"Hi, what's your name?"
Alex looked up from her small desk, where she was currently filling in colored shapes to see Mr. Camp kneeling next to her desk.
"Alexandra Jade Posen." She stated. "But everyone calls me Alex. Or Ali."
He smiled at her.
"Okay, Ali, it is then," he smiled. "You are very smart Ali." He said looking at the page she had nearly finished, all the colors correct and done inside the lines.
"Thank you." She smiled.
He smiled back. "You know, you look a lot like I did when I was your age." He said,
Then looked over to make sure Miss White was wasn't watching.
"Really?" She asked, "Everyone says I look like my birth Mom."
"Yeah? What's her name?"
"Beca. But I have three mommies."
He tried to keep the disgust off of his face. "Three?" He asked, "Thats different."
"My moms say there isn't anything wrong with being different."
"They are right. But sometimes, different isn't good." He said.
She looked at him skeptically.
"My moms said that it's not bad to-"
"Are your moms teachers?" He cut her off.
She looked at him grudgingly. "They teach me all of the time,"
"Well, I am a teacher. I know for sure, they are just guessing,"
Jesse knew this wasn't how he had wanted their first meeting to go, but she was as stubborn and headstrong as her mother. And in his eyes, she only had one. Not three. One mother, and one father, and she would come to accept him as such.
She looked back at her paper, chewing on the inside of her cheek. "This was a private conversation okay?" He asked, his eyes looking up to where Miss white was helping another student.
"What does that mean?"
He sighed, "That everything you and I just talked about is a secret. You can't tell anyone. Promise?" He asked and held up a pinky. Replacing his annoyed face with a happy smile.
she smiled. "My mommy makes me promises all the time." She said and hooked her small pinky with his. "I promise."
"What are you promising over here, miss Alex?" Came a light voice and they looked up to see Miss White. Approaching.
"Alex was just promising to never let anyone tell her she can't do something she sets her mind too. She is very smart." He winked at her.
The little girl looked up to Miss White, knowing it was a lie, and knowing she was never supposed to lie, she just nodded. Not wanting to break her promise.
"Mr. Camp, could you please help some of the other children with their worksheets?"
He smiled falsely at her and stood up. "Of course. It was nice to meet you Ali." He said, before walking away. She waved at him slightly then looked at Miss White.
"Excellent job Alex." She smiled. "Keep up the good work."
Alex smiled at her and nodded, before picking up another crayon and getting back to work. Miss White looked over to where Mr. camp had stopped to help another student with their assignment and noticed his eyes flicker up to Alex for a few seconds before returning to his task.
She made a mental note to keep her eyes open, knowing there were boundaries, with teacher/student relationships, and she had a weird feeling in her gut.
XXXXXX
Screaming. That's all she could hear, all around her. Terrified screams of pain.
Begging for them to stop, to leave them alone.
Chloe looked around, not recognizing where she was, but she could still hear the screams.
She knew those screams, that voice. Those voices. Beca and Aubrey. They were hurt,they were in pain and they were screaming for it to stop. She ran, as fast as she could, not knowing where she was, only seeing doors, everywhere. She went through one to find three more.
Finally she found the right door. She burst through it, and froze. On the ground just a few feet from her, was Beca, laying in a pool of blood, a bullet hole right above her collar bone. Same place Aubrey had been hit when Jesse shot her.
Jesse.
The devil himself was standing just a few feet behind Becas body, covered in her blood.
"What have you done?" She screamed running forward, only to be stopped by a loud bang.
She felt something like a dull pain in her stomach. She looked down to see blood pouring out over her hands. She looked back up to see Jesse pointing the gun at her.
"I finished what I started," he said.
"Chlo..." She looked from Jesse to the new voice. The voice of Aubrey. She was walking toward her. Her shirt ripped and bloody. The side of her head was matted in blood that covered the side of her face and neck.
"You took what didn't belong to you." Jesse growled. "So I took it back,"
She felt something flowing into her mouth and coughed when she realized it was blood.
she looked up just as Aubrey fell beside Beca, both of them, bloody, broken. Gone.
She could feel the blood flowing from her mouth and she felt weak, falling to her knees, as her tears mixed with blood.
"Daddy!" Her head shot up. Alex.
The little girl was running through the darkness of the room, as if in slow motion, she opened her arms and Jesse lifted her up off of the ground.
"Alex no! No let her go!" Chloe screamed trying to move forward, to stand up, but she couldn't. She was bleeding out, she was getting weaker.
Alex looked over to Chloe, unfazed buy the nightmare she was in. The blood from Jesses shirt, staining the white dress she wore.
She paid no mind to it, as she held onto Jesse and he smiled maliciously at her.
She fell to her stomach, no longer able to hold her self up.
She could see him whisper something into Alex's ear and the little girl looked at her.
"You should have never got involved." She said. "You stole from my Daddy, and now he is taking me back." She said. And Jesse turned with her, she looked back and laid her head on his shoulder, her eyes meeting Chloes. They had the same empty, far away look Beca had worn for a long time. She tried to call out, but her voice wasn't working. No sound was coming out. Soon, the darkness had swallowed them, and Chloe fell into a heap of sobs, as she slowly drifted away.
XXXXXX
Beca sat next to the couch where she and Aubrey had laid Chloe. Her hand firmly holding onto her girlfriends as she felt her body shake, and her face scrunch up in displeasure. She was having a nightmare.
Aubrey paced back and forth by the couch, muttering angry words under her breath until they heard a knocking on the door.
Aubrey walked over to it, not even bothering to make sure she knew who it was and opened it. Thankfully it was just detective Kendrick. She instantly turned end back and walked into the living room. Kendrick following close behind, a look of concern on his face.
The moment he saw Chloe on the couch he spoke. "What happened? What's going on?" He asked.
"I need to report an assault." Aubrey said. Her voice more even and confident than Beca had heard it in the last few days.
His eyes shot to Chloe.
"Is she-"
"Not Chloe. She fainted. I need to report an assault on me." She said. Kendrick looked taken aback at her being able to state it so evenly.
Beca looked up at Aubrey and gently placed Chloes hand on her stomach.
"Bree?" She asked softly and Aubrey turned to her.
She didn't say anything, just stared at the younger brunette.
She stepped forward and wrapped her arms around the blonde. She felt her tense for a second before Aubrey's arms, gently embraced her small girlfriend.
"I love you, Aubrey."
Aubrey closed her eyes, squeezing them tightly, not letting tears fall. She knew she had treated Beca badly, and been unnecessarily cruel to her that day. She didn't know why she did it. But she could feel it eating at her inside and she hugged her tightly.
"I love you too Beca. So much. I'm so sorry."
Beca felt something shift within her and she stifled a small sob. She needed to hear Aubrey say those three words.
"Why don't you call Donald and have him come get you, and you can go get our daughter, and Stacie and bring them back here?"
Beca pulled away slightly.
"Do you want to do this alone?" She asked the blonde.
She nodded. "I think I need too." She said, "Just bring them home, and we will keep watch over Chloe. I'm sorry for how I acted today." She said and wiped the tears away from Beca face before lifting it and place a tender, lingering kiss on her lips.
Beca nodded. Knowing Aubrey needed to give her statement alone.
They pulled apart and she turned to follow Kendrick into the kitchen.
"I love you Becs"
"I love you too, Aubrey."
She turned and disappeared into the kitchen. Beca went back to the couch and checked on Chloe, she was still shaking slightly, so Beca covered her with the afghan from the back of the couch and pulled her phone out, dialing Donald's number. Not seeing the missed calls from Stacie.
XXXX
Stacie took off her apron and hung it up, grabbing her phone and heading out the back door of the diner. Beca never showed, and Alex was due to get out of school soon. She tired calling but didn't get an answer. She dialed in her number again, but got the busy signal. She sighed and called Donald only to get another busy signal.
"Damn it Donald."
"Trouble in paradise?"
She turned around to be met with the bruised and squinty eyed face of Bumper.
"What the fuck happened to you?" She asked, grateful she left the back door propped open, knowing the chef was just inside the door.
"Oh, I must have fallen or, something,"
She narrowed her eyes at him. "What do you want Bumper? Why are you even still here? Don't you have a job in New York you should be doing?"
He stepped closer to her. She took notice and stepped back.
"I thought I would stick around for a while." He shrugged. "I like it here."
Her phone started ringing and she instantly answered it, keeping her eyes on Bumper.
"Hello?"
Bumper watched her. His face swollen and bruised, his eyes blood shot from the mace.
"Oh, hey baby." She said, hoping it would make Bumper stop his steps toward her.
She listened to Donald, his voice quick and distressed and she latched onto one of his many sentences, 'Bumper raped Aubrey.'
Her eyes shot up to him. "Okay. I love you." She said.
A few miles away, Donald stepped on the gas as he drove toward the diner. He was supposed to pick up Beca, but he knew that Stacie's response wasn't whT it should have been for a reason.
"He's with you?" He asked,
"Yes, that sounds good. I'll see you soon?"
He understood.
"I'm on my way baby, are you okay?"
"Yeah, I'm just gonna wait inside."
"Be there before you get in." He said as he rounded the corner in the car and the diner came into view.
Bumper heard the screeching of tires and looked to see what happened. Stacie took that chance and bolted into the diner closing the door and locking it.
She pocketed her phone and grabbed her jacket.
"I have to go." She told the chef who was looking at her in confusion.
She hurried through the kitchen then out into the dining area passed the customers to the front door.
She exited as Donald pulled up outside. Running out to the car and getting in.
"I saw him take off, he got into a black car. Call Beca and tell her we are on our way to Alex, to not leave the house."
Stacie nodded and dialed Becas number.
XXXXX
Beca had hung up with Donald just as Chloe began to stir. Then, her eyes shot open and she sat up breathing hard. Beca reached out and touched her arm.
"Shh, it's okay," she started but was cut off when Chloe turned and pulled away from her staring at her as if she was seeing a ghost.
"Chloe?"
The redhead looked at Beca for a moment, looking her over, trying to separated her nightmare from reality. She suddenly reached out and yanked the collar of Becas shirt down, not seeing the startled look on her face.
When she didn't find the bullet hole she was looking for, she let her shirt go and fell back into the couch.
"Where is Alex? And Bree?" She asked.
Beca wanted to ask what just happened but decided against it. Bree is okay, she is in the kitchen giving her statement to Kendrick. Alex is at School, Donald is going to take me to get her, are you feeling okay? Do you want some water?"
She seemed to relax a little. "Is Aubrey okay?"
She nodded sadly. "She is the strong one, remember?"
Chloe looked down.
"I'll get you some water and be right back."
Chloe nodded and watched her walk away.
She entered the kitchen, and Aubrey immediately stopped talking and looked at her. Kendrick looked up looking furious as he wrote down what Aubrey was telling him.
"She is awake, I'm just getting her some water," she said and opened the fridge pulling out a bottle of water.
"Tell her I love her." Aubrey said.
Beca smiled softly.
"I will." She said and walked out.
She walked over and sat beside Chloe handing end the bottle. She opened it and drank half op the bottle before setting it down.
Beca was about to ask why she had pulled her shirt down she her phone rang.
She picked it up.
"Donald? Where are you?"
"Its Stacie. We are on our way to get Alex, do not leave the house. Bumper was just at the Diner."
"What?" Beca exclaimed. "Are you okay?"
"I'm fine. We are going to pick up Alex and meet you back home."
Beca ran a hand through her hair, "Okay, thank you, please be safe."
"We will. I love you Becs, we will be there soon."
The phone went dead.
She dropped it on the table and Chloe leaned forward. "What is it?"
"Donald and Stacie are picking up Alex, bumper was at the diner."
Chloes eyes grew.
"She is okay." Beca said and Chloe relaxed slightly.
"Beca I had a nightmare." She said.
She looked at her, "About what?"
Chloe looked hesitant. "He came back." She said.
Those three words were enough to have Beca's heart beating painfully.
"He came back, and he killed you and Aubrey. Then, he shot me, and took her." She said, tears falling from her eyes.
Beca reached out and pulled Chloe into her running her hand though her hair. "It's okay, he isn't back." She said, and tried her hardest to believe that. There was no way. He was gone. He died in that swamp five years ago.
"Alex isn't going anywhere. No one is taking her, and nothing is going to happen to us." She said as she cradled Chloe in her arms.
she wanted so badly to believe everything was going to be okay. But she had this awful feeling in her stomach. Something wasn't right. Something bad was coming, and she didn't know how to stop it.