Hanging On

And Always

Alrught guys....this is it. Its gonna be a long one, because I dont have it in me to break it up into two chapters...I wouldnt do that to you guys;) so here it is.

I woke up and Tucker was gone. I knew right then and there that something was wrong. I rolled out of bed silently and went to the window, as if something was pulling me there, and I saw just a glimpse of black shadow slip into the barn. It was too short to be Tucker, and to wide to be Jake. Fear gripped my heart with its icy hands and I bolted to Jakes room, not even bothering to knock.

“Jake, Jake get up!” I said urgently. His eyes immediately snapped open and he sat up, looking at me with alarmed eyes.

“What’s wrong?” he asked, throwing the covers back and getting out of bed, his head swiveling back and forth as if searching for something. “There’s someone in the barn, and Tucker’s gone.” I said, and Jakes face screwed up into a grimace.

“Shit, shit, shit, shit.” He said, pulling a shirt over his head. He knelt down to my level and gripped my shoulders. “Sydney, stay in here.” He said firmly, and I shook my head. “If you think-”

“Sydney, for Tucker’s sake, stay in here. If something happens to you, he won’t make it.” Jake said, his soft brown eyes boring into mine. I stared back at him, and then nodded. He let go of me and quickly strode out of the room with me on his heels.

 “Stay away from windows, grab that bat from your moms room, and stay in there with her.” He turned back around as we reached the bottom of the stairs, causing me almost bump into him. “Do not leave this house. Do you understand?”

I felt my bottom lip start to tremble. Tucker was out there with someone, and it wasn’t hard to figure out who. I  thought we had a couple of weeks, but I was wrong. We all were. Jake must have seen that, because he wrapped his arms around me in a strong hug.

“Be careful.” I said against his shoulder, and I felt him nod.

 “We’ll be back.” He said, then turned and strode off. I stood completely frozen in the hallway. Then the door slammed, snapping me out of my trance. I went into survival mode and quickly burst into my moms room, ripping her closet open and snatching the bat form it. My mom sat up in bed.

“Syd? What's going on? What's wrong?” she asked urgently. I went over to her and began speaking.

 “The man that Tucker was arrested for beating killed his parents. He was never convicted, so Tucker got his revenge on him, and almost killed him. That’s how he ended up in jail. Now he wants Tucker dead, and he doesn’t care who he has to take out to do that.”

I stopped and took a deep breath as my mother simply stared at me.

“He’s here, mom. And Tucker and Jake are out there.” I said. She sat perfectly still staring at me. I had no clue how she would react. Would she be mad that I hadn’t told her sooner? Would she freak out?

She suddenly got out of bed and grabbed the bat from my hands, then went to the window and shut the curtains.

 “We need to be very quiet.” She said, turning to face me, her face hard.

“We need to call the police.” She said, heading towards the phone that she kept next to her bed.

 “Mom, its gonna take them half an hour to get here.” I said, my heart pounding. She shook her head, dialing the number. “It doesn’t matter.”

I stood perfectly still as she gave our address and the situation. I felt useless. I needed to be doing something. If anything happened to Tucker, I would kill that man with my own hands. The same went for Jake. If either of them were hurt….