dunno, even I don't keep up on it all the time. Anyway, I'm sure you'll be wanting to hide away before that happens, so like I said your room will be Julie's dad's old office. Julie also wants to talk with you as well, so if you're actually feeling social you could go speak with her before heading off to planet Suzy." Donna says coldly.
"…what the hell? Donna, I know you're pissed, but I really don't know why. If it hadn't been for me stalling you from running, you'd be in for a lot more trouble than just a ticket. I'd say it worked out much better." You say.
"Right. Your plan worked. Following the rules always works for you. Your life is so great and that's why you had to beg to move in here."
"Uh, you're living here in JULIE'S house too with no means of support either. I wouldn't start pointing fingers."
"Fuck you Suzy. I thought things were going to be different, but I can see that you're still the stuck up bitch that thinks she's better than everyone else." Donna exclaims and storms off leaving you in the car.

So much for "sisterly bonding." This is really an unfortunate turn of events, but not completely unexpected. Donna's always been a bit bi-polar with you. One moment she's saying how much you should hang out and bond and the next minute she's calling you a stuck up bitch that doesn't know how to have fun.

The girl has some serious self-esteem issues. Really you have no idea why she still acts the way she does. Mom is dead and so is dad. Who is there to rebel against anymore? From some of what she said earlier it almost seems like she parties out of habit more than great desire anymore.

You pull your bags out of the car and head on inside. The front room is messy, but not overly so. Your sister is nowhere to be seen, but there are a couple of people you don't know sitting on one of the couches playing video games. Another one is asleep on the floor. The place smells of spilled beer and none of the people even acknowledge your presence.

"Suzy! You're here!" a voice suddenly calls out. You look up and see Julie waving from the second floor. She immediately runs down the stairs to greet you close up, nearly tripping in the process.

When she gets to you, the years of partying are really starting to take their toll. She's your age, but she's starting to look like one of those trashy strippers that wears too much make up.

"Suzy, it's been too long! Give me a hug!" she exclaims and before you can even react, she gloms on to you and gives you a tight squeeze.

"Mmmm, you smell so nice. Like strawberries." She says while rubbing her hands across your back.
"Uh, yeah. Probably the shampoo I used." You say.
"You've been keeping in shape too, guess Bobby was keeping you busy physically. Ha ha ha ha." Julie laughs and now she starts getting a little too touchy feelie for you. You've already had unwanted touching once today, you don't feel like more.
"Yeah, okay good to see you too. Back up there now. I need some space." You say and start pulling away.
"Hah same old prudish Suzy. What you think I'm gonna just start sexually assaulting you right here in the living room? Please, I know a girl like you needs to be romanced first!"

Julie jokes, but she's probably somewhat serious with her playful advances. Shortly after you got with Bobby, Donna told you that Julie spent a couple days crying because she wanted to tell you how she's always loved you. (You of course weren't sure why she ever thought you'd be into such a relationship, but apparently before Bobby, everyone just assumed you were a big lesbian.) Of course she quickly went on with her hedonistic life, but you've always wondered if she really ever "got over" you.

"Okay Suzy, I hear you're planning on sleeping in my dad's old office. You remember the way right?"
"Yeah I think so."
"Oh, I'll just walk with you, we need to catch up on so much. I've missed you, you know!"

Resigning yourself to the fact that you're going to have to at least be friendly to Julie, you walk with her to your new room. Julie of course is very talkative.

"So Suzy, speaking of Bobby, did you make up with him yet?"
"No and I doubt if it's going to work out anyway."
"Ohhhh, that's so sad. You two did make a cute couple in a creepy shut in way." Julie says and begins rubbing your shoulder.
"Hm, thanks." You answer.
"Well, not to worry, you could meet a new boyfriend right here! Contrary to what you might think, I don't just have mindless party animals coming over here. There's actually a wide variety of people that come here to hang out. You could meet that special guy tonight in fact! Or girl…you know whatever…" Julie says trailing off and nervously smiles at you.

"Well I'm not really thinking about that right now, I think I'd rather be by myself for awhile." You answer.
"Oh yeah sure. I understand. But I just want you to know that my house is your house okay? And all the fun that goes on here, well you can have some of that fun too you know?"
"I know Julie. Thanks for letting me stay here."
"No problem, you were always welcome. Okay well here it is. I'll leave you to get settled and remember you can always come out and join us later."

At this point Julie hugs you again though it's a quick one this time and briskly walks off.

You enter the office and see that it is indeed much neater and cleaner than most of the house. Even better that it has a small bathroom attached to it as well, but you knew that since this actually isn't the first time you've been in here.

You remember playing tag with Julie when you were in elementary school and you both ran in here. Julie's dad wasn't angry though. He even gave you a lollipop from a jar on his desk. Come to think of it anytime he saw you, he was always giving you lollipops. He was pretty nice that way. Shame he died in a car accident just as Julie was starting to get wilder, since even if he did work most of the time, you get the impression Julie might at least had some boundaries during her late teens and onward.

It doesn't take long for you to rearrange some things and make yourself at home on the fairly comfortable couch in there.

It also doesn't take long for you to get back to finishing what Donna interrupted earlier today. (Making sure to lock the door of course)

After finishing up and washing up a bit, you hear some music. Sounds like the party is getting started. Continuing to be the introverted personality you usually are, you don't leave your "safe zone" and go back to playing games on your computer and looking up random shit on the Internet. The more things change the more they stay the same, time passes and it's almost like you've never left the basement!

Eventually you get bored doing that and you start looking around the office a bit more. It's sort of snooping, but then Julie's dad is dead and you're sure Julie doesn't care.

You start going through the filing cabinets and find that all the paperwork is mainly business files dated back to before Julie's dad died. Looks like nobody ever bothered to clean any of this stuff out or even go through the stuff.

The bookshelves aren't filled with the most interesting of topics. Mostly about economics, business practices, legal things, though some of the books are historical in nature. You don't see much fiction though.

The desk just contains regular office supplies. You actually aren't surprised to find a pistol in there (along with bullets) but after rummaging around a bit you notice a secret compartment in one of the drawers.

You find a black box and you waste no time in opening it. Inside you find pictures. Pictures of little girls…in fact there are some of YOU! By the looks of them, these were all taken in secret.

Nobody is naked in the photos, but given that nearly every single picture of you involves you either sucking or licking a lollipop it's pretty apparent what the purpose of these were.

Some of these girls are other kids you knew from school and hung out with Julie as well. In fact one of them went missing. Nobody knew who did it, but it was a big deal in town and it probably lead to your mother being even more overprotective of you. And you're really glad she did since you're starting to get a sinking feeling about what you've uncovered here.

"Christ…" you say going through the photos. You start to wonder now if Julie's behavior is caused by years of sexual molestation. It would certainly explain a lot.

Then you get a knock on the door.

"Hey Suzy, it's me Julie, I've got something for you."

"Uh, hold on. Just a minute!" you exclaim as you quickly put the photographs back. You have no idea if you should tell her not, but you open the door.

Julie appears with a bottle of soda and a pizza and walks in.

"I figured you'd stay in here all night, but I thought you might get hungry or thirsty so here you go!" Julie says and places her gifts to you on the desk.
"Oh. Thanks Julie." You say.
"You're welcome…so why'd you take so long in answering the door? You splittin' the kitten in here or what?" Julie asks.
"Hah, yeah well busted I guess." You say with a fake chuckle.
"Suzy, if you came out and had some fun with the rest of us, that wouldn't really be necessary you know. I know you probably still miss Bobby on some level and you've got needs, but he's not here and you'd be better off moving on with your life and getting some free dick out there…or pussy…you know whatever…" Julie says obviously still hoping.

Given how unstable Julie is at times, you almost wonder if you should address what you found at all. Maybe dredging up bad childhood memories isn't the best thing right now.

You talk to Julie about what you found

Quite frankly, you'll still not sure if this is a good idea, but you can't stay silent about what you know.

"Julie, I'm about to tell you something very important and I think it's going to cause a lot of emotions, but please bear with me." You say and then when you see Julie's eyes light up you quickly clarify your statement.

"Uh…not that."
"…oh…" Julie says disappointed, though she's going to be even more upset when you reveal what you know.

You start and stop a couple of times, but eventually you tell her you better just show her. You open the desk back up and hand her the box of photos. Julie goes through them silently for a moment and sits down.

"Julie, I dunno what to say." You remark.
"What's to say? It is what it is. (Sigh) I thought I got rid of all this stuff though." Julie responds.
"You…you knew? Why didn't you ever tell anyone?"
"Wasn't like I really knew until after he died and by then I didn't see the point and I thought it might even fuck up the inheritance he left me. Most of the stuff I found when I did go through it weren't photos like these, but actual magazines or little girl pictures on his computer. I didn't even know that he was taking photos of you and other friends."
"Wait. So you never knew until after he died? Are you saying he never touched you?"
"Nope. Never touched me. Never paid much attention to me at all really, he was usually gone on business or otherwise busy as you well know."

At this point Julie starts to laugh.

"You wanna hear something really fucked up?"
"Um…"
"After I found out my dad was a sicko pedo I got angry and cried as you might expect, but I think a small part of me did so, not because of the horror of such a revelation, but because I thought why didn't he ever show me as much attention? Why these other girls? I was his daughter. Why wasn't I…(sob) good enough…" Julie starts to break down.

You've never been one to deny how fucked up your family is and you probably have your own set of "daddy issues" on some level, but right now you don't think you could have such a twisted way of thinking.

To be fair to Julie, she probably doesn't really have some fucked up desire to want to fuck her dad, its just her being fucked up in general. She's always been so starved for a positive father figure in her life that her mind is bound to go to places that are a little… well fucked up.

Julie goes into full blown sobbing mode and you realize you're going to have to be the one to console her now.

"Um…there. There, there now. You don't mean that." You say sitting down next to her and patting her on the back. She then of course takes to hugging you while crying.

"I mean in his own…incredibly twisted way he did care about you." You say.
"What do you mean?"
"Well he left you a shitload of money when he died for one thing. He definitely wanted you to make sure you'd be taken care of if he died. I mean that's more than my dad did."
"Your dad wasn't a fucking pedo."
"No, but I mean…look your father obviously must've known what he was was incredibly wrong and he tried to shield you from it by NOT molesting you. His love for you overwrote his sick lust for little girls. It might've even been why he was distant. I mean things could've been A LOT worse for you if he had taken an unhealthy interest in you."
"I…I suppose you're right. But I just wish…someone could've been there for me growing up. I wish my mom hadn't died when I was little. Maybe it could've made the difference of me actually not squandering my youth and acting like brainless whore. All I fucking do is live a shallow existence of hedonism. I don't even feel good about it anymore. It's just a never-ending void. I could've applied myself to SOMETHING and now the inheritance is starting to run out and I have absolutely no goddamn skills whatsoever."

This is pretty heavy stuff coming from Julie. She rarely if ever takes about anything deep, and given how personal all this is it's a bit out of character. Still, you aren't entirely surprised she's coming out to you about it. Crushes aside, Julie probably has always felt a bit of a bond with you due to both your mothers dying early and having distant fathers. True your sister is more in line with her lifestyle, but you grew up with her and were friends with her first and its obvious that deep down she'd like to have something stable in her life.

In a weird way you both have also shut yourself in from the outside world. Julie may be fucking strangers and partying all the time, but other than that, she barely interacts with the real world in any meaningful way. She was just a "basement dweller" with a shitload of cash.

In any event you continue to speak with Julie who reveals more about what she knows. She keeps apologizing for her dad taking pictures of you, but you tell her to forget about that now.

She goes on to say she doesn't know anything about Vanessa, the little girl in one of the pictures that went missing later. She says she barely remembers ever playing with her. (And to your knowledge you never played with her either).

"So you don't think he had anything to do with her disappearance?" you ask.
"I don't know. I don't know everything about my father's sick habits. I mean I know he looked at pictures obviously, but I can't say if I found anything more than that. Like I never found any hardcore kiddie porn involving actual sex. Though to be honest, it got to a point where I'd found so much that I didn't want to look anymore. Hence why this office has never really been touched." Julie says.
"Hrm. Well I didn't find anything else other than these photos."

You take a glance through the photos again and shake your head realizing that this is probably just going to be one of those dark mysteries of what really happened to Vanessa.

Since neither one of you are really willing to play great detective and don't want to dwell on this anymore, you and Julie destroy the photos. Afterwards you figure Julie will want to go back to her party since she'll want lose herself in an alcohol and sex filled night as usual, but this situation has put her out of the mood.

"I'm sure whoever is out there will have fun whether I'm there or not. I just don't think I'm in the mood. Can I just spend time with you? We could eat this pizza and just talk like how we used to remember?" Julie asks.
"Well, I suppose that would be okay." You answer.

So you and Julie spend the remainder of the night talking. It really isn't all that bad. It doesn't even get weird with Julie trying to push for something more, she just maintains a friendly demeanor and nothing more than that. Her spirits are certainly brighter.

Eventually you start to get sleepy and even Julie begins to get tired.

"I hate to stop our discussion, but I'm really getting sleepy. It was sort of an eventful day for me." You say.
"Sure, I understand, but um…could I ask just one little favor?" Julie asks.
'What?"
"Well, other than the situation that lead to our talk, I really feel like this was a very positive experience for me. I mean like in a long time. I feel like I've reconnected with a friend again. I mean REALLY reconnected."
"Julie…"
"I know. I know where you think I'm going with this, but can I just sleep here tonight? I just enjoyed our time together that I don't really want it to end yet, even if we'll both be asleep."
"I dunno…where are you going to sleep?"
"Oh, that couch folds out into a bed. I'll just sleep with you!"

You give Julie a look of disapproval and disbelief.

"I mean…oh you know what I mean! I'll just take one side of it! Please! I really won't try anything honest!"

You can't believe you're actually considering this…

"(Sigh) All right, but ONLY because this is all my fault for dredging up bad memories in the first place and you're a bit emotional right now. You can sleep on the left side, but DO NOT expect this to be a regular thing and DO NOT think that your hands or any other parts of your body are going to just roam over to my side in the middle of the night. I don't think I need to tell you what will happen if that happens."
"No, and I swear I won't try anything! Okay, this is gonna be fun! Like a sleep over! Why didn't we ever have one of those when we were little?"
"Because my mother was overprotective and I'm starting to think things could've been a lot worse for me if she hadn't been."

Wasting no time, Julie helps you fold the couch out and gets into the bed. You hesitantly get in on the other side and remind Julie not to touch you. Julie though just seems to be thrilled you're in the same bed together.

Despite your concerns, you eventually fall asleep…

Next day...

TUESDAY


"…Suzy…" you hear a voice whisper.
"Mgh." You answer.
"Suzy…get up…I have to go pee!" the voice says again. Your eyes are still closed, but you recognize it as Julie's.

"Guh. Well go! Why do I have to get up?!" you say angrily with your eyes still closed.
"Well because you arm is wrapped around my waist and your leg is intertwined with one of mine that's why!"

Now you open your eyes and realize what Julie has just described is true. Julie looks at you over her shoulder.

"Hey don't blame me, I stayed on my side of the bed. I'd enjoy this longer, but I really gotta pee!"
"Shit." You say and remove yourself from your entanglement from Julie's body. Julie smiles at you and then heads to the bathroom.

Great, now she's going to read something into it. Though you do wonder how the hell you got into a spooning position with her. Maybe you were dreaming about Bobby.

Speaking of Bobby, while you're checking the time on your cell phone, you see that he's left messages again. After you recent "night cuddling" with Julie, you think it might be best if you do call Bobby if only to deter Julie from getting any ideas.

"Hello? Bobby?" you say.
"Yeah." Bobby answers. He sounds pretty flat.
"Well you called me, so I assume you wanted to talk to me."
"Yeah I did, I wanted to talk to you yesterday about something else, but I've changed my mind about some things since then. So I've got something new to tell you, and given that you didn't bother to talk to me yesterday I think you'll be fine with it."
"What are you talking about?"
"I'm talking about us. Breaking up for good. It's obvious that this isn't working. I tried to bring you into my world, but you just refuse to meet me half way."

You can't believe you're hearing this!

"Meet you half way? You want me to be one of your wives in your fucked up religious cult compound that's what you want! Face it, you're not going to give up your sister Diana and that bitch would kill me as soon as I stepped foot in that place!"
"Well…you obviously have valid points, so why are you arguing with me on this?"
"Because you're trying to make out like I'M the bad guy here! I'm not the human sacrificing cultist Bobby and yet I looked past that because I loved you! You say I didn't try to meet you half way? I proposed long ago that we BOTH leave our fucked up families behind and start a new life together! I was willing to change, YOU weren't!"

At this point there is a long pause.

"Well? Don't you have anything to say?" you ask.
"No, except…it was just too much. Guess I take after my dad after all. I'm sorry, but my God and family come first. Even before you. I'll always remember…the good times we had. May Tiamat's Chaos take mercy on you."
"Oh fuck you and Tiamat!" you exclaim and hang up.

Its weird, but you start to sob a little bit. You sort of knew your relationship with Bobby was on borrowed time anyway, but it still hurts now that it's officially over. He was your first love after all and now that's gone.

Meanwhile Julie is standing in the bathroom door watching you.

"Suzy, I heard some of that…and I'm truly sorry about you and Bobby. Really, I mean that. You're a kind and decent girl with many wonderful qualities. He had a treasure in you and he doesn't know what he's lost."

Hard to tell if Julie's just trying to flatter you or she really does mean it, but either way it's still nice to hear right now.

"Did you want to talk about it?" Julie asks.
"No, not really. It's over and that's that. Best to not dwell on the past and move on right?" you say.
"Probably. Well I should probably see how much damage my home is in from last night and see who's still lingering around. I'll leave you alone."
"Wait, I'll come with you. I mean I live here too now, I might as well help you clean up. Besides, for the first time I think being alone might be a bad idea. I'm just going to end up dwelling on Bobby. I need to keep my mind on other things right now. I probably should try to make up with Donna as well. We kind of argued yesterday."
"Yeah, I wondered what happened about that. When she stormed in yesterday I asked about you and she mumbled something about you being a bitch. Then later at the party I asked again about what happened and she still never answered."
"Nothing really happened, she just jumped down my throat for a perceived insult, but I guess I should make the peace being the older sister and all."
"See? This is why you're so wonderful!" Julie smiles and the pair of you exit your room.

The house actually isn't in bad shape. Julie remarks that usually the parties only get really out of hand on Saturday and Friday nights. She also remarks that she thinks this the first time in quite awhile that she woke up without a hang over since she didn't really drink as much since she was mainly with you the whole night.

"It's a bizarre feeling, but I have to say it isn't an unpleasant one." Julie says.

From the living room you hear the sounds of a vacuum as well as a TV.

"Who the hell would be vacuuming?" Julie asks.
"Donna?" the moment you say that, you and Julie both look at each other and say "Nah."

When you arrive in the living room, you see a man probably about your age calmly vacuuming as he periodically looks at the TV screen, which is one of those Ground Zero infomercials. There are actually a couple of other people in the room flopped out on the furniture or on the floor still asleep, but the man merely vacuums around their sprawled out legs or bodies. You and Julie find the sight to be quite the peculiar one.

He notices you both and turns off the vacuum.

"Oh hey. You…you're the owner of this house correct?" he asks.
"Yes I am, who are you?" Julie answers.
"Oh I'm Johnny. Sorry if I woke you and your girlfriend up, but I couldn't in good conscience leave your house in such a mess. So I found your vacuum and tried to clean up a bit. Sort of a wild party last night huh?" Johnny says.
"Eh, had wilder. Never had a guest actually clean up though. Kinda weird, but hey I won't turn it down. I don't remember you from last night; though I have so many people at my parties I never know half of them anyway."
"Oh, I'm not very memorable anyway. I've always kind of just blended in with the crowd. I heard about this party from a friend and figured I'd come since I don't get out much. Did you want me to leave?"
"Doesn't make difference to me. Like I said, I'm not going to turn down a guest that helps clean up."

Johnny nods and returns to cleaning up, while Julie turns back to you.

"Hrm, he's an odd one, but at least he's helpful. Anyway, let's go check and see if Donna's upstairs." Julie says.

You and Julie leave Johnny to his cleaning to go find your sister. After checking the bedrooms, you don't find her (Though there are a couple of people still sleeping in said bedrooms) you wonder if she passed out on the lawn or something.

You and Julie start descending down the stairs.

"I dunno, while I've certainly passed out on the lawn, Donna has never gotten that bad. She's more likely to be in the basement."
"Well I guess you could look outside and I could look down there for my sister…"

Suddenly Johnny interrupts.

"Excuse me. Sorry for overhearing, but did you say you were looking for Donna?"
"Yes, she's my sister." You say.
"Oh…so you must be Suzy. Heard her talk about you last night."
"Nothing good I'm sure. You know where she is?" you say.
"Unfortunately I don't. I mean I remember seeing her leave with a couple of guys and another girl last night, but I didn't know them either. I was under the impression they were going out to get more beer or drugs or something, but they never came back."

You shake your head and sigh.

"Great, she probably got herself fucking arrested by the cops last night." You say.
"Well we don't know that." Julie remarks.
"Maybe. I guess I'll know if I get a call from the police station. Whatever, I know she's like a cat and always lands on her feet, so I can talk to her later."
"You sure you don't want to still look around the house for her?"
"Well if she's here, she'll probably turn up while I'm cleaning this place a bit."
"Okay, well I'm heading back upstairs to get those assholes out of my bed and clean up whatever mess is up there."

Julie heads back upstairs nodding to Johnny who is now picking up garbage by hand and putting it in a bag. He nods to you briefly and continues his work.

Well mind numbing clean up work should certainly help keep your mind off Bobby (and the possibility of Donna being in jail) you're just wondering if you should help Julie or Johnny.

You help Julie

While Johnny seems okay, you don't know him and you're not in the mood to make new acquaintances, so to prevent the risk of him suddenly becoming more talkative to you, you pass Johnny and head upstairs to help Julie.

"Hey! Not cool Julie, we were asleep!" you hear a voice say.
"Yeah and nobody has sex in MY bed unless I'm actually in it!" Julie says.
"Well, you can still join us like last time…" another voice says.
"Get out!"

This order is followed by the sounds of something falling on the floor, and then followed by some complaints.

Soon you see a disheveled man and woman both putting some clothes on as they exit the room. They walk past you, grumbling the whole time about Julie not being cool about the situation.

As they walk out the front door, they end up waking up another guest who was sleeping in one of the chairs downstairs. He looks at his watch and exclaims "Shit!" and rushes out the door as well. Johnny briefly looks at them and then looks up at you with a faint smile and continues to quietly clean up.

You enter Julie's room and see her stripping the bed.

"Well, could've been worse I suppose. I thought you were cleaning up downstairs." Julie asks.
"I figured I'd help you up here." You answer.
"Oh, well thanks."
"Plus, I dunno, but that Johnny guy is sort of weird."
"Heh, yeah, but no weirder than some of the other people we've both known."
"I suppose, but there's something about him…I can't place my finger on it. I'm just not getting the best of vibes from him."
"Well he did say he didn't get out much. Maybe he's just awkward around people. I think you know a little about that." Julie says smirking.
"Heh, very funny. So did you want me to get started on the other rooms?"
"Yeah just pick up any trash you might find and throw that away in a trash bag. There should be some up here in the hallway closet. Don't worry about the bathroom, I'm sure its suitably disgusting, but I wouldn't dream of asking you to clean it. Hey, maybe I can get Johnny to do it. Ha ha!"
"What about Donna's room?"
"Well, normally I leave her shit alone so she has the privacy of cleaning it herself if she so desires. Of course I don't think picking up a few beer cans that might be in there to be an invasion of privacy. So use your judgment."

So you do exactly what Julie says. You start picking up cans and other refuse into a trash bag. Despite Julie's warnings, you check the bathroom anyway and it isn't quite that bad so you do a little cleaning up there as well.

Eventually you make your way back to Julie's room where she's still straightening things out there.

"You know normally I never bother to do this much cleaning, but I guess that's one of the advantages of not being hung over when you wake up in the afternoon. You finished already?" Julie asks.
"Just about, even worked on the bathroom a little. Wasn't that bad in there."
"Glad to hear it, did you clean up Donna's room?"
"No, decided to stick with your policy of non-interference."
"Okay. (Whew) I'm used to playing hard, but not working hard. I'm taking a break."
"Yeah I think I'll join you."

Julie lies down on her now fresh-sheeted bed, while you sit in a chair.

"Why don't you come over here, you could stretch out." Julie says.
"Hm, I'm good. And I think we've spent enough time in beds together for a while." You answer.
"Afraid you might get the sudden urge to spoon me again huh?"
"Look, I dunno how I got in that position, but I probably was dreaming or something." You say.
"Mostly or something." Julie continues to prod. "You had me in a pretty good grip and I didn't say this before, but I was wide-awake for a good ten minutes enjoying it before I had to really pee. And during that time, you were also grinding your body into mine and you even gave me a peck on the ear."
"What?! Get out of here! You're making this up!" you exclaim.
"I'm serious!"
"…I like guys!" you protest.
"I never said you didn't. I'm just saying that on SOME level, you might like the female form as well. It's okay you know."
"The only female form I like is my own."
"So you really mean to say you've never fantasized about another woman? I'm not even talking about me, I'm talking about any woman."
"Nope, can't say that I have."
"You've never found any woman attractive?"
"Well that's different than wanting to fucking another woman. I mean sure, if you want an example I always thought my older brother Ben's wife Moonshadow had pretty eyes."
"Hmm, interesting. She was part black wasn't she? Maybe you just got a thing for dark meat." Julie laughs.
'Fuck you Julie. Just fuck you."
"Hey, whenever you're ready. And given how much you were aggressively holding on to me and grinding your body into mine, I at least I know you're a top now. Didn't get that vibe from you before. That's kind of hot really."

At this point you can't help but laugh though it's a semi-nervous laugh due to feeling a little weird about Julie's suggestions about you. You attempt to change the subject.

"Well at least this has gotten my mind off other things. Still need to smooth things over with Donna though. No call yet, so I'm guessing she didn't get arrested. I'm just hoping it isn't something worse. I might call her soon; even if she is pissed at me at least I'll know where she is. Has she ever disappeared like this before?"
"Oh sure. I mean she goes over to hang out with other people; she's probably over at one of their houses. I'm sure she'll be back later today…is that Johnny guy still downstairs?"
"Dunno. I can check."

You exit Julie's room and look into the living from the second floor. The TV is still on (And still playing an infernal Ground Zero infomercial) but Johnny isn't anywhere in sight. Looks like the living room is clean though, even the last of the sleeping "guests" are gone. You call out his name, but there is no answer.

"Nope, he's gone. Looks like everyone is gone." You say entering Julie's room again.
"Oh well. With as helpful as he was cleaning up I hoped I could get him to drag these dirty sheets and blankets to the washing machine. You gonna help?"
"I suppose I could, but I probably should be searching for a job. I have a terrible habit of not focusing at the best of times on that."
"Heh, I don't even think I've ever looked for one…and I probably should start doing so. Like I said yesterday, my inheritance isn't going to last forever. I won't keep you though, you've been a big help already and I can handle taking some sheets down to the washing machine."

You suddenly get the idea that maybe the task wouldn't seem quite as bad if you did it together. To be honest you wouldn't mind her with you while you look if only because you still don't want to be by yourself where you can start dwelling on Bobby again or worse trying to call him.

Of course you might end up just goofing off with Julie if she's around thus procrastinating and making the goal of searching for a job pointless.

You search for jobs yourself

"Well, if you want to look for a job, just come in and see me and we can look together." You say.
"Okay, maybe. First, I'm going to take these sheets and blankets and throw 'em in the wash though." Julie replies.

The pair of you head downstairs and part company as you head into your room and she goes into the basement. (It still feels odd to NOT go into the basement when heading to your room)

You lay down on your bed/couch, open up your laptop and prepare for the unfun task of looking for a job.

Ten minutes in and you've already gotten off track. You're playing some flash game, but your mind keeps occasionally thinking about Bobby. You start to get upset again and think about calling him.

You pick up the phone and think of how you really shouldn't do this, especially since you fully believe that he was being the asshole in this situation, but you can't just let it end the way it did. You don't know why, maybe its because he's the first guy you've ever seriously been with and you can't quite let go yet.

"Hey." Bobby says on the other end of the phone. You're sort of surprised that he picked up after only two rings.
"Bobby… I just want to say a few more things…" you say.
"Suzy I don't want to fight with you. So…"
"No, it's not that. Look I just want to say, I'm sorry I insulted your religion. I know how important it is to you."
"Well I appreciate that. Thank you."
"I just don't want things to end like that last conversation we had. Our time together was special to me and I don't want those memories to be completely soiled because we had a bad break up."
"I agree as well…I know I probably shouldn't say this, because it only makes this break up even harder, but I ALMOST came close to abandoning everything for you…it just…just…"
"I know. It was just too much."

Bobby on the other end of the phone is silent, but you think you hear sniffling. Of course this makes your eyes water too.

"I think… (sniffle) I think I'm always going to love you Suzy." Bobby says. "I have to go….bye." Bobby says and abruptly hangs up.

Now you're really upset. You knew you shouldn't have called. You almost think it was better when you parted thinking he was a complete asshole. He sounded so sad, you wonder if maybe, just MAYBE you could convince him if you went and saw him one more time.

You get the idea. You're going to do it, because what you had with Bobby is worth fighting for!

You leave your room and start shouting to Julie as you go down the basement stairs

"Hey Julie! I know you'll probably think this is a bad idea, but I want to go talk things out with Bobby one last time. He and I have so much history, so do you know if Donna has an extra set of keys to her… Aaaaaaaahhh!" you scream when you see Johnny standing over Julie's bloody body with a knife in hand.

Johnny doesn't even flinch, he just smiles at you like nothing is wrong.

"Bobby? …you have a boyfriend? Your sister didn't tell me that…oh well…" he says flatly.

Panic and fear fill every inch of your body and you instantly turn and run back upstairs.

You get to the top step and open the door just before you feel a sharp pain strike hard into your back. You manage to keep from falling backwards and instead fall forward so that you're half way on the basement steps and half on the ground floor.

Trying to fight through the pain, you attempt to stand back up and stumble in the process. Attempting to grab the knife in your back doesn't help either.

You manage to get partially down the hallway before Johnny catches up to you again. You are grabbed roughly and then thrown face first into the floor as he twists the knife in your back. You scream out for help, but there is none to be had.

"Stop screaming you fucking bitch! Why do you always scream!? I'm doing this for your own good! I can be your boyfriend! I can be a better boyfriend!" Johnny shouts as he attempts to strip off your clothes. The only consolation to your final fate is that you struggle so much that Johnny cuts your throat before he can rape you.

Not that it stops him from doing so after you're already dead of course.