In The Blink Of An Eye

Complexity

"Actually...it might be worse."

"WHAT?!?"

"Lilly please! I am begging you. Just hop in the car and drive around for all I care. You just have to leave the house. NOW!!!"

She hung up the phone without saying anything. I just hope that it wasn't too late and that Jake would show up to their house before they could leave. I realized that them leaving wasn't solving anything but it would at least give me enough time to talk to Jake and try and calm him down. He didn't have his phone with him so I didn't have to worry about him calling her and without being aware of what was going on, she answered.

This was a NIGHTMARE!!!

Lilli was asleep again and I was like a lunatic pacing back and forth around the hotel biting my nails. More like I was biting the flesh of my fingers since I had chewed off all my nails a long time ago. Every minute that passed I was more and more worried that they weren't able to get out of the house before Jake showed up. Suddenly, the door opens.

"Where is she?"

"Who Hannah?"

"Yes Hannah...where is she?"

"How would I know where she is and keep your voice down Lilli is going to wake up."

"I went to the house and she wasn't there and not only was she not there but Lilly wasn't there either."

"Okay so maybe they are out somewhere? What's the big deal?"

"I need to keep her safe. What if someone finds out what she did?"

"I'm sorry WHAT??"

"What did you think I was going to do? She's my sister. We all made mistakes."

"Jake...it's been 10 years. Nobody is going to come after her now. Brayden is in jail and Michael is gone."

"Brayden?"

"The MWAF... his name is Brayden."

"About that, I am so sorry. I didn't even listen to you when you told me about him. The only thing that crossed my mind was saving Hannah."

"It's okay I'm just glad you're here and that you don't want to kill Hannah yourself. I was actually worried for a minute that you would get into an argument with her."

"Why would I do that? I'm sure whatever happened was an accident. I know my sister and she would never hurt someone on purpose."

"In that case...give me a minute."

I grab my phone and dial Lilly's number. I didn't want them going God knows where or driving around for no reason. It was late and they needed to go home and get some sleep. Within a few minutes she answered.

"Please tell me we can go back home. My sister is driving me INSANE with a million questions that I don't have the answers to."

"I'm sorry about that, I'll explain some other time. You can go back to the house."

Jake looked at me with a smirk on his face. He knew that I had to have been the one to tell them to leave. No wonder as soon as he got into the house he asked me where she was. I was either really horrible at hiding stuff or Jake knew me too well. Either way, he always knew something was going on. Honestly I was just glad that things didn't end the way I imagined that they would. I'm even more surprised that Jake never asked how Hannah killed Jennifer. Maybe he didn't care and was just glad that his sister was safe and not in jail for the rest of her life. But, knowing Jake I had a feeling that he wanted to ask her personally instead of hearing it from me, which I didn't complain about at all. I hated being the bearer of bad news.

"I knew that you told them to leave," he exclaimed.

"I'm sorry but I had to. I had no idea what you were about to do and I just wanted to have enough time to at least talk to you and get you to calm down."

"I'm not as evil and as bad as you think I am you know?"

"I know but still...better safe than sorry right?"

"Is that why you didn't want to tell me about Hannah? Because you thought I was going to do something bad?"

"I mean obviously! Why else would I not say it?"

"Well I'm glad I found out even in the way that I did. Now, let's get some sleep. You have a big day in front of you tomorrow."

"You're right I do. I'm just so nervous about how Lilli is going to react that I'm having a hard time thinking about sleeping let alone falling asleep."

"She'll be fine I promise, she's a smart girl. Plus, if you need me for anything I'm just a phone call away."

"Thanks hun. I love you."

"I love you too."

Jake kissed me and we went to bed. Lilli was by my side as Jake hugged us and he fell asleep. With now both Jake and Lilli asleep, my mind seemed to go to a hundred different thoughts instead of trying to actually fall asleep. No matter how hard I tried to fall asleep I couldn't. I had this feeling in my chest that felt so heavy where it felt like I couldn't breathe. I got out of bed slowly without waking them up and got out to the balcony. The air felt fresh outside and it was a bit chilly at night here which was much different than what I was used to at this time of the year. The cold air was going to wake me up even more but at least I felt like I could take a deep breath. As I sat there and looked out the balcony, the memories of Evan and my mom kept rushing through my head. It's been years since Evan and my mom died and yet sitting here right now and thinking about them, it feels like it was just yesterday that they left.