How can I decide what's right?
When you're clouding up my mind
Can't win your losing fight
all the time
(Decode: Paramore)
"Your lying" Jess said simply. "You decided to have some sick laugh, mom, 'cause your mad about Vic, it's not funny"
His mom lost control then and began to cry. "No sweetie, no" she said between sobs. "She's not gone, she's alive, she's here."
Jess lost his breath. "She... she can't be, we went to her funeral, she... she, hit her head, I left her. I remember..." Jess said quietly.
His heart started pounding in his chest. Everything felt heavy. His breath felt short.
Then images, scenes flashed into Jess's head, memories, the memories he tried to forget. He saw feet skidding across a river,
He heard laughter, he saw her face. The memories came with such intensity it caused him to have a headache. He felt as if he was going to blackout. Is this what a panic attack was.
"Your lying!" he yelled. " I know it! I know you are!" Tears slowly swelled in his eyes.
"She would tell me if she was alive! She wouldn't have left me. I know it.. I know it!" He felt as if he was losing control of himself.
Leslie would not leave him. She would not just leave and not tell him or take him with her. She loved him. They were all each other had.
"Jess listen to me," His mom tried to reason. She went up to him and hugged him refusing to let go. "She couldn't have told you, some horrible horrible man..." She lost her power to talk, she felt as if she was going to start crying just by talking about it. She released Jess from her hug, then pulled him in front of her so they were eye to eye. "Honey, some horrible man took her, and did god knows what to her, but she got out, they found her, and she's ok now, very shooken up but far from dead."
"He staged like she died and drowned in the river. He put her clothes all over the creek. He even took her blood and made it seem like she was dead"
Jess could not breath.
This did not make sense. It wasn't real it was a dream.
"Leslie apparently got out because some kids who were wandering around found her trapped in a bunker or basement something I'm not sure."
Jess realized that through the past 4 years while he was playing football, increasing his social status, and, having sex for gods
sake, Leslie was...
Jess could not even finish that thought for fear he might actually pass out. Calm down man, she's ok now, she's safe, she's safe.
Jess did not know rather to feel happiness, anger, sadness, so he decided to not feel, it was what he was best at anyways.
"Where is she" Jess said in an eerily stolid manner.
"I talked to the Burke's and they said she's in the hospital today, but tomorrow shes, well, she coming back to their old home, they're moving back."
Maybelle began to sob uncontrollably. It was easy for Jess to forget that Leslie meant a lot to Maybelle as well. They had a bond that Jess selfishly ignored when he was grieving. Leslie was his.
"Who took her? Why?" Jess choked out.
"We don't know he got away once the police came. They assumed he was out when they rescued and he never returned so he won't get caught."
This is not real. No one is that sick. Why would they do that to Leslie. She was so pure so free. Nothing made sense he just knew he needed to see her. He needed her. It is only real when he saw her.
"Can I see her again? Will I be to talk to her?"
"Jess, that's the thing." his mom said timidly "You can't speak to her"
Jess became furious. "What! Why can I not talk to her! Why can't I see her, I did nothing wrong to her, I was gone that day, I was at a..."
"No honey it's not even that," his mom cut him off "It's just, her parents told me," Jess closed his eyes preparing himself for
the worst accusation "Leslie, won't speak, it's not that she's incapable of speaking, she just... doesn't."
Jess couldn't find any words to say. So he remained silent.
"Look, It's been a long day, go to bed early ok? The Burke's should be getting into night, we'll visit tomorrow, and you'll see
her"
"School.. tomorrow" Jess said weakly.
"Don't worry about it, you can either go mid-day or not at all, depending on how you feel. ok? But now, I want you to go to
your room and just, sleep."
Jess didn't object. He had no desire to do anything else. Why? The only thing he truly desired to do was see Leslie, but there were no
chances of that anytime soon. Jess went up the stairs into his room, and collapsed on the bed and fell into a deep sleep.
Jess looked around, he was in a small wooden room, with branches and trees surrounding him. He realized he was in the
Terabithian Tree House, he saw a figure in the corner, a naked girl with long blonde hair that covered her breast, she was
curled holding her knees to her chest and facing a wall. It couldn't be? Could it?
"Leslie?" Jess called out to him.
The girl turned around. It was Leslie, and older Leslie. Her face was thin, her skin, unusually pale she seemed to be taller and
leaner. She looked sick, and off, but no one could deny her natural beauty. She looked angelic. Something so fragile and beautiful yet terrifying. She looked like something that could not be of this world.
Jess for the first time, felt happy, whole. He ran to her not minding her bareness and hugged her. "Leslie, I can't believe it, I
missed you so much! I've missed you, I love you. Leslie-" He said staring into her eyes waiting for her to respond.
She laughed. Not a mocking laugh, It was an off beat laugh, concerning. Her pupils in her green eyes became strangely
smaller.
"Leslie, it's me...you can talk to me"
Leslie's smile changed she seemed to instantly become furious.
"Get off your high horse Jesse." A loud, hard, hateful voice came out from the girl. Jess felt as is he was struck. This was not his Leslie.
"What? Leslie, what's wrong?" he couldn't hide the hurt from his voice.
Leslie said nothing, she just glared. What could he have done to make her so mad, how was he on a high horse?
"Leslie, i'm so sorry I was not with you that day. I replay my choices over and over in my head. I thought I lost you forever"
She didn't answer. He searched her face for any reflection of emotion, but she refused to give it. Instead of stared at her with her piercing cold green eyes back. Unyielding.
"Leslie?" Jess hated how small he sounded. He couldn't help it. He wanted to pull Leslie in, take her with him and never let her go. He reached out his hand to touch hers fingertips, just to feel that she is real.
As soon as his hands grazed hers she pulled it back in a quick jolt. She looked at him shocked and scared. Jess was lost he didn't know what to say or do.
After a pregnant pause her look of shock began to morph. Her eyes turned sinister and her mouth twisted into a sadistic smirk. She began to laugh. In an insane of beat unhinged chuckle that shook Jess to his very core.
She wouldn't stop, she just got louder and louder. Her laugh started to ring in Jess' ears, filling his head with the unsettling demonic sound. He fought the urge to put his hands over his ears.
"Leslie, no, please, no" Jess pleaded. Jess reached out and held her in his arm, hoping she would stop, hoping the madness would stop. Then
he felt something warm on his fingers. Wet and warm. Confused he looked down at his fingers and noticed a deep red liquid glistening up at him/
He realized it was blood. Jess looked cautiously observed her and realized her body was covered in gashes.
"Leslie, we have to get you help. He attempted to pick her up to take her away. But she pushed him off and started to dance around the tree house, prancing around with her naked body dripping blood around the treehouse. Her laugh never stopped it only became louder and more uncontrolled. Then Leslie stood up and ran to the outside of the tree house putting her toes at the very edge then she spread her arms out and put her head up to the sky.
"Leslie, please..." Jess felt tears streaming uncontrollably down his cheeks. He felt a hard emptiness in his throat. He was amazed he could speak. Leslie just stood in her pose. Stoic and unmoving. "Leslie don't - please, I've already lost you once"
"Shh" she placed her finger to her mouth. "Do you hear that" Her voice sounded of air.
"Hear what" Jess did not know what to make of any of this. His head started to spin.
"Look at that" Her summon came in such a light whisper Jess couldn't tell if she was actually speaking. He walked cautiously towards her trying to look out and see what had caught her eyes. His eyes scanned the forest of Terabithia quickly seeing two figures at the base of the tree house. One with short brown hair and an orange jacket, the other one wearing a red sweater and a hat which revealed slightly longer blonde hair. The brown-haired one sat the swing of the tree house while the other one pushed him.
Jess knew this wasn't possible. But he could identify that jacket anywhere. He wore it for a majority of his life until it actually wore down into rags. There was no mistaken that was him and the girl was Leslie.
"Is that -" Jess couldn't fathom what he was watching. The scene was so familiar. He remembered this day. They stayed there discussing Janice Avery until it started to rain. This was the last day he saw Leslie. "Is that us?" he croacked.
"Shh, this is the best part" She stared down at the two with such intensity. Jess began to hear a clap of thunder. "Right on time" she smirked. Rain began to start pouring on the two figures below them. They laughed, gathered their things and began to run off one behind the other.
We had no idea Jess mused. He felt as if he were going to be sick
"Look at the Jesse" she never used his full name "Those last few moments, those last precious hours. How delicate. How spectacular"
She closed her eyes and allowed the now pouring rain to shower down on her body - washing off the dry blood from her ivory skin.
"Life is so fragile," She said dreamily.
"But nothing crushes us, right Jess," she said mockingly. She put one foot up and pressed it firmly on the side of her thigh.
"We fly Jess," Jess began to run towards Leslie to grab her "We are the King and Queen of this godforsaken wasteland and we fucking fly" and with that, she through her self off the edge of the treehouse with her arms spread out like wings, while laughing that horrible laugh.
"NO!"
Jess jolted up from his bed sweatily. He looked at the clock and saw that it was 5:30 a.m. He didn't care, he only knew one
thing at that moment, he needed Leslie and he need to see her now!
AN: Hey Guys~ I hope you enjoy the story, I really am enjoying writing it but i've been very busy so if you like it, let me know, because i'm trying to figure out if i'm going to fully donate my time into this and it all depends on y'all! thanks so much your feedback is VERRY IMPORTANT to me (: thank you!
AAN: Hey just so you know I updated this story and updated the chapters make sure to look at chapter 1 again a lot of new material in there!