Climax (JESSIE J)

Chapter 53

My head pounded when I finally flickered my eyes open. The sunlight scolded me as if I'd been out drinking until the early hours of the morning. I rolled over to find Jessie sat crossed legged next to me, laptop on her lap and her face knotted with concentration. She had earphones popped her in her ears and she was mouthing along to whatever was being played in her ears.

I yawned loudly and Jessie smiled down at me, "Morning beautiful, did you sleep ok?"

"Meh" I shrugged, resting my head on Jessie's thigh, "what are you doing?"

"I have to go back to work in a couple I weeks, Sweet Talker comes out at next month so my campaign starts soon," she smiled, "I'm learning the songs"

"Sounds exciting" I muttered, letting my eyes close again,

"How on earth are you still tired?" Jessie laughed,

"Sleeping drains soooo much energy" I joked, "it's a wonder I can get up at all"

"Lunch?" She asked,

"I'm alright, I need to get my arse into gear and get over to Grams'. She needs me right now," I sighed, as much as I was hurting, I needed to make sure that she was doing okay. She was the only one I had left.

I swung my legs off the side of the bed and padded into the en-suite. I splashed my face with cold water and it felt nice against my burning cheeks. I splurged the special antiseptic cream the hospital had given me when I'd been discharged to my burns and I instantly felt the relief. I brushed my teeth and necked the pain relief tablets I'd been given. Why was I still alive?

"Do you want me to come with you, Kay?" Jessie called through the door,

"No it's fine," I sighed, strolling about into the bedroom and pulling my pyjama top over my head. Jessie muttered something from behind me at the sight of my bare stomach but I paid little attention to it. I ran my fingers across my stomach and traced the outline of my ribs. I sucked my tummy in but it didn't make a huge amount of difference any more. My head was winning.

"I don't mind" Jessie asked again, helping me pull my jumper down over my back as if she was ashamed of what I'd become.

"I'm just going to go riding I think, I need some time to-"

"You're right, I'm sorry. You have your time, I'll be here when you get back" Jessie smiled, tucking a stray hair behind my ear. I looked into her bright green eyes and I felt safe. I felt safe, loved and warm and I never wanted that feeling to change. I kissed her softly on the lips and left her alone in the great big house.

Another classic Kayla mistake.

JESSIE POV

I tried to focus on learning the songs and I played them over and over and over again but I couldn't make them stick. About an hour after Kayla left, and only half a song later, I gave up and whacked the telly on. I needed some nothing time, I didn't get enough of it. I'd been given the last 10 days off because of Maisy but I never stopped. I'd spent half the week sorting funeral service things with Kayla's grandmother and the other half making sure Kayla was going to do anything stupid.

I can't really remember the night of the fire, it was all a blur. I think I've shut it out of my memory so that I don't feel guilty for not being able to stop it, because I did, and it was beginning to weigh me down. I can't even begin to imagine how Kayla was feeling. I'd finished at Capital by 9 but even that was too late, the house was up by then. Fire men were already outside trying to tame the fire but it wasn't working, they couldn't put it out. They pulled Kayla out not long after I got there and immediately my heart relaxed, she was alive.

But they couldn't save Maisy.

Kayla was remarkably unharmed by the fire. She struggled to breathe for a few days after so she spent 4 days in hospital but the doctors said that the majority of the burns she's got on her arms will fade without a leaving a mark. She had ones that would scar forever but she was very lucky they told her, it could have been a lot worse. It's not a clever thing to say to someone who's just lost her little sister is it?

I sat and watched an old episode of F.R.I.E.N.D.S that I'd seen 1001 times and I felt my eyes begin to droop. I don't think I'd ever been as tired as I'd been over the past few days, and I'd had the week off.

I was woken up by the smashing of glass downstairs. I stepped carefully out of bed and tied my dressing gown securely around my waist. I crept cautiously down the corridor, my fingers gliding against the wall I listened intently to the rustling around of someone downstairs. My heart beat quickly in my chest and adrenaline pumped heavily through my veins. I took to the stairs lightly, making as little noise as possible and peered through the banister. I could hear my kitchen drawers being swung open and closed and heady footsteps padded through my home.

"Hello?" I called out timidly, my voice cracking, there was obviously no reply. A burglar isn't exactly going to come and introduce themselves to me. Think Jess. The likelyhood of this being a totally random intruder was very slim, my lifestyle and career very much left me a sitting duck for unwelcome guests in my home. I'd had them before, crazy paps wanting a money making pic or were chasing a strange story, or a chancer, banking on Jessie J's house being full of treasures and riches. But this wasn't either of those, something wasn't right.

The intruder, for at this point I didn't know whether it was a male or female, hadn't come out of the kitchen, nor had they scattered as soon as they'd heard my voice. This wasn't a bulgary, my conscience spoken eerily, this person knows who you are.

I slid slowly down the stairs, one at a time, and the laminate flooring in the hallway felt icy cold against my feet. "Kayla?" I called out, pathetically, because Kayla wouldn't exactly break my kitchen window. She has a key. She's at her Grams. I'm all alone. I should have run out of the front door and called the police, because there was a strange person in my house but the curiosity overpowered the fear that coursed through my body which moved me slowly down the hallway into the kitchen. The rope tied around my waist made it even more difficult to breathe as I peered my head timidly round the door, getting ready to either pounce or to run. I felt like a cave man. Fight, flight or freeze.

My gut instinct was correct, of course, I don't know why I ever doubted it. Sat at my breakfast table, fiddling with a large kitchen knife, jabbing it into my old oak table, was Kayla's father. He flicked a speck of glass off of his shoulder and chuckled darkly at my terrified expression. He rose slowly from the chair and took a threatening step towards me. His eyes travelled up and down my barely covered body, and they were hungry.

"I was hoping to find Kayla, but I suppose you'll have to do"

A/n- 2 more chapters, are you ready?

ROSIE IS AT MY HOUSE I REPEAT ROSIE IS AT MY HOUSE!!!!!!!