❁
JJ didn't leave her side for the rest of the day. They talked about themselves, their childhoods, their hopes for the future. JJ's fingers played with hers, caressing them and twirling around them like dancers. Lizzy laughed with ease at the jokes he made, her muscles aching with the action. JJ couldn't stop smiling at her, his teeth a sparkling white color.
"Stop making me laugh," Lizzy sputtered out, grinning in spite of herself. "I'm still trying to recover and it's hurting me."
JJ's smile vanished, a concerned expression tugging at his lips. "Should I call for a nurse?"
Lizzy shook her head, her eyes trained on JJ's strong forearm as she traced his blue veins. "No. You're the only medicine I need."
JJ's smile returned as luminous as before. To Lizzy, it was like staring at the sun and it burned her eyes, but she couldn't look away. "Remember when I used that pickup line on you when we first started texting. What was it again?"
"'Are you ill? Because I think you're suffering from lack of vitamin me,'" Lizzy recited from memory.
JJ blinked, eyebrows raised. "I'm surprised you remembered that."
"You're kind of unforgettable, JJ."
JJ blushed a deep red color. "Shit. You keep saying those things and it's making it very hard for me to concentrate."
"What're you trying to concentrate on?" Lizzy asked. At the same moment, JJ leaned in and kissed her tenderly, his fingers dotting her jaw.
His other hand gripped her forearm tightly as if he was afraid Lizzy would disappear again at any moment. Lizzy laced her own fingers through his hair and brought him closer, deepening the kiss, her teeth pressing onto his lower lip. JJ let out a sigh and loosened his grip.
"You," JJ said breathlessly once he broke from the kiss in answer to Lizzy's previous question. Lizzy cradled his face in her palms. She mentally connected the dots on his cheeks as he whispered gruffly, "I love you, Lizzy."
The word—love—surprised Lizzy and she dropped her hands, which JJ interlocked with his own. They had only really met a few hours ago but it seemed as if they had been friends for a lifetime. After she was kidnapped—that was when she guessed his love for her truly manifested. It was evident in his dedication to finding her.
Lizzy wasn't sure if love was in the equation for her yet. When Chase had her locked in a bedroom, she had thought of her family and her friends—and she had also thought of JJ, her heart yearning after him and wondering what went wrong. The realization soon sank in that she hadn't been texting JJ ever since he was grounded, but there was still a part of her that felt some sort of affection for him. JJ muddled before her eyes—she saw Chase and his cruel features, the wonderful texts from JJ himself, the ones sent by Chase pretending to be JJ. Clearly she needed to sort through her thoughts and her experiences in Chase's apartment before she declared her love.
"I—" Lizzy started to speak but her voice failed her when she saw his large, hopeful eyes. How could she break his heart like this? But you're not, she scolded herself. He'll understand and walk with you through this. "I can't say that to you yet. I'm—I'm not ready. I still have to sort through the texts—the ones from you and the ones from Chase. And the things I went through in there—" Lizzy's throat closed in upon itself, tears spilling onto her cheeks.
JJ stroked them away. She saw the hurt in his eyes, but he quickly masked it. "It's okay. Take your time. I'll still be here."
"Thank you," Lizzy whispered, crestfallen that she had to turn down the boy that so clearly loved her with all his heart. "I still want to be with you and I'm on the way to loving you, but—"
"You just want to make sure and heal," JJ finished for her, smiling sadly. "I get it, Lizzy. Maybe before you go back to New York, I can take you to a couple of my favorite places."
"I'd really like that, JJ," Lizzy said brightly before turning serious. "I need to talk to you about something."
"What's up?" JJ replied, and Lizzy had to giggle at the casualness of it all. They could be classmates greeting each other in the halls or two friends meeting up at a waterpark.
Her smile soon evaporated, leaving a frown in its place. "Chase—why did he do that? Why did he hurt all those girls?"
JJ gazed out of the window, the colors of the outside world reflecting on his eyes. He was a peek of a rainbow in an otherwise bleak, colorless room. "The police were able to form a story, but I don't think we'll ever know for sure. A girl that he was completely in love with came forward. She spoke of his love for her and how he would stalk her. He begged her to reciprocate his feelings, but she refused. She thought he was creepy and he wouldn't hesitate to hurt her or her family so she got a restraining order. That was the beginning of Chase's downfall; his broken heart nurtured his sick nature. He started taking girls and killing them—he tried to fill that empty hole in his heart."
"Oh my" was all Lizzy could say in response. She rested a hand on her warm forehead, her face flushed as she pictured what he did to her and what he did to other girls—tortured, bound, sliced, strangled. Repulsiveness shuddered through her body.
Lizzy started to cry—for those lost girls, the dead girls. She cried for herself who had to become entangled in Chase's web of crimes. But as she cried, she turned her head and saw the ray of sunshine that remained despite the blanket of storm clouds.
The boy made of sunlight kissed her forehead. "I'll let you get some rest. See you soon."
Lizzy's eyes were so tired and heavy that they fell down almost immediately like heavy curtains, the beautiful boy starring in all of her dreams.
❁
When Lizzy came to consciousness again, three blurry figures surrounded her. She blinked until they clarified into her three best friends—Teagan, Reece, and Mateo. She squealed and held out her hands. They each took turns giving Lizzy a hug before dragging two extra chairs to her bedside along with the one that JJ had occupied a few hours ago.
"I missed you guys so much," Lizzy said, tears springing in her eyes. Her three best friends appeared almost the same as when she left them—Teagan's dark hair and petite figure, Reece's glasses and red-tinted cheeks, Mateo's bronzed skin and easy-going smile—except for the matching bags underneath their haunted eyes. "You were worried about me?"
"Worried sick," Teagan confirmed, reaching forward and grabbing her best friend's hand.
"I'm so glad you're back," Mateo commented. One of his hands snaked through his hair.
"That JJ of yours was probably the most worried," Reece said with a chuckle. "He loves you so much, Lizzy."
"I approve of him." Teagan winked.
Lizzy grinned at her friends and noticed Reece's hand tracing circles on Teagan's back. "So, um, what'd I miss? When I left, you guys absolutely hated each other."
"Well, this whole situation was certainly a bonding experience," Mateo responded. "After we'd been in Illinois for a couple days, we finally decided us staying mad at each other was stupid especially when you were—well, you know. So, Teagan apologized to me—"
"And he apologized to me," Teagan said as she elbowed him playfully with a roll of her eyes.
"Yes. And Teagan and Reece talked and sorted out their issues," Mateo continued.
"Throughout this whole thing, I realized being in love with Mateo was silly and shitty when I have a great guy right here," Teagan added, gazing lovingly at Reece who blushed and smiled simultaneously.
"I'm glad she finally realized because I really like her too," Reece said. His hand found a spot right on Teagan's knee and she rested her head on his shoulder.
"They've been disgustingly cute," Mateo teased, "but I'm so happy Teagan found somebody special. You deserve the world, T."
"That's awesome," Lizzy cut in with a grin. "So, you guys are good? Completely?"
"Oh yeah," Teagan answered. "We're done with petty drama."
"Okay, okay," Reece interrupted. He pushed his glasses further up on the bridge of his nose. "Enough about us. What happened to you in Chase's apartment? We've heard horror stories on TV, but we'd rather hear it from you—if you want to, that is. If you're not comfortable yet, we completely understand." At the mention of Lizzy's experience in Chase's apartment, all three of her friends perked up, eyes wide with curiosity.
Lizzy gulped, her stomach in knots. She hated talk about her kidnapping experience, but she had to satisfy her friends' inquisitiveness. "Well, most of it is fuzzy because I think he drugged my food and water. After he hit my head and dragged me to his car, I woke up to find myself in the grossest bedroom ever. Cockroaches ran along the floor, mold grew on the walls. My hands were tied, and I felt completely exhausted like I had run a marathon or something. Another girl was there—Halley.
"Halley and I talked. She was dressed in a simple nightgown, and dirt covered half of her face. She said that she'd been there for a year and a half. Apparently, he took her each night and—" Lizzy blinked, her breath ragged as her lungs squeezed. "—he raped her. She told me it might happen to me and she handed me a few pills so that I wouldn't be fully conscious during it. Luckily, Chase never did that to me.
"A few girls joined us, but they disappeared after a day or so. Their screams rang in our ears long after he disposed of them. It was like living in a nightmare. And I couldn't ever wake up.
"He'd come into our room when he was angry and start whipping us. He carved signs in our skin." Lizzy's scars tingled as she thought of his wicked look, his poised hands, his knife shining with her blood. "One night, Halley had enough. I think she took one too many pills and they caused her to be more reckless and braver than usual. She used a broken piece of glass she collected during one of Chase's angry spells to cut through the ropes that bound her skin. She fled the room and I didn't see her ever again. I heard her screams and then everything was quiet. I would mostly sleep. Chase gave me some food and water but mostly left me alone those last couple days, almost as if he knew his charade was almost up.
"Nobody ever visits Chase's apartment unless they're a girl. So, when I heard a male voice down the steps one day, I knew it was my chance to escape. I knocked over a box that rested on a desk in the room. The next thing I know, I'm surrounded by police officers and I see a boy leaning on the doorframe, his face bloodied. I knew in my heart it was JJ, and I never felt more grateful or relieved."
"I—I'm so sorry you had to go through that," Teagan apologized, her eyes red and raw with tears streaming.
"It's okay." Lizzy tried to smile but her facial muscles felt weak and tired. "I'm alive and he's caught. I wish we could've saved Halley too and the other girls but at least—"
"Now all those other girls who might've been taken are protected," Reece finished softly.
Lizzy nodded faintly, exhaustion seizing her captive.
"We love you so much, Liz," Teagan whispered but Lizzy was already in her treasured world of dreams.
❁
A/N:
Double update!!!!! Also--3 more chapters to go!!!!!!!! I can't wait to mark this story as complete. As always, vote and comment. I try to read all of your responses and reply to most of them! If you have any questions, let me know! I might do a Q&A at the very end of this story if you're interested in the background of this story--the writing process, the statistics, how this idea popped into my head, anything!
- Payton