On Fire

The day Jenna Marie and Olivia died will haunt me for the rest of my life. I need to come clean… I need to get the truth out there. She needs to pay for what she’s done.

They were twin sisters, Jenna and Olivia, and only 17 years old. They weren’t the most… liked girls in school, and they were constantly made fun of, simply because they were different. Different in the way they didn’t attempt to fit in, or suck up to the popular crowd. They had average looks with average clothes and, basically, average lives. They only hung out with each other and honestly, I felt bad for them. There really wasn’t anything wrong with them. In fact, I had this lingering attraction to Jenna, ever since she helped me out with my math homework at the beginning of the school year.

But, because I myself was part of the “popular” crowd, and I had a girlfriend who happened to be the “queen bee” of our school, I could never really act upon my growing feelings. So, every day, I had to witness my girlfriend and our friends taunt Jenna and her sister, and it made me feel terrible.

I’m not sure why Christina, my girlfriend at the time, hated them so much. If I had to guess, it was because one of them got the lead role in some magical fairy bullshit play in 10th grade instead of her. Stupid reason, I know, but Christi would bring it up constantly so that led me to believe that was the only petty reason.

On with the story, it was the end of our senior year, and it was nearly time for Christina’s end of the school year party that everybody anticipated. Being the most popular girl in school, she only invited people she deemed “worthy,” which is why I was so suspicious when I found out she invited Jenna Marie and Olivia. I mean, she made it her daily job to make their lives a living hell, so why in the world would she be inviting them to her party? I wish I knew about her plan before it was too late.

The night of the party; June 5th and it was all anyone had been talking about for weeks. While most were excited, I was a nervous wreck. I was still worrying about whatever scheme Christi had bubbling up in her mind for poor Jenna and Olivia. I, of course, questioned her about it as soon as I got the news, but her only response was, “I just feel bad for how I’ve treated them, and I wanted to give them a little apology.” I was still pretty hesitant, but for the sake of not causing and riffs in our relationship, I went along with it.

The party was being held at the town’s local community building, which was pretty much used for large social gatherings, or in this case, “Christina’s Senior Year Bash!!!” I arrived a few hours beforehand to help set up, making sure all of the snacks and drinks were stocked, along with the massive amount of decorations. Spotting Christi talking to the DJ, I approached her and took her aside.

“Baby, what do you need? I’m trying to make sure the DJ has the right playlist!” she whined.
I told her I just wanted to make sure she was really apologizing to the twins. She gave a heavy sigh and said, “James, baby, do you not trust me? All I want to do is make up for being so mean to them.”

She pouted and I pulled her into a hug. “No, of course I trust you, darling. It just struck me as odd is all.” I pulled away and kissed her forehead, then smiled at her until she disappeared into the backroom for more decorations. I still wasn’t sure what to believe.

About half an hour into the party, Jenna and Olivia arrived, wearing matching dresses. My breath caught in my throat and I had to shake away the thoughts Jenna’s appearance was giving me. I looked over to Christina, who I swear was glaring at them until they caught her eye, then she gave them a smile that, under the right lighting, looked plain evil. She grabbed my arm and pulled me over to them. “Hello girls! I’m glad you could make it!” she squealed. Her voice was almost dripping with her sweet-sarcasm.

“Y-yeah, hi Olivia… Jenna.” I tried to not let my eyes linger on her for too long.

“We wouldn’t have missed this for the world!” Olivia exclaimed.

Jenna smiled sweetly at me, staring almost as if she also was having trouble looking away, then turned back to Christi to explain, “Yeah, we were pretty surprised when we got the invite, considering we thought you despised us, but we came none the less.”

“Awe girls,” Christi cooed, “I just want to tell you how super sorry I am for every mean thing I’ve ever said or done. Now, go enjoy the party, I’m sure it will be a blast!” She smiled at them one more time, and this time I was certain; there was something sinister hiding behind that pearly white smile.

It was 10:30, and the party was going to end in 2 hours or so. Everyone was having a great time, even Jenna and Olivia, and honestly, I was able to push my suspicions to the back of my mind enough to enjoy myself too. Christina and I were grinding on each other to some racy rap song that was blaring over the speakers when I felt a tap on my shoulder. I turned my head and my stomach was filled with a feeling I shouldn’t have been feeling. It was Jenna, with Olivia standing in her shadow being her.

I smiled at her, taking in all of her details; her beautiful green eyes, her dainty lips, painted with a pale pink, her protruding collar bones, and finally her- “I’m sorry to interrupt, but we were wondering where the bathroom was?”

I quickly averted my eyes back to hers and smiled sheepishly. I opened my mouth to reply but was quickly cut off by Christina. “Oh, I’ll show you girls where it is!”

“Thanks!” the twins exclaimed simultaneously.

“Be right back baby,” Christina purred, kissing my lips. I nodded and they walked away, out of sight.

Several minutes later and none of them were back. I went to search for them, on account of my worries hurriedly coming back. Not noticing any of them on the dance floor, I entered a long dark hallway. I saw a faint figure at the end of the hallway and realized it was Christina. I slowly walked over to her, and I noticed she was locking a door to the cellar that was producing a quiet sound from the other side. It almost sounded like yelling and pounding, but I wasn’t too sure.

“Um, Christi? What are you… what are you doing?” She looked up in fright.

“Oh Jesus, James! You nearly scared me half to death!” She giggled and wrapped her arms around me. I slowly grabbed her arms and removed them from my body, backing up slowly. “What’s wrong sweetie? I don’t smell bad, do I?” She giggled some more, continuing to smile at me in a way that was so… sweet and innocent that it actually terrified me.

“What’s behind that door, Christina?” I questioned quietly. Her sweet, shy smile began to morph into an evil, sadistic grin.

“She likes you Jamesies. And I know you like her too. First, she steals my lead role in the play, and then she tries to steal my boyfriend? I can’t let that happen now can I, baby?”

“What the fuck are you talking about? You’re making no sense Christina,” I pleaded with her. How did she find out about my crush on Jenna? I wondered.

“Come off it, James. It’s obvious. You were very blatantly staring at her tits earlier for Christ’s sake. I can’t let that… that freak… that loser… take you away from me. When I invited Jenna and Olivia, I told them I had a surprise for them, and, well, they were quite shocked to say the least.”
“What do you mean? What are you doing to them? Where are they?” I yelled.

“What I mean is I’m going to take care of her, of them, once and for all. When I told them my plan, they begged, they pleaded, for me to not go through with it. But now that it’s out in the open, I can’t not do it now, right baby?”

I heard more faint pounding from the door and began yelling their names. “Quiet!” Christina yelled, “I will not have this go on anymore! You are mine! You will love me! Me! Not her!”
Suddenly she pulled out a box of matches and small flask that contained something that smelled rather musty. It wasn’t until she poured the substance on the floor that I realized what it was; gasoline. Fear took over. I ran to the door, pushing Christina aside and pounding on it as hard as I could. “Jenna! Olivia! Can you get out?” I heard a faint no screamed out from the other side.

“Fuck!” I yelled. “Are there any windows? Anything at all you could break?”

“There’s one down the stairs without glass, but it’s barely big enough to fit my head through!” Jenna. Her voice. She sounded so scared. And I was helpless. I banged on the door with as much force as I could muster, body checking it until my shoulder was on fire.

“James!” I heard Christina scream, from behind me, “Get away from there! There’s nothing you can do for them now. Let them die and run away with me! Love me for the rest of our lives!”

I turned to face her, eyes full of rage. “I will never love you! Ever again!” I spat at her.

Her smile faded and all that was left was a mixture of hurt and pure hatred. Then, she lit a match and dropped it. The floor was instantly engulfed in flames and I had to leap backwards to get away from it. Her expression quickly changed into one of fear as she ran out of the hallway, hysterically screaming, “Fire! Fire! Everybody get out, there’s a fire!”

The music stopped abruptly and everyone began to run out of the building screaming bloody murder. I myself was forced out, being choked by the smoke from the flames. I raced to the back of the building, tears streaming down my face, frantically searching for the tiny window Jenna said was there. Finally I found it, and scrambled to the ground as I yelled out her name. The hole was small and it was so dark, that when she finally came to the “window,” I could barely see her.

“Jenna! Jenna! I’m so sorry! I’m so, so sorry! I didn’t know! I-I, I can’t help you!”

She was crying. She knew her, and her sister, were going to die. And so did I.

“I-It’s okay, James. I know it’s n-not your fault. J-Just please… don’t leave yet.”

“I won’t, I won’t! But Jenna… I- there’s something I want you to know… something you should hear. I… I think I love you.”

She was silent for a few seconds before whispering, “I-I love you too, James.” She stuck her hand out of the hole and I desperately grasped onto it, kissing her palm over and over and over. We were silent for a few minutes, the only thing we could hear was each other’s ragged breathing, despite people’s screaming, and the crackling of the approaching fire.

“Jenna!” we heard Olivia yell from somewhere in the dark room.

“I-I need to go, James. I need to be with my sister. Please, go, run,” Jenna cried.

“Jenna I’m so sorry, I’m so sorry. I love you, I love you, I love you!”

“I love you too, James. Now run! Leave!”

And I did.