Not so Far and Long Ago

Chapter 47

       "What time is it?" I asked when I woke up later that day.
        "It's about 7:15. You've been asleep for a while," Finn said, running his fingers through my hair.
        "Now I'm going to be up all night," I said sarcastically, "yay!"
        "I'll stay up with you."
"Finn, you really don't have to," I said, feeling guilt.
"Why don't we make it a game, who can stay up the longest?"
"I'll probably win. I just took a five hour nap."
"You can't prove I didn't also take a five hour nap."
"You didn't take a five hour nap."
"Alright, fine, you caught me. Would you like me to go get your dinner? Your dad said I could bring it up when you woke up."
"Thanks, but I'm not really hungry right now. Maybe we can do a snack in the middle of our game."
"Would you like me to carry you downstairs and we can make cookies?"
"That requires moving. How about you make cookies and bring them upstairs," I wasn't being lazy, I just didn't want to go through the trouble of getting downstairs and than having to get back up here and go through the process of 'properly elevating my foot' as the doctor had said.
       "We needed to at least do something to make you tired."
       "Can't you just give me something that will make me sleep, than in the morning we can make cookies."
        "I'll talk to your father. I'm not sure if it would react ok with your painkillers. Also, the last thing we want is for medication to become an addiction."
"I would like to sleep so can you at least see if we have Advil PM or something similar?"
"Fine," Finn said, he seemed to be slightly disappointed in me.
"Can you grab my usual things too?"
"I was planning on it," Finn yelled back from the hallway. I propped myself up with pillows, than unlocked my phone.
"Don't worry Rey, I'll give you a break. But only for a few months. Than I'll return, and you can bet, it will be worse than your mind ever imagined. How could it get any worse? I wondered. He had torchured me for nearly 10 years, than, just when I finally caught a break, he began to install constant fear in my through text, and break my foot.
"What's going on?" Finn asked as he walked into my room. I handed him my phone to revel the recent text, "Rey, we need to get away from here."
"I know Finn, my dad's said it before too. I just don't know anywhere we can go that I'd feel safe. Plutt has his ways to always find me. I was looking forward to living in Nashville, but now, I'm not so sure. Plutt has no chance of not finding me there."
"Does he have a weakness?"
"What do you mean?"
"My father doesn't like the cold, so we've never gone skiing. Does Plutt have something he doesn't like, causing him not to go to a place with that."
"He doesn't like humidity, he doesn't like strong southern accents. He always tried to move out of Tennessee, but his job wouldn't allow it. And sand. He thinks it's course, rough, and irritating. He says it gets everywhere."
"Have you considered Southern Alabama? I don't think it's too late for me to accept their football scholarship offer and you to transfer. I'd say with your valedictorian status, even with finishing the year through video conferencing with teachers."
       "I think I got accepted there and if not, they had a latter application than the rest of the schools. I can check."
       "Would you feel safer?" Finn asked. 
       "I don't know, I don't know if I'd feel safe anywhere. Hopefully he'll get put in jail again. Let's just go to Nashville."
        "I wish you didn't have this kind of fear in your life. You're not even an adult and you have nowhere to feel safe."
      "I feel safe when I'm with you."
      "Than why do you seem so tense right now?"
      That's when I began to break down. "There's just no escape of him," I cried, "we could move across the world, and Plutt would still find us! I haven't felt completely safe since I was 8 years old!"
      "Rey, calm down," Finn said, stroking the side of my face, down to my check.
       "I can't," I quietly screamed, "he hurt me too much for me to stay calm. I want revenge."
       "How is yelling going to get you the revenge you want?"
       "It's giving me a chance to let my anger out. Than, I can move on to the real stuff."
        "What's the real stuff?"
        "I don't know yet. I think I'm about ready to release it to the public. Then, there will be fan support, and he should be scared to mess with me again. Star Wars Celebration is in like two weeks."
        "Are you sure you're ok with doing this?"
        "I need to. It's either get over it, or therapy, and I don't want therapy."
        "But are you sure this is the best way to get over it?"
       "Life's about taking risk," I said, "this is mine." It got quiet for a moment.
"Your dad told me you could have the medication after eating. It said not to take on an empty stomach. So what do you want?"
"Just surprise me," I said, not really caring. I didn't want to eat much anyway, just enough that Finn and my dad would allow me to take the medicine and go to sleep. A few minutes later, Finn returned holding a small plate.
"Eat all of this, and you can have the pill."
"Fine," I groaned, picking at the grilled chicken and green beans. I ate slowly, hoping Finn would realize how much I didn't want this, but even if he did, it wouldn't change his mind.
"I'll go get the medicine," Finn said when I was about 3/4 of the way done. I took a few more small bites of the chicken, before dumping the small remains into the trash can. Nobody ever had to know.
"Your mom just got back from a party and brought you some left over cake. I hid your medicine somewhere in it."
"Why?" I ask confused.
"You haven't done much for the past few days. I figure you need a challenge. Find where in piece, and you get a prize."
"Is everything a game with you?" I asked jokingly.
"My nanny used to do that with my brother and I. I guess I just picked it up from her."
"I hope I don't pick up anything from that man who raised me."
"You won't Rey. You're too smart for that."