Chapter 4 Part 1

My body wouldn't let me cry. Even in such a grueling situation, my cheeks remained dry. The white dress that clung to my figure prevented any chance I had of escaping this hell hole. I guess this was how I would die. "Why-y-y? Why are you doing this?"

"I'm actually helping you, my dear." The man spoke in such a soft, evil tone that made me horrified, but calm temporarily. My eyes wouldn't allow me to see his face, and his voice was non I had ever heard. 

"Help me? In what way is killing me helping me?" The fear in my voice was obvious, but I sought to coat it with confidence.
"I'm saving you, dear." His knife-like words sent a chill down my back.
"S-save me-e-e? From who?"
"Him." I could feel the trigger engage the bullet meant for my brain.

My neck snapped up as I felt the car pull to a stop. My body flew out of my seat and my eyes wandered out of the open window. I stared into the opening and closing door of the service station. The store was packed with customers and more continued to pile in. I shifted my vision to the other side of the car. My eyes touched the smooth russet skin of my own personal angel.

 Keithe was more than thrilled to be putting hundreds of miles on his 2008 Mercedes to drive me to go save my run away sister. He smiled like this was a task he had to complete, and spoke to me as often as possible. He opened the door willingly and pulled out my seat so I could slide into a cold hard chair at whatever fast food joint popped up (which he paid for). He was defiantly an absolute gentleman and each second I was in his presence it made me throw my trust issues out of the window of his 85,000 dollar car.

"Oops. I didn't mean to wake you up." His face fell in shame.
"No biggie." I sat up and stretched my body across the passenger seat. "How long was I out?"
"Five hours. I thought I would have to take you back to the hospital." He laughed.
I rolled my eyes as I caught my reflection in the side mirrors. I looked like hell. My eyes were blood shot red and my hair was on the brink of looking like I had been electrocuted. I ran my fingers thought the severely tangled mess and laid back in the seat.

"Did you want anything from inside before we head in?" He asked as he unbuckled his seat belt.
"Head in?" My brain was still flashing scenes from my eerie dream making roughly every sentence he spoke incoherent. 
"Yeah we are like 30 minutes from the bus station. I was just filling up so I can head to back Vineland."
I looked out the windshield, glancing at the signs that read "Welcome to Wildwood." signs, seagulls and the smell of saltwater seeping into the car. The atmosphere screamed joyful and happy-go-lucky. This kind of town where everyone knew your great-grandparents and their parents.
"No I'm fine. I'll just wait here." I said glancing back toward him.

He climbed out of the leather seat and made way for the busy store. I shut my eyes momentarily, attempting to grasp onto the meaning of my dream. Who was him? And why did Jamie of all people have to save him from me? Was he going to hurt me? I grew wry at the fact that someone could be on the brink of causing me harm. Then again, it was just a silly dream. But it was so real. One moment I was in the darkest room and then suddenly I was sitting in a car seat. It didn't make sense.

 The opening of the car door caused me to fly up in my seat. My heart recoiled in my chest, from the sudden sound. 
"Everything ok Meg?" Keithe's concerned tone gave me a sigh of relief. 
"Yeah everything is fine. You scared me."
"Maybe I should take you directly to your aunt"s house. You look exhausted."
I had involuntarily informed him bout Jamie's disappearance. I left out the direct detail as to why she ran away in the first place, but I filled in the gaps with our life as adopted siblings and memories from our high school days. Being dropped off at the bus station was my best and only option only to avoid filling in the holes in my story when my optimistic aunt invites him in for a cup of coffee.

"No!" I nearly shouted. "I mean, there is no need for that. I'll be fine, trust me." I gave him a weak smile that neither he nor I would believe. He rolled his eyes and focused on the road as we pulled out of the gas station.
"Whatever floats your boat Meg."

The main road transitioned into a city street. Tall skyscraper buildings and Town homes lined alongside the street. People taking an afternoon jog or walking their dog were just a few of the abnormal things I saw. In Detroit, no one dared to come outside after three o'clock just for the hell of it. When you did come outside it was usually a dire need such as work or food, but even then you still had to live in fear of a stray bullet piercing your chest.

The scenery was nothing like I had ever witnessed. Healthy palm trees lined along the sidewalk and onto the crystal white sand of the nearby beaches. What little yard they had in front of the town homes was manicured to perfection, and greener than a crisp sour apple on a sunny day. Lilies and rose beds grazed the front of their medium porches and walkways. I could smell the aroma seeping into the car as I let down the window to get a better look. I had completely forgotten how much I missed this place. It had been close to five years since I stepped foot back in Wildwood, and I never thought I would be back on such demanding terms.

We darted through narrow streets, turning down roads going nearly 70 miles per hour. Keithe didn't seem to understand the limitations of going sixty in a small neighborhood, nor did he care that on more than one occasion not all four car tires were touching the pavement as we made a turn. I spent the majority of the eleven hour drive digging my nails into the peanut butter leather seats, praying that somehow, some way I wouldn't be smashed into a million pieces when the car flipped over.

I briefly shut my eyes as the car rushed under the changing signal light. This man was going to kill me. I was sure of it. I don't think I could last another second awake in this hell ride. 
"Would it kill you to slow down?"
His brisk chuckle sent a shiver down my spine. "Actually I think I would. I would probably kill myself because of the ridiculous slowness."
I rolled my eyes and clasped onto the dashboard as we burst through another yellow light.

At last, we arrived at the entrance of the bus station. The car came to a screeching halt in front of the nearest bus stop. The second the emergency brake was up I jumped out of the car and fell to the ground.
"Ground. I have missed you." I hugged the pavement and kissed the nearby grass. Vigorous laughs interrupted my cooing session with the asphalt. I looked up to see an elderly woman staring directly at me from her comfortable seat under the bus stop shed. Her purse was now as far away from me as possible, and her face was in mock horror.

"Please excuse her ma'am. It's been a long day." Keithe fought between laughs. The trunk was the only thing keeping him from rolling on the floor with amusement. I rose to my feet and frowned at him. Irritated, I reached in the back seat and grabbed my backpack. 
"Are you done yet?" I snapped.
The rest of his giggles slipped through his lips before he finally composed himself. "Sorry about that. I mean come on; you have to admit that was funny Meg. Lighten up."
"Oh I'll lighten up alright." I stalked off toward the bus station. The patter of his feet wasn't far behind.

 I sat down on a bench closes to the door, as he gracefully sat next to me. He let out a drawn out sigh when I shifted my body to avoid eye contact with him. 
"FINE! I apologize for laughing at you Meg. Happy?"
"Ecstatic."

He giggled and forced my head to look at him. "Now we both know that you can't stay mad at me." 
"And what makes you think that?" I purposely turned my body away from him.
"When you spend two days in a crammed Mercedes with someone you pick up on a few things." I rolled my eyes and turned my head to reply with some witty remark.
His body was so close and warm it made my body jump with panic but quiver with pleasure. Our noses could have easily brushed against one another. I could smell the light fragrance drifting off his skin into my nose as my eyes wandered to his firm lips. They looked so malleable and welcoming. I could feel myself leaning closer to him, but a brief snap back to reality caused me to lean back, only to be met with his wistful eyes. They looked so frighten and sure. His head snapped away instantly.

"I-I better be going." Was he nervous? He stood up and attempted to gain some distance between us. "Maybe I'll stop by before it's time for me to deploy. Bye Meg." He climbed off of the bench and walked back to his car. My eyes didn't leave him until the black car was no longer in sight.

I propped my faint head on my backpack to keep me from falling on the concrete, and shut my eyes. I shouldn't be feeling like this. I hardly knew him, but yet I didn't want him to leave. I wanted him to meet Jamie's crazy family and stay with me and help me with this hell called my life. I sought to know more about whom he was and what he was about. Two days just wasn't enough. I wanted more. 
All of this seemed to burst out of me in that one instant and it didn't add up as to why I wish for this. Maybe I'm just going mentally insane and need to be admitted to the nearest asylum immediately, or perhaps that weird feeling I got every time our coats brushed in the hallways wasn't just something stupid. 

"Megan?" A sweet jittery voice broke my concentration. I knew that voice anywhere. My head snapped up as my eyes were met with a blonde haired woman.

Frieda towered over me grinning as far as her mouth could spread. Her eyes jumped with enthusiasm, and her freckles danced all over her rosy cheeks. Her smooth pale face was literally glowing in the sun. My eyes soon wandered down to her clothes which clung loosely to her barely-there baby bump. I could feel my jaw fall to the floor, as I stood up to rap my arms around her.

"Oh my God! Frieda it's been forever! And you're pregnant! And you're blonde! I can't believe it." I was leaking tears by now. It was good to see family outside of Kyle and Brenda. It added more joy to my heart that more family was on the way.

She was crying also, but I guess it was mainly the hormones. "Oh Meg it's so good to finally have you here. I've missed you so much. And yeah, I'm about 2 months along, and let's just say the red hair was getting old."
"Trust me; it would never get old Aunt Frieda."
She smiled. "Come on, let's get you home." Ah home. It felt so good to finally have someplace called home that presented every characteristic a home was suppose to exude. The night before I had called Frieda to confirm Jamie's whereabouts. I had to go through hell just to find her number. Luckily the school kept her on my record has a person to call in case of an emergency. We agreed not tell Jamie I was coming, in a weird surprising act.

I grabbed my back pack and slid into her cherry red convertible Mercedes. You'd think they were just giving these cars way for free. We sped off in the direction of the setting sun and warm beach. 
"How is Jamie?" I said breaking the silence.
"Missing you." She chuckled. "She's just been a little down lately. It's been a long two weeks Meg."
"Yeah, I know. It was a little tough trying to get down here. How did she react to being a cousin soon?"
Frieda sat back and sighed. A smile played at the corners of her lips. "I had never seen her so happy."

Suddenly her face grew wry and cold. "Jamie told me about Kyle." Hearing his name still boiled my skin.
"Really?" was the only thing I could manage to squeeze out. I spent these past couple of days trying to forget about the brutal beating I had endured, and thanks to Keithe I was successful. If I would have kept dwelling on it I wouldn't be able to get through a day without nightmares and horrid flash backs.
"You don't ever have to go back there Megan. You can stay with me as long as you need. Your family and always will be, you hear me?"
"Yeah I got cha."

"Oh and there was something else I was meaning to bring up over the phone last night but it slipped my mind."
My heart beat started to quicken. "Yeah sure. What's up?"
"Well I'm engaged of course to the baby's father, and the wedding is in a few months and it would make me the happiest woman in the world if you were one of my bridesmaids. Jamie has already agreed, well she didn't really have any other choice. Any who, what you say Meg?"
"What do I say? What kind of question is that? Of course I will be your bridesmaid. Actually I will be honored!" I wanted to embrace her tightly, but the fact that we were in the middle of traffic in the middle of the evening of a Friday prevented that. 

We slipped off into other conversations such as baby names and how cute my future uncle, Daniel, was. I didn't even realize I was just minutes away from seeing Jamie again. I don't think it really hit me until I was climbing out of the passenger seat and pacing up to the front white wooden door of the beach house.

My fingers hesitated as I reached out to grab the handle. I don't know why I had suddenly grown nervous. It was just Jamie, the only person I could ever honestly say was fully trust and love. There was absolutely no reason to be scared at this exact moment. Maybe the nerves came from the overwhelming joy of finally seeing her after two long weeks.

 Frieda cleared her throat behind me causing me to fly through the door frame. Not much had changed since the last time I laid eyes on this place. A few pieces of furniture were repositioned in other directions and spaces. A small number of decorations were new, except a simple blue table A few knick knacks were added from Frieda's trip to Europe two years ago to a bald shelf neighboring the open kitchen. The mushroom brown wallpaper was still present, peeling in some places and faded in others, but of course Frieda didn't mind. As long as the house wasn't crashing down on top of her head she would be residing her for the remainder of her life.

I stepped further into the living quarters so Frieda slowly and silently close the door behind us. We didn't want to give Jamie any reason to come flying out of nowhere and spoil the surprise. 
"Before I left she was sitting out back. She seemed a little down." Frieda whispered as she took the lead and guided me to my room. I had forgotten that she had a three story house. 

I was almost out of breath by the time I reached the top. Everything up here was left untouched completely. The same black and white painting hung in the hallway over the caramel brown dresser. The pail white paint still clung to the walls, looking like it had just been painting on the day before. Frieda placed her hand on the handle and motioned for me to step back in the blind spot. I obeyed and stood behind her. She pushed the door opened and poked her head through the crack. Her head moved from side to side a few times before she pushed it open and motioned for me to follow her.

We sunk deeper into the room, and I followed swiftly behind her as she led me to another closed door. Many nights during the summers I stayed with her I use to soak in that god amazing bath tub after a long day of playing on the beach and running around town. It made my body long for the hot boil water to soak into my filthy skin, but now defiantly wasn't the time for that. Jamie was my one and only focus at the moment. Frieda cracked open the second door and look inside. She closed the door and turned to face me.

"My guess is she is still outside so make this a little snappy before Daniel gets home in about an hour. I want us all to have one big happy dinner as a family." Her face smoldered with more joy that it already was.
"Sounds good to me." I could use another home cooked meal, one like Keithe made"

I shook my head free of his name and dropped my backpack on top of the bed and began to unpack my clothes. I could still feel Frieda's presence behind me causing me to face her. Her hands were folded over her chest and he hip rocked to the side.
"What do you think you're doing?" Her voice rang.
I looked back and forth between her and my clothes now lying on my bed. "Unpacking?"
"We don't have time for that ma'am. Now get your butt down there and surprise your sister before she comes up her!" She latches onto my arm and drags me down the stair and back into the living room. 

"Now go out there. I have dinner to make and other things to do. So get to it." She nudged me toward the door and strolled back up the stairs. I sighed and drug my feet toward the outside patio.

The sliding door opened smoothly, and I stepped out into the crisp saltwater air. The smell of the ocean was deep in my nostrils and the setting sun made it view distractedly beautiful. The crashing waves burrowed the crabs, turtles and other sea creatures and majority of the back yard. I un-did my tangled buns so the wet air could flow through my hair.

Behind the gorgeous view of the sun a flock of brown hair sat calmly in front of the waves. She wore a simple summer tank top and a pair of worn off jean shorts that were now soaked by the rising water. Even though I hadn't caught a glimpse of her face yet, I could feel the thoughts racing through her mind, most of them probably about me. I stepped out and tip toed down the stairs which lead to the shore.

The surface of my shoes touched the sand and nearly sank. I hoped out of the pile of quick sand and made my way over to Jamie. My heart thudded in my ears and dropped down into my toes. This was it. I was so happy I would have screamed right there and now, but that most likely would have given her a heart attack and sent her to an early grave. I tried my best to restrain the scream.

 "Hey Jamie." Oh astounding job Meg.
Jamie's body frozen in place then relaxed as her head snapped around to face me. Word couldn't describe how I overjoyed felt when I saw her face for the first time in what seemed like an eternity. I could feel the joy be snapped away like a think string, when I actually looked at her face.

I almost jumped back when I saw the healing scar over her cheek and the cut along her bottom lip. It was at least two weeks old. One moment that was supposed to be full of happiness and joy had suddenly become rage and hatred. I would kill him. Literally, murder him the moment I laid eyes on him. You can hurt, punch, kick and leave me bloodied up on the floor, but I will never accept that Kyle hurt her.

"Megan!!! Oh God Meg, I'm so sorry! I don't know what I was thinking to just leave you like that. I been feeling like complete shit these past few days." She jumped into my arms. I could feel the warm tears dripping onto my shirt. Between the anger and finally seeing her again I couldn't help myself. So my face was drenched and my uncontrollable roars pounded through my chest. I embraced her tighter, never wanting to let her go.

"Don't you ever, ever leave me like that again. Do you hear me Jamie?" I cupped her face and started into her topaz eyes. They were blood shot red from the hardcore tears, but they defiantly heard me. I pulled her back into my arms, squeezing her tighter than before.
"We don't ever have to go back Jamie. We are home now." Home. That's something I can get use to saying.




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