WHO: Jon WHEN: January 12, afternoon WHERE: Jenny's Apartment WHAT: His girlfriend hasn't contacted him in a few days, causing our dear Mormon to be a bit concerned. He goes to check on her. WARNING: We're finding yet another dead body guys. This is almost not a warning, but a regular thing by now. xD
Jon hadn't heard from Jenny in a few days. Normally that wouldn't have bothered him, but his phone was usually riddled with texts from her. Where it might have bothered other guys, Jon found it endearing. He found a lot about Jenny endearing.
The silence on her end was enough to merit concern on his end, so he decided he'd swing by on his first available chance, which happened to be that weekend. He pulled his Camry into one of the vacant parking spots at Black Gate, and climbed out. His eyebrows cast in a furrow mirroring the concern he was internalizing.
He made his way to Jenny's apartment and rapped on the door. He tensed his jaw, hooked his thumbs in his pockets, and rocked back on his heels as he waited for a reply.
Nothing.
The apartment was silent. Was she out?
"Jenny? Are you home?" He rapped on the door again.
Still no response.
He fished his phone out of his pocket and dialed Jenny's number. Maybe she was out and he was overreacting. Please be out. It was his mantra as he pulled his phone to his ear and heard the first ring. His stomach sank when he heard the muffled Taylor Swift ringtone through the door. He was fully expecting it to be locked, as it usually was, when he brought his hand to turn the doorknob. It swung open with ease.
"Jenny?" He tried again, as Jenny's voicemail greeting chimed in his ear. It almost completed when he hung up the phone, put it back in his pocket, and made his way into the apartment. The smell that hit his nose should have tipped him off well before it did. He'd cleared the doorway and had started to look around the living room before he stopped.
Needless to say, Jon had never smelled a dead body before. He was back in the hallway in the blink of an eye. And there he stood, his stomach threatening to empty it's contents on the dingy carpet. Like most things about him, where Marcus seemed to have an iron stomach, Jon had a weak one. But he gathered his composure enough to decide that he had to go back in and investigate.
Pulling the collar of his t-shirt up to cover his nose and mouth and holding it in place with his hand, he made his way back into the apartment. This time he made his way toward the kitchen. As he came through the doorway, even the shirt against his face couldn't save him. The room was covered in blood and Chase's small form was prone on the floor. Jon didn't have time to make it to the hallway, he went for the sink.
Dry heaving was one of Jon's least favorite activities. He'd have preferred actually regurgitating if given the choice.
His mind was reeling by that point. Who would have wanted to kill Chase? Sure, he could be an obnoxious kid, but he didn't deserve this. Where was Jenny? This was not like her at all.
Exiting the kitchen, he made his way to Jenny's room, expecting to find her lifeless body as well, but nothing seemed to be out of place. Her suitcase was even still in the closet. So she hadn't planned to leave, and thus far, he could conclude that she wasn't dead. Upon his return to the living room, he found her phone discarded on the floor by the couch. Had she struggled with someone? Been kidnapped?
Had whoever killed Susie come after Jenny too?
Retrieving her phone, and making his way back into the hallway, he looked through her text and call history. The phone call he'd just made, along with all his unanswered texts, some from Ethan, and an alarming amount of missed calls from Jenny's mother. Oh God. His breath caught in his throat. Paula doesn't know.
Jon rubbed his mouth with his hand. And I'm going to have to tell her. It was a phone-call he dreaded, but not one he could put off. But there was another phone call he needed to make first. He pulled his phone from his pocket one more time and dialed.