Murder Me a favor

Part Eight

Jake has been waiting in his car for about 4 hours now. What's taking so long? He thinks. He gets a text from Alex.

"Where are they? They should be here by now!" The message reads.

"Maybe Mr. Taylor had to run some errands first." He replies, trying to lighten up the mood for himself. But he is still stressing about his best friend.

He puts his phone back into his pocket and leans back into his seat, turning up the heat as the night gets colder. Two more hours pass and Jake starts to really worry. He gets another text message from Alex.

"Where are they Jake? They are way past due. There is something wrong." Alex's message reads.

Jake puts his phone in his pocket and quickly thinks about where he could have taken her. He racks his brain, picking out small details Abby showed him.

The cottage.

The cottage he had her at before he took her to the barn. But where is it at? It could be anywhere! He thinks to himself. He feels a presence in the car with him. He looks to the passenger seat and he sees Abby sitting there.

"Where is she Abby? Show me where that cottage is please." He begs her. Tears stinging his eyes. Fear making his heart run a million miles a second, threatening to break through his ribcage. Abby nods her head in agreement, Jake turns on his car and pulls out of the spot he was in, following every instruction and direction she gives him. After about forty-five minutes of driving, he pulls up to a small shack in the middle of nowhere. Where no screams could be heard. Perfect for him.

"Thank you Abby." Jake says giving her a genuine grin. "I hope you can rest after all this is over." He finally says.

"Thank you for your help Jake. I'll rest peacefully once this blows over." She confirms, returning the genuine smile before dissipating into thin air. Jake takes in a deep breath before getting out of his car.

He slowly creeps up to the front door of the rundown shack, he finds a large branch on the ground that has fallen from the dead tree that stands beside the shack. He picks up the branch and takes it with him. He reaches for the wooden door and slowly cracks it open; testing it to make sure it doesn't creek. When he realizes it doesn't, he opens it wider and finally enters the shack. He hears her. He hears her cries coming from the basement. He quietly tiptoes over to the stairs that lead to the basement. With another deep breath, he takes the first step, trying his best not to make a single noise. A ear piercing scream stops Jake in his path, his heart clenching in pain, not knowing the amount of pain she is enduring. He takes another step and another, until he finally gets to the door that will reveal the horrific room on the other side. Where Vanessa is trapped. Before he opens the door he texts Alex the new location and tells him to get there quick. He grips the doorknob with a shaky hand, twisting it, hearing the springs in the doorknob stretch as he turns it enough to finally get it open. He hears the man on the other side talking to Vanessa, threatening her. Fear being replaced with pure anger he pushes the door further open. He lifts the branch over his shoulder like a baseball bat and charges it up with pent up anger and rage he had for this twisted man. The light coming in from the front door illuminated the room just enough to see where the man stood. With light feet, he got close enough to Mr. Taylor to smell his blinding stench. As Mr.Taylor was raising his hand to strike Vanessa once more, Jake gave the man a hard blow to the back of his head, making him fall to the ground with a grunt. Still conscious, Jake delivers a powerful kick to the side of his face, finally making him go unconscious. He searches the rooms walls for a light switch and switches on the light - making Vanessa very clear to see. And what Jake saw made him become sick to his stomach. Her perfect dress was torn to shreds, her back had four long gashes stretching across her once perfectly smooth skin. Her face was badly beaten, her left eye was swollen shut and her upper lip was split in two. Jake slowly approaches her, breath shaking for he can't bare to see her in this condition.

"Vanessa? Are you okay?" Jake quietly asks. Afraid he'll hurt her more if he talks any louder.

"It's about time you got here. You're a little late Jakey." She teases, trying to make light of the situation. Jake rushes over to her ankles and notices that she is bound by handcuffs, without a key in sight. He searches the whole room for any kind of key. Nothing. He walks over to Mr.Taylor still unconscious on the floor. He kicks his leg to make sure he is still out of it before he bends down to search him.

"Be careful Jake." Vanessa warns him. He pats his pockets for any abnormal sound. He pats his coat pockets. Keys jingle inside. He fishes them out of his pockets and unlocks the first handcuff from one of Vanessa's ankles. Just when he was reaching for her other ankle.

"There is a pocket knife in his back pocket. Hurry up and get it before he uses it on one of us." She demands.

He hurries over to his unconscious body once more and quickly snatches his blue pocket knife and puts it in his own pocket. Going back to Vanessa's ankle he quickly finishes unlocking the other handcuff.

"Look out!" Vanessa screams. Making Jake dodge Mr. Taylor's hand just in time.

Mr. Taylor reaches for the pocket knife he expects to be in his back pocket.

"Looking for this?" Jake asks teasingly waving the open blade in the air. The man rushes towards Jake. but before he could get to him Jake rams the knife into his abdomen and pulling it out again. Making him fall to his knees, gripping the gushing area. Jake stabs the man again and again, covering himself in blood.

"JAKE! STOP!" Vanessa cries. Jake quickly stops, realizing what he just did. He drops the knife on the floor with a clatter and steps away from the body.

"Vanessa, stay right there. I'll be right back." Jake stammered, still in shock. Adrenaline rushing through his veins. He runs up the stairs and out the front the door.

Sprinting into the night with only the full moon as his light source, he halts under a street lamp and looks down at his bloody hands and blood drenched clothes. His hands shaking from adrenaline and fear as he attempts to wipe the blood away from his hands by rubbing them on his pants only making things appear worse. His chest is rising up and down at a rapid pace for he can't believe what he just did. He looks around to estimate where he is and how to get home, and most importantly, if anyone saw the crime he had just committed, besides Vanessa. Feeling sickened by his own actions; he empties out the contents of his stomach onto the cold hard pavement, he sits down and scoots away from his mess, afraid the horrid, burning stench of it will make him want to hurl again. His head in his hands as he weeps uncontrollably, she's nowhere in sight, just him and himself alone in the dark, lost, afraid, and with a weight as heavy as a dump truck on his chest. From the lack of appropriate oxygen he slowly loses consciousness and drops back onto the floor with a thud and a single word escaping his lips.

"Abby."

He wakes up to the sound of sirens blaring the red, white, and blue lights illuminating the night and the shack.

"Jake. Jake wake up." Vanessa says. "Jake! We won! He's in critical condition but they think he will make it. He's going to prison for life. They found enough evidence in that room and in his van to prove he's guilty. Jake! We did it!" She exclaims with excitement.

Jake gets up off the floor and gives Vanessa a hug, being extra careful of her injuries. She uses the blanket the paramedics gave her to wrap him in it too. They watch as the paramedics take Mr. Taylor out on a stretcher and quickly slide him into the ambulance. They quickly drive away, sirens blaring.

"We did good Vanessa. We did good." Jake weakly says, laying his head on her shoulder.Vanessa gives a content smile and lays her head on his. And in that moment she wasn't in any pain.