Adam could hardly believe what he had just done. He stared down at Matt's body in disbelief, not even believing that he had done it for a moment. There had been no conscious decision on his part to do it; he had just seen Matt attack Jeff and had sprang into action. "Oh god," he moaned. He let the knife slip out of his hand and go down to the floor, his whole body trembling in fear already. He had just killed Jeff's brother. What had he been thinking? Jeff was going to be furious at him. "Oh god oh god oh god…"
Jeff stared down at his brother's body in shock. Shock was about the only emotion Adam could distinguish at the moment and he was sure he didn't want to find out all that was going through his head. He backed up into the corner and sank down to the floor, pulling his legsup into his chest and burying his face in his knees. The shaking of his body was getting worse and worse with each passing second. He was convinced that he was going to die within the next couple of minute. Even though Matt had been beating the shit out of him, he was still Jeff's brother. There was no way Jeff could ever forgive him.
"Matty?" Jeff began poking and shaking Matt's body. He tilted his head to the side when Matt didn't respond. The older Hardy was already gone. "Matty?" He tilted his head to the other side and continued to stare at his deceased older brother before looking back at Adam. "Addy?" He frowned when Adam didn't respond to him. "Addy?" He crawled over to the blonde and put his face just inches from his. "You…you killed Matty."
"I'm sorry," Adam whimpered.
Jeff blinked in confusion. "Sorry?" He grabbed Adam's face and forced him to look up at him. "You saved me." He smiled a deranged smile and surprised Adam with a firm kiss on the lips. "Good Addy. You're a good good Addy."
Adam was shocked, to say the least. "You don't hate me?"
"Hate you? I could never hate you Addy." Jeff pulled Adam into his arms and began cradling him like a little baby. "You're my sweet little Addy. Matty was being a big meanie and he was hurting me really badly. You stopped him though. You protected me and I love you." He started planting kisses all over the top of Adam's head. "You did the right thing baby. Don't let any mean people tell you differently, okay?"
Adam nodded and hugged Jeff tightly. He was so happy that Jeff was not mad at him. "Are we going to bury him?"
"We should," Jeff admitted. "This isn't our house. Steve is going to get mad if we just leave a mess." He looked serious for all of about three seconds and then he began to giggle madly. "But I don't wanna. Matt's a meanie and he can rot there forever and ever." He kissed Adam again before getting up and carrying Adam towards the bed. "Come on Addy. It's time to go sleepies."
…
Jay felt like he was trapped in a dark abyss, barely able to hear and surrounded by such a terrible darkness that he couldn't tell whether his eyes were open or closed. He could hear his mother calling out for him but her voice was muffled. He didn't know whether it was because she was far away or if there was something wrong with his ears. What he did know was that he didn't like it. He wanted-no, needed-to hear his mother's voice more clearly. He began fighting to get out of the darkness, almost giving up a couple times because it was so hard but finally managing to get into the light when he was really starting to believe it was impossible. The light revealed he was laying in a hospital bed and his mother was by his side, reading from one of his and Adam's old children's books. When she saw that he had opened his eyes, she shrieked with joy and started hugging him for all he was worth.
"Jason! Oh my baby…oh thank God you're awake! You're awake!"
Jay groaned and did his best to hug her back. What had happened to him came rushing back and he honestly was never more shocked before in his life than he was right then. He was alive? He was really alive. It was hard to believe. He had wanted to escape so badly the entire time he was held captive but he had never truly believed that any of them would get away. The fact that he was here at the hospital still alive baffled his mind.
"I'm going to go get a doctor, okay sweetie?" Judy said. She started giving him kisses all over his face. "I'll be right back. Can you stay awake for me? Huh? Can you stay awake?"
He managed to nod but then he reached out and grabbed her arm before she could get far. "Adam…?"
She shook her head sadly. "We don't have him back yet sweetie. Everyone's looking for him though." She gave him another kiss on the forehead. "They're going to find him okay? Don't you worry."
That was easy for her to say. She hadn't endured what he had. She hadn't seen what the others had gone through. He felt tears springing up behind his eyes and he didn't bother to stop them. He just let them fall, hating the utter helplessness that was overwhelming him. It was going to be too late. He hated realizing this but he couldn't make the feeling go away. If they even managed to find Adam and the others, it was going to be way too late.
The damage was going to already be done.
…
"So Blondie kills Matt and Jeff forgives him just like that?" Cooper said, trying to get caught up on everything that had been happening while he was asleep.
"Yup," James confirmed. Mark and Steve were yelling at Jeff and Adam for making huge messes while they buried Matt and John's bodies. "And Jeff killed the pretty boy thinking it was Matt." He glanced back at Randy, who was being held by Connor. "We should just kill him and get it over with."
"NO!" Connor protested. "Jeff still has his pet still! I want one for me!"
Cooper rolled his eyes. He and James weren't about to argue with Connor. They were too much in a hurry. "Can we please hurry up?" he asked. "I would like to get to Mexico sometime today!"
"Hold your horsies!" Jeff ordered as he and Adam finished burying the bodies. He took a handkerchief out of his back pocket and used it to not only wipe his own forehead off, but Adam's as well.
"I ought to make you clean up that blood too," Steve grumbled.
Mark shook his head. "Another time Steve. We really do have to go."
"I know I know." Steve snatched the shovels out of Jeff and Adam's hands and took them to the garage while the others went into the RV they were going to be traveling in. The windows in the back were blacked out and that was the part they all had to stay in until they got to where in Mexico Steve was taking them. "He fixed the air in here this time, didn't he?" James asked as he plopped down on the bed. "If he didn't, I'm strangling him and leaving his redneck carcass to rot."
Cooper checked the status of the air conditioner before he sat down. "It works fine," he assured his dad. "You can relax."
"Good." James pulled Mark into bed with him and rested his head on his chest. "Wake me up when we're in Mexico."
Mark glared down at James in exasperation. "What, I'm your pillow now?"
"Yes. Now shut up and stay still so I can sleep."
Mark rolled his eyes but reluctantly did what he was told. Cooper watched Jeff pull Adam into the corner and sit down on the floor with him, cooing a bunch of baby talk and brushing his pet's hair like he was a doll or something. He didn't know whether to think the display was sickening or kind of cute.
"Coopy? Will you play CandyLand with me?"
Cooper glared down at Connor. "Are you going to cheat again?"
Connor shook his head. "No Coopy. I would never cheat!"
Cooper didn't believe him but he played anyway. And he was proven right in not believing the promise because Connor cheated, just like he always did. That led to their typical argument that ended with the board game being thrown and hitting Mark in the head, making the older man nearly throttle the both of them. All in all, it seemed like a typical road trip-until they heard two gunshots and the back tires blew out immediately afterwards.
"Sweet Jesus!" James yelled at the top of his lungs. "What the fuck is that?"
Nobody really had an answer for him. The RV was swerving all over the place and Cooper fell on top of Connor because he couldn't keep his balance. "STEVE!"
"I'M TRYING!" Steve hollered back. A string of curses flew out of the Texan's mouth as the RV continued to careen out of control, eventually tipping over to it's side when more bullets began to hit the other tires. Everyone but Steve fell to the side with the vehicle, completely stunned and shocked but also completely pissed.
"Mother fucker," Mark growled. "Someone's about to fucking die for this…"