Fandom: Higher Ground
Title: The Nightmare Is Over
Characters: Shelby, Jess, Scott and Walt.
Pairing: S&S. (Scott/Shelby)
Rating/Warnings: R. AU, Death, Sexual Abuse implied, Violence.
Summary: What happens when Shelby finally kills Walt? Will she and Jess get the peace they need? Or will their stepfather's past actions haunt them for the rest of their lives?
A/N: Thanks a million to Judy. Also, thanks to anyone who reads this!
Disclaimer: I don't own the fandom, settings or characters.

*The Nightmare Is Over*

This wasn't the first time Shelby had thought about killing Walt. She had wanted to kill him for as long as she could remember. He had her mother wrapped around his little finger and he had Shelby and her little sister, Jess scared to call the authorities on him for fear of what else he would do to them.

But the night that Shelby's mother picked her up from Horizon and brought her back home, she knew that she had been brought back to hell. The only reason her mother had even given her a second thought was because Walt and Jess needed to be taken care of.

Her mother seemed to think that since Walt had a heart attack, Shelby should actually give a damn about what happened to the bastard. But Shelby had quit caring long ago. She only cared about Scott and Jess now. Her little sister was still a kid and had already been through so much.

Fire raged inside of Shelby as she thought of what Jess had told her. Walt had promised. He had promised that he wouldn't hurt Jess, that he had been satisfied in his sick, perverted need of Shelby and that Jess would remain untouched.

But he had lied and tonight he was going to pay. He was going to pay for all the pain he had caused her and Jess. The bastard was going to hell and Shelby was going to make sure of it.

Walt didn't deserve to live. He was a waste of human life who used his power over others to cause pain. Well, that time was over. Shelby walked into the kitchen, making sure not to draw any attention to what she was about to do.

She had sent Scott a letter and though she hadn't come right out and said it, she had told him that she was going to kill Walt. Shelby could hear the soft sound of the TV coming from her sister's room and she knew that she needed to make this quick.

She didn't want her sister to suffer anymore. Hell, she didn't want to suffer anymore and since their mother purposely turned a blind eye to what had been going on, Shelby decided to take care of the problem herself.

Shelby approached the block on which the knives were and she grabbed the sharpest and longest one. She took a few breaths to steady herself, then she exited the kitchen and headed for the living room.

Shelby nearly froze when Walt turned to face her and said, "What are you doing, Kitten? This isn't very funny, Kitten."

Shelby glared at Walt. "You want to know what's not funny. What you did to me and Jess! That's not funny! The nightmare is over, Walt. I'm not going to be scared of you any longer!"

Moments later Shelby showed Walt the knife right before she thrust it into his chest. "Jess, help me!" Walt shouted before falling silent.

Walt's body quickly became still as Jess opened the door to her room. Before she could say anything, the two sisters froze when they heard pounding on the front door.

They were relieved when they recognized Scott's voice on the other side of the door. "Shelby! Shelby, open the door!"

Shelby was too shocked to move, so Jess went to answer the door right as Scott crashed through it. When Scott entered the living room, he took in the scene before him and told Jess to call 911.

As Jess did so, Scott took Shelby in his arms and tried to calm her down. "It's going to be okay, Shel. Jess and I aren't going to let your mother send you to Juvie. We'll call Peter and Sophie first, or even my dad if we have to."

It wasn't long before the paramedics and police showed up and Jess had to explain what happened because Shelby was still in shock. It was decided in the end that Shelby and Jess would live with Sophie and Peter at Horizon.

Scott decided to stay at Horizon as well to make sure that Shelby and Jess were okay. It took a while for Shelby to deal with killing Walt. Even though it had been in self-defense, it still didn't make her feel any better that she had killed someone.

But with Peter, Jess, Scott and Sophie's help, love, support and guidance, Shelby slowly returned to the person she used to be.

The end.