Generated prompt of the day: Linger

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Jesse sat on her bed, staring at the window. Her knees were pulled up to her chest, her arms wrapped around them. Her breathing steady and nearly silent.

She didn't move the gaze from the window, as she waited. Biting the inside of her lip in anticipation, until it felt like it would start bleeding. Her brown eyes desperate.

Please, arrive today.

Jesse's eyes flickered to the clock on her wall. Time was starting to drift past midday.

I can't stand another day alone here. Please come.

Jesse buried her head in her knees, a sorrowful sigh seeping through her lips. Her fingers gripped onto her knees, wrinkling the beige fabric of her overalls.

It was cold in the room, but Jesse didn't feel it. She just buried her head deeper, fighting the urge to start crying. She wanted to see them all so badly. Were they ever going to come?

Every year they came. Every year they all met up in this very building. Every year they'd laugh and smile, spending this one month out of the twelve there was, together.

Would this year be the same? Or would the event that took place eleven months ago change it all?

Jesse's hands moved up to her head, gripping her hair. She's been trapped in this building for months now, no one to talk to, no voices to listen to. Barely anybody came here.

Did they not know she was here?

The loneliness was starting to gnaw away at her mind, the desire to see another face tearing Jesse apart.

A strangled sob sounded from the pitiful ball Jesse had curled in to. Even if they came... would she be ready to see their faces again?

Oh how she wished she could rewind time. Change they way things went down that day. Perhaps then they could have prevented the spill of blood.

The familiar rattle of keys in a lock made Jesse's head jolt up. She's been waiting for this moment for so long... was she ready?

Jesse slowly got up from the bed, her hands starting to shake. Her feet made no sound on the wooden floor. With every step she took towards the window to peek out, the more she felt she wasn't ready.

Jesse peeked through the small slit between the curtains, seeing the porch far below her room. Two people stood at the door, one of them unlocking it. It felt like a cold hand wrapped around Jesse's heart at the sight.

It was Olivia and Axel. Neither of them looked the same as last. Olivia had her long hair tied up in a bun, instead of her signature two pigtails. Instead of his usual, goofy expression, Axel wasn't smiling.

"No, guys..." Jesse whispered, feeling her hopes sink. "I don't want it to go this way." Alas, her own grief was reflected in their eyes.

Olivia finished unlocking the door, leaning her forehead against it. Jesse could see that her friend didn't want to be there. Axel put his hand out, touching Olivia's shoulder. She looked back at him, they exchanged a few words, before she finally pushed open the door.

Jesse darted away from the window. She slipped out of her bedroom door, peering down the staircase. She stayed absolutely silent as she watched Axel and Olivia step into the main room of the Order hall.

"I didn't want to be here this year." Olivia said softly. "It holds too many memories."

"Come on, Liv." Axel said, putting his arm around her. "We all have to move on eventually. This is the best way to do it."

Thank you Axel. Jesse thought. I don't want my friends to be sad, we... we all deserve to move on from what happened.

Olivia was about to look in the direction of the staircase, where Jesse was standing at the top, when a sound caught their attention. She and Axel both turned around to look at the door. Jesse craned her neck to see as well, whilst not daring to walk down those stairs.

"Hey guys." Olivia said softly, her usual happy greeting now dim and gloomy.

"Hi." An equally gloomy voice came from the door.

Jesse watched as Petra and Lukas walked in as well. It broke her heart to see them that way, both looking as sorrowful as Axel and Olivia. Petra's skin seemed paler than it used to be, and Lukas had dark circles under his eyes that definitely weren't there the last time Jesse saw him.

Axel gave Lukas a greeting slap on the shoulder, while Petra and Olivia hugged each other in greeting.

"You just arrived?" Petra asked softly.

"Barely five minutes ago." Axel confirmed.

"This place hasn't changed one bit." Lukas said softly, running his hand along one of the dust covered couches. "The memories..."

"They hurt." Olivia finished the sentence. "It hurts just to be in this room."

"We promised we'd do this." Petra said softly. "We promised to still meet up here, like every year, even when... this won't be like every year."

Nobody said anything, a few of them closing their eyes at Petra's words. Jesse slowly walked down the stairs, stepping into view. Nobody noticed her, nobody even glanced at her.

"It's not the same without her." Olivia said softly, clasping her hands together. "I wish Jesse was here."

"I am." Jesse whispered, wishing they could hear her. "I'll always be here."

"She would have never wanted us to all be grieving on the reunion." Lukas added, closing his eyes for a few seconds.

"You're right, I want you to be happy." Jesse replied, her voice cracking.

"I wish we... I wish we were more careful." Axel said softly. "We were so reckless and carefree back then.."

"We never expected that the risks we took could cost Jesse her life." Petra said, wrapping her arms around herself.

"Please don't blame yourselves." Jesse whispered. "It's my own fault, I wasn't careful."

"It could have happened to anybody." Lukas said softly. "I just wished it didn't have to be Jesse."

"Rather me than any of you." Jesse replied gently. She wished so desperately she could put a hand out and touch one of them.

"All these months I've been telling myself that... that at least Jesse died happy." Olivia whispered. "That she smiled on her last day, that she was grinning mere hours before it ended. It doesn't make it hurt any less."

Nobody said anything. They would occasionally look up at each other, as if they were communicating through their expressions. Their eyes would look right through Jesse, not one of them knowing that she was in fact standing within their field of vision.

She was right. She wasn't ready for this.

"Why don't we go out for the day?" Lukas suggested. "There's still quite a few hours of daylight left and... this building just holds memories. It could do us all good."

"Jesse wouldn't want us to stay inside on such a beautiful day either." Petra whispered.

Nobody really argued, it was clear that they didn't want to be in that familiar room, laced with memories from happier times... times they were all together.

Jesse watched in silence as they left through the front door, leaving their bags right there in the living room without even bothering to unpack first.

She followed along, stopping at the door as the rest of her friends walked out into the sunset. She hadn't felt the sun's rays on her arms in months.

Jesse watched in sorrow as they walked away, their shoulders slumped, their faces grief stricken. She wished she could go with them wherever they were going, but alas she couldn't leave her home. Her soul was confined to the location of her death.

Jesse knew she was free to move on. To let herself part with the living world, to put an end to this eternal torment. But she couldn't leave her friends, she couldn't continue on without them.

And she knew, until their time came, she would forever linger in this empty house.

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Well. This happened.

Mere seconds after I generated the prompt, I came up with this. I'm very happy with this dark, depressing, result.

I also decided to leave Jesse's death a little mystery, not sharing what had happened that ended her life. Have your imagination decide how it ended.

I don't have much else to say, other than I hope you enjoyed and I'll be seeing you all tomorrow with whatever the word generator spits out next!