Chapter 45: Chapter 43: Concession

A slight stirring woke Jered up. He didn't know what time it was; the sky outside was still relatively dark. He ran a hand across his face and looked to his right. Jasmine was quietly sneaking out of the bed, "Hey..." he called out, propping his upper body up. His voice was hoarse due to the raging sleepiness. However, it still had an exaggerated effect on his sister. She abruptly stopped in her tracks. Her towel was disheveled—he didn't even notice she had gone to sleep like that. And there was a sizeable moist patch on her side of the bed. 

"..."

"..."

He blinked, "Jasmine?"

"Umh..." she reluctantly turned around, struggling to fix her towel so it wouldn't slip off as she moved. He noted her cheeks had a light blush, "You can sleep for a bit more if you want. It's still two hours too early. Mom has yet to wake up."

"It's okay. I've recovered quite a bit of mana. It shouldn't be a problem working on your room right now," Jered shuffled out of the bed. Frankly, sleeping a couple of hours more sounded too tempting to pass on, but he couldn't take chances. She looked down, a weird look on her face, "What's the problem?"

"Can you go ahead first?"

"What about you?"

"Oh, I need to get some clothes." 

He tilted his head, genuinely confused, "But aren't all of your clothes in your room?"

"..." Jasmine coughed, "I'll borrow some of yours then... if it isn't a problem."

"Nuh-huh. But... you do know that you don't really have to do anything there, right? Well... we do have to get rid of the corpse. I don't think I have enough mana to cast multiple spells."

She stared at him, "Yes, Jered. I-I just want to cover me. That's all."

"Whatever. Choose something from my closet and let's go. We might have to take the car," Jered said as he walked out of the room. 

Jasmine loosened out the breath she was holding in. Thankfully, he didn't pay the damp blotch on the sheets too much attention. She didn't know how she would have explained it. She tossed the pillows on the floor and removed the stained sheet. Honestly, Jasmine could hardly believe she had done something like that. Didn't she want to get over her feelings for her brother? She was doing the exact opposite. 

It was not as if she didn't try to resist it, because she did, many times. It was the main reason she decided to spend so much time at Alison's place. It had not even been long since she was back, and now she was already floating closer and closer to Jered. The worst was that she was actually giving him hints! Like, 'What the fuck is wrong with you, Jasmine?!' she thought to herself.

While she had accepted her taboo feelings, it didn't mean Jered would. And masturbating on his bed might not have been the best way to go about it. 

Jasmine walked up to her brother's closet, opened it, and rummaged through the various clothes. She settled for a plain white shirt and black shorts. She wanted to borrow his underwear too, but that would have been awkward to explain. Once she was presentable, she crumpled the dirty sheets into a ball and secured it under her arm, "Jered?" she called out, trying to see if he was waiting outside or not.

No one answered, so she assumed it was safe to go out.

She creaked the door open, looked both ways, and hastily tip-toed towards the laundry room. She stuffed the sheets inside the tub and closed it.

"What are you doing here?"

"Fuck!" Jasmine's soul almost left her body. She held her chest as she turned around, "Jered, you scared me! W-why are you here?" she blinked innocently.

"I'm done cleaning your room. Only the corpse is left."

"Oh, oh... I see. Nice job!" she smiled, "Shall we go then?"

He nodded, "Yes, but why did you put my sheets inside the washing machine? They were not dirty."

"..."

"Deja vu," Jered sighed, "I can't believe I'm relieving that same situation... but with you. Nevermind. I won't ask questions. Let's go..."

Jasmine was grateful she didn't have to reveal anything. She obediently followed him, making sure to be as quiet as possible. Jered unlocked her room, and beckoned her to go in. Contrary to before, the walls were now devoid of bloodstains, and so was the floor. The only exception to that was the mutilated body on the floor. Now that the rush of adrenaline was over, and the voices in her head had stopped, she could see what she had done through the glasses of sobriety.

Murder.

Cannibalism.

And barely two hours ago, she had been fantasizing about the kinkiest ways her brother would penetrate her.

Oh God, she was such a fucked up person.

"Jasmine?" 

Jered's voice snapped her out of her thoughts, "Huh?"

"You were spacing out. You're thinking about it again?"

She nodded.

"Yeah, well... it's not something you can easily get over with. But you'll be fine, Jaz. Besides, I'm here, and I do have some special friends. I'm sure we can find something out to help you."

"Yes, you're right," Jasmine slapped her face slightly, to wake herself up, "Okay, what do we do?"

"I wish I could just burn it and then clean the mess, but my mana pool is dangerously low again. I reckon we'll have to do this the good old way," Jered unfurled the trash bag he had fetched before, and extended the other end of it to Jasmine, "It's a good thing your psychopathic, cannibal-self decided to chew on the arms. We don't have to chop it up to fit it in the bag."

"..."

She surely didn't need him to remind her of what she did so vividly.

"Okay, we need to pick it up together, and shove it inside the bag."

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"Uh... do I have to touch it?"

He looked at her, "Why are you hesitating?"

"I just showered..."

"..."

"Okay, okay. Fine! Don't look at me like that. Hmph."

"If I were less tired, I would have done it myself," he rolled his eyes, "Come on, let's be quick."

They both picked the corpse up—Jered held its head, while Jasmine lifted its feet. They aimed it towards the gaping hole of the trash bag, and slowly eased it inside. Jered's calculations were a bit off. The corpse was not a snug fit he thought it would be, "Well..." he pursed his lips inward, staring at the corpse's legs poking out, "We need to do some adjustment. Give me a hand."

"Umh, w-what do you mean..."

Jered grabbed one bloodied leg and began twisting it. Jasmine gawked as she heard the sound of bones snapping. Hell, some of them had spiked through the skin, "Okay... now it sorts of fits..." he clutched the other leg and motioned at his sister to help him. She walked next to him and placed her hands on his. Together, they pushed the limb towards its opposite direction until it gave in, broke with a sickening crunch, and perfectly aligned with the rest of the corpse. 

"Well done," he nodded at Jasmine with a smile, then proceeded to close the trash bag, "I'm going to ferry this baby inside the car's trunk. You should get dressed properly 'cause we're going to hunt for a good spot to dump her in."

"Umh, are you sure you don't need my help?" she offered.

Jered shrugged, "Meh, not really. I can just drag the bag all the way to the car. Ironically, my 'Cleanse' spell ended up cleaning the corpse too. So no bloodstains will be left behind."

"Oh, I see. Alrighty, I'll be ready in five minutes."

"I'll be waiting for you outside then."

---

Jasmine needed more than five minutes. She just wanted to sit down on her bed and think. It almost felt like a goodbye to her old life, a funeral for the old Jasmine, because she didn't know what awaited her at the end of that unknown path. Would she stay the same bubbly, loving, hardcore Briney Spears fangirl she was now? Certainly, people change over time, they mature, and grow from their mistakes and experiences. But what about her? What would her mistakes and experiences shape her into?

It was scary. 

It made her want to run away.

'You're going to be fine. Just heed my words, youngling. Just heed my words.' She cracked her neck, rubbing her head. She ignored the sinister voice whispering in her ears. It was not meant to be listened to. If it weren't for her exposure to the wonders of magic, she would have thought she was getting schizophrenic. With a sigh, Jasmine slipped her feet inside her shoes.

It was right then that her phone whistled, a message lighting up the screen.

She blinked, rolled over the bed, and grabbed it.

—"Hey, what HAPPENED to you?"

It was Alison. Now that she thought of it, she hadn't texted her for quite some time. As a matter of fact, she didn't even see her messages.

—"Aliiii! I'm sorry :( something happened and I literally had no time to call you..."

—"You could have at least warned me! T_T my parents have been asking about you. They miss you! When can you come over? We have a surprise for you!"

Oh, a surprise. Jasmine had enough of those the past few days. To be honest, it was the worst time to go anywhere without her brother tagging along. Besides, she had just gotten closer to her family again. Going back to Alison right now would not be a bright idea. She had rarely seen her mother so smiley.

—"I don't know... I'm just so busy at the moment..."

—"Even right now?"

Jasmine glanced at the time on her phone's display. It was almost five in the morning. She was still a high school student. For all intent and purposes, she shouldn't be busy at that ungodly hour.

—"Yes."

—"..."

After that, Alison didn't reply anymore. She left Jasmine on seen. Well, she probably deserved that. It was not like she could tell her that she was about to dispose of the body she had dined on. Oh, and that her brother was there to ensure she didn't use some poor soul as a midnight snack while on the way.

No use thinking about it.

Jasmine headed out of the house. The car was already on, and a visibly impatient Jered gave her the stink eye, "You sure took your sweet time," he said.

"Sorry," she chuckled weakly as she got in, "So, where are we going?"

"There is a stretch of woodland no one ever gets near to. It's an unsurveilled area, and it's inhabited by wolves. I'm going there." 

She seemed wary at first, but her brother was there with her. There was nothing to worry about, "I see. Let's go then... wait... what did you just say?"

He pursed his lips inward, "You're not coming with me."

"Huh?" she blinked, "Why not? I thought we had to do this together!"

"That's what I thought too," Jered stared at her, "But given your situation, maybe it's for the best if you stay at home."

Jasmine was clearly unwilling, "But... please, I feel like I have to do this. You can't kick me out now!"

"Well, I can. Look. I don't want anything to happen to you. I know, it's unfair. But a magical organization controls our town, Jasmine. I don't know what methods they have or will use to find out where the Shadow has gone to. But if they find out that it's inside you, I don't know if I'll be able to protect you. What I'm asking for is time. I just need some time. I promise that even if we won't ever find a solution, at least, I'll yield enough power to let you do whatever you want. Make me this concession.”

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