"Why do nice people fall for the wrong ones?" Danny asked, pouring pure white alcohol into the wine glass Jessica was holding. She shrugged, wiping her tears dry with her unoccupied hand. Danny tipped the bottle lower to add more scotch but she gestured with a flick of wrist that she was fine. She didn't want to get so drunk as to forget the reason why she was at a club exactly five p.m. in the evening.

Danny obeyed her instruction, screwing the lid back in place and placing the bottle where he could easily reach for it; across from him. "I think it's because they feel that's the kind of love they deserve," Jessica said, gulping half of the content in one go. The hot liquid slightly burned her chest as it went down her patch throat, warming her insides.

"You think so?" Danny inquired, settling on a high stool.

"Yeah, at least, I do," Jessica concluded. She tilted her head, scratching the back of her neck, an act, showing she was tense. The soft music that had been playing for a while was replaced with a much stronger jazz and she had to raise her voice in order to be heard. "So, tell me, how did you get to know Valentina?"

"I didn't say I did," Danny quickly supplied, signaling to one of his uniformed colleagues to cover for him while he continued the chat.

"You didn't?" Jessica's brows shot up in accusation, a smirk forming on her lips. "I know that's a big lie, it can't be possible."

"Oh, why so?" Danny leaned in, looking seemingly interested.

Jessica took a sip of her drink, wincing as it scalded her tongue. "Do you want a mix for that?" He asked, toying with the faded gold necklace his father gifted him. It bore a sign of the cross, making her forehead crinkle. She wanted to ask him how he got it but she kept quiet, pressing her lips into a thin line. Jessica hated nosing into other people's business.

"Sure." She raised the glass of half finished liquor, smiling briefly as he added coke as a sweetener.

"I knew Val during my year one in the university. We met at this building where they do clearances and stuffs," Danny started, chuckling at the faint memory.

"Oh." Jessica's mouth rounded, suddenly realizing something. It had been there but she'd been too blind to notice. "You liked her, right?"

Danny heaved a deep sigh. "Unfortunately yes, I did." His eyes grew moist, his lips trembling ever so softly.

"I'm so sorry," Jessica apologized. "I shouldn't have brought the talk up."

"Oh no, it's perfectly fine." He blew out a shaky breath. "She didn't like me back, but we were close, so close you'd think we were a couple. But that was only during our discreet meet ups. Fikkie was in the picture and for some reason, she didn't want to disappoint him. She loved him too much for his own good," he spoke through gritted teeth.

"Waoh, I can imagine what that must have been like for you." Jessica took a sip of her drink, eyeing Danny from the rim of her glass. He picked at one of his piercings, the one on the side of his nose.

"It was purely hell. Mental torture, I couldn't stand it. But I wanted to still be there for her. She wasn't all that strong like she made people believe. She had this crippling anxiety anytime something went wrong. That bastard, Fikkie caused everything!" Danny exclaimed.

"How do you mean?" Jessica asked, curiosity getting the better of her.

"He was always like Val this, Val that, but then she found out that he was dating another girl. She just didn't have her face at the time. She confronted him about it. She'd been caring for him you know, based on the contract she had with his step mum."

"Step mum?" Jessica's mouth flew agape. "What kind of life was this guy living?"

"He had his own problems." Danny stared ahead, apparently lost in thought. "I don't think he had a good childhood, he had all this hate bottled up in him, I'm sure it will drive him mad someday. His step mother somewhat got to know of the thing they had together and called Valentina on a certain evening. They met up and started talking. She was in year two then."

"Well, what did she say?" Jessica urged him on.

"She wanted her to take care of Fikkie, because she felt like she could no longer handle him. He was too broken, his mother died when he was six. Fucked with his head y'know and his father used to constantly abuse him. Poor kid suffered a lot, he didn't really have where to run to," Danny paused.

Jessica kept blinking over and over, the hatred she had for her friend's boyfriend rolling off her in waves. "I didn't... know... that's... that's why he is so pissed all the time. I thought he was just being bitchy because he had the money to change girls on a daily."

Danny laughed softly. "But he led Valentina on, even though he had a girlfriend he kept in the dark and that was wrong. Very wrong. She came to visit me on a rainy night. Stayed over at my place, she wouldn't stop crying. She was heartbroken."

"But they weren't even dating like officially. Why would she allow her feelings for him grow up to that extent?" Jessica asked, trying to make sense of the situation.

"Love knows no wrongs. She wasn't herself around Fikkie. He had this space he put her in. Boxed her feelings and tossed them in the air. It didn't help when someone started following her." Danny bunched his fingers in a tight fist, slamming it on the table. This caught the attention of several onlookers. He faked a smile, running his hands over his face.

"It was complicated. She complained of having sleepless nights, scary ass texts sent to her phone, she was so scared, shaking like a leaf. I told her to report it to the police if it was that serious but she didn't agree. She said they'd do nothing to help out. That was why she was confiding in me."

"Which brings me to the question, why did she write me this letter?" Jessica hurriedly brought out the envelope from her shirt pocket, pushing it forward.

"Have you watched this Netflix series, thirteen reasons why?" Danny enquired.

"No." Jessica shook her head, she barely watched movies talk more of a series.

"If you did, then you'd know why." Danny's chest rose and fell. "She told me at some point that she was scared of dying, she felt like her mind was playing tricks on her. But there was this gut instinct she had that she wasn't going to make it. I always encouraged her to be strong, I was there for her when she needed me. She wrote those letters to whom she felt a sort of connection with."

"Those letters?" Jessica was even more confused.

"Yeah. She wrote me mine, yours and Fikkie's."

"What? So, you were like the messenger?" Jessica swallowed the rest of her drink, her head a bit woozy from the effect of the alcohol.

"Something like that. She asked me to deliver it. But in private. I had the wrong address and that was how I broke into your boyfriend's house. Which I'm terribly sorry for," he pleaded, the corners of his eyes wrinkling.

"It's okay," Jessie waved it off. "Does Fikkie have his? What does yours say?"

"I'm sorry but I can't answer that. I was sworn to secrecy. Yours is yours and that's it. It's dreadful that she was right. Someone had been stalking her and eventually took her life." Danny broke down, a wrenching pain squeezing his heart.

"I'm so sorry about her death. I was the one that found her body and I know what it feels like, even if we didn't share conversations. But I have this theory. I know it's crazy and no one would believe me, but the demon, it's real. I saw it in my dream and now, it's hunting my friends too."

"What?" What the hell are you talking about?" Danny huffed, his voice coming out louder than he'd intended.

"I'm saying that the demon must have attacked your friend. And is tormenting all of us. Don't you feel it too? The shadows that glide along the walls, those pair of red eyes that glow in the darkness. Tell me, oh surely, you don't think the demon is just a mindless rumor." Jessica was gripping Danny's arm so tight he thought it was going to fall off, veins protruding in her neck.

"I don't know what you're talking about. Now, get the fuck off me," Danny thundered, yanking his arm away as her dark brown eyes flashed an intense red. He fell backwards, his back hitting the edge of iron rod. He gritted his teeth sharply, a splitting pain shooting straight to his head. He tried to stand up, staggering, seeing people running halter skelter, bottles flying in every direction.

Before he could make it past the counter, he took one last look at a somber Jessica as she dropped to the floor, appearing dead. "You're possessed," he muttered.