Ongoing: Resonance [Ch. 4]
Tiffany stood in the apartment’s kitchen, worryingly watching her partner, as she sat on the couch, silently staring at the ceiling. After several devastating minutes of silence, she crept behind the blonde girl, and slowly encircled her arms around her neck.
Jessica jolted from the sudden embrace, registering the dangling hands hovering over her chest, and a warm head pressed against her left ear. Honestly, it was too close for comfort, but she didn’t pull away; it was so comforting that she didn’t have the guts to try.
“It’s kind of twisted, isn’t it?” Jessica whispered, not taking her eyes off the blank ceiling. “To learn that she’s alive, but only to find out that she’s infected…”
Her head finally shifted from viewing the ceiling to the right side of the room, as she suddenly felt a tingling warmth on the tip of her ear.
“But Sooyoung is alive. Isn’t that what matters the most?”
Now she wished she had broken out of the hug sooner, as Jessica was now vulnerable to showing Tiffany her reddened face. It was like the younger girl was cooing her like a baby, speaking with a soft tone and filled with care.
“Just give it some time Jessi… Soon, the Organization will find a cure for her, and then she’ll be human once more.”
“…Yeah... You’re right.”
Jessica got up from the couch, Tiffany’s arms sliding off as she parted further away. She made her way for the door, twisting the knob open.
“Where are you going?” the brunette asked hurriedly.
She turned, so that she could look at Tiffany through the corner of her eye, gripping the doorframe with her other hand.
“I need to talk to Sooyoung. Stay here.”
-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-
Jessica found herself in front of the jail cell where her long lost friend resided. She eyed the tall girl, who was splayed on the ground, her back facing her. Gripping the rusty, metal bar, she weakly called out, “S-Sooyoung?”
“…Go away…”
She sighed in relief when she heard the quiet, and yet ominous murmur. So she really does still have some sanity left in her.
“How…are you feeling?”
A loud hmph! echoed in the cell, Sooyoung sitting herself upright, though her back was still in her view. She turned her head, staring at the blonde girl with dull, pained eyes.
“You? Asking how I feel? Did Tiffany melt your heart, Ice Princess?”
The older girl flinched from the remark, her expression contorting from a frown, to a pout, to a twitchy smile, and then back to a frown.
“I’m serious!”
A chuckle escaped as Sooyoung stood up, nonchalantly walking towards a nearby wall where she leaned against it, eyes fixated on the lone light bulb attached to the ceiling.
“It’s painful being alive… The madness inside me is constantly fighting me, and my mentality keeps telling me to fight back. It would be so much easier if I just let go now, but for some reason I choose to stick to reality as much as I can. Honestly, I’d be better off dead…”
Jessica drooped her head so that she was staring at the ground; she couldn’t bear to witness the pain her friend was suffering now. Both hands tightened its grip on the bars, as she took a deep breath.
“How did it become this way…?”
“How? It was because I was so stupid!” Sooyoung rammed her fist into the wall behind her in frustration, while shaking her head, “so, so stupid. When we were fighting that Shadow Don… When Hara was killed, I suddenly became a coward! A fucking stupid coward, who selfishly feared for her own life…”
The blonde mouth opened and closed, trying to form a proper reply. Weakly, she sympathetically said “I’m sorry about Hara’s death… It must have been horrible to witness…”
Several seconds of silence passed between the two girls. Hoping she hadn’t hurt her feelings, Jessica looked up to see if Sooyoung was okay.
Rather than seeing her friend against the wall, she was suddenly ferociously pulled into the cell door, hands dragging her into the metal bars by her shirt collar. The pressure was killing Jessica, as she desperately tried to push herself away from being crushed like paper through a shredder. Realizing the hands had belong to the tall girl, Jessica’s eyes painfully examined her.
“S-Soo…young! What the hell?!” she wretched out, the pull becoming ever so strong to the point where breathing was become a tedious task.
“Horrible? Horrible is an understatement of how I felt then!!! Watching a monster rip open your partner, and devour her heart right in front of you; do you think that’s merely horrible?!”
A cackle rumbled from her, the same laughter Jessica had heard when she first saw her while infected. The blonde’s breath hitched, more or less from the lack of oxygen, but more from when Sooyoung faced her, eyes suddenly shifting from dull to wild and bloodshot.
“But then, I had a thought. I have never seen anything eat something so preciously, like as if their life depended on it. Seeing that monster eat Hara’s heart as if it was the best thing it ever ate…It made me wonder…what does heart taste like?”
Jessica could only watch as Sooyoung released one hand, though still making it impossible to escape, reaching behind into her pocket. Her eyes widened when she registered the item in Sooyoung’s hand as a knife.
“Sooyoung, stop! You don’t know what you’re doing!!!”
The crazed girl didn’t pay attention, as she edged the tip of the blade towards her chest, her tongue gliding over her lips hungrily. “Say Sica, can I try your heart?”
Click. BANG!
Jessica found herself suddenly free and stumbling backwards until she fell into the brick wall behind, drinking in air as sweat strolled down the nape of her neck. Sooyoung’s body went limp, as she crashed onto her side, her knife clinking to the ground with her. The blonde faced her savior who wielded a smoking pistol; her eyes narrowed when she recognized the Commander.
“Seungyeon…”
The commander reached her foot into the cell, sliding the knife so that it slid outside the jail cell. She bent over, picked up the knife, and examined it.
“She must have forged this inside the cell; it’s very primitive, but it definitely could kill someone.”
Seungyeon shoved the weapon into her pocket. She looked at the blonde, and then followed her line of sight to the limp girl in the cell.
“Don’t worry, she’s not dead. I didn’t use enough Mind Energy to kill her. Now that that’s over, let’s go, Jiyoung.”
The gun in her hand glowed and shifted into a young girl who bubbly replied ‘Ok!~’, and followed her as they walked away from Jessica. However, Seungyeon soon stopped.
“By the way, you shouldn’t become too attached to her.” Jessica grimaced at the words, as the other girl continued, “Sooner or later, she’ll become a Noise, turning into the very thing that killed her beloved Hara.”
She turned her attention from the disappearing Armed Resonators to the unconscious Sooyoung, her eyes lidded from the haunting words.
Sooyoung…
-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-
A cloud coveted the sun’s rays as Jessica watched the sky from a bench in the K-P Organization’s courtyard. Her hand unconsciously hovered over her neck; she could still feel the harsh grasp on her neck and the metal bars grinding into her.
“Not here with your girlfriend today?”
Jessica snorted in frustration at the sound of Yuri’s teasing voice.
“Screw off.”
“Calm down now; I’m here in peace.”
Yuri made herself comfortable, sitting on the opposite side of the bench. Jessica eyed the girl, noticing that she was staring at the ground while twiddling her fingers.
“So? What did you want?” the blonde bluntly asked.
“Um…”
Yuri stretched her back, using one hand to rub the back of her head and the other to erratically drum the bench. Jessica didn’t know why, but the younger girl’s nervous antics amused her.
“Listen, about Sooyoung… I-I don’t know what kind of history you have with her, but... but I’m sure that everything will work out.”
Jessica felt the corner of her mouth twitch. So she was trying to cheer me up? What an idiot… The words Seungyeon had said to her suddenly flashed in her mind. She shook her head to rid of the thought, and faced Yuri.
“She’s still human, and that’s all that matters now.”
The two girls were distracted at the sight of several men hanging banners on the Organization’s building and front gate.
“What are they doing?” Jessica questioned.
Yuri gave her a what-the-hell-is-wrong-with-you look, and said with a scoff, “Have you already forgotten? Tonight is the K-P Organization’s Anniversary Party!”
Soaking in the information slowly, the blonde soon groaned and sunk further into the bench, draping an arm over her eyes.
“What’s with you? This party is something we all need!”
“What do you mean ’we’?”
Yuri suddenly slid across the bench, so that she was next to the older girl, and hooked her arm around Jessica’s neck.
“I have a vision,” she extended her other arm in front of her, as if her hand were glasses to said-vision, “You. Tiffany. Slow dancing. When the moment’s right and the sparks start flying, you both slowly lean in until you end up kiss-“
Jessica jolted from the seat, escaping Yuri’s ridiculous vision.
“Are you fucking kidding me?!” she shouted, her cheeks turning a red hue.
Yuri stood, and crossed her arms. “I’m completely serious. Although… my vision might not be as accurate, but I think this party is a good opportunity for a confession.”
The blonde was ready to spew her flustered response, when Yoona suddenly ran up to the two, taking Yuri’s hand, and began to drag her.
“C’mon, Yuri! You said we could go shopping before the party, so let’s go!~”
“Oh right, I almost forgot.”
Yuri stopped resisting from the tugs, and began to walk hand-in-hand with Yoona. Swirling her head, she quickly shouted to Jessica, “Good luck!”
The blonde watched the couple walk away, and sighed heavily. She was definitely going to need plenty of luck.
-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-
The Grand Hall was jam-packed with Resonators, all of them conversing or offering themselves to the buffet. The room was decorated to the special occasion, flowers garnishing each table, a make-shift stage set on the side with a sign above that read ‘20th K-P Organization Anniversary Party’, and a giant chandelier was recently added for the perfect touch.
Jessica and Tiffany stood at the main entrance to the room; the older girl wearing a white strapless dress with her hair put into a bun, and the younger adorned a deep red cocktail dress, brown hair draping down her shoulders.
The blonde glimpsed at Tiffany, and gulped. Tonight is going to be really stressful…
“Hey Sica! Tiffany! Over here!”
The two picked out a waving hand amongst the dense crowd. The shout led them to a table, where Yuri, Yoona, Hyoyeon, and Sunny sat. The arrivals occupied the last two vacant seats, the group now complete. Jessica placed her cheek into her fist and sighed; the high energy in the room was making her feel uncomfortable.
Jessica shuddered when she felt a warm hand rest itself on her thigh. Her eyes followed it to Tiffany, who had a reassuring smile.
“Just try to have fun tonight, ok?”
She could only nod as the lights in the room soon slightly dimmed. A spotlight shone on the makeshift stage, which pointed at Taeyeon. Voices began to simmer as a light applause ensued.
“Ladies and Gentlemen, I welcome you all to our wonderful 20th K-P Organization Anniversary Party. I hope all of you enjoy yourselves tonight, as it is not only a cause for a celebration, but a marker for the near future. And now,” Taeyeon paused to grab a glass of wine from a table, and lifted it into the air, “a toast! To another year!”
Everyone in the room grabbed and raised their cups, simultaneously shouting, “TO ANOTHER YEAR!”
-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-
Jessica stood up and stretched; she had been sitting for the hour since the party had started. At this point, music was blaring left and right as the mid section of the Grand Hall became a dance floor; majority of the people were participating in ballroom dancing. The table was completely empty sans Jessica: Hyoyeon and Sunny had scurried off to the dance floor, Yuri and Yoona ran off to god knows where, and Tiffany was outside on the balcony.
Having nowhere else to go, the blonde found herself walking towards the balcony where Tiffany was leaning against the railing, staring off into space. The moon was high up in the sky, bathing the brunette in its silver glow; it enhanced every aspect of the younger girl, from her silky hair to her attractive dress.
Jessica swallowed an invisible lump in her throat. This is my chance…
She silently passed the glass doors, finding a spot next to Tiffany. The younger girl noticed the sudden presence, and smiled.
“Hi.”
“Hey.”
Tiffany returned to staring out into the open wide space, resting her chin on her propped arm.
“The view of the city is amazing up from here, isn’t it?” she absentmindedly blurted, eyes sparkling from both amazement and wonder as she watched the city life below her.
“Yeah… It’s very beautiful.”
The girls both heard the music change inside the Grand Hall, the melody softer and light. The dancing also slowed, as the atmosphere began to calm.
“Ooh, I like this song,” Tiffany grabbed Jessica’s hand and began to make her way inside, “let’s go dance, Jessi.”
“W-wait!”
Jessica tugged back from the pull, receiving a peculiar glance from the younger girl. She didn’t want it to confess in front of people; the moment would be nearly perfect with just the two under the gleaming moonlight.
“I-I have something I want to tell you.”
Tiffany softly smiled, eyes turning into crescents, “Yes?”
The blonde exhaled to rid of her nerves. She felt her eyes harden with determination. She opened her mouth, ready to spew out her emotions. However, nothing came out. Her breath was suddenly hitched, and her heart had stopped. For some reason her nervousness suddenly overridden her system, causing her legs and arms to shake, and her heartbeat to increase in speed. She couldn’t do it.
“N-Never mind. It’s nothing.”
Fuck.
“Oh…ok. Let’s go then.”
Jessica was mentally beating herself as she slugged behind Tiffany back inside. She had blown her chance, and knew this well. She knew that when she returned home, she would be crying into her pillow, cursing herself at yet another unsuccessful confession.
A large BOOM! echoed in the air, followed by a harsh rattle of the ground. Everyone became confused and panicked, thinking an earthquake was striking. Jessica quickly twisted around and ran back onto the balcony, knowing the sound had come from outside.
“Oh my god…” she quietly uttered.
Millions of Noises were bordered on the outskirts of the city. She faintly heard screams and cries down below in the city, as the monsters began ramming the city gates. She ran back inside, shouting over the confusion in the room.
“THE NOISES ARE INVADING THE CITY!”
-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-
I feel happy that I updated this so fast (to me that is >w>). I think this is the longest chapter so far...idk. Longer chapters = more errors and lots of rambling so excuse my fails~
Penny for your thoughts? :3