Down the Rabbit Hole (closed)

Josephine Sullivan knew something didn’t add up about her college roommate’s death. The coroner called it an accidental overdose, but that just wasn’t like Jenny at all. Jenny DeMarco was always in control. Yeah, she liked to party sometimes, but... not like that.

Jo was still reeling from the events of the night before. She had been out with friends all evening, first for a show at the university theatre, and then hanging out at a downtown pool hall until last call. It was about one thirty when she got home and found Jenny, collapsed on the floor, unconscious. She had called 911 and paramedics arrived and rushed her to the hospital, but she was dead on arrival.

Jenny’s family was on their way from California, and would arrive tomorrow. In the mean time, Josephine was surrounded by what remained of Jenny’s life. Surely there were some clues somewhere in here...

Josephine was hurting since the moment she found her roommate on the floor. And then to lose her on the way to the hospital, it was a shock which left her speechless. It’s been almost 24 hours since that moment and Josephine didn’t get a chance to think straight until about an hour ago. She was so caught up in her loss that she didn’t think logically.

She’d known Jenny since her first semester here. They had different roommate then, but it was in their second semester they had decided to move in together. Josie was so happy to have found someone she could relate with. It felt as if they’d known each other for many years. Their bond was strong and in such a short period of time, they grew close enough to know almost everything about each other. Of course, apart from a few secrets that one always keeps to themselves.

Now, this was her second year and whilst classes were not so bad, the both were excellent students despite all the partying. They also had different circle of friends with whom they hung out with from time to time. And to come home to find Jenny on the floor…Josie could no erase the image that’s been imprinted on her mind from previous night. Shaking her head, she decided to move over to Jenny’s side of room to look at a few of their pictures that were posted on the wall. It wasn’t until when she heard a vibrating sound and after looking for its origin, Josie found that it was Jenny’s phone that must have slipped under the bed when she must have fallen. Crouching down, Josie grabbed hold of the phone and saw there were many message notifications. That’s when Josie decided to sit down on Jenny’s bed as she curiously started to read through them.

Most of the contacts in Jenny’s phone had names that Josephine would recognize from Jenny’s regular, sorority girl social circle. Three recent messages would immediately stand out, however, as the names attached to the contact were vague.

“Nerd” wrote: “where are you? I’m at the regular spot.” This was sent just five minutes ago.

From a couple hours earlier, “Bro” messaged: “Got your $$$ from last night, regular meetup?”

And from around nine AM, someone titled “Slut 3” texted: “it’s done, he’s gone, where’s my money bitch”

Josephine wasn’t looking for something specific because she wanted to believe what the coroner was saying in his report. At the same time, she wanted to look at the report herself, to make sure that there were no mix-up in reports or specimen. Something told her something was amiss in all of this. Something didn’t just feel right.

And then she found Jenny’s phone. Scrolling through the message, Josie couldn’t help but quickly read through them. She also noticed that there was only 5% juice left in the phone so she quickly stood up to grab Jenny’s purse. Rummaging through it for her charger, she plugged it into the socket before grabbing a seat at the computer desk now. The last three messages seemed odd just from the way they were saved. She wondered if she should reply back to them! Bro….from what she recalled, Jenny didn’t speak about having any brother. Of the three, Nerd seemed harmless- imagining an actual nerd. Besides, it was sent just a while ago so she quickly texted back, “Sorry, running late. Can we meet somewhere else? Probably the Lexington Park?” she texted back to change the meeting place since she didn’t have a clue what was the regular spot. Josie quickly stood up and grabbed her own bag before shoving Jenny’s phone into the back pocket of her shorts before leaving to go Lexington Ave so she could get there on time. She had to see what this was about. See how Nerd knew Jenny and who was the Nerd to begin with.

Tony Andrews got the message from Jenny about meeting at Lexington Park instead. He scratched his head. That was odd. Something was very wrong with this. He sent a message back that he would be at the water fountain; there was only one in the park, and it was huge, and there were often a lot of people around. He set his phone to “silent” and secured his backpack and hopped on his mountain bike. Lexington Park was clear across on the other side of town.

He got more and more paranoid as he rode through the city streets, thought racing through his mind at a mile a minute. What was going on?

He got to the park and locked up his bike near the fountain, and looked around. There were several students around, some tossing a frisbee or playing hacky-sack, some studying, some gossiping. A perfectly normal, sunny day.

Jenny was nowhere to be seen. He sent her a message. “Just got here. Where are you?”

Josephine was not sure if this would work or not but it was one of few chances she had to find out what her roommate was involved in. It might very well be the reason, partial or whole, for the reason of her demise. One thing she was sure of was that it was not a suicide by overdose. It was a bad habit of her friend’s and Josephine had warned her against it as she was a good friend of hers but it was an experimental phase that every teenager goes through…so she didn’t bother much.

As agreed, Josephine made her way to the part and lingered around the fountain but out of everyone’s eyes. Soon after, she noticed a guy lock his bike and stood near the fountain, ensuring Josephine that he was her guy. While planning, she planned everything up to this point. She had no idea what to do next. Some part of her just wanted to go up to him and ask him how he knew Jenny. Some part of her told her that he will not spill any beans if she did just that. Perhaps, she’ll have to approach him differently and actually find out what he does. Who he is? And how he could have known Jenny.

That’s when she decided to just stay in shadows and see what he would do from here onwards. She’d follow him without getting caught and see who he really is. If he decides to stay there then she might walk up to him and accidentally bump into him, maybe drop something which he might come to her to return back to her. At least that way they could start talking and it would be her way in. She could feel her heart racing as she took out her phone and clicked his picture for now.

That's when she received his text on Jenny's phone and she decided to text back, "Something came up. Can't make it today. Mind if I send one of my friends?"

The message that Tony got back from Jenny was odd indeed. Never had she ever involved anyone else in their regular transactions. Something was up, but he wasn’t sure what it was.

He typed out a quick reply: “As long as they have the money.”

He looked around the park. Nothing seemed out of place. He was ready to split. Nervously, his fingers went to his backpack, reassuring him that everything was still there.

Josephine was playing a tough game, thinking on her feet as to what would be best in that given scenario. She quickly figured how to go about it. If she went in as a stranger, he might not even tell her anything. Or it may take a long while before she finds out stuff.

Going in as a friend of Jenny’s, she already is a step ahead so that was the best way to tackle things. When she received his message, she quickly replied back. “She will be there in 10 mins. How much?” she quickly replied as she fished her pocket to count what she had on her. Luckily, she did visit ATM to withdraw some money the day prior to go grocery shopping but never go to go since all of this happened.