A Dark Voice: Chapter One

Hey, I've been working on rewriting That Voice and this is one of the rewrites I've come up with. I've changed the characters dramatically, but the plot is still pretty much the same. Hope you like it better than the first one.

Chapter One: Hide the Evidence

Part ONE

A low sound wove around Nessa West and she blinked, trying to form words out of it.

“Are you even listening to me?” The sound turned into a sharp voice. She forced her eyes to see the eighteen year old boy in front of her.

“I’ve been listening, Jimmy. I’m just tired.” The lie slipped easily off of her lips. His dark brown eyes narrowed, but he didn’t say anything.

“I asked you a question, Nessa,” Jimmy finally snapped. Nessa searched back through her thoughts, trying to remember what he had asked her. Jimmy shook his head and sighed at her expression.

“What are we going to do about the body?” he asked, trying to soften his voice. The corners of Nessa’s mouth twitched. Was it even possible for Jimmy’s voice to lose some of its edge? His eyes narrowed again as his hands clenched into fists.

“Don’t pretend this isn’t funny,” she half whispered.

Jimmy looked at her in surprise and struggled to form a response.

“I don’t find it funny that I had to…kill someone. I didn’t expect it to be so difficult, even if it was justified,” he said. Nessa shook her head slowly as she tried to wrap her head around the whole concept. She finally glanced up at Jimmy with a look of acceptance in her eyes.

“You should change. I’ll destroy the shirt,” she said, nodding towards Jimmy’s ragged and bloodied shirt. Jimmy smiled at the sudden change in her voice. It was good to hear that she could get a grip once in a while.

*

At a population of about twenty two thousand, it should’ve been easy to cover up one murder in Ashland, Oregon. No one would know, because no one would care, especially if it concerned someone that didn’t exist - someone like Jimmy. You couldn’t pin murder on a teenager who lived in another teenager’s head…who showed himself only when there was no one around. You could pin murder on the body in which he inhabited, though. But, Nessa wouldn’t have that.

“I swear to God, Jimmy, I will take you down with me if-“

“If we get caught?” he interrupted. They hurried down the dimly lit sidewalks, carrying Jimmy’s bloody shirt and…the knife. Nessa shuddered. They had spent the last hour trying to find the perfect place to hide their evidence. Nessa threw a glare at Jimmy.

“Yes,” she hissed, “what if we do get caught?”

“We won’t.”

Jimmy’s confidence was catching, as always and Nessa couldn’t help but feel just as sure as he was. They came to a sewage drain in the side of the road and Jimmy threw out his arm to stop Nessa.

“Do you think this is good enough?” she asked him, uncertain. He looked at it carefully and nodded his head.

“The sewage water will wash away anything. If someone finds it, they won’t be able to trace it back to us,” he said. He held out his hand and Nessa gave him the shirt. He wrapped the knife in it carefully. With a quick glance around, Jimmy tossed the grotesque package down the drain. Nessa watched it disappear with a growing sense of uneasiness.

There’s too much blood on the shirt… it’ll make the water look like blood too…people will wonder.

Nessa’s breath came in gasps as she thought the possibility over.

Her parents will see the blood and they’ll know. They’ll find the knife and they’ll know we did it.

Nessa’s breathing became erratic as the truth covered her in a suffocating blanket. She fell to her knees on the cement, struggling to catch her breath. Her heart pounded painfully against her chest and the cold pain in her stomach reminded her horribly of…

The knife will still be intact and her parents; they’ll know that it’s ours. Not ours, it’s mine, because Jimmy doesn’t exist to them.

Nessa felt hands under her arms, trying to life her up off the ground. She heard Jimmy muttering something under his breath.

“Panic attacks…naturally, she’d have them…”

Slowly, her breathing returned to normal and the pain in her stomach disappeared. She bit her lip, trying not cry in front of Jimmy because he wouldn’t feel sorry for her. He only knew his own emotions. Nessa took in a shuddering breath and looked into Jimmy's unknowing and uncaring eyes. Slowly, a tear burned its way down her cheek and Jimmy's mouth curved downwards.

"Just give me a moment," Nessa sniffed as she struggled to regain some sort of calm facade.

"We don't have a moment," Jimmy said as gently as he could. But, it still came out sounding like an accusation. Nessa wiped furiously at her eyes as Jimmy guided her away from the drain, one hand on her back and the other under her arm, supporting her.

"What time did your mom say she would be back?" Jimmy asked, still trying to act like he killed people on a regular basis.

"She said one o'clock," Nessa whispered weakly. Jimmy glanced at his black digital watch and nodded.

"We've got forty minutes," he stated. Nessa grimaced and started to pick up her slow pace; Jimmy kept up easily.

"Nessa, it's going to be okay." His promise echoed out into the night and the blackness sealed it.