Chapter 10

Chapter 10

Kristine tried to move towards the sound of Alana’s voice but realized the cuffs on her wrist wouldn’t let her move more than a foot or two in any direction.  “Alana...is that you?”

“Yeah...it’s me.”

“Where are we?” 

“I don’t know for sure but if I had to make a guess, I’d say we’re up in the tower room.”

“You’ve been in the house the entire time?” 

“For as much good as it’s done me, yeah.” 

The flat tone to Alana’s voice was cause for concern.  “You can’t reach me, can you?”  Kristine asked.

“I’m chained down just like you.”

“Blindfolded?” 

“No.  Once again, doesn’t mean much but I’ve been able to see the entire time.  At least you still have your clothes.”

“You don’t have anything on?”

“No,”  Alana hesitated before elaborating, “Not like you really want to know this but AJ and I had sex that night and I didn’t bother getting dressed again after.  It’s kind of a habit of mine anyways.  I just wore pajamas when any of you girls stayed over to be polite.”

“I wish I could give you my shirt but I don’t know how to get it off with my hands like this.”

There was another pause.  “Kristine, I’m hoping I’m wrong but you should probably keep all your clothes on right now.”

“What do you mean?” 

“It’s-,” Alana’s voice trailed off as the steady sound of footprints came closer to them.  “It’s Brett.”

Kristine felt her stomach turn as she heard the key turn in the lock.  A man she had spent more than a year of her life with had killed her best friend’s parents?  Not only that but he had killed tons of innocent people and was threatening to kill all the people closest to her.  Oh God...why hadn’t she seen what he was capable of?  How could she be at the top of most of her classes and still fail to see what was right in front of her?  She was blind.  She was completely and utterly blind and the people closest to her were going to suffer for it.  Kristine hoped he would just kill her and do it quickly because she couldn’t stand knowing what her choices had put everyone else through. 

It seemed like every sound was magnified.  She could hear the plodding footsteps, the soft creaking of the door as it was pushed open and the pounding of her own heart echoed in her ears.  Was this what Alana’s parents had felt?  What about the shopkeeper and the bodies of the workers that Kevin and Brian had found? 

The door creaked again and latched shut.  There were a few more footsteps and then nothing.  Just silence...purely blind silence.  She felt nothing other than her own existence bonded completely to her fear.  It was the only thing that let her know she was still alive. 

“Kristine...”  His voice hit her like a knife.  Her name had never sounded more vile.  “Kristine, I missed you.”

“Why are you doing this?”  She couldn’t stop the question, as cliche as it sounded. 

“I missed you,” Brett repeated.  “Did you miss me?”

“We’ve been over for years...we broke up in high school.”

“It’s okay babe, we all made mistakes when we’re young.  I knew you belonged with me, you’ve always been mine.  We’ve wasted enough of our lives apart so I came to get you.” 

“If you just want me, why are you hurting my friends?”  Kristine felt the tears coming.  One more sensation that connected her to the world of the living. 

The footsteps walked away from her and in a moment she heard Alana’s cry of pain.  “They’re bad influences on you.  They made you break up with me so they could have you for themselves.”  There was the sound of flesh on flesh and another cry from Alana.  “It’s not going to happen again.  Nothing is going to interrupt us anymore.” 

His footsteps came closer and Kristine felt the sting of a slap across her face and cried out.  The slap came twice more until she tasted blood.  “You need to be punished too, for being stupid and listening to them.  You see, Kristine, most men are fickle and move from woman to woman.  I’m not like that, I told you I was a romantic and I meant it.  You’re the only woman for me and I’m going to make sure you realize that this time.  You’re almost perfect, even if you are a little stupid sometimes, but I’m here to make up for that.  I can do the thinking for both of us.” 

Brett’s steps went away from her again, back in the direction Alana’s voice had come from.  “You see, Alana is just a stupid whore.  Sluts are always disposable.  You get laid and then you move onto the next one.  She hasn’t even been gone a week and her new fuck is already hanging around watching Starr sleep.  Are you listening to me you stupid whore?  No one is going to miss you.  No one is going to care when you’re dead and dropped in a hole up here somewhere because that’s exactly where you’re going to end up.”  There was a louder striking sound and the sound of something hitting the floor. 

He walked back over and softly caressed Kristine’s bruised cheek.  She leaned away from his touch.  “Oh baby, I know it hurts but trust me, it’s for your own good.  If you hadn’t been so stupid we wouldn’t have to go through this at all but it’s okay, we’ll make up for lost time when I’m done here.  I’ll be back for you soon.” 

“Wait!”  Kristine turned to face the direction he had moved in.  “The blindfold, can you take it off for me?”

Brett stopped.  “You really haven’t done anything to earn that.  You’ve been a very bad girlfriend and stolen years of our lives.  I can’t forgive that right away.” 

“I know, it’s just...”  Kristine groped through her panic fueled brain.  “I want to be able to see you when you come back to get me.”  The words stuck in her throat.  She almost gagged around them, they tasted so sour but desperation could make a person say crazy things.  Compliment the narcissist, feed the ego.  Hadn’t she thought of Brett when her psychology professor had talked about narcissistic disorders?  

“That’s more like the Kristine I remember.”  There were more footsteps and the blindfold was lifted away.  It didn’t make much of a difference, it was dark and there wasn’t much light coming into the room from outside.  “Are you going to give me a kiss goodbye?” 

Oh God.  “My lip...it hurts.” 

“I’m sorry about that.  Hopefully I won’t have to do it again.”  Kristine could make out his figure in the dark but just barely.  She honestly wouldn’t have been shocked to see the outline of horns on his head.  “I have some work to take care of tonight, I’ll make sure to come back and see you soon.”

He left without touching her again.  She was grateful for that at least.  She waited until his footsteps had faded away.  “Alana?  What did he do to you?” 

“I think he broke my nose this time.”  Alana’s voice cracked.

“He’s done this to you before?” 

“Kristine, you heard him.  He hates me and when he’s done beating the shit out of me he’s going to kill me.  I just wish he’d get it over with so I could stop being so fucking afraid.  You have no idea how much I fucking hate this.”

“I just had to pretend to fall back in love with the guy who kills innocent people just to get what he wants.  I hate this too but what options do we have right now?  I mean...if we give up you’ll be dead and I’ll have to pretend to be in love with the monster who murdered my friends.” 

“We could scream our heads off and hope they hear us.  I tried but no one came.”

“We’ve been out searching the woods for days.  You never told anyone where the key to the bottom door was and we all figured that if we couldn’t get in here, no one else could either.  I guess we were wrong.” 

“It’s just the key to the front door.  None of you thought to try it?” 

“No.  Obviously not.”

“Do you want to try screaming?  It’s night so the sound should carry more.”

“And we know at least one person who’s prowling around.  Do you really want to risk Brett being the one to hear us and come back up here?  If he wasn’t going to kill us before, he’d probably do it then.” 

“So what the fuck do you want to do?  Just sit here and wait for him to kill me and everyone else?  I guess you don’t care, he’s not going to kill you.  All you have to do is bide your time until we’re all dead and then you can get the cops to put him away and you can waltz home to your family.”

“I just want everyone else to get out of this alive,” Kristine whispered, “I don’t want anyone else to die because of me.  I’d rather have him kill me than have to watch him hurt any of the rest of you.”
           
The two girls fell quiet for a moment.  “I’m sorry,” Alana said finally, “I should have said something when we got here about that key.  I just figured that the construction wasn’t finished up here so it would be dangerous.”

“He probably would have found somewhere else to put us.  He’s done his research on us and this place.  About the only thing he didn’t count on were the guys getting involved and us having people to look out for us.” 

“Didn’t really help us much,” Alana pointed out. 

“Maybe not yet. You can see how fixated he is on that final goal though, on what he wants done and what he wants to do.  We just have to hope that they become such an obstacle that he screws up somewhere.” 

“You hope.  I hurt too much to do that anymore.”  Alana paused again.  “What did he mean...about Starr and AJ?”

“Alana...”

“No.  Just tell me.  Is she trying to fuck him or something?  Why was he watching her sleep?” 

“I don’t know that part.  He’s been a wreck since you’ve been gone.  The last night I was there, he was still sleeping on the couch.”

“So what?  Is this how she decided to make him feel better?  What a great fucking friend...so damn obsessed with a band that she couldn’t wait for me to leave to try and get with him.” 

“Starr isn’t like that and you know it.” 

“Then what am I supposed to think?”  Alana spat out. 

“When we all first met did you ever realize that she had a crush on him?  Like...before you guys went off and before you got drunk that night.  They were talking and she just seemed really happy.” 

“Why didn’t you tell me?  I never would have gone near him if I knew she wanted him, I’m not that mean!” 

“I don’t think it would have mattered,” Kristine admitted, “Starr liked him and liked talking to him but I don’t think it would have ever worked out between them.  The two of you are more alike with similar lifestyles and attitudes and all.  Even if she had a chance with him, I think he would have ended up with you.  You’re going to have to trust them.  They aren’t going to forget about you.”

“I can’t believe we’re having this conversation here.” 

Kristine tried to smile but it ended up as a grimace.  “Neither can I, but it makes me forget how much I’m hurting.” 

“Same here...well...not really but at least I’m not up here alone anymore.  I didn’t want to die alone.”

“You don’t have to worry about Starr much anyways, she has someone looking out for her.  Too bad she hasn’t seen it.” 

“Howie?” 

“Bingo.  It’s so obvious that even Cassy noticed but he won’t do anything about it and she’s still depressed about AJ.”

“He’s kind of old for her, isn’t he?”   

“Younger than Kevin and he and I are working out so far.”  Kristine went pale with the sudden realization.  “Oh God...he’s going to go after Kevin.”

“He’s a big boy, I’m sure he can take care of himself,” Alana tried to reassure her but didn’t sound convinced.  “Maybe you could convince Brett that he doesn’t mean anything to you.” 

“I love him, more than I have anyone else.  Pretending to care about Brett to stay alive is hard enough.  How can I pretend that Kevin doesn’t matter?”

“If you love him that much then you don’t have much of a choice, do you?” 

~*~*~*~*~*~
   
“Are you guys going back out searching tomorrow?”  Cassy asked when everyone was sitting around the kitchen, poking at the food on their plates. 

“We don’t know yet,” Howie admitted.  “We haven’t found anything out there other than Kristine’s hair thing and that doesn’t mean she’s still out there anywhere.” 

“So you’d rather just leave her and Alana out there with some psycho because you aren’t finding clues fast enough?”  Cassy looked at the five men in complete disbelief. 

“Cassy baby, it’s not that we don’t care about them, we just aren’t sure if it’s safe anymore.  If we send out four of us to search through the woods, that only leaves one of us here with you three.  It just doesn’t sit right with me.  The other problem is that none of us are familiar with this area at all and you three haven’t spent any time up at this cabin before either.  It’s kind of the blind leading the blinder looking for that needle in the hayfield.”  Brian reached over and squeezed her hands in between his. 

“You don’t get it...my friends are out there and could be dead already and we’re just sitting here.  We’ve got to do something!”

“What do you suggest?”  AJ asked, exhaling a cloud of smoke.  He was almost out of cigarettes and the few he had left he was trying to ration. 

Starr pushed the remainder of the pasta around on her plate, glancing over to where Maddy was laying down by the shoe mat.  “Do you guys always take your shoes off when you come inside?” 

The conversation stopped and seven confused faces turned to face her.  “Well, I always do.  It was one of those things my mom was always kinda strict on.”  Nick scratched his head. 

“Mine was the same way,” Kevin said.  Howie and Brian nodded and looked at AJ. 

“I do when my shoes are super muddy but we never had a rule about it or anything.  Where are you going with this?”  AJ asked. 

Starr scraped her plate into the bowl they were using for the dog.  “We do too, at least anywhere belonging to Alana’s mother.  She was obsessed with not tracking dirt in.  You’ve been wearing sneakers all the time though, haven’t you?”  She turned back to look at AJ. 

“Yeah.  What are you talking about?” 

“When you guys were out searching, Maddy was acting really weird.  He was scratching at the stairs like there was something up there.  Howie and I went up to look but there wasn’t anything.  All the doors were closed and there wasn’t anyone in any of the bedrooms.  There was a muddy print though, on the carpet outside the blue bedroom.  I just figured someone had worn their shoes in the house.  I guess it could have been AJ’s,”  Her voice didn’t sound convinced. 

“I don’t remember wearing them upstairs though.  The last time I was up there was that night with Alana.” 

“Is it still there?”  Kevin asked, “We could see if it matches any of our shoes. 

“That could work.”  Starr started gathering up the shoes sitting by the door. 

“Don’t bother,” Jedia put her head in her hands.  “I’m so sorry guys but I figured the same thing and I hate dirty floors.  I vacuumed it up.” 

Nick draped an arm around her shoulder.  “It’s okay, babe.  It really couldn’t tell us much of anything other than if someone other than us had been in the house.  We know they have, they took Alana right out of her bed.  I mean, unless you guys have shoe print samples for everyone on that suspect list you came up with, it’s not much of a clue.” 

“Yeah, but it was all we had,” Jedia moaned. 

“It’s no big deal,” Starr sat back down at the table.  “I was stupid for thinking that it was somehow going to end all of this.”

“Well, we can take one thing from it,” Kevin pointed out, “If the muddy print showed up after Alana was taken, then he’s been back in the house again.  Even locking the doors at night isn’t keeping him out, he’s getting in and out somehow.” 

“But he hasn’t taken any of them while we’ve been awake and together,” Brian added, “This group thing must be driving him crazy.”

“So we keep it that way.  From now on, no one goes into a room that has windows alone.  I don’t know if that’s how he’s getting in but if that’s the case, we’re going to cut off the possibility.  The bathroom by Alana’s room doesn’t have any windows or closets.  From now on, we’re all using that one.”

“Any other new rules or can we call it a night?”  Nick yawned. 

“It’s only 9.  Have you ever gone to bed this early?”  Brian asked in disbelief. 

“Blame stress,” Nick stood up and cracked his neck.  “Means I’ll be up earlier at least.  Is anyone camping in the living room tonight?  I’ll try not to wake you up if I have to wander to the unrestricted bathroom.” 

“Cassy and Brian can take the purple room back.  I don’t want to make you deal with the stairs if you don’t have to,” Starr flipped on the porch lights and grabbed Maddy’s frisbee. 

“You can’t stay in your room alone,” Howie pointed out. 

“I can’t go outside alone either,” Starr retorted, “So who’s walking out with me so Maddy doesn’t leave us a surprise for morning?” 

“I want some air too,” Cassy put in, “Bryan?” 

“Come on,” He helped her hobble to the door Starr was holding open.  “Just stay close to the porch.” 

“You going to stay with her tonight?”  Kevin asked Howie. 

He hesitated, “It might be better if one of you two did.” 

Kevin’s eyebrow shot up but Howie didn’t elaborate further.  “Alright, I’ll stay with her and you and AJ can pull the twin beds apart and take that room. 

“I’m good on the couch,” AJ objected. 

“Humor me.  I know the girls are the targets but we’re keeping them from him.  How tempting would it be to knock a few of us off to even up the numbers?” 

“Whatever, man.”  AJ straightened out a cigarette he had ground down days earlier and lit it before joining the other three outside. 

“So why the change of heart?”  Kevin asked, tossing Howie a dishtowel and dumping the rest of the dishes in the sink. 

“It came out,” Howie started wiping the damp plates. 

“And?” 

“You figure it out.  I’m not sleeping in her room and you are.” 

Kevin fell silent, busying himself with the dishes and keeping an eye on his four friends outside.  It was hard to have any sympathy for his friend when the girl he loved, the girl who loved him, had disappeared.  “It probably wouldn’t have worked out anyways,” Howie said with a shrug.

Kevin took the stack of plates and put them back into the cupboard.  “Can you hand me those bowls?”  He asked, wishing he had something better to say. 

Hours later Starr was still awake, staring up at the ceiling.  Kristine wasn’t in the room but Kristine’s boyfriend was.  It wasn’t the guy Starr had feelings for or even the guy who apparently had feelings for her.  There wasn’t a single part of the equation right now that made her feel comfortable. 

A light turned on in the hallway.  Starr climbed out of bed and carefully stepped over Kevin.  He’d freak out if he found her out of the room without someone following along behind her but she doubted anyone was going to bother turning a light on before trying to abduct another one of them. 

She was right.  AJ was sitting on the hallway floor straightening out an already smoked cigarette.  “You couldn’t sleep either?”  Starr asked, sitting down across from him.

“Nope.  I found this in the ashtray outside and figured I could get a few more drags out of it at least.  I’m down to the last few that I brought with me and unless Alana’s family has a hidden supply somewhere, I’m not going to be the type of person anyone wants to be around after that.”

“If you can deal with cigars, there was a box in the liquor cabinet where Alana’s mother stored the cloth napkins.  I pulled them out the other day figuring we could save the paper ones in case we really ran low on toilet paper.”

“Alana’s father smoked?”

“Just cigarettes.  The cigar box is still wrapped so it was probably a present or something,” Starr paused and gazed down the hall at the closed door, “If you wanted to go through the drawers in there, you might turn up another pack.”

AJ followed her gaze and then shook his head, “I think I’d turn into a non-smoker before I could go back in there again.”

“Want me to check for you?”  Starr stood up.

“Not by yourself,” AJ took the last few drags before the cigarette he was holding was down to the filter.  “I’ll stand outside the doorway if you’re going to go in.”

Starr opened the door and flipped the switch on the wall.  The remaining bedside lamp cast a dim glow over the room.  No one had bothered cleaning it up since Alana had gone missing.  The bloody sheets and pillowcases were now covered in dark brown stains.  The broken picture frame and lamp were still in pieces on the floor.  “Don’t cut yourself,” AJ warned from the doorway. 

Starr nodded and opened up the night table drawers.  From the home design magazines, it had to be Alana’s mother’s.  She picked her way carefully around the broken glass and checked the matching one.  “You’re in luck,” Starr commented, plucking out two unopened packs and one that was missing a few. 

“You’re a lifesaver,” AJ smiled broadly. 

Starr paused at the window, glancing down at the shadows outside.  “Guess this proves that he’s going through the house,” she said with a shrug.

“What do you mean?” 

“The windows, they’re still locked and the house here is just a straight drop to the ground, there’s nothing to climb or grab onto.  He couldn’t have gotten Alana out the window without making a major racket.”

“We already knew that though,” AJ switched off the light and shut the door quietly behind her. 

“I know, it just bugs me for some reason.  Even if Alana was knocked out when he grabbed her, that’s still extra weight he was hauling around without any of us hearing him going down the hallway or down the stairs.  I’m a heavy sleeper but Kristine isn’t.  If there was something making that much noise, she probably would have woken up.”

“She must have been tired.  There’s nothing else he could have done with her, you said it yourself.  He must have gone out the same way he came in.”

Starr slid back down against the hallway wall, “I know you’re right.  It’s just been bugging me ever since he took Alana and I don’t have any kind of answer.”

“So you’re not a psychic,” AJ blew a cloud of smoke down the hallway away from them, “You’re still a life saver in my book.  If you think of something I could do for you, seriously, let me know.”

Starr smiled, watching him savor the cigarette in his hand, “You make me glad I don’t have a vice like that.”

“Cigarettes, ink, hair dye, and booze and I’m just glad I can afford them all,” AJ licked his fingers and put out the cigarette when he had smoked it halfway down. 

“You know, there might be something you could do for me,” Starr perked up.

“Hmm?”

“I was looking under the sink for something the other day.  Turns out Alana’s mother colored her hair and had a few boxes ahead of the time.  She hid them in tampon boxes, I guess she didn’t want Mr. Johns to find out.  I’ve wanted to color my hair for ages now and considering I could be dead any day, Mom might not get to kill me for doing it after all.”

“Need help?”  AJ started to smile as well.

“I’ve never done this before.  From the sounds of it, you’re pretty much a professional.”

“Sounds like a good distraction.  We might as well use the bathroom up here since no one else is going to be using it.  The dye might stain it a little bit.”

“Whatever you think is best,” Starr followed him willingly into the bathroom. 

“Decent brand, it’ll stay in long enough for you decide if you want to keep it this color.  Are you sure you want to go black?  It’s a pretty drastic change and really drastic changes either look really awesome or really horrible.”

“Good thing the paparazzi can’t get up here or I’d be ruined when next week’s People magazine comes out, huh?”

“Smart ass.  Get your head in the sink.”

Starr shoved her head into the warm spray of water and felt AJ’s fingers working into her scalp.  “Ugh, this stuff stinks,” She wrinkled her nose a few minutes later. 

“Come on out, you just need to let it set in for a few minutes,”  AJ draped a towel over her shoulders and flipped her hair back, “At least it hasn’t fallen out yet.”

“Very funny,” Starr sat down on the closed toilet seat.

“So why couldn’t you sleep?  I’m guessing your insomnia didn’t have to do with nicotine withdrawal.”

“Just have too much on my mind,” Star turned away from the mirror.  She didn’t want to see her hair until it was finished. 

“Any weight I can help remove?”

“No, well...no.”

“Sounds like a solid maybe.  Go ahead.”

“It’s stupid really, it wouldn’t help anything.”

“Except maybe help you get some sleep,” AJ pointed out.

“Yeah, I know,” Starr looked down at her hands, “It’s just stupid considering some of the other things on my mind.”

“Well I can’t fix that, I might be able to fix this.  Now what is it?”

“If you hadn’t slept with Alana that first night, do you think you ever would have thought of me like that?”

AJ jerked his head to stare at her, “Are you serious?”

Starr nodded, her face miserable. 

“Starr, I don’t know.  You’re-“

“A really sweet girl, a really awesome friend, save the cliches, okay?  I’ve heard them all before.  Can you just be honest?”

“I really don’t know.  If I was going to end up with one of you no matter what I did, you’d be the only other option after her.  I couldn’t see myself with Kristine, Jedia, or Cassy at all.  If you want to go with that logic, then it’s possible I guess.”

“I’ve just been spending so much time wishing you had seen me the way you saw her.”

“I guess it’s just one of the ways love is so weird.  Either you get that instant connection with someone or it just pops out at you after knowing them forever.  Alana just works with me.  We want the same things, we enjoy the same things.  You want to be with me but did you really think about what it would be like?”

“What do you mean?”

“I party non-stop, I smoke and drink and swear and flirt.  When I’m home, there are always people around me.  There’s a reason why you usually only see Carter and I in the tabloids, because we’re the ones they have access to.  He might leave it behind for a family eventually but I don’t want to.  It’s a lifestyle that I love and any girl I love has to be able to keep up with me and get into it too.  Do you really think you’d be able to do that?”

Starr sighed, “No.  I’d hate it.  I don’t like people being in my space, I hate loud noises and crowds and I didn’t even think of that.”

“I know you told me not to say it but you really are an awesome friend.  You’re the only one here who can keep me on my toes and I love you for that.  It’s just Alana...”

“She’s a better match for you,” Starr finished. 

“Stick your head back under the sink and lets get this stuff out.”

Ten minutes and a quick blow dry later, AJ was looking at her with a smile.  “That bad?”  She asked.

“Never would have guessed it but it’s really that good,” AJ dragged her in front of the mirror, “It’s drastic but it works for you.  Gives you a good brooding writer look.”

“It’s different,” Starr admitted slowly, not wanting to show how pleased she really was with the results. 

“Think you could get some sleep now?”

“It’s worth a try,” Starr hugged him, “Thanks, AJ.”

“Put this over the pillow case because it’s probably still going to bleed off a bit,” He tossed her the dye stained towel and stopped her in the hallway outside her door, “I know I’m sticking my nose in here but what I said earlier about some romances needing time to grow?  There’s a sweet guy in the other room who’d give up every penny he has in the bank right now to be with you.  You may not have noticed him at first but you know, some things are worth a second look.”

“I’ll think about it.  Night.”

“See you in the morning.”
                   
Morning?

Nick sat up on the futon mattress and squinted in the direction of the only window.  Kevin and Brian had boarded it up but there were some cracks where the light came in. 

There wasn’t any now.  Too lazy to check his watch, he settled back down for a few more hours of sleep. 

Jedia sighed and let out a soft snore.  Nick grinned, he’d have to tease her about her snoring in the morning, just like he teased her about her frog printed pajamas.  He had tried to get rid of the frogs a few times but each time Jedia had stopped him. 

It confused the hell out of him, why he was so interested in a girl who wouldn’t put out at all.  He had girls lining up for him who couldn’t care less if he was interested in talking to them as long as they got him naked. 

Oh God, he wasn’t ready to grow up yet.  He was too young to worry about dealing with a wedding, and a minivan full of little blond Carters.  For God’s sake, he could still remember being one of those little blond Carters in his mom’s minivan. 

He’d just have to end it.  He’d consider doing just that as soon as he got tired of watching her sleep and bored of staring at the dancing cartoon frogs prancing around on her butt. 

She really was something else, Nick thought with a smile, closing his eyes and shifting on the mattress. 
It was so warm, the type of day that convertibles were designed for.  Nick lifted his chin, feeling the calm breeze against his face.  He couldn’t stop himself from smiling even though it felt like he had been all day long. 

There was a soft touch on his hand, making him glance next to him.  Jedia squeezed his hand, a content smile on her face as well.  She was wearing a light green sundress that made her eyes seem an even more vivid green than normal.  He couldn’t tell if the sunlight hitting her was making her more beautiful or if it was just her being next to him that made the day seem even more wonderful.  What surprised him most what he didn’t care, it didn’t make a difference. 

“Slow down a little,” she whispered, “You’ll wake him up.”

Him? 
                                       
Nick glanced in the rearview mirror and stared at the car seat fastened in the back.  More specifically, he stared at the little blond child sleeping in it.  Wispy blond hair, pouty lips, and perfectly blushed baby cheeks, the baby was his miniature and he ached to have the child open his eyes to find out if they were blue or green.   The little boy was wearing a  Tampa Bay Buccaneers jersey and tiny baseball cap, providing him with shade on the sunny afternoon. 

His heart ached to hold the baby, to hold his little body safe and secure, to see if he smelled like baby powder and to never let go, to never let go of either of them. 

Family, a real family and not one based off of wanting fame or money.  This was the real deal, this was a kind of love and belonging that he had chalked up to fairy tales and Good Housekeeping magazines.  Nick hadn’t realized how many holes were in his life until that moment when they had all been filled.  The complete love of a husband and wife, the sheer strength of the love a parent has for a child, nothing in his life had ever come close to it, nothing in his life would come close to it again. 

He didn’t know what happened, the car crashed, and suddenly the sunlight had dimmed and the breeze felt darker.  All he could hear was the screaming and sobbing of Jedia and all he could smell was the metallic scent of blood and fear. 

Nick called for Jedia, he screamed out her name but her cries for help got quieter and quieter until they died away completely. 

The baby.  His baby.  Where was the baby? 

He tried to turn around but couldn’t make himself.  He needed to check on his son but more than anything he was afraid of what he would see if he looked into the backseat of the car.  He forced his head around when the car crumpled further, causing him to scream in pain. 

It was that scream that woke him up.  The sunlight was gone, the car was gone, and his son was gone.  However, the pain he was feeling was very real and the screams coming out of his mouth caused Jedia to leap out of bed. 

“Oh my God, Nick!  What happened?”  Jedia knelt down next to him.

He forced his lips to move but the noises that came out of them weren’t human.  “Get Kevin,” he finally said, forcing the syllables out from between clenched teeth. 

“Right,” Jedia took off running for the stairs.  Nick heard her footsteps running upstairs and her voice waking up the rest of the household. 

“Do not pass out,” he warned himself, moving his vice grip on his leg.  There was just so much blood pouring out of his leg, he couldn’t make it stop.  Nick felt the nausea hit him hard and turned to throw up on the floor. 

“Nick?”  Kevin’s voice came from the door

“Still alive,” Nick gagged and threw up again. 

There was a rush of footsteps down the stairs, “Guys, we need to get him to the couch,” Kevin said grimly. 

“Kev, we need to get him to a hospital,” Brian said, looking at his leg. 

“We don’t have that option.  We’ll have to bandage him up the best we can right now.”

“For God sake,” AJ exclaimed, “This isn’t a sprained ankle, look at the blood he’s losing, what if he needs a transfusion or something!”

“If we leave to take him to a hospital, Kristine and Alana are going to be killed.  We don’t have a choice.  Nick, we’ve got to get you moved upstairs so we can see what we can do with this.  Nick?”

“He’s out cold,” AJ pointed out. 

“It’ll make moving him easier.  Brian, get his legs but make sure he stays steady.  We don’t want to hurt him more than already is.”

Slowly, they moved him up the stairs and into the living room, laying him out on the mattress from Alana’s bedroom that Howie and Starr had dragged into the living room.  “How bad is it?”  Brian asked as Kevin looked at the wound. 

“Without any real medical training, who knows.  Someone sliced him pretty good but who knows how deep it is and if they damaged any muscles.  We just need to keep major pressure on this until the bleeding stops and then disinfect and clean it to see how bad it really is.  Worse case, we’ll have to find a way to stitch him up because this is way too big for a bandage.  I’m really just going off of movies and books right now but we’ll have to see.”

“What happens if this thing gets infected or something?  What then?”  AJ demanded. 

Kevin refused to look up, “Just pray we don’t have to find that out.  Brian, you and Jedia go get their stuff from the basement and bring everything up here, that includes whatever paper products are left in that bathroom.  Then we’re boarding up that door and no one is going back down there.”

Brian stared towards the basement, “Kev, Jedia isn’t up here.” 

Starr ran for the bathroom, checking it and Alana’s bedroom, “She’s not in there either.” 

Cassy muffled a sob as AJ took the stairs two at a time, “Not upstairs,” he yelled down. 

Brian ran for the basement and a few minutes later came back to the living room, his face saying everything.  “How are we going to tell Nick when he wakes up?”

“How the hell did he get her out without us seeing?” AJ asked, lighting up a cigarette with shaking hands. 

“We missed a window in the basement,” Brian said quietly, “The laundry room had one and it’s wide open.  He must have dragged her out through there, there’s no other way out.”

“Is there a trail we can follow?”  Kevin asked.

“I’ll go check,” Brian walked out the front door.

“Howie, go with him.  The last thing we need is another one of us attacked.”

The two were back within a few minutes, faces glum.  “There were a few prints but as soon as you get to the woods, there’s nothing to follow.  It’s like the guy grows wings or something, there isn’t any broken grass or branches or anything,” Brian sat back down on the coach, wrapping his arms around the still sobbing Cassy, “Shh baby, we’ll get her back.  I promise, we’ll get all of your friends back.”

It took far too much effort for Jedia to force her eyes open again.  The last thing she remembered was getting yanked into the laundry room, a knife pressed against her throat and a hand covering her mouth. 

She hadn’t moved, she had been too afraid to do so.  She had been so close to peeing her pants in fear.  The knife had been sticky already with what she had a sinking suspicion was her boyfriends blood. 

There was too much commotion going back and forth in the basement and then as everyone rushed Nick upstairs.  They hadn’t noticed she was missing although she really couldn’t fault them for it.  A short blond girl was easy to overlook when there was a very tall blond guy with his leg bleeding out on a futon mattress. 

That took her to the floor she was currently lying on.  The room was dim, the little light squeezed in through the boards nailed in front of the window.  She sat up and winced, feeling for the lump on the back of her head. 

Still, she needed to assess her situation.  Wherever she was, it was small and hadn’t been used in quite some time.  The floor was covered in a thick layer of dust and there were cobwebs hanging off all the items that were stacked in the floor-to-ceiling shelves that covered three of the four walls.  Boxes and crates were stacked in corners, not like they did her much good. 

There was a small folding knife on the shelf nearest her and she grabbed it quickly, tucking it into her pocket.  Whoever it was, she was not going to be unarmed, not after everything she had witnessed already. 

The door rattled and then creaked open.  She had no chance of hiding, not in such a small space.  The door opened slowly, sunlight spilling into the room and highlighting the dust floating in the air. 

Oh, God, no. 

Brett walked inside, a broad smile on his face.  He was taller than she remembered, broader than he had been in high school.  “You’re awake.  How are you liking your little home?” 

“Why are you doing this?”  Jedia asked, “All because of a stupid high school break-up?  Is that really worth killing all of those-” Brett kicked her over, her still throbbing head connecting with the floor and causing her to see stars. 

“Shut up,” he growled, “You know Jedia, I almost hoped that you would have something to keep you home this summer.  You weren’t a bitch like Alana and Starr, butting into a relationship that didn’t have anything to do with you.  We had some good times when the rest of your friends weren’t around.  You know, there was a little time after Kristine was taken away from me where I thought about taking you out to dinner.  I wasted my time, there was never anyone for me but Kristine.  You were always trying to make me notice you, taking classes with me and showing off how smart you were.  You should have stayed home this summer and I would have let you live.  Now that you had to stick your nose in, I don’t have a choice anymore.”

“You always have a choice,” Jedia objected, trying to get back on all fours, “You always have a choice and you chose to be a murderer.”

He scowled and kicked her over again.  “I should thank you though, the one thing I overlooked, the one thing that could be tied back to me, you were kind to clean it up for me.”

“The boot print...”  Jedia wanted to cry. 

“Not so smart now, are you?  All the books in the world couldn’t give Jedia any common sense.”

Jedia got to her feet, shaky and supporting herself against a stack of boxes.  “No, I’m smarter than you in every way that matters.  I still have a soul, a conscience, and I know how to move on when things don’t work out.  You’re throwing a fit because the girl you were dating finally woke up and saw what a creep you are and left without looking back.  I know how to move on, I know how to accept life to know that there’s more out there for me than a high school relationship.  That’s why I’m always going to be smarter than you, even if my body is rotting in this stupid shack.” 

Brett lunged forward at her but Jedia had expected that reaction.  She pulled the knife out of her pocket and jammed it forward, barely connecting with his arm before the dizziness overtook her and she fell back to the ground. 

Brett picked up the small knife and smiled down at her, “Oh Jedia, you’re so stupid you don’t even know it.  Did you really think that this could have done anything to me?  Not with a weakling like you holding it.  You can’t use a pathetic little knife like this to stab someone, the only thing this kind of knife is good for is slicing.  Let me show you.”

Brett grabbed Jedia’s hair and dragged her up, taking the knife and cutting a long line down her cheek, causing blood to mix with her tears and drip to the floor.  “Hopefully that gives you something to think about.  I’ll be back later.”  He pushed her back over and walked out the door

Jedia sat back up frantically.  She wasn’t stupid, no matter what he said, she wasn’t stupid.  A rusty old knife and a dusty room would lead to an infection pretty quickly if she didn’t do something about it.  It was bad enough that she was going to die at his hands but she absolutely refused to die because of an infection because she didn’t have any iodine or Neosporin.

She crawled over to the boxes and started searching through them frantically.  There was an unopened bag of rags that someone had stored away that she ripped open and pressed against the cut with a grimace and hiss of pain.  Further searching found a collection of water bottles. 

It was better than nothing, at least she could keep it clean until it scabbed over.  Either way, that and her panic would give her something to focus on other than her friends and boyfriend who were less than two miles away and probably worried sick. 

Jedia couldn’t help the tears that came after that.