Chapter 4

They drove for what seemed like hours before Juliana finally pulled into a hotel that looked very secluded. She didn't feel that chill anymore and cut the ignition, looking over at her sleeping best friend, glad he was by her side. Juliana didn't know what she would've done if John had blown up along with his new truck. She slowly reached over and shook him awake.

"We're taking a break."

She stepped out, stretching her sore limbs in the air, and closed the door noticing the sun rising over the horizon. They got a room with no trouble and John went to bed while Juliana stayed up, flipping through the channels. She stopped and felt her eyes widen, seeing their hideout shack completely burnt down on the news.

"Oh god..."

She wasn't the only one watching. Two other individuals turned up the volume on their respective televisions and leaned closer, just listening to the reporter, both pairs of eyes locked on the flames. One of them smiled wickedly, their teeth gleaming in the darkness. The other one grunted and cracked his knuckles.

So many memories were now burnt to ashes and Juliana couldn't take it as she rushed into the bathroom, slamming the door shut. Dropping to her knees in front of the toilet, Juliana hurled, her stomach twisting violently. She slowly pulled back after five minutes, knowing there was nothing left in her system, and pressed her forehead against the lid, beginning to sob violently. She couldn't believe their hideout, where she'd snuck out to hang out with John, was gone.

"Jules, everything okay?" John asked softly through the door, having woken up to the sounds of her vomiting. He knocked lightly, coughing and cleared his throat. "Honey...stop crying, you'll get sick again. Come out here and talk to me." He pleaded worriedly.

John didn't know what she had seen, or the fact that they were now being pursued by more than one person, nothing else mattering at the moment. A few minutes later, Juliana finally came out of the bathroom, her eyes red and swollen from crying so hard. She pointed shakily at the television, where they were showing the small shack being sprayed down by firemen.

"It's gone, John..." She whispered heartbrokenly and fell to her knees, burying her face in her hands, shaking her head back and forth. Whoever did this Juliana was certain was after her, it was clear as day now, no more doubts. "I-I'm so sorry..."

"Wait, you mean...our...place…is gone?"

John sank down on the bed, staring helplessly at the television. That shack had been their refuge from anything for years. There were so many memories attached to that place, he couldn't believe this. Sliding onto the floor, John pulled Juliana into his arms and stroked her back, unable to keep a few tears from stinging his own eyes.

"Don't be sorry, Jules, it's not your fault." He whispered hoarsely, his own heart breaking.

Clinging to John for dear life, Juliana squeezed her eyes tightly shut; knowing deep down it was. Whoever this was knew her every move and she led them right to it. She couldn't say anything when she heard his voice crack and rubbed the back of his neck, trying to calm both of them down. All their memories, all the nights staying up and drinking, all the peaceful moments, they were now nothing more than ashes. Juliana didn't know if she could recuperate from this. If she didn't, she was good as dead.

"Okay..." John said after a while, pulling away from her and wiping his eyes with the back of his hand, smiling crookedly. "Look, it's not the end of the world. We still have our memories, right? This asshole couldn't burn those away. So, first we figure out how we're getting you out of this mess and then we'll worry about the shack. Okay?"

"Alright."

Always the voice of reason, Juliana couldn't help complying and slowly stood up from the bed, walking over to peak through the closed blinds. It was moments like these where she wished she'd never been born. Why had she been put on this wretched earth if everyone wanted her dead? Juliana was getting too old for this and pressed her forehead to the glass and hoped they could get out of this alive.

John watched her thoughtfully, having a fairly good idea what was flickering through her mind, but didn't say anything. Juliana tended to get annoyed when he read her too easily. He rocked back on his heels, pressing his palm to his forehead and rubbed it, eyes closing. Why now? Why all this time later? WHO WAS IT?

They didn't sleep, just sat there thinking and pondering over all the possibilities of who the culprit was, which was virtually anyone. Kenneth had courted so many young ladies who could have jealousy rages and Cassandra was of noble blood, even if she faked her own death or not. This was going to be harder than finding a needle in a haystack, more like finding a needle in outer space. It wasn't happening.

Somehow, both of them managed to fall into restless slumbers and John woke up several hours later with a yelp, hearing someone banging on the door. He rolled off the couch he had curled on, grunting quietly, rubbing his knees and elbows before sitting up, glancing at the door. John gestured for Juliana to be quiet when she shot off the bed, pressing a finger to his lips.

"CHECK OUT WAS AN HOUR AGO YOU SNOTTY PUNKS!"

"Damn."

They'd have to sneak out. Juliana immediately stood up from the bed and pulled on a pair of jeans with a tank top and John grabbed their bags. "The bathroom has a window. Come on, we don't have much time." She whispered, tugging on John's arm, and closed the door quietly behind them once they were in. Rushing over to the window, Juliana snatched her bag from John and slung it over her shoulder, smirking. "Think it's too high to jump out of?"

John looked at her like she was out of her mind. "Jules, we pay for the room and go out the front door." He reasoned patiently, stopping her from jumping. "If we just run off, he'll call the police, wouldn't that attract more attention? Which we really don't need might I add." He stared at her keenly.

She sighed heavily, not believing how stupid John could be at times. "Don't you think that guy saw our faces on the news?" She asked, wrapping her arms around herself, and knew the police were probably on their way here, if they weren't already there. "The news stated that the shack belonged to us or did you forget that? Not to mention, I'm supposed to be dead to the world. Now come on and stop bitching." Juliana had already paid for them to stay overnight with cash and didn't need any trouble with the owner of this nasty place.

"Um, besides the whole seeing the shack being PUT out, I didn't catch any of it." John remarked taciturnly and heaved his bag over his shoulder. "Who cares if it's too high, just jump." He pushed her before leaping himself, landing with a grunt. "You alive, Jules?"

"Can it, Cena."

Hitting her knees on the gravel hadn't felt good, but other than that she was fine. Surprisingly, Juliana just had a few cuts on her arms and one on her cheek from the explosion. Standing, Juliana dusted off quickly and didn't waste time heading to the car.

"Come on, I parked the car over here." She jogged in that direction and unlocked it from her key ring, tossing their bags in the backseat and slid in. Firing her Jetta up, Juliana squealed tires and peeled out of there, spitting gravel everywhere. "Sorry, but I didn't feel like having a confrontation with the owner back there."

"No worries, I don't care." John grunted, slamming against the side of the door as he struggled to put on his seatbelt. "Okay, Jules, give me a damn second before you wind up killing me!" He shrieked, flying again when she spun down a dirt road. "A dirt road...bad things happen on dirt roads, country roads, any road not around people, remember?" He was having déjà vu, rambling.

A blue car was approaching them.

"John, will you shut up and let me drive?!" Juliana snapped, gripping the steering wheel and looked in her rearview mirror, arching an eyebrow.

That blue car. She'd seen an exact replica on her way to the shack and swallowed hard, getting that cold chilly feeling again that rushed down her spine. They had to get off of this road and fast as she spun further ahead before doing a sharp U turn.

"Hold on!"

Punching down on the gas pedal, Juliana sped in the opposite direction before turning on the street the hotel was on. John managed to click his seatbelt on, but not before he had to grip the dashboard to prevent from being tossed through the windshield. He grunted, turning in his seat to look behind him, seeing nothing behind them.

"Jules...please tell me what that was about." He requested in a surprisingly patient voice. "I'm about to piss myself over here, at least give me a reason for it."

"See that blue car following us?" Juliana asked, causing him to look in the side mirror, keeping her eyes solely focused on the road. "It followed me from my house. It's probably responsible for the fire. It's the same exact car. We need to find a way to either lose it or stop it from tracking us." She explained in a deceptively calm voice, knowing if she lost her cool, she could wind up dead and it wasn't even noon yet.

What she wouldn't give for just a break, one little break; that's all she was asking for.

"Oh okay." He nodded meekly, sliding down in his seat, and then tugged her down to a slouching position. "Guns." He explained, still bearing the scar of taking a bullet to his leg. He had a healthy fear of guns.

Behind the blue car, a motorcycle was approaching very quickly.

John squinted, peering in the side mirror.

"I'm trying to drive here, moron!" Juliana reprimanded, sitting back up and yelped when she started hearing gunfire. "Oh shit!"

Trying not to lose control of the car, Juliana punched down on the gas harder as if that would make it go faster, swallowing hard. She glanced in the rearview mirror, then looked back at the road, suddenly doing a double take. A motorcycle? Her heart began pounding furiously in her chest as she tried keeping her focus on the road, tears forming in her eyes. It couldn't be. It just...was it?

"HOLY SHIT, ITS TAKER!" John squealed, sitting upright and completely turned around, staring out the back window with wide blue eyes. "Holy fuck! And...He's pulling up alongside that blue car...and...And oh my god, that is a sawed off shotgun, not legal in this state!" John clamped his hands over his ears when a loud thundering sound told them it had been fired. "There goes the blue car and here comes Taker, what'd you do to him?"

Juliana didn't reply and kept driving with trembling hands, her entire body breaking out in tremors. What the hell was he doing here and how the hell had he found them? She felt the tears spill down her cheeks, not even looking back, and kept racing down the road as fast as the car would allow her. She'd been in this situation before and, last time, she nearly died.

"He's signaling for you to pull over Jules." John reported, glancing at her and spotted the tears. "You're not going too, are you?" He asked quietly. "Are you afraid of him?"

"I-I don't know..." She managed to gasp out, swallowing past the lump that'd formed in her throat, and closed her eyes before hitting the brake.

The car lurched violently, tires squealing, until it came to an abrupt halt. She stared straight ahead, so many thoughts running through her mind, and raked a hand through her short black hair, leaning back against the seat. Again, all Juliana could ask herself was what the hell was Undertaker doing here?

John tossed his hands up, flying as far as the seatbelt allowed him and still wound up hurting, coughing and rubbing his chest. "You really could give a guy some warning when you're going to do that." He grumbled, paling when he heard another squeal of tires, knowing Undertaker had come to a stop just besides them. He then heard heavy, deliberate boots pounding the pavement. "Oh shit, oh shit, oh shit…"

Juliana didn't move, her hands gripping the steering wheel with the car still running. She just stared straight ahead at the long stretch of road, so many thoughts running through her mind. Their last night, her fight with John where he struck her on accident, Kenneth and her mother…Everything that had happened between the three of them.

Now it had come down to this. Someone was after her, wanted her dead just like her mother and Kenneth did. And Undertaker was there again. The tears kept falling from her open eyes as Juliana just sat there as still as a statue, trying to will her body to do something, anything. It was almost as if she was in a trance of some sort.