Revenge:

By: Taralynn Wakelin

The night was humid, thunder crashed, lightning lit up the sky as the rain fell. He lay in bed tossing and turning as he slept tangled in his sheets; but it wasn't the storm raging outside or the heat causing his restless slumber, it was his dreams…his nightmares to be precise. He sat up quickly biting his lip to stop a scream from escaping; he was covered in sweat breathing heavily as if he had run for miles. It took him a few seconds to realize where he was, he lay back down and sighed shakily as he rubbed his hands over his face and up into his short, brown hair before he flung his hands above his head onto his pillow. He closed his blue eyes taking a deep breath, he opened them and looked at his alarm clock it was 6am. He didn't have to get up for another couple of hours, but he knew sleep was just a memory now thanks to another nightmare, his fourth in the last week. He decided to go for a shower hoping that would wake him up, it was going to be a long fricking day!

An hour later he was showered, dressed and sitting at the table finishing his breakfast when his best friend and roommate came into the living room surprised to see him awake.

"Hey, you're up early!" His friend said yawning.

"Yeah, I couldn't sleep so I thought I'd get up! Did you know there's a seven…in the morning?" He joked smiling.

"Well if you didn't sleep until nine everyday you would enjoy it more often man!" His friend answered smiling too.

"Nah…I don't think my stomach could handle seeing your ugly face that early in the morning!" He said laughing.

"You no like the natural me?" His friend asked in a fake accent as he turned around like a ballerina. "You wish for me to get the boob job?" He continued making both of them laugh. "You wish for me to…"

"Enough!" He said cutting him off smiling. "You do whatever it is you do in the morning, I'm going to go finish editing our latest video."

"Aw, don't go yet Ian, I'm…"

"Unless your next words are going to be that you're really a woman, I don't want to hear it Anthony!" Ian said laughing.

"Nope! I'm all dude…want to check?" Anthony joked as he walked towards him smiling.

"Not in this lifetime bitch!" Ian answered as he turned and walked away laughing.

A Week Later:

Days past and the nightmares continued, it was so bad that Ian actually dreaded the thought of going to sleep. If the nightmares weren't bad enough, lately he's been feeling like he's being watched too. Of course, he kept it to himself, not wanting to make Anthony worry just because he's been having a few bad dreams. A week later Ian and Anthony were at Smosh headquarters waiting for their friends and co-workers Mari Takahashi, David (Lasercorn) Moss, Joshua (Joven) Ovenshire, and Matt (Sohinki) Sohinki to arrive so they could film a new Game Bang. They soon arrived and while everyone was getting ready to film, Ian decided to do a little internet surfing while he waited. He randomly clicked on different pages to pass time, not really interested in them until he came across a picture of a pretty, blond girl his age. He froze as he starred into her familiar green eyes, his heart began to race he felt like his lungs had shrunk and he was unable to breathe properly. Somehow he managed to make his hand move and clicked on the article that accompanied the picture. The headline taunted him:

'HUNT CONTINUES FOR INTERNET STALKER!'

He closed his eyes and images of the nightmares played in his head, a hand on his shoulder brought him back to reality and he looked at the person.

"Ian? Are you okay?" Anthony asked concerned.

"I…I don't feel good! I'm going to go get some fresh air!" He replied putting his laptop on the couch as he got up and quickly walked out of the room.

"What was that about?" Sohinki asked once he was gone, Anthony didn't answer as he picked up Ian's computer and saw the article.

"Miranda!" Anthony said shocking their friends, none of them had heard that name in months and all six had hoped to never hear it again. "It's an article about her." Anthony said as he starred at the screen.

"Another one?" Mari asked upset.

"Yeah, it's the third one this month!" Anthony answered.

"It's bad enough that she hurt you and Ian, why does the press find it necessary to keep talking about it?" Lasercorn said angrily.

"It helps get the word out about how dangerous she is. The more people that see it the better our chances are of her getting caught!" Anthony said sadly as he remembered how she had stalked Ian; sending him letters. How she had kidnapped Ian and then himself beating them before Ian tricked her into thinking he loved her too. How Ian had saved his life when she tried to shoot him! How she then escaped and they lived in fear for along time after; they had worked so hard to forget her! Now almost a year later, there was no arrest she was still out there somewhere!

"Anthony?" Joven asked gently breaking into his thoughts.

"Sorry Joven, what did you say?" Anthony asked as he turned off the computer before he put it on the table.

"I asked if you were okay?" He repeated.

"Yeah, I guess so. I'm going to go find Ian."

"Don't! I'm right here!" Ian said as he rejoined them.

"You okay?" Mari asked.

"I'm fine! Let's just do the video!" Ian said going to his seat.

"We can do the video tom…"

"I said I'm fine! Can we just do the damn video please?" Ian said angrily cutting Sohinki off.

"Alright then, let's get to work." Anthony said, all of them a little hurt by Ian's outburst it wasn't like him to lose his temper like that.

"Thank you!" Ian said relieved they had dropped it, he felt bad for what he said, but he was holding onto his sanity by a thin thread and if he didn't figure out a way to fix it he was going to have a complete breakdown!

Days Later:

The sun shone brightly in the afternoon sky, she sat on a bench in the park enjoying the warm day. She adjusted her sunglasses as she looked at her watch, she still had 10 minutes before she had to leave. She got up and began walking slowly to her car, she checked her watch again and smiled it was time. She got in her car and drove to a large building and parked across the street, and took out her camera just as six people smiling and talking exited the building together. She began to take pictures of the group, focusing like usual on one of the men. She waited until they got into their cars before she put her camera away and drove home. Once home she went straight to her darkroom and began to develop the pictures she had taken that day. She turned on her Ipod and the sounds of people talking filled the room, the conversations were one's she had recorded herself of the same six people; and like the pictures the conversations focused around the same man. After the film was developed she shut off her Ipod and decided to catch up on the news, she hadn't done that in a couple of days and was curious to see what was being said. She went to her living room, sat on her couch, and opened her laptop she scanned through one boring story after another until she came to a recent article about an internet stalker still at large. She smiled to herself as she read the article, things were going as planned and soon the vultures known as the press would have a new story to publish…the death of Smosh!

With Ian:

He sat on the couch the TV on, but he wasn't watching it his mind like usual was filled with thoughts of the woman who had ruined his life! He couldn't believe that after a year they still had not arrested Miranda…or at the very least had some sort of lead on her! Knowing she was still out there scared him, it made him feel violated and vulnerable and he hated feeling that way. He knew Anthony felt the same way she had tried to kill him, but he still couldn't bring himself to talk to him about it. Maybe it was because deep down he still blamed himself for what happened? He knew Anthony didn't blame him, he was a victim too, but it was because of her obsession with him that it happened! His thoughts were interrupted by Anthony coming into the room, he sat beside Ian and spoke.

"Hey you wanna play Xbox? We still have a Mario rematch to do?" He asked smiling.

"Nah, I'm not in the mood sorry." Ian answered.

"Okay…wanna watch a movie then?" Anthony tried again.

"I think I'll go for a drive." Ian said standing.

"Cool, want some company?"

"No, Anthony I don't!" Ian said as he began walking towards the kitchen.

"Sorry, I…"

"No, I'm sorry!" Ian said sighing as he turned around to face him.

"Ian talk to me! I know something's going on!" Anthony said as he stood and went to where Ian was. "You're my best friend, you can tell me anything!"

"I know Anthony, I…I just need some space to think okay?"

"Sure no problem! Just remember I'm here for you!"

"I know thanks!" Ian said as he hugged Anthony. "I'll be back in a bit."

"Okay." Anthony said as Ian left.

After driving around for a while Ian found himself outside the police station, he didn't really know why he was there he just needed to know if there was anything new, the not knowing anything was driving him insane! He got out and headed inside, he went up to the first officer he saw that didn't look too busy and spoke.

"Excuse me officer?"

"Can I help you sir?" The young man asked.

"I'm looking for detectives Stone and Carter?"

"Are they expecting you?"

"No, but I'm here about a case actually." Ian answered.

"Oh, okay. Can I have your name?"

"It's Ian Hecox."

"Alright, have a seat and I'll let them know you're here."

"Thank you." Ian said as he sat nervously in a chair playing with his keys.

A few minutes later the detectives came out of a room and seeing them approach Ian stood smiling, they saw him and smiled too.

"Ian it's good to see you!" Carter said as they shook hands.

"What brings you here?" Stone asked.

"Umm…I wanted to talk to you about Miranda!"

"Did something happen since we talked on the phone two days ago?"

"No." Ian answered.

"So, then what brings you here?"

"I…I just wanted to see if there were any new leads?"

"Why don't we go somewhere and we can talk." Stone said smiling as he led the way to an empty interview room, Ian sat. "Would you like a coffee?"

"No, I'm good thanks." Ian said.

"Well, to answer your question…no I'm afraid there's been nothing new about Miranda since we talked. I'm sorry." Carter said gently.

"Not even one?" Ian asked feeling defeated.

"No, sorry!" Carter replied.

"Ian there's something you're not telling us isn't there?" Stone asked.

"How did you know?" Ian asked smiling sadly.

"We're detectives, it's our job! What's going on?" Carter said.

"It's stupid really!"

"It was bothering you enough to bring you here!" Stone said gently.

"We can't help you if you don't tell us!" Carter added.

"Okay…well, the last few weeks I've been…this is embarrassing!"

"You've been having nightmares?" Stone asked.

"How…how did you know?" Ian asked surprised.

"We've been doing this along time and we see this a lot!" Carter answered.

"You do?"

"Yep! It's perfectly normal Ian, especially on the days leading up to the date of the incident! It's your mind's way of dealing with it, to be able to move on!" Stone said.

"That helps a little." Ian said quietly. "There's something else though."

"What?"

"I've been feeling like I'm being watched all the time! It started off with me feeling a little uneasy when I went out, but now…now it's all the time, everywhere I' am!"

"Have you noticed anyone suspicious around you when you feel like that?" Stone asked.

"Well…no not that I've seen." Ian answered. "Is this another one of those normal things?"

"Ian don't beat yourself up, you went through a very traumatic time and it's only been a year! Give yourself time to heal and things will go back to normal okay?" Carter said.

"Okay, thanks!" Ian said faking a smile. "I'll call you next week." He said as they stood, he shook their hands and left.

"We should call Anthony to fill him in!" Carter said concerned.

"I'm already on it partner!" Stone answered taking out his cell.

Ian didn't feel any better after his conversation with the detectives, but faked it like he had been doing hoping they bought it. He drove home and parked in the garage, he got out and went inside hoping Anthony was in his room and he could sneak in.

"How was your drive?" Anthony greeted him from the couch.

"Oh, it was good!" Ian answered as he sat beside him.

"Go anywhere special?" Anthony questioned.

"Nope, just drove around!"

"Sounds like fun!"

"No, not really. I'm kind of tired I think I'll…"

"Ian I know you went to see detectives Stone and Carter!" Anthony said sighing cutting Ian off.

"What? Are you following me now?" Ian asked shocked.

"No! Of course not!" Anthony answered.

"They called you didn't they?"

"Yep!"

"So, I went to check up on the case! Big deal!" Ian said.

"Ian they told me what you said! What I don't understand is why I'm hearing about it from them and not you?"

"I didn't tell you because I didn't want you to worry or overreact!" Ian answered.

"I wouldn't overreact!" Anthony said defensively, Ian looked at him.

"Really?" Ian questioned crossing his arms.

"Okay…maybe I would a little! Can you blame me though?"

"Look Anthony, I'm sorry I didn't tell you! You know now and I don't need a lecture or another pep talk okay?"

"Okay, just promise me something please?"

"What?"

"No more secrets? If something's bothering you tell me okay?"

"I promise!" Ian said hugging him.

"Thank you!" Anthony said smiling.

"Well, there is one thing bugging me!" Ian said.

"What?"

"We never did have that Mario rematch!" Ian said smiling.

"Oh it's on bitch!" Anthony said smiling.

"You talk a good game, but can you back it up?" Ian said as Anthony got everything ready.

"Get ready to be taught a thing or two bitch!" Anthony said sitting back down.

"That's what she said!" Ian said as they both laughed, it felt good to Ian to laugh again and for a while he could pretend that Miranda never existed.

TBC…