Chapter 9

Undertaker stepped into the room, slipping the little lock pick back in his pocket. He glared at her, hands on his hips, looking positively furious. "You need to pull your head out of your ass, Juliana. If I wanted you dead, you'd be DEAD!" He roared angrily, knowing John wouldn't hear any of this. "You're alive so do the damn math."

Jumping when he shouted at her, Juliana trembled more as she scooted further back, even though she had nowhere to go. She refused to look up at him, her head buried in her knees, and held herself tightly. How the hell could she trust this man when he constantly scared her to death? She wanted to be with John right now, in his comfort. He was her big brother, blood or not, and Juliana hoped he wasn't angry at her. Juliana had made a mistake by running, but Undertaker didn't have to berate her like a small child, already feeling guilty for what happened.

"John is out cold." Undertaker added, as if reading her mind. "He's also going to be fine, no thanks to you. We need to get something straight right now. If you EVER pull what you did tonight, I WILL snap your neck and bury your ass out back six feet under, you got me? There are TWO people out there gunning for your damn head."

She didn't move.

The comforter wrapped around her like a cocoon, so it hid her lower half well. Her black hair pooled around her like a curtain, hiding her tears of pain and sorrow from him. Juliana refused to speak a word to this monster they were forced to stay with. Not one single word. When he went to bed that night, she would wake John up and drag him back home with her. Undertaker sighed heavily, dropping down onto the bed and pulled her struggling form onto his lap, wrapping his arms around her and pinned her arms at her sides so she couldn't lash out at him.

"Don't run from me, Juliana. You won't last an hour out there, not with two people gunning for you. And John wouldn't be able to walk very long. You don't know where you are, you're miles from anybody…you need me." His tone had gotten softer and softer.

Juliana trembled so hard her teeth chattered as the tears kept running down her cheeks. Not only did this man scare her physically, but now mentally! He read her mind, which just frightened her further. Juliana knew if she made a move, he would probably snap her neck like he threatened. Her chest heaved, breathing exceedingly ragged from crying and sobbing so much. His tone growing softer made her trembling slowly cease. Not fully though, Juliana couldn't help it. Undertaker terrified her to death and Juliana knew she'd have gray hairs by the time this was all said and done. Undertaker began rocking her back and forth, knowing he needed to calm her down before she ended up having a nervous breakdown on him.

"Calm down, Jules. I'm not going to hurt you." Undertaker murmured, his deep voice soothing. "I took a knife for you, didn't I? You think I'd honestly do that for someone I planned to hurt? Calm down." He gently stroked her back, trying to soothe her fears away.

He was right and, deep down in her heart; Juliana knew Undertaker would never hurt her. She didn't know why, just a sixth sense she had. Gradually, Juliana calmed down, her trembling ceased, but the tears didn't. She didn't care and rested her head against his chest, wrapping her arms around his neck, burying her face in his crook. That graveyard bit had nearly scared her to death and Juliana had to take a few deep shaky breaths so the trembling didn't start up again. Undertaker was more than a little surprised when she wrapped her arms around his neck, disconcerted when he felt her hot tears beating down on him.

"Don't cry, darlin'…" He murmured, his southern accent beginning to seep through his tone. "Come on now…I didn't mean to upset you."

Undertaker had a hard time believing this was him talking and shrugged it off, knowing she wouldn't be any use to him if she had a breakdown. Juliana slowly pulled back from him, her hands resting on his chest and felt his thumb brush her tears away, calming down finally. His deep voice had done the trick as Juliana raked a hand through her hair, starting to wipe the wet spots from his neck.

"Sorry." Juliana muttered, sighing heavily, and sniffled as she breathed in through her nose and out the mouth. "I didn't mean to…to run." She finally spoke, her voice quiet. "I got…scared and…I'm sorry." She whispered those last two words before burying her face in her hands, her shoulders shaking as she started crying again.

Undertaker wrapped his arms around her again, rubbing his hands up and down her sides. "I didn't help you any with that." He admitted softly. "I shouldn't have tried to scare you after what you seen down in the graveyard."

Admitting only to himself that it had been funny at the time, downright hilarious actually, Undertaker now felt like a bit like a jerk for purposely frightening her. After calming down again, Juliana slowly looked up into his green eyes; hers still filled with unshed tears, and lowered her gaze to her lap. She'd been a fool to actually run, even though Undertaker had scared her. Her life was in danger and she'd almost gotten John killed.

"Is he okay?" She questioned softly in a whisper, sniffling a little more, and leaned against him.

The strength and warmth he possessed was irresistible and Juliana closed her eyes again, tears still falling. Undertaker nodded, reaching out without even thinking to catch her tears on his forefinger. He licked his finger clean, savoring the taste of her salty tears and stared down into her blue eyes.

"He'll live. I had to…medicate him because of the pain." It was a half-lie. "But he'll be fine. He had some superficial wounds on his face."

"Okay." Juliana noticed he licked his finger after wiping her tears away, but it didn't bother her. Surprisingly enough. She sighed heavily, swallowing hard, and began trembling again at the thought of that graveyard outback. "I'm never going out into the backyard again." She whispered, more to herself than him.

He heard her confession and inwardly rolled his eyes. What was so damn scary about a little graveyard? He actually found it quite soothing, but then again, he'd already been informed countless times he was a morbid person.

"Are you going to be alright?" He asked gently, knowing she still hadn't slept and wished she would.

Actually, now that he thought about it, Undertaker suddenly got an idea.

As if reading his mind this time, Juliana sighed as she slowly lifted her head to stare at the wall. "It's not that I don't like graveyards. It was…" She paused, trying to find the right words to say and gave up. "Forget it, no I'm not okay. I won't be okay until this is all solved."

Sleep wasn't on the menu tonight. Juliana would end up laying down, staring up at the ceiling for countless hours until the sun rose, and would be downstairs sitting on the couch or doing something to occupy her mind. Undertaker moved so he sat against the wall, pulling her to sit between his outstretched legs with her back to his chest. He gently moved his hands up to her shoulder, thumbs on her neck and began massaging the tension out of her body, applying gentle force to her pressure points.

"You need to sleep, Jules." He rumbled deeply, the sound reverberating from his chest.

"I can't." Juliana whispered, her hair draped over her shoulder, and pooling down, the ends brushing against the comforter below.

Sighing, Juliana didn't have a massage like this since…ever. She couldn't remember the last time she'd had one. She couldn't remember the last time she'd slept. Leaning further against him, Juliana loved the feeling of his strong muscular hands on her body. Juliana felt a shiver gust down her spine and managed to suppress it, not wanting Undertaker thinking she was afraid because she wasn't.

"I know you can't." He murmured, keeping up with that pressure.

Undertaker watched her head start swaying and smiled to himself. Whether Juliana liked it or not, she would be sleeping tonight. He didn't stop until she lulled her head back against him and only then did he wrap his arms down along her waist, resting his hands on her stomach. With his head on top of hers, Undertaker yawned loudly, exhausted from the day's events.

"Good night, Jules." He murmured in her ear before letting sleep overtake him.


It was dark. Cold. Some place she did not want to be as she tried adjusting her eyes to the darkness. She stopped, shivering from dread, hearing his voice, feeling his hot breath against her skin. She knew it was him. She knew he wanted her dead and gone. Why she didn't know and could already feel the tears streaming down her face. Looking down as a white light suddenly shined on her through the darkness, Juliana could see herself encased in a white wedding dress, a cathedral lace veil on top of her head. Before she knew it, a priest, her father, and even Undertaker appeared, watching as Kenneth held her close to his side, an alter appearing seemingly out of thin air.

'No, please someone stop this!' Her mind screamed, locking eyes with Undertaker and wondered why he wasn't taking her to safety. 'Taker!'

This was the man who shot him and put a hole in his favorite vest. Didn't he care anymore? Juliana wanted to call out to him, but it was almost as if a force bigger than her prevented that. The thing that frightened her most was the hollowness in his eyes. They were completely blank and empty, devoid of emotion and feeling, no life.

'Taker, please…' Her blue eyes pleaded silently, looking around frantically and tried spotting John, knowing he wouldn't let this happen.

Her vocal cords had stopped working along with her body function. Just as the priest pronounced them husband and wife, Juliana finally found her voice and screamed out just as Kenneth's lips descended on hers, struggling against him.

"NO!"


"NO!" Juliana let out a chilling scream as she bolted upright in the bed, sweat caking her body, tears streaming down her cheeks.

Undertaker hadn't slept; he listened to the noises outside of the house. They were just normal night noises like crickets chirping, but one could never be too sure. He felt Juliana start trembling in his arms, heard her heavy breathing and knew she had a nightmare. Undertaker was on the verge of waking her when she screamed and shot up, his arms instantly tightening around her frame.

"Calm down Jules, you're safe darlin'." He whispered soothingly in her ear.

Her breathing erratic, Juliana looked around hastily, taking in her surroundings. When she knew she was safe, Juliana started crying hysterically at the relief that it was just a dream. Or rather a nightmare. It felt so real, too real, and tremors tore through her body like a tornado, ripping her apart mentally and emotionally.

"That's why I don't sleep!" She cried out, shaking from head to toe, and drew her knees up to press against her chest. "I have nightmares every time I do!"

Undertaker pulled her against him, rubbing her back pacifyingly. "I know you don't want to sleep, Juliana, and I understand why, but you had to. You slept for two hours, which is better than nothing." He explained in a calm voice, hoping she understood.

She cried harder, the dream replaying in her mind and pushed away from him, almost falling off the bed. Undertaker caught her wrists, yanking her back against him. "You were there…You didn't stop him or anything!" She sobbed, fearing for her life. "You just stood there…" She squeezed her eyes tightly shut, the tears only flowing harder, faster, and actually gripped the front of his vest with her tiny fists.

"It was a dream, Juliana. Just a dream." Undertaker soothed, trying to calm her down. "You're just scared because of what happened tonight. You know I'd never let him do anything to hurt you." He pressed a gentle kiss to the top of her head. "Come on, quit crying. You're safe." He assured her, hating to see her cry.

"You promise?" She asked, finally lifting her head as their eyes met, whimpering a little.

Juliana had to trust him. She had to put her life in his hands, but wanted his promise first. The dream had scared the hell out of her, worse than the graveyard did because Undertaker could turn on her at any given moment if he chose. She was vulnerable, terrified out of her mind and fragile, even though she'd never admit it.

"I haven't let anything happen to you yet now, have I?" Undertaker asked gently, smiling slightly when she slowly shook her head. "You have my word, Jules. As long as I'm breathing, I'm not going to let anybody hurt you. Alright?"

Nodding, Juliana immediately settled down when she heard that and wrapped her arm around his waist, snuggling against him and sighed raggedly. "I trust you, Taker."

Shutting her eyes, her entire body relaxed against Undertaker, hoping he would protect her with his life. Juliana had to put her whole faith and trust into him, just like she did with John, in order for them to survive this. It would be hard, but if Juliana wanted to stay alive, she would do it.

"Thank you." She whispered, tears finally ceasing and wished Undertaker was like this more often because right now, in this moment, she felt safe and in good hands. Even if he did scare and intimidate her ninety percent of the time.

Undertaker moved so they were laying down on the bed, keeping her pulled up against him, resting an arm over her waist, the other underneath her head as a sort of pillow. He studied her tear stained face thoughtfully in the moonlight. Knowing there were only a few short hours before the sun rose, Undertaker sighed softly. He leaned forward and gently kissed her cheeks.

Juliana didn't mind lying in bed with him, knowing he did it to protect her. She sighed when he kissed her, a flood of warmth spreading through her body and snuggled further against him. She closed her eyes, his heat and power soothing away any fears she had, driving away the memories of her nightmare. The man had scared her earlier, but now he showed a different side that both unnerved and mollified her at the same time. Juliana knew Undertaker would be watching her like a hawk now, especially after being attacked by those two shooters.

She just hoped he didn't back out of this deal.