Dedicated to Alexis_A for the awesome cover on the side, thnak you! <3
--
(Unedited)
Can we pretend that airplanes
In the night sky are like shooting stars?
I could really use a wish right now
Wish right now, wish right now
Can we pretend that airplanes
In the night sky are like shooting stars?
~Airplanes- B.o.B ft. Hayley Williams
The next half an hour passed in silence. Jared didn't return and I was still pretty shocked about Blake's confession to really make a conversation. It wasn't the Annabelle wasn't pretty, or had a bad personality, or was overall un-likable, because she was; it was just that she was taken. She was dating Clark. They had been a couple since middle school, not that Blake knew that.
Well, I guess you couldn't really choose who you fell for.
We had to get out of here somehow, though. I really didn't want to stick around to see what Jared would do. Blake didn't know anything, except a couple possibilities, and none of them were really pleasant.
If we did somehow manage to get out, how would we get back? Pretty much no one was in Canmoore this time of year. Jared probably had the keys to the car they had used, but it would be hard to get them from him, unless he didn't keep them on him. I knew Blake wouldn't hurt his cousin, let alone render him unconscious.
Just then, the basement door slammed open and Jared descended the stairs. Oh no. I hadn't expected that he would stay up there forever or anything, but I had a small slither of hope that whoever, if anyone, coming for us would arrive first.
As Jared got closer, Blake slowly moved across the room, distancing himself from us, almost like he wasn't sure what to do. That wasn't the only thing I noticed, though. Jared's eyes looked different. They were still cold, but a lot less certain.
Maybe he wasn't going to go through with whatever he had been planning. Maybe he was going to let me go. It might have been wishful thinking, but I couldn't help it. If he was less certain though, maybe I could convince him not to. Stop him, somehow.
I opened my mouth and was about to speak when Jared shook his head at me. "Don't make this any harder than it is," he gritted out.
"Don't do this," I pleaded, struggling not to flinch when he stepped closer. I wasn't sure what exactly he was going to do, but from his expression, I had an idea.
Jared’s eyes pained. “You don’t get it,” he told me, in a scratchy, harsh voice. I gulped. What had happened? How had he become like this? What, exactly, had his mother done to him? It was unbelievable, that he would resort to this. It was unbelievable that he would think this was the only option. I couldn’t imagine how bad it must’ve been to make him like this.
“I do get it! I know, okay? Just, just tell someone. Take it to court, or something. You don’t have to do this,” I said, holding back tears. I didn’t cry often, but I couldn’t really help it. Part of me was scared, part of me felt bad for Jared, and another part of me just wanted to scream at the insanity of it.
Jared’s eyes hardened and his expression faded to an almost stone hard mask. Shoot, I guess that hadn’t been the right thing to say. “You don’t get it. You’ve never had it,” he replied, stalking up to me. I couldn’t help it, I screamed. Moving as quickly as I could, I scurried backwards on my knees until me back hit the wall. A million thoughts coursed through me, all blurring together. This had to be a dream. it couldn't be real. he couldn't be doing this. Oh Gods, how had this happened? How had I gotten into this situation, and how had he become twisted enough to actually try and go through with this?
It was almost as if I wasn’t there for the next couple moments. It sounded crazy, but it was almost like I was disconnected from my body. As if I was watching it from someone else’s eyes, instead of my own
I was still screaming when Jared got to me. I tried to fight back, clawing, hitting, kicking blindly, but it didn't help. Jared was a lot stronger than me. Somehow, he managed to force my hands behind my back, twisting them into an awkward position, so I couldn't move them. The hand that wasn't holding my wrists back reached up and tore my shirt off.
Oh my god, he's actually doing this. This can't be happening. Please say this is a dream. Please.
Jared reached up and grabbed my purity ring, twisting the thick silver band in and around his fingers roughly. "I never got this, you're not Christian," he said harshly.
"The person who gave it to me was," I spat out, though it didn't have much affect because my voice was raw from screaming so much. Jared didn't respond, instead worked on unbuttoning my jeans. I kicked at him furiously, but the kicks I sent never really seemed to him.
Some would say it was luck, some would say it was the working of fate, or some other source like that, but at that exact moment the basement door opened. Running rapidly down the stairs was Kaden, Kallie, Brett, Annabelle and Clark. For a moment, I forgot to breathe. I couldn't believe it. I hadn't been sure on whether or not they would be coming, but they were here.
In a flash, Jared had a hand clamped around my neck. He pulled something from his pocket, a syringe, with something inside it. "Not another step," he threatened, holding up the needle as if it were a weapon, and well I guess, in a way it was. I grimaced and wiggled, trying to get out of his grasp and away from the syringe in his hand.
"What is that?" I demanded, still struggling. Jared tightened is arm, almost cutting off my breathing. Dang, I really regret not taking the defense classes mom had offered to put me in last year.
Jared smile bitterly. "Just a little something I took from the hospital my mom works at," he spat out darkle. I gulped and felt Goosebumps prickling at my skin. Whatever he had was from the hospital. Like, a probably only for medical people drug. This was a nightmare. I didn't know what the drug was, but I had a feeling it wasn't exactly the good kind. Would he try to do that, to continue, with them watching? Oh god.
"The police are coming. You won't be able to hold this up forever," Kallie said, though I could tell from her eyes that she was lying. I wasn't going to tell Jared that, though. "Drop it, Jared."
He shook his head, almost wildly. "No I won't let her win," he told us. Everyone looked at him as if he was crazy while I shot a glance at Blake. He returned it with a sad look, then walked towards Jared and I. Jared regarded him with suspicious eyes, but didn't make any threats. He let Blake slowly pull me away, though his hand clenched noticeably tighter around the needle.
“I’m sorry,” Blake said. Jared opened his mouth to reply, but before he could, Blake’s fist slammed into his face. The next couple of moments were pure chaos. Kaden and Clark had taken Blake’s action as some sort of ‘Go’ sign and launched themselves at Jared. Brett was on the phone with, from what I heard, either the police or Kaden and Kallie’s parents. Out of the corner of my eye, I could see Annabelle and Kallie approaching Blake and I slowly, wary expressions on their faces.
I pushed away from Blake, trying to stand, but his hold was too tight. I watched as his face suddenly tightened, and he suddenly jerked me to the right. A sharp pain stabbed into my leg, like a needle being roughly driven through my skin. That was probably exactly what it was. Jared’s distraught face hovered over me for a moment. ‘I’m sorry’ he mouthed.
That was the last thing I saw before everything went black.
***
I had never really been friends with hospitals. Actually, I couldn't think of anyone who liked them, so I don't think it was just me.
Was it possible to be sore everywhere? It felt like someone had dragged me through the Underworld. Five times. Seriously? Once was bad enough. I forced open my eyes and blinked a couple of times. The room was pretty dark, but the curtains had been left open just a crack so a stream of sunlight came in.
Mom was sitting on the window seat, her hair lying on the window. She was probably sleeping. As feeling slowly crept into my body, I could feel my right arm being squished slightly and looked down to see Kaden, who also looked like he was sleeping.
I turned when I heard the door open and saw my dad enter, juggling a tray of Starbucks and three plastic containers of some kind of sandwich.
"Hey, how are you feeling?" he asked, shooting a small, tired smile at me as he set the food down. Dad and I had never really been talkative in our conversations. We kept it simple, saying only what we needed to say.
"Sore, I guess. How long has it been?" I asked, nodding around the room.
Dad shrugged. "We," he said, gesturing at himself and mom. "Were only able to get here yesterday night. Kaden's been here for two days. Then there was a day before that where no one could see you. So, three days, give or take," he replied, walking over to wake up my mom.
"Three days?" I demanded incredulously.
He shrugged. "It was a lot of Methanonel. Almost enough to kill," he told me quietly. I leaned back and stared at the wall in shock. Kill? Had that been Jared's aim? We didn't have the best history or anything, but I hadn't thought he wanted to kill me. Methanonel was only used as a sedative. If you used a lot, then, yeah, it could kill.
All of a sudden, I was yanked into a tight hug. I reached up to carefully hug Mom back, accidentally waking up Kaden in the process. “I’m so glad that you’re okay,” Mom whispered into my hair. I winced slightly, but pushed the pain aside and hugged her back. Over her shoulder I could see Kaden and my dad talking, and after a couple moments, Kaden stood up and left. I couldn’t help but feel just a little bit hurt. It was completely selfish and stupid, but it had been three days. Didn’t he want to see if I was okay? Quickly, I mentally shoved the thought from my head. I wasn’t going to be insecure now. I knew he cared, he wouldn’t have came to help otherwise. He wouldn't have stayed for two days if he hadn't cared.
I turned back to look at my mom, who had let go and was now reaching into her purse. She pulled out a letter and handed it to me. What? I flipped it over to look at it. It was fancy, expensive looking. The letters were a bit hard to read, but I recognized them almost immediately. RHS. They had sent their response. I flipped it back over and noticed for the first time that it was open.
“Good or bad?” I asked, raising an eyebrow at my parents.
Mom grinned slightly and shook her head. “Just open it,” she told me. I was a bit curious about why the doctor hadn’t showed up, or why they weren’t asking questions about what had happened, but then again, I didn’t really want to think about it.
It was just too.. Unbelievable.
Forcing those thoughts from my mind, I yanked out the letter inside and started reading. "Ms. Evans, we are pleased to let you know that you have been accepted..." I trailed off, eyes wide. Oh my god. I got accepted! No way!
This is pretty bittersweet. A small voice in the back of my head said. You get almost raped, and while you're in the hospital, you find out you got accepted into RHS. If I could glare at a voice in my head, I would've. I shoved the stupid small voice into the back of my mind. Don't think about that, Raine. You're better off not doing so. I told myself.
"Are you going to go?" Mom asked me, pulling me out of my thoughts. Was I? If this had been last year, I would've said yes immediately. Now, I wasn't so sure. I had wanted to get away from Kaden and everything that had happened last year, and now, a lot of things had changed. It may have sounded stupid, but Kaden affected my decision a lot, maybe a bit more than I liked. Of course, there were other factors like my friends, where I wanted to go with acting, my parents and everything, and it really shouldn't have mattered that much, he probably shouldn't have matter so much, but somehow, he still did.
"I don't know," I replied, honestly. Before I could continue, though Kaden returned, looking a bit cleaner and more awake than he had when he left. He exchanged some sort of silent communication with my parents, and like he had a while ago, they stood up and left.
"Hey," he said quietly when they were gone. "You okay?" he asked, though he kept his distance, freezing in his spot near the door, almost as if he was scared to come close to me.
"Yeah, I'm fine," I responded in a neutral tone. It felt like something had changed. Shifted somehow. Maybe, stupidly, it was because he had left so easily. Maybe it was because he was talking to me like I was a stranger. I wasn't exactly sure what had changed, but it didn't feel the same. We stared at each other for a moment; it was as if we were trying to communicate everything we were too scared to say with our eyes. "I'm sorry," I finally said.
Kaden looked at me curiously. "Why?" he asked.
I bit my lip and shrugged slightly. "Because, I always thought you hadn't done anything and I had hated you for it for a long time. Um, Blake told me, about what you did. Thank you." I explained quietly. Kaden looked at me, a shocked expression on his face. I guess he hadn't thought that I would find out. "Why didn't you tell me?" I asked. The question had been killing me for a while. He had just let me hate him, because I thought he hadn't done anything. Why hadn't he told me that he had, in fact, done something?
Kaden shrugged and stayed silent for a moment. “It just never came up,” he replied. Before he could continue, though, Kallie, Brett, Annabelle and Clark burst into the room. Seriously? Why do I keep getting interrupted. I love my friends and everything, but I swear they have the worst timing sometimes.
Kallie and Annabelle almost immediately pulled me into a hug. “I want to kill Jared,” Kallie said when she pulled away. I winced at the mention of his name, but tried not to show it. “Sorry,” Kallie said, immediately noticing my poorly disguised flinch. Okay, obviously I need to work on my disguising things skill. Just think positive, Raine, you’ll be fine. I told myself.
“I want to kill Blake for getting you into that situation,” Clark declared. This time, I managed to hide my wince. I wasn’t really mad at Blake, after all, I was pretty sure he had saved me, or tried to at least.
Kallie shot me an apologetic look before opening her mouth to speak. “Not that I’m not happy that he did, I don’t’ get why Blake turned on Jared, though. I mean, he helps him kidnap her, and everything, why all of a sudden stop?” she asked. Apparently, this was a question that had been on everyone’s mind, because they exchanged looks of confusion and nods. I was the only one who really knew his reason.
“Um, I actually know,” I started slowly. “But, I need to talk about this with Annabelle first. Alone,” I finished before anyone could interrupt me. This got me a bunch of hurt looks.
“Why just Annabelle?” Brett asked.
“Because it’s surprising, and I don’t want it to be too chaotic when she finds out,” I answered slowly, trying to pick out the best words. I didn’t want to hurt them, but I did want to make it clear that it had to just be me and Annabelle. I was mostly worried about Clark; he had always been pretty quick to absorb things. Almost as soon as he found out, he would probably storm out of the room looking to kill Blake. I wouldn’t be able to stop him since I was tired and in a hospital bed and the others would be too shocked. I would have to tell him when I was better, or after Annabelle knew so she could stop him.
“It’s sort of a trust test on whether or not you can deal with the information. If you don’t listen, I’ll trust you enough to tell you. If you listen, I won’t answer any questions you have,” I added when none of them moved. Slowly, as if they were hoping I would change my mind (though that was probably their intent) they filed out of the room.
“So, what’s so bad about what you’re going to tell me?” Annabelle asked, obviously trying to keep things light.
I gulped. “Okay, you know how Blake stopped?” I waited until she nodded before continuing. “Well, he had a reason. He fell for someone,” I said. The memories were coming back in a rush almost as if they were trying to take me back to when it happened. Just focus on telling Annabelle, Raine. Just focus on that. I told myself, blocking everything else out.
“Was it you?” Annabelle asked, a confused expression on her face. I knew what she was thinking; why did I have to tell her this with just me and her? I could tell it to everyone at the same time. Well, I would have possibly had to somehow stop Kaden, but still.
I shook my head slowly. “No, Bells, it was you,” I told her. I watched as she opened and closed her mouth, shocked. I didn’t really blame her. While I had suspected that Blake didn’t really, really, really think of me as more than a friend, I hadn’t thought it was Annabelle that he had liked. The thought that he liked someone had never really crossed my mind.
Before Annabelle had the chance to speak, the door banged open.
"It's Blake," Kallie said. "He wants to talk to you."
-READ ME-
Slightly awkward, I know, I'm sorry. The next couple of chapters are probably gonna be pretty heavy, just so you guys know. All the medical stuff in this chapter is fake. I made it up, so don't go hunting for any of the drugs I named. ;P
Vote, if you're happy that Raine's okay.
Comment, on what you think will happen with Blake.
Fan, if you got kind of scared during this chapter.
Update: Monday-ish, hopefully.
~JJ :)