I woke up the next morning to the feeling of something in my air. I opened my eyes and Jake was hovered over me and he was playing with my hair. I don't think he realized I was awake though, because he wasn't even looking in my direction.
"Jake, what are you doing" I asked him. He turned his head and looked at me.
"Thinking" he replied.
"About what" I asked him.
"You" he said. I shifted away from him a little bit and sat up.
"What time is it" I asked him
"Two o clock" he replied
"What?! You are kidding right" I asked him
"Naw, You just looked so peaceful so I couldn't bring myself to wake you" he said.
"Thanks" I muttered.
"No problem. Well you should probably get ready so we can head out" he told me. I got out of the bed and went and grabbed my bag and then headed for the shower. Once I was done in the shower and had gotten dressed I walked out of the bathroom. Jake was laying on the bed looking at the ceiling with his hands behind his head. He looked towards me.
"You ready" he asked.
"Almost" I replied. I went and put all my things inside my bag and as I was doing it I saw my phone light up. I had a bunch of missed calls. All of them from Trevon! I sighed and was about to put the phone away but the screen lit up again. He was calling me. I answered.
"Hello" I answered. I saw Jake give me a weird look.
"Alyssa where the hell are you" I heard Trevon yell. Jake still stared at me with questioning in his eyes.
"I'm nowhere" I said not knowing what else to really say.
"You fucking bitch. Are you with him" He screamed. I was positive that Jake could hear him.
"Trevon calm down-" I started.
"Don't fucking tell me to calm down, where the fuck are you" he asked
"Trevon don't be mad" my voice trembled.
"I swear Alyssa when you get back, you are fucking dead, I'm going to kill you" Jake came and snatched the phone out of my hand.
"You will not fucking touch her and for the record she won't be back" He said hanging up. Jake sat the phone down and came in front of me.
"Don't cry" he said. I didn't even know that I was crying. I felt so hurt. He said he would kill me. I was definitely scared for my life. Who knew what Trevon was capable of. Jake wiped my tears away with his thumbs.
"It's going to be okay, don't worry about him, he won't hurt you" Jake said pulling me into his arms and then I just started bawling. I had no clue where the tears had come from, but I just kept on crying like a baby into his chest. I couldn't even pinpoint one thing that I was crying over. Maybe it was because I was crying over to many things. I buried my face deeper into Jake's chest. I inhaled his scent. It was still the same as so many years ago. Wait, what was I doing? Why was I crying in front of Jake. I couldn't show him that I was weak. I couldn't show him that I cried over Trevon. I abruptly pulled away from him and got up off the bed. I muttered an "I'm Sorry" and went into the bathroom and locked the door ignoring Jake calling my name.
I didn't know how long I had been in the bathroom, but I had stopped crying a while ago. My eyes had kind of gone down from how they were when I had first finished crying, but they were still kind of red. I couldn't believe that Trevon had threatened me like that. I was his wife for God's sake. Why would he do that? I had no intention of going home anytime soon. Not with him acting like that. I would have to give him some time to come down first. It wouldn't be soon before he called my parents. He was such a suck up. My parents loved him, especially my dad. They would be so pissed once they found out that I was gone and they would be even more pissed if they thought I wanted to separate myself from him. Little did they know, that he was a wife beater.
I stood up from sitting on the toilet and went to open the door. I opened it slowly to try and not make any noise. I had not heard Jake say anything since I came in the bathroom so I figured that maybe he was sleep or was just giving my space. I walked out the bathroom and Jake was right there leaning against the sink waiting on me. I sighed.
"Alyssa you don't have to pretend to be strong it front of me" he stated. How did he always know what I was thinking or my reasoning behind doing what I do.
"Jake I'm not" I lied.
"There's no need to put up a guard with me Alyssa" he told me.
"Jake are you kidding? There are millions of reasons for me to put up a guard towards you" I said unto him, not really meaning to.
"What's that suppose to mean" he asked.
"Don't worry about, just forget" I told him as I began to walk back into the room. He grabbed my arm and pulled me back.
"What if I don't want to forget it" he asked.
"That's too bad" I muttered snatching my arm back away from his grip.
"Why are you acting like this" he asked.
"What are you talking about" I replied.
"I'm trying to help you, I'm trying to be there for you. I'm trying to love you and you just push it away". Is he really serious? I'm not going to play his games.
"Jake come on let's go we need to get back onto the road" I told him.
"No why don't you want to talk about it" he asked.
"Because there is nothing to talk about Jake" I said.
"There's plenty to talk about" he muttered.
"No there isn't" I shouted at him.
"Why won't you let me be there for you"
"Because I don't know when you are just going to up and leave" I blurted. A pain looked crossed his face but it was soon replaced.
"I'm not going to leave you" he said.
"And how am I suppose to know that" I said. He said nothing. He just stared at me.
"My point exactly" I said before turning to walk away once again. Jake walked behind me and grabbed the rest of the bags.
I went and waited in the car while he checked out.
"You want to stop and get something to eat before we head out" Jake said getting in the car.
"Sure" I replied.
"Do you know what you want" he asked.
"Wherever is fine with me" I told him. We ended up going to TGI Fridays to grab us something to eat. I sat down in the booth across from Jake and looked across the menu after the waiter got our drinks.
"Alyssa" I heard him say. I looked at him from under my menu.
"What" I answered.
"Don't be mad at me okay. I'm just trying to help" he said
"Yea you are trying to help yourself" I told him. He let out a sigh.
"See there you go again. I try to be nice and you come at me with some smart ass remark. Stop being a fucking smartass" he slightly yelled.
"Jake, I---"
"are you guys ready to order" the waitress said interrupting me. I told her what I wanted and so did Jake. Then we ate in silence. No words were exchanged. It was very awkward but hey we had to get over it. I mean I wasn't going to say anything to him. He had pissed me off. After we were done eating our food we left. We really had accomplished much today because by the time we were leaving the restaurant the sun was beginning to set. I just stared out the window as we drove.
After a while Jake pulled off an exit and went down a long dirt road. The sky had darken and no stars filled the sky, which meant that it would probably be raining soon. We continued down the dirt road there were no street lights and on both sides of us there were nothing but woods. Oh my gosh Jake is planning on killing me.
"Jake where are we going" I asked him.
"You'll see" he replied. We continued down the dirt road for about five more minutes until we came to a stop. There were a few other cars out here but not many. Ahead of us there was an old two story house that looked like it was built four decades ago.
"Jake what are we doing" I asked him. I was beginning to worry.
"We are going to the haunted house" he said with a smile.
"Jake no, I don't want to do this" I told him. I was a big ass scaredy cat and I knew that. I never did shit like this. I could barely watch scary movies without having a nightmare.
"Aww come Lyssa. I'll be right next to you the whole time" he replied.
"Jake I don't want to go" I replied.
"Please" he said. " come on I'll hold your hand the whole way through." He told me.
"You're not going to give up are you" I asked him.
"Nope" I looked out my window and sighed.
"Come on it's about to start soon" He said getting out of the car. I got a little while after. He came to my side of the car. He grabbed my hand. I tightend my grip on his. I really didn't like these kind of things and I didn't want to do this.
"You alright" Jake asked me. I nodded and we began walking. Inside the house there wasn't that many people, just a small group. I was already scared. The house creaked. The wind blew making noises. I was so freaked out. I moved my body closer to Jake's. Out of everything that we been through. I still felt safe when I was with him and I had no clue why.
An old lady then came down the stairs and approached us.
"Welcome everybody. I'm glad you could make it tonight, I hope you enjoy this night" I shivered. Jake wrapped his arm around my waist and pulled me closer to him.The lady began to speak once again.
"Sixty years ago here in this house lived a man, his wife and their baby. They were a happily loving family. There life was perfect until this one horrible night. It was an evening like any other. Sam, the man who lived here was out working in the fields it had been a long days work. It had begun to rain, so he left his work in the fields. He came into the house and called out his wife's name " Susan, Susan" he called twice but no answer. The house was dead quiet." I was getting spooked. Footsteps were heard at the stair steps and everybody turned that way, but no one was there. The old lady continued.
"He ran up the stairs in search for his wife. He looked in their room she was no wear to be seen. He went into the nursery where his child slept peacefully, but on this night the child was not there and the crib had been bashed and broken into pieces on the floor. Sam began to panic. Follow me" the old woman said as she walked up the stairs. Jake nudged me a little to make me go. I was frozen because I was so freaking scared.
The lady gave us a tour through the house telling us which rooms were what and then we got to the last room and she said that it was the nursery. There was still a crib bashed to pieces on the floor. I was scared shitless. How in the hell?
The woman turned around to go back down stairs. We followed and she began to speak once again.
"Sam rushed down stairs calling out his wife name, but she was no wear to be found. He ran outside in search of them. The rain was pelting down on him and the tears that poured from his eyes helped cloud his vision. He called out her name many times, but there was never a response. He soon became exhausted looking for them. He fell to his knees under the tree. That tree" she said as we walked outside and she pointed to a tree.
"Rain continued to pour down as Sam sobbed into his hands, but something wasn't right. The Rain was dripping slowly but it sounded hard. The rain felt dirty but it was just water. He looked up above him to see the bodies of his wife and his infant child hanging from the tree with blood pouring from their bodies on to him. Until this day on night like this one when the sky is clear and the moon shines bright. A glare from the moon shines onto the tree and you can see the shadows of two bodies hanging from the tree. One of the woman and one of the child and if you lucky you can see Sam's ghostly figure come in from the fields in the back, exit the house and walk to tree and kneel before the tree. Just take a look for yourself." I did not dare look. I heard gasps from the few people that were with us. I buried my face into Jake's chest. I did not want to see anything. I knew I would probably never escape my memory and I would have nightmares forever.
"Oh shit" I heard Jake whisper.
"Jake I want to go" I cried into his chest.
"What already" he asked
"Jake I'm scared and I want to leave" I said as tears brimmed the edges of my eyes.
"Okay come on" he said tearing me away from his chest.
"No Jake no" I said wrapping my arms around his torso and burying my head into his chest. " I don't want to see anything" I told him.
"Okay" he responded. He grabbed my legs, lifted me up, and wrapped my legs around his waist.
"Jake really was that necessary" I asked him not opening my eyes or moving my head which was now buried in his shoulder.
"Yea don't you want to get out of here as quick as possible" he said. I said nothing. He carried me to his car and then sat me in the passengers side. I continued to keep my eyes close. I heard him get in and then the car started and we began to move.
"Alyssa you can open your eyes now" he said after we had been driving for a while. I slowly opened them. " I wouldn't have taken you if I would have known you would be that scared" he said laughing.
"Jake it's not funny. Don't laugh" I told him. He just looked at me with a smile on his face.
"You are such a wimp" he said. I didn't argue. I was a wimp when it came to stuff like that. We soon pulled into a hotel about thirty minutes later. Once Jake had got us a room we went up there and I immediately collapsed on the bed. He collapsed down next to me.
"Jake are you going to get our bags" I asked him.
"Naw I'm tired" he stated.
"What am I suppose to sleep in" I asked.
"We can sleep naked" he said with a smile on his face.
"You are such an idiot" I said rolling away from him. I got off the bed. " Jake are you going to go get the bags.
"Alyssa please do not make me go get the bags, I'll get them in the morning" I sighed and muttered a whatever. I really didn't want to have to sleep in jeans tonight and me and Jake are both lazy. I turned the light off. I took off my pants, so that I was only in a shirt and panties and went and got in the bed. I pulled the covers over my body. I felt Jake snake his arm around my waist.
"Jake what are you doing" I asked him as I removed his arm from my body.
"Going to sleep" he said.
"You have to put your arm on me to go to sleep" I asked him.
"Yea" he replied.
"Whatever you are such a liar, don't touch me Jake" I told him.
"Come on Alyssa does it matter" he asked.
"Of course it matters especially when I'm only in my panties and t shirt" I told him.
"Alyssa we slept like this last night" he stated
"No we didn't" I replied back quickly.
"Yea we did" he replied. " Do you remember us not sleeping like that" he asked. I thought about it. I didn't even remember going to sleep that night. I groaned.
"Whatever we're not sleeping like that tonight" I said to him.
"Please" he begged. "It's just my arm around your waist" he added.
"Jake-"
"I won't tell, if you don't" he said. I laughed.
"You never give up do you" I asked
"Not when it comes to you" he said. I sighed and rolled over to position myself in a comfy sleeping position. Seconds later Jake's arm roamed around my waist and pulled me closer to him. I felt butterflies enter my stomach which was not something I needed to be feeling right now. He caressed the skin from my waist to my mid-thigh.
"Don't push it" I told him. Taking his arm and moving it up.
"Okay okay I'm sorry" he said laughing. I sighed in relief and it wasn't long before I fell asleep.
"Alyssa wake up" Jake said while shaking me. I groaned.
"Jake stop what do you want" I asked.
"I want for you to get up. Come on we have got to go" he said
"Go where" I complained
'We have to get back on the road" Ughhh.
"What time is it" I asked him.
"It's seven o' clock" I groaned once more.
"Jake why so early"
"Because we need to get to our destination" I sighed and opened my eyes. I was so tired. I began to rise up from my sleeping position. I looked a Jake.
"Pleases just one more hour" I begged.
"Nope, come on Alyssa you can sleep in the car it's not like you are driving" he stated. I groaned again "Okay so your bag and stuff is on the bathroom. Hurry up!" he said walking out of the room. I got up from the bed and went into the bathroom and indeed all my essentials were in there. After I was finished getting ready, we checked out, and put the bags back in the car we were back on the road. I reached in to my bag and got my cellphone. I my phone had been blown up by none other than Trevon once again.
"Shit" I muttered
"What" Jake asked.
"Trevon is still blowing up my phone" I told him. He said nothing and just kept his eyes on the road.
"Should I call him back" I asked him. He shrugged his shoulders.
"Okay you are a lot of help" I said sarcastically.
"Well what do you want me to say Lyssa" he asked.
"I don't know you the one that brought me and wanted me to come on this trip at least help me out some Jake".
"Okay so you want my help, my advice" he asked. I nodded.
'I say you don't call him back. You don't answer. You go get divorce papers and you file them" he said seriously.
"You are still no help".
"I just gave you the best advice that can be given" he said.
"I'm not divorcing him Jake" I told him.
"You're being stupid" Jake said
"What" I said.
"You're stupid" he replied again. " Why would you let him just do that to you" he asked.
"Do what" I replied dumbly.
"Let him hit you" he stated.
'Jake he doesn't do that" I said
"Oh my bad I forgot you tripped on the stairs, so I'm guessing you are still going with that bullshit lie" he stated.
" I don't want to talk about this" I told him
"Why because it's true, you let him throw you around and hit on you like a rag doll. He said he was going to fucking kill you Lyssa, isn't that enough for you to leave him." he stated
"I don't want to talk about it" I said raising my voice.
"Okay so I guess that you are going to continue to be his little punching bag" He stated. I was trying to hold in the tears that were threatening to escape from my eyes. That's why I wanted to end the conversation because I knew he hit me and everytime I forgave him. I was pathetic. I averted me gaze and looked out the window, not bothering to reply to Jake's words. Deep down what he said hurt. I knew he was only trying to help but he needed to just let it go.
"Alyssa I'm sorry" he said after a few seconds. I said nothing back. I just continued to glare at the trees and cars we passed.
"Alyssa" He called out. I still said nothing. Then the car began to slow down and Jake when off to the side of the road and came to a stop.
"Alyssa look at me" he said. I did nothing. I stayed in my same position. I heard his door open and then close and then he was right in front of me opening my door. I turned my gaze to look straight ahead. I couldn't let him see the sadness in my eyes or anything else for that matter. He placed his hand on my chin and forced me to look at him. I held my head down. He held it back up. His eyes met mine.
"I'm sorry" he muttered. I shifted my body so that I was facing him. My legs dangled on the outside of the car.
"Don't worry about it, I'm fine" I told him still trying to hold back the tears.
"Alyssa-"
"Jake don't." I stated. " Come on let's get back onto the road." I said turning my body so that I was now fully inside the car. He sighed and closed the door and walked around to his side of the car. I slipped my phone back into the bag deciding on not calling Trevon back right now and then once again we were on the road.
After about three more hours of driving we once again made another stop. We were in Tennesse and there were a bunch of mountains surrounding us.
"Where are we going now" I asked
"Ruby Falls" he stated. He got out of the car and came to my side and opened the door for me. He grabbed my hand and pulled me out. We entered this place that was like covered with rocks. There was a gift shop at the entrance so I went and looked while Jake bought whatever.
About 10 minutes later Jake came to get me and asked me if I was ready. We ended up going through like this dark tunnel which led to like this amazingly huge beautiful waterfall. It was amazing.
"Wow" I gasped.
"Yea amazing right? It's 145 feet tall" he told me. It was so beautiful. You could feel the mist emerging from the waterfall as it plummeted to the rocks and splasd. The breeze, which was kind of cold blew my hair.
"So let me guess" I said to Jake " this is a great place to have sex" I said to him. He laughed.
"I wouldn't know but it seems like it would" I laughed as we passed the waterfall and continued walking through caves, mountains, and dugouts.
After the tour of the cave we approached lookout mountain. Jake told me a story about two Native American lovers who met their fate here. I was definitely tired of the ghost stories. Ghost were not my type of thing.
Jake grabbed my hand and pulled me onto a platform where you could stand higher.
"Look, this is pretty amazing" he said. He stood behind me and grabbed both of my hands. He pointed his fingers in the distance.
"Close your left eye" he said as he moved his body closer to mine making my heart speed up. That definitely had to stop. His torso was pressed against my back and any slight movement caused me to rub against him. I did as I was told and closed my eye. He grab my hand and lifted up.
"Follow my finger" he said. He pointed straight ahead of us. "That's the state of Georgia" he said. He shifted our hands a little to the right. "That's the state of Alabama" he claimed. He turned us around doing a three-sixty turn and pointed far. "That's Kentucky" he told me. " There's North Carolina and South Carolina" he said pointing in two other places. He shifted our bodies some more and my heart fluttered in my chest as he rubbed against me. This cannot be happening. " There's Virginia and we are in Tennesse" he stated.
"How do you know all this" I asked him still looking off into the distance. It was pretty amazing that you could see seven states from one place.
"I just do" he said. I turn my head to look at him, shifting my body a little. I didn't realize how close our faces would come to be together though. He just stared in my eyes and I stared back in his. He moved his face closer to mine. I could not do this. I was not going to let this happen. I was not going to get back with Jake. I couldn't. I turned my head back around and I heard Jake let out a sigh. He let go of my hands and stepped away from me. He hopped off the platform and then helped me down.
"Are you ready" he asked.
"Yea" I said. We left the place and were back on the road once again.
We arrived at an apartment complex a little while after the sky had darkened and was filled with stars.
"Is this where you live " I asked him making sure that we weren't taking any other detours.
"Yea" he replied as he got out of the car. I did the same and met him at the trunk. He grabbed over half of the bags and I grabbed the rest. I followed him as he walking inside the building. This looked more like a suite or condo of some sort. I followed him into the elevator and stared at the numbers as we went up in silent. I followed him as he approached a door and unlocked it with his set of keys. I followed him as he walked inside. It was a nice apartment especially for a guy. It was tidy, clean, and it smelled good.
"Where do I put my bags" I asked him.
"Doesn't matter, anywhere you want" he replied. I sat my stuff down my the door and flopped down on his couch. He came and sat next to me and laid his head on my lap. Without noticing I ran my fingers through his hair but stopped abruptly once I realized what I had done.
"You have a nice place" I told him trying to find somewhere to put my hands so that they would not maneuver to his hair.
"Thanks" he said. " Are you hungry" he asked
"No not really, I think you have fed me enough" I told him. "I'm just tired, I think I should head to sleep" I told him.
"Okay you can sleep in my bed, and I can either sleep with you are on the couch" he said. I laughed. Was he trying to make me feel bad for putting him out of his bed. I sighed.
"It doesn't matter Jake. I just want to go to sleep" I told him. He lifted his head from my lap and sat in an upright position.
"Seriously"he asked.
"Yea" I replied.
"Okay" he said " Go ahead" I got up from the couch and grabbed one of my bags. I took some shorts and a tshirt out and slipped it on. I fot in the bed and laid my head against the pillow for sleep. Not to later I felt the other side of the bed move and arms wrap around my waist. I ignored it this time though. It didn't bother me so much. Matter fact I was starting to like it.