Chapter 4
"So there's a party going on at the next campsite over tonight," Kate said excitedly.
Jess looked up alarmed, "Isn't that where Aaron is staying?!"
Kate winked at her, "Don't worry, I'm sure Reid will protect your honor."
"I look forward to it," Reid said as he climbed out of the tent.
Jess smiled innocently, "I don't know. Anyone afraid of Bigfoot might not be up for the challenge." Reid's mouth dropped open in surprise, as Jess and Kate laughed.
Two hours later, the group started to walk towards the other campsite. Jess, with poor night vision, stayed towards the back so no one would notice her tripping along. Taking it slow, and keeping her eyes down, Jess didn't notice that the others had been moving a lot faster than her. Glancing up a couple minutes later, Jess found herself alone, and could only faintly hear Sarah's voice.
Panicking, Jess made the mistake of turning around in a circle one way, and then the other until she no longer remembered which way she had been heading. Shit! Deciding that any further movement would be a bad idea, Jess tried to calm herself down by sitting against a nearby tree. Obviously someone is going to notice I'm missing. All I have to do is wait it out.
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"Uh Reid, where is Jess? She was right behind you? I thought you told me you would keep an eye on her this weekend," Sarah said quietly so as not to alarm the others.
"SHIT! I swear Sarah she was right behind me. Cover for me while I go back for her?"
"Yea, no problem, just hurry."
Reid turned back down the path to find Jess. God, I knew she was worried about this trip and I let her get lost. Hoping Jess hadn't strayed from the path, Reid moved quickly. A couple minutes along, he started to hear a faint voice. Moving faster, sure he would find Jess at any moment, Reid realized he must have passed the voice. As he turned to backtrack, he almost missed Jess sitting against a tree humming, obviously unaware of his presence.
Reid smiled wickedly, and decided to sneak up on her. As he moved off of the path towards her, his right foot broke a twig. Jess shot up from her seat and started to back away from the sound.
Noticing her panic, Reid said, "Chill Jess, it's only me."
Jess, surprised at the sudden voice had taken another step backwards, only to find herself falling backwards.
"Shit, sorry" Reid said as he moved to help her up.
"What is it with you and scaring people" Jess said, glaring.
"I can't help the effect I have on you" Reid said innocently. "Come on, let's get to the party already. This time I won't leave you, I promise"
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Drinking around the campfire, everyone was having a good time at the party. Reid had kept his word, and hung out with Jess the whole night. Caleb and Sarah were having a good time dancing, and Tyler was flirting with several Spencer girls. Pogue and Kate had gotten into another spat on the way to the party, but Pogue was trying to make it up to her.
Reid's tightened his grip on Jess when he saw Aaron start to walk over. Shifting his face away from Jess, Reid's eyes went black as Aaron's pants fell down. Caleb, Pogue, and Tyler's heads shot up looking nervously at Jess to see if she had seen. Seeing that in her inebriated state she was oblivious, the boys relaxed and went back to partying. Reid sighed, knowing that he would get an earful from Caleb for using in public later.
Everyone was ready to crash at around one, so the group made their way back to camp. Not even bothering to undress, everyone grabbed a sleeping back and spread out in the tent; Pogue on the end, followed by Kate, Caleb, and Sarah. Tyler slept at Caleb and Sarah's feet near everyone's clothes. Jess slept at Pogue and Kate's feet, with Reid next to her already fast asleep.
Jess was back home at her old school during lunch. She could see herself sitting with her old friends laughing when she spotted Chase. He moved effortlessly through the crowds towards the Jess sitting at lunch. He quickly charmed her friends into leaving, and sat down next to Jess.
Jessica remembered this day, and not wanting to watch the events unfold again, turned to leave when she was once again grabbed by the throat. Confused, Jess looked back towards the lunch table expecting to see herself and Chase talking, only to find no one there. Chase had moved out of the scene to attack her.
Trying to fight back was getting Jess no where, and she knew Chase would kill her in a matter of seconds this time.
As Jess and Reid slept, Reid had shifted until his arm was around Jess protectively, and his face was buried in her hair. Waking up as Jess still slept, Reid was content to just hold her. Jess started to twitch, obviously having another nightmare. Reid was able to see her more clearly because it was light outside, and looked closely at her neck. Seeing the hand print Sarah had mentioned, Reid desperately tried to wake her before Jess could no longer breathe.
Jess gasped as she wrenched open her eyes finding Reid's face just inches from her own. Shit. He definitely saw something. Think quick.
"Hey shit, are you ok?"
"Um yea I'm fine. I guess the woods just got to me," Jess laughed nervously and started to get out of her sleeping bag. "I'm just going to go for a run to calm down. I'll be back in an hour or so."
"I can come with if you want."
"Uh, I don't know if that's a good idea."
"Come on. You could get lost."
Realizing he was right, and not wanting to waste anymore time, Jess said, "Fine, but I only have one speed." Putting on her shoes, Jess opened the tent and started running, not waiting for him to catch up.
Jess' feat continued to pound into the woods, but it wasn't fast enough. She could still see her recent nightmares, and she clenched her fists as she picked up the pace. She was running away from everything that had ever hurt her. Jess could see her mom lying on the hospital bed with eyes that wouldn't open. She could see Chase's smirking face as he laughed at the destruction he left in his wake.
Still wrapped up in her past, Jess hadn't noticed tears streaming down her face. If she did, she would have tried to wipe them away before Reid saw. But she didn't notice, and he didn't say anything, and she continued to run, trying to put as many paces behind her as she could. Her eyesight continued to blur until she could barely make out the terrain she was running on.
Just as she was about to topple over an uprooted branch, Reid's arms shot out and caught her. At his touch, her resolve broke and her sobs made her body shake. Not hesitating, Reid wrapped his arms around her and pulled her into himself protectively. Not saying a word, Reid held her until the sobbing ceased.
"I'm s-ssorry. I s-swear I'm n-normally n-not l-like t-this."
"It's ok, just let it out."
Keeping one arm around her shoulders, Reid steered her over to a tree stump and sat her down. Kneeling on the ground so that he was eye level with her, he asked, "Jess, what's going on? Don't be mad, but Sarah told me you've been having a rough time at night."
"It's a long story."
"I don't care, I have time. What is it?"
"Last January this new guy came to my old school. At first he seemed cool, everyone liked him, and I found myself wanting to get to know him more. We started hanging out more and more, but I realized something was wrong with him. Our schedules were nothing alike, we barley had one class together, but I would see him around all of my classes. At first I thought it was cute, you know, like he wanted to just walk me to all of my classes. But then, one day, a couple months later, I was out sick and he ditched school and came over to my house. I hadn't even told him where I lived, but somehow he found my house and got inside. He said my mom let him in, but I knew my mom had left really early that morning, and I started to panic. I had my phone under the covers of my bed and called the police. I called him on his bluff, and he got really angry. He was yelling at me, Why does it matter how I got here? I'm here, and you have something I want. And when I want something, I always get it. My mom worked around the corner, and said she'd be home at lunch to check on me, and I saw her walk in behind him, and I tried to tell her to get out before it was to late, but he grabbed her. He…..he hit her hard…..it was like nothing I've ever seen before. She fell backwards down the stairs. I screamed and tried to get out of bed to go to her, but….I couldn't make it Reid… I was really sick. The sickest I've ever been. I hadn't been able to keep anything down, and I …I passed out as I tried to run over to her. The last thing I heard was, I'll always follow you, wherever you go. By the time police got there, he had already gone. Twelve hours later, after I had given the full report to the police, they searched his house and found nothing. In fact, they hadn't even found any record that he had ever existed. Even the records at the school had been taken. Even though every teacher knew him, it was as if he didn't exist. My mom's fall wasn't bad, but they had to do surgery. She still hasn't woken up, even though the anesthesia wore off. I came here to keep him from coming back to finish her off. My dad didn't want me to leave, but I pleaded, and he got me on the first flight out here. I just….I can't seem to shake the feeling that he knows where I am…and that he will find me and hurt everyone I care about again."
As Jess had said all of this, she hadn't looked at Reid for fear of his reaction. When she had finished, she lifted her head slowly, not knowing what to expect. When she finally met his gaze, she was surprised at the intensity of his eyes. He pulled her to her feet and pulled her into himself. She let him hold her, her head fitting perfectly under the crook of his neck.
"I'm so sorry Jess. Why didn't you tell someone? This is too heavy of a burden. He won't touch you, I promise." Reid continued to hold her with both arms around the top of her protectively, one hand cradling the back of her head.
She looked up at him, "I know. This is the safest I've felt in a long time. I could stay like this forever."
"Me too," with that Reid closed the remaining distance between their lips. His kiss was soft and gentle. When Jess tilted her head, returning the kiss, Reid deepened it by placing both hands on either side of her face. Jess stepped back first, and Reid took her hand and started to turn her back towards the campsite. Jess smiled and moved her arm around his waste as they walked back in silence.
Nearing the campsite, Reid asked, "What was his name Jess?"
Jess winced, "Does it matter?"
"It does to me, but if you don't want to say it just yet you don't have to"
"His name was Ch-…"
"Hey guys where have you been?! Everyone's been worried sick," Sarah said. Looking at their embrace, Sarah just smiled. "Well come on, everything is already loaded."
Letting the matter drop, the pair followed Sarah to the car.
