Inner Predator

I...Appreciate Him

Chapter 13- I...appreciate him

"Oh thank God, I've been trying to call you all day!" Jess screeches into the phone that afternoon when I call her back. I turned on my phone earlier and the voicemail box was completely full thanks so to Jess so I decided to save some time and call her back.

"Yeah I know... Jess—"

"Aurora. I know," she says meaningfully. "But I really, really need you to listen right now." She sounds nervous or upset; both I guess. It puts me on edge.

"J—"

"Please!" She shouts and I imagine she's twirling her hair nervously right now and probably pacing back and forth. "I saw the news." She sniffles. Is she on the verge of tears? "Nico was over and we...I started freaking out because I saw what happened and they were interviewing people and I just... I knew. Nico was like 'what's wrong' and I just... shit. I just told him."

My blood runs cold. "What happened?" My voice is surprisingly calm for how quickly my heart is beating. I'm not mad at my best friend for telling Nico, I can understand why she did it but it doesn't stop me from feeling a betrayed. Even if it wasn't on purpose Jess blurted out the one secret I begged her to keep from everyone.

I thought I could trust her explicitly and unconditionally, but I was wrong. She cracked under the first bit of pressure. Maybe it was asking too much. Maybe this secret was too big to expect someone to keep it.

And yet Chase did, an inner voice reminds me. Chase, who discovered there was something different about me long before we were friends, hasn't told a soul. He kept my secret even when we could barely tolerate one another. And Jess, my closest friend couldn't keep it for 12 hours.

I lie back on Chase's bed and stare up at the popcorn ceiling trying to calm myself. The last time I felt this betrayed was by my mother. I really thought I could trust Jess with anything. Hell, last night I swore to Chase that she was trustworthy and didn't need to be compelled to forget all that I told her.

I feel like a fucking idiot.

"He called the SOs," she admits in the barest of whispers and the knife twists deeper into my spine as her words register. Nico called the SOs, Supernatural Officers, they're in charge of keeping us all in order and they're likely to have already been called in on the case from the moment the human officers took note of the wounds on the victim...My victim. And she didn't stop him. She didn't protect me.

"He what?" I spring up from my lying position as I shout into the phone momentarily forgetting that I have to keep quiet.

"They were here all morning questioning us, I've been trying to call you since the second they left. Aurora, I'm sorry. I never thought Nico would do that to you... to me. I begged him."

I can hear the pain in her voice and I know she's sorry. I also know that she's begging me to tell her that it's ok, that I forgive her. But I can't bring myself to say the words. I can't even bring myself to think them, not when she's all but turned me over to the SOs on a silver platter.

"Do they know where I am?"

"Of course not! I don't even know where you are," she defends and then in a smaller admits, "but I told them where you might be. I tried not to, I swear, but they used to truth spell."

For a second I find myself questioning whether or not she's telling me the truth. I wonder if the SOs would have needed the truth spell. If you had asked me last night I would have sworn that Jess would always lie for me if necessary, but now I'm not so confident.

"Do you know if they've talked with Chase yet?" I ask pushing aside all thoughts of her betrayal.

"I don't know, but I'm sure they're going to if they haven't yet. Rory, there's something you should know."