Chapter Ten - "Red In The Morning"

The Ties that Bind

Bella

lol of course i ended it there...i had to make sure you came back to read the next chapter...lol (im just kidding...)Some of you kill me...I think I'm so clever and then you figure out all my deviousness...if you've managed to figure out who the stalker is, shhh, don't spill the beans...and if you haven't...well, keep reading...all in good time, my friends. And I have to thank you guys for the tremendous support of this story...I love hearing from you guys!

The wailing of emergency vehicles jolted me out of sleep. My eyes pooped open, alarmed at the flashing lights illuminating my room. Without a comprehensible thought, I flew out of bed, grabbing my robe off the back of the door.

"Jake?" I called, almost tripping down the stairs.

"I'm okay," he called back softly, the click of the front door sounding behind him. "It's Mrs. Robinson from across the street. She had a heart attack. They're taking her to the hospital now.

I collapsed into his arms and let out a shaky breath. "How terrible, is she going to be alright?"

"She should be," he said wrapping his arms around me. "We'll have to wait and see."

I buried my head into his chest and relished the safe feeling he provided. It was like a safe harbor; I place that I could go where no one and nothing could touch me or hurt me. In his arms, it was as if anything was possible. It was the one place where I felt the safest.

"You look exhausted; you should probably get back to bed."

I nodded, yawning. It was late and I knew that I was going to have trouble going back to sleep. After that damn phone call, I called Jake who agreed to stand another night of duty, keeping watch over my phone lines. I headed toward the stairs, reaching for the banister, taking each step one at a time. My mind immediately went back to the call. Who the hell could it be? I wondered for the umpteenth time since the calls began. Moreover, what did they want from me?

I won't lie, I was so glad when the calls stopped. I really thought that whoever it was had finally found someone else to bother. I mean I know that sounds terrible, but I was just really glad he'd decided to leave me alone. Then they started again.

I pushed open the door, gazing longingly at the bed sitting in the center of the room looking warm and inviting. I grabbed jakes hand and tugged him toward it. "Lay with me?" I asked, sliding into the cool sheets, the comforter soft and inviting.

Jake nodded and sat down beside me on the bed. "It's been a weird night, huh?"

"It has," I murmured in agreement, laying my head on his chest. "I'm waiting-"

"For what?" Jake interrupted.

"Well…" I trailed off.

"Well?" Jake prompted.

"The rule of threes. Two bad things have happened today, I'm waiting for the third."

"There's no such thing as the rule of threes. Its coincidence; coincidence and nothing else."

I stared out the window, the flashing red and amber lights hypnotizing me. "I don't know," I disagreed. "It just feels like, well, like there's gonna be one more bad thing before the night is over."

Jake ran his hand down my arm. "I don't think you have anything else to worry about; and even if you did have something to worry about, you still wouldn't. I'd protect you."

I closed my eyes, relishing the safe and secure feeling as it washed over me again. I still couldn't believe how dramatically my life had changed these last few months. I was lighter, happier, free of things that had previously held me hostage. I could lay in the bed with the man I was starting to love and not feel threatened. I could laugh and be happy and not worry about what was going to happen next.

I felt like I was living in an Aerosmith song, I didn't want to sleep because I didn't want to miss a moment of this life that I had. in the last few seconds before I fell asleep the security and utter happiness washed over me, sweeping me under and swirling around me and despite being harassed over the phone by some crazy weirdo, I'd never felt happier.

-888-

A blood-curdling scream roused me from what was a restful sleep. I bolted up, as did Jake, and we looked at one another, completely alarmed. "What the hell?" he said.

"Callie," I replied hopping out of bed.

Jake followed and we rushed down the stairs. I skidded around the corner and into the kitchen stopping short. "Oh my god," I gasped. "Callie, come away from that." I reached for her arm, my fingers trembling.

"Jesus Christ," Jake gasped as he stepped into the room. "Bella, take Callie into the other room."

I pulled Callie toward me and guided her out of the room. "Come on sweet pea." With my arms still around her, I guided her into the living room and sat her down on the couch. Absentmindedly I turned the TV on and handed Callie the remote. "Stay here," I ordered. I stood and went back toward the kitchen, fear, and anger swirling together in my stomach.

The disgusting scene in the kitchen made my stomach turn. The back door stood wide open, trembling slightly in the breeze. The floor was a lake of red blood pooled in a giant circle in the middle of the room; red spray speckled the walls and lower cabinets. Bits of glass glittered in the blood from where the intruder broke in. In the center of the mess laid a piglet with its fleshy throat slit from one end to the other.

On the wall, scrawled hastily in blood was a brief, but chilling, sentence: the cop is next.

I glanced away, my heart breaking at the tiny life that had been sacrificed to scare me. Jake met my eyes, his face mirroring mine: wide-eyed and speechless. I had so many questions but words failed me. Instinctively, I reached for the roll of paper towels and bent down to clean up the mess.

"Stop," Jake ordered. "Leave it be. Go get Callie and take her to my house. You two don't need to see this." He handed me his house keys and pushed me out of the room. "I'm going to call the station, get CSU down here, get this taken care of and cleaned up."

I took the keys, fighting the urge to cry. Crying wasn't going to stop this from happening, crying wouldn't solve anything.

"Why is this happening?" I asked as a strangled, panic-stricken cry escaped. Hysteria bubbled its way up my throat, threatening to overpower the fleeting sense of calm I'd still managed to cling to.

Jake shrugged helplessly. "I wish I knew," he said crossing the room and wrapping his arms around me. "But just like I told you last night I'll keep you – and Callie – safe. Now please go over to my house so I can call the station and have a team sent out here to check for finger prints and evidence."

I pressed my face into the front of his shirt and held on tightly. Just when things started to go good, something like this happened. I took a deep breath and released him. "Thank you," I said. "For everything."

"It's not a big deal. Now go make sure Callie is okay."

I nodded and headed out of the kitchen and away from the gruesome sight. I found Callie curled up on the end of the couch staring blankly at the television screen. She looked up when I sat down, her face wet from the tracks of her tears.

"Who killed that pig, Mom?" she asked.

"I don't know," I said honestly. "Jake is going to call some people and get it taken care of, though, so you don't need to be afraid or anything."

"What did it mean, the cop is next? Is someone gonna hurt Jake?" Hysterical tears filled her eyes and she clung to the throw pillow.

"No," I said. "Come on, we're going to Jake's while he cleans that mess up." It was a lie, well, for the most part. There was no way to know what lengths a person would go to to get what they wanted. And obviously, what this person wanted was me. I didn't know why yet, hell, I wasn't even sure I ever wanted to know why. Whoever it was, well they were obviously screwed up in the head and had no problem watching me or breaking into my house or killing.

The dead pig was what frightened me the most. If a human being could easily kill a small animal for their own selfish amusement then they would have no problem taking a human life to get to what they wanted. The dead pig upped the ante in my opinion. It was the, god what was he, a stalker?

Sure why not, I decided. It was the stalkers way of taking this to a newer, entirely more dangerous, level.

I hurried Callie across the lawn in case he was still out there, watching, waiting, and unlocked the front door. I don't know what I expected when I opened the front door, but for some reason the relative calm and cleanliness surprised me. I guided Callie toward the living room and the two of us curled up on the couch with the TV playing softly in the background.

We sat there all day, not talking about the scene in the kitchen, about the blood or the chilling statement. Instead, we watched a SpongeBob marathon, laughing joylessly as the annoying yellow sponge gallivanted around Bikini Bottom. At five, the front door opened, I jumped, and Jake's voice called to me. I glanced up as he entered the living room and sat down on the arm of the couch.

"Everything's cleaned up over there; you're just going to have to make a statement in the morning. I'm also having an alarm system installed, but until then you two are staying here."

"Who killed that pig Jake?" Callie asked. She looked up at him, the blanket wrapped tightly around her.

Jake sighed and looked down at Callie. "I wish I knew, sweetie, but I promise I'll figure it out. I'll find out who did it and I'll make sure they never do it again."

Callie started to cry. "Is someone going to hurt you?" she sobbed.

Jake stood and crossed to the opposite end of the couch. "I'm going to be completely honest with you okay?"

Callie nodded and wiped her eyes with the blanket.

"Someone wants to hurt me. At least that's what it looks like. But," he paused, presumably trying to connect his thoughts and introduce them to words. "But it's like this. There are people out there who, well they aren't always right in the head. Maybe that's what this person's problem is. Maybe he or she isn't right in the head and they think something that isn't true. I don't know. But what I do know is this: I know how to protect myself and the people I care about and I will protect them. I will protect you and your mom. No matter what."

Callie nodded, seemingly pleased with Jake's response. She lay back down on the couch, visibly more relaxed. Jake patted her shoulder and stood, motioning for me to follow him. I stood up and followed him into his tidy kitchen.

"We found some finger prints and a few hairs, but there's no way to know just yet who they belong to, if they even belong to the weirdo who broke in."

I nodded. "Okay," I said slowly. "How long will it take before we find out who they belong to?"

"We'll know in a few days. There's something I have to go do, but before I do it, there's something I need you to know."

I swallowed hard. Here it was the other shoe. It fell and slapped against the proverbial floor with a resounding echo. "Whatever it is," I told him, "I don't think I want to know. Are you sure you really have to tell me?"

Jake nodded, looking down at the floor. "I do. I- shit." Jake ran his hands through his hair. "I think I have an idea of who is making those threatening calls and who broke into your place last night."

I gaped at him. "You do? Who?"

Jake ran his hands through his hair. "I think it might be someone you –and I- know."

Confused, I stared at him. Someone he and I both knew. We don't know any of the same people, what the hell was he talking about? I thought. "Jake," I said finding my voice. "What the hell are you talking about?"

Jake swallowed, the muscles in his neck contracting and expanding. "You had a friend in high school that I'm friends with now. I think he's the one who's stalking you."

I stared at him as the realization sunk in. He was talking about Mike. Jake was friends with Mike Newton. All this time, all these months, he'd been friends with Mike Newton and never told me. My face burned as if I'd been slapped and I backed away from him.

"Bella, wait," he said reaching for me, grabbing my wrist before I could flee the room.

"I haven't talked to him since you and I started getting serious. It's been months since I've talked to him. I know I should've told you but-"

"But what?" I interrupted with a hiss. "You just all of a sudden decided it was a good time to finally tell me this? If you didn't think Mike was the one harassing me then you probably never would've told me, huh?"

"I was going to tell you," he said defensively, "I just didn't know how. Here it is, a guy who pretty much fed you to the wolves is my friend now. How was I supposed to tell you that?"

"I don't know, but I think it's pretty shitty you wait until something like this happens, until some crazy ass kills a pig in my kitchen to tell me your friends with him. I'm going into the living room, please, just – just let me have a few minutes to digest this tasty little nugget."

Jake nodded, leaning against the counter as I walked out of the room. I stood in the hallway trying to wrap my head around the fact that my Jake was friends with someone from my past. Not only that, but he thought it was Mike who was harassing me. I turned around and walked back into the kitchen.

"You think Mike Newton is the one who broke into my house last night?" I stated.

Jake nodded. "I do."

"Why, what proof do you have?"

"It's a gut feeling," he said with a shrug.

I tapped my foot impatiently against the floor waiting for more than, "it's a gut feeling."

"What?" he said looking at me.

"All this crap that's happening and your only reasoning is that it's a gut feeling? I mean, I could understand if you saw his car on our street or you found his hair or fingerprints."

"I went to see him after our date. I basically told him to leave you alone and stay away from you and the calls stopped."

"Yeah, and now they're starting again. Why would he stop when you told him to and then just start up out of the blue again? It doesn't make sense."

"I know it doesn't," Jake said. "That's why I have to go down to Port Angeles. I have to find out if he has an alibi for last night. If he doesn't then he's going to the top of my suspect list."

I shook my head. "This is, excuse my French, fucking ridiculous."

Jake's jaw dropped, he'd never heard me say the f-word. I shook my head again. "Well it is. Why wait all this time to be a total freak-a-zoid and start this crap now? I just don't get it, you know what I mean?"

He nodded. "Yeah. Fifty millions questions why and only 'the cop is next' to go off of."

I nodded. "Promise me you'll be careful. I don't want anything to happen to you."

"I promise," he said, crossing the room. With the gap between us bridged, he wrapped his arms around me. "I'm sorry I didn't tell you about my friendship with Mike before."

"Its okay," I said leaning my forehead against his chest. It really wasn't though. I wanted to be mad at him, but considering everything that had just happened it seemed a little silly. I could die tonight and being mad at him would have been how I spent my last day alive. It was trivial. Yeah, it was sneaky of him not to tell me until now, but it wasn't as if he went out and became friends with Mike on purpose. They were friends long before he knew me, which, I guess, made it better. Not okay, but better.

As for Mike being my stalker, well, I didn't buy it, but then again I didn't take Riley for a rapist either. If I'd learned one thing during my life it was that people are seldom who they appear to be. And with that little nugget of information in mind, Mike could very well being the nut job killing farm animals in my kitchen, only time would tell for sure.

-888-

A few days after the pig incident, an alarm company came out and wired the house up nice and tight. The tech showed me how to program the panel and helped me choose a code all before showing me how to operate the system.

The crime scene samples came back with one hit in the system: Mike Newton. Jake, along with the Port Angeles police, picked him up and brought him up to Forks. The night after he was arrested, Jake came over looking frustrated and tired.

He sat down at the table looking like he wanted to punch something. "I don't get it. If you have an alibi, then say so; don't sit in the interrogation room for almost nine hours giving me some bullshit ass runaround."

I set down the plate I was drying and turned to him. "What are you talking about?"

"Mike," he said exasperatedly. "Nine hours in the interrogation room and he still refuses to give me his alibi."

I sat down across from him and gently put my hands on top of his. "Have you talked to anyone who knows him? Is he married? Maybe his wife can tell you his alibi."

"His wife says she doesn't know where he was. She says they got into a fight and he left around seven thirty. She didn't see him again until five o'clock the following evening."

"Ooh," I said. "That's bad, then, huh?"

Jake nodded and ran his hands through his recently cut hair. "Very."

"So what happens now?"

"I have to file charges against him. He'll go to court and home if someone posts bail. If not, then he's stuck in jail until his hearing."

"Do you think he did it?" I asked.

Jake nodded. "His fingerprints were on the pig. How did they get there if he didn't do it?"

I shrugged. "I guess we'll see," I said.

"I guess we will."

-888-

"Red In The Morning" by The Gaslight Anthem