Days of our Haiden
Season 2 Episode 12: I'll Remember
A week had passed. Rafe was ready to die at this point. No one was looking for him he was sure. Lani had texted Roman from Rafe's phone, telling him he needed to get out of town for a few days for mental health reasons. He missed Hope too much and couldn't bear to be around her or the place that reminded him of her. Roman had been ever so understanding, according to Lani.
Lani had shaved him again from head to toe. At least she had someone cleaned up his bodily fluid mess on the floor with a broom, dustpan, and mop, as well as one big trash bag. However, the stench was still in the room, for he re-messed the room up daily. He supposed he should just be grateful that she was more gentle with shaving him the second time around. His cuts were healing, and he had been afraid she would reopen them, but she hadn't. Even so, she had plucked his eyelashes out with tweezers, and that had been almost as painful as the cuts.
"All right. So, you have your looks taken from you, and of course Hope is taken from you. She asked for time off at the station so that she and Aiden could go on a romantic getaway this weekend." Lani smirked. "I bet you they are going to be spending all weekend in bed."
Rafe wanted to hurl—and not just because of the stench that still lingered in the room.
Lani grinned. "I bet she screams his name in ecstasy in ways she never screamed yours. The guy looks like he's amazing in bed. You were good, but I've had much better."
Rafe felt the anger welling inside of him. "If I'm not that good, then why do you want me so badly?" he snapped.
Lani looked him up and own, tapping her lips with an index finger. "You know what? That is a good question! Don't worry. I'm soon done with you. There's just one more thing you love that I have to take away from you first."
"What's that?" Rafe asked. He had already lost everything. There was not much else she could take away from him other than his life. He suddenly felt the urge to throw up again.
Lani smirked. "Why, your family of course! I'm going to make sure your dad, your mother, your brother, and your sister too are all demolished. I'm not a total monster. I'll let little Arianna live. She can go live with her Daddy Sonny. That is, if he can even be bothered to act like a father to that little brat."
Rafe suddenly got angry. "Look. Your beef is with me; not them. Kill me, but let them be!"
Lani shook her head. "I'm sick of your family being the heroes of this town! They all have to go. Sorry not sorry," Lani said, taking out Rafe's cell phone.
Rafe's face turned red. "I swear if you hurt a hair on any of their heads, I'll—"
Lani cut him off. "You'll what, Rafe? Hm? What are you going to do in that chair? Nothing! That's what." She was quiet as she sent out a mass texts.
After a moment, she put the phone back in her pocket. "There! I just texted a mass text to all of them asking them to come to this address ASAP. You bought a huge house as a surprise, and you want them all to see it."
"What are you planning on doing? Locking them up as well?" Rafe asked.
Lani nodded. "In this basement, yes. None of the windows are low enough or even big enough to crawl out of. First, I'm going to douse this basement in gasoline. Then, when they come down here and find you, I will light a match, toss it down into the basement, and lock your family down here so that you can all burn together."
"You're sick! You sick and twisted Bitch!" Rafe snapped.
Lani slapped him hard across the face, which hurt worse than normal because of her long acrylic nails and spiked metal ring. "I don't know what I ever saw in you."
Rafe's phone buzzed in her pocket, and she looked at the texts.
"Crap!" she said. "Your mom is working, and so is your sister. Your father and brother will come out though." She texted them back that she (Rafe) was looking forward to showing them the house, then she put the phone away again.
"They'll be leaving in an hour, so they should be here in about three or four hours." She smirked at Rafe. "It's only three or four hours, then you will be put out of your misery. You have three or four hours to live. I won't be able to shave them, but, oh well. As long as you're all dead, no one will ever know I'm behind this. Honestly, no one is around to smell the stench of the burning hair on your bodies anyway. I really just wanted the fun of shaving you, hurting you, and humiliating you."
She turned to leave. "I have a few errands to run before the big event." She grabbed something off the table. "And not that there is any way for you to warn your family or escape, but just in case, I'm going to need you out cold again." She turned around and zapped Rafe in the same place she had zapped him before. He hadn't even had time to see it coming.
Rafe screamed in pain.
Lani then took her police baton and bashed him over the head with it so hard, he passed out. She shrugged. "Hey. I did you a favor. At least passed out, you can't feel the pain." She kissed his cheek, then set the baton down. "It's so nice being a police officer and having all these fun tools!" she gushed before heading back up the basement stairs. She left the basement, making sure the all doors were locked securely before she left the house to run her special errands.
~*This love came back to me.*~
It was the final day of camp. It had been one long week. Thankfully, for the most part, the other camp hadn't been over at their camp. But they had made appearances here and there, and the kids from the other camp were horrible to Jonah. Jonah knew it was all about of their councilors coaching them to be horrible to him. The kids called him fat, and one little brat had even kicked him and bit his arm. It hadn't broken the skin, but it had still hurt, and left an impression in his arm. Gracie—the main councilor who was supposed to supervise everything—barely even made an appearance, so they were all left to fend for themselves.
Jonah never wanted to go to camp again after this. He was just grateful it was the last day. It was currently Friday and they would return home Saturday evening.
Today they were having a canoe race with the other camp. That meant the other camp was at their camp, and Jonah was none too pleased about it.
"Ick! I just saw a huge spider in our cabin! Joey was going to smash it, but Theo wouldn't let him. He picked it up and let it outside. He loves spiders. Ick! They creep me out!" Claire said to Jonah.
Jonah shrugged. "They don't bother me too much. Snakes are what terrify me. I hate snakes! It is the one thing that will get me running for the hills!" he said to her.
"Or an all you can eat buffet, you fat pig!" Kyle, a fourteen-year-old boy who was practically a mini version of AJ said to him. He was from Camp Hakui of course.
"Yeah, if the buffet is by the hills," Rachel, a bratty little ten-year-old redheaded girl, also from Camp Hakui said. She and Kyle laughed, and did Becca, for wherever Rachel was, there was Becca. Becca was what appeared to be Rachel's role model, which of course explained Rachel's brattiness.
"I don't care if you're a kid. Keep it up and I'll knock your freaking teeth out!" Ciara snapped at the kids.
"My dad's a lawyer. You just try it! He'll sue you for all your worth!" Rachel snapped.
Ciara lowered her eyes at her. "Well, my mom's a cop who can cover up any crime she wants, and her boyfriend is the best lawyer in the US. So bring it!"
Rachel shot her a nasty look, but backed off.
Theo raised an eyebrow. "That's the first time I've ever heard you compliment Aiden!"
Ciara scowled. "Yeah, well desperate times cause for desperate measures."
"All right, everyone, it's time for the canoe race! Teams will get into their canoes and race to the other side of the lake and back. The first team to have all of their team back first wins the trophy that will be displayed in the winning camp's trophy display case. It will be engraved with the winning camp's name on it. Also, the winning team will get to have a group photo with the trophy to take home," Gracie, who surprisingly had showed up for the days' festivities, explained.
"Woo! Just what I always dreamed of having. A picture holding a trophy," Joey said sarcastically under his breath.
Claire elbowed him. "Don't be a jerk like AJ."
Joey rolled his eyes. "Don't compare me to that douche."
They then all got into their canoes. Each camp had three canoes with two councilors and four campers per canoe.
Gracie squeezed the air horn once they were off, and the race was on.
It took some time to get across the lake and back. Of course being jocks, AJ and Jason had no trouble getting their canoe to the other side of the lake and back. They were the first to arrive back.
Ciara and Theo weren't far behind them, though Jake and Becca arrived about the same time they did.
Rochelle and Lauren were next, followed by Chase and Claire. Dead last was Jonah and Joey, but only by a little.
Camp Hakui cheered, and their campers high-fived the councilors.
"No wonder Jonah was last! His boat was weighed down by all Jonah's fat!" Kyle said.
"Hey, Jonah! Are you sure it wasn't you who swallowed the whale instead of the other way around?" Rachel asked, referring to the Jonah and the whale from the Bible.
Jake, Becca, AJ, and Jason all laughed, and high fived both Kyle and Rachel. Rochelle rolled her eyes.
Lauren slapped AJ on the shoulder. "Don't encourage him! It is so unprofessional to laugh with the bullying campers instead of condoning them for being nasty!" She whipped around to Kyle and Rachel. "And you two! You both need to respect the counselors!"
Kyle rolled his eyes. "Yeah, well he needs to respect a diet!"
"Or the gym!" Rachel added. She and Kyle laughed and high-fived.
Lauren glared at them as the fellow Hakui campers laughed, along with AJ and his pals.
Lauren clenched her fists and let out a frustrated cry.
Jonah placed a hand over her shoulder. "It's all right. Don't worry about it! I appreciate you sticking up for me."
Lauren squeezed his hand. "You know what? Tonight after dinner, meet my by the dock. You and I can go for a canoe trip—just the two of us. No one will miss us. We can bring our dessert on the canoe with us."
Jonah grinned big. "Sounds good to me!"
Lauren grinned too, and kissed his cheek. "Meet me tonight at 5:30," she whispered in his ear before walking over to get her picture with the rest of her camp and their trophy.
Jonah touched his cheek and smiled, the bullying already forgotten about.
~*This love came back to me.*~
"This is such a breathtaking view! I can't get over it," Hope said as she stood on the balcony of hers and Aiden's hotel room. It overlooked the ocean. It was a warm evening with a cool breeze blowing her hair. They had gotten to the Cayman Islands early, and looked around the little shops and boutiques most of the day. They had then had lunch on the beach and after that, they had spent a couple hours on the beach, followed by a boat tour.
Hope had then wanted to take a nap. While Hope had napped, Aiden had gone out and set up a little surprise for her. He had gotten back just as Hope had awaken. Now, she was looking out at the balcony as he changed for dinner.
Aiden finished getting ready and came out to join her. He wrapped his arms around her waist from behind. "Aside from you, nothing beautiful really phases me anymore. I get to see your beauty on a daily basis. Who needs anything else?"
She smiled. "You always lay it on pretty thickly."
"Well, it's all true." He pushed some hair away from her neck and kissed the side of her neck. "You deserve to be told every day how beautiful you are."
She turned around and kissed him.
He hungrily kissed her in return until her kisses turned into the kind that he knew meant she was getting in the mood for more than just kissing.
Hope tried to push him back toward the bedroom, but he stopped her. "Not yet. I have a surprise for you first. We have to go back to the beach for it."
She pouted. "But we were already at the beach all day!"
"You'll like it even better this time. Trust me," he assured her.
Hope sighed. "All right." So, she took his hand and they headed out to the beach, which was literally only a few yards from their hotel that was right on the beach.
When they got to the beach, the first thing Hope noticed was that nobody was around.
"Where is everybody?" she asked.
Aiden grinned. "I called in a favor with the mayor—free law services the next time he needs a lawyer. In return, he did was he had to do and ended up getting this section of the beach reserved for just the two of us. I would have tried for the whole beach, but with a hotel right on the beach, it's kind of hard to stop people from going on the beach all together."
Hope grinned too. "That's understandable!"
Aiden then led her over between two palm trees where a blue blanket waited for them. It had a Champaign bottle on it in an ice bucket. There was also a bowl of fresh strawberries. "A waiter from the beach restaurant will be coming out with burgers and fries for our dinner."
Hope took his face between her hands and kissed him softly on the lips. "How did I ever get so lucky to land a man who's this romantic?" she asked.
Aiden's eyes lowered with love for her, and he kissed her softly on the lips. "Baby, I'm the lucky one."
They kissed some more, then sat down together on the blanket. No sooner had they sat down had the waiter brought out burgers, fries, and sodas for them.
"I hope you don't mind me having ordered for you," Aiden said to her.
Hope shook her head. "Not at all! You know what I like." She gently rubbed his thigh. "In more ways than one," she murmured in his ear, causing him to blush.
"I will come back out in twenty minutes to collect your empty plates," the waiter told them.
"Thank you! Would it be possible to get a little container of chocolate sauce for the strawberries when you come back?" Aiden asked.
The waiter nodded. "Of course!"
Hope and Aiden both thanked him, then their waiter took off.
"It really is such a beautiful night out. Thank you so much for doing this for me," Hope said.
"I just wanted tonight to be special," Aiden assured her.
Hope took his hand and gently squeezed it. "Trust me, it is."
They smiled at each other and kissed, then ate their meals and made small talk.
The waiter came back out once they had finished eating, and he brought the chocolate sauce. Aiden thanked him and paid for the meal and tip in cash, then they were left alone again.
Aiden popped the Champaign cork and it flew over to the side.
Hope laughed, and placed the cork beside the bucket.
Aiden poured them each a glass and held his out to hers in a toast.
She held hers out to him.
"To us and our eternal love for each other. Is that too cheesy?" he asked.
Hope smiled and shook her head. "No. It's absolutely perfect," she said. "To us and our eternal love for each other."
They clinked glasses and drank up.
"Want one?" Aiden asked taking a strawberry and dipping it into the chocolate sauce. He held it to Hope's lips.
Hope ate it from his hand. She closed her eyes, and licked her lips. "Mm… Delicious!" She grinned. "Now it's your turn." She dipped a strawberry in chocolate and fed it to him.
He licked his lips as well. "Mm… So delicious!" he agreed.
They both ate two more each.
"Ugh! I know there are six more left, but I couldn't eat another bite!" Hope said.
Aiden shook his head. "Uh, uh! Me neither. It's okay. Our room has a fridge in it. We can save them and for later with the rest of the Champaign." He noticed Hope was writing something in the sand with her finger. He nodded toward it. "What's that?" He moved over closer to her and saw that she had drawn a heart in between two seashells with H+A written inside the heart. "And you say I'm the romantic one!" he gushed. He took out his phone and snapped a picture of it.
Hope grinned at him.
Aiden then stood up and took her hand. "Come on. Let's go for a walk along the shoreline."
Hope nodded. "All right." She stood up.
They had both already kicked their sandals off. As they headed to the shoreline hand-in-hand, Aiden squeezed the ring box in his pocket with his freehand. It was almost time.
~*This love came back to me.*~
Jonah was so excited! He made sure to comb his curls and dress in his best outfit he had brought to camp. He had even borrowed some of Theo's cologne! He had scarfed down his dinner in record time, and was now waiting by the canoes for Lauren to show up. She was already there, holding her chocolate pudding cup and spoon, just as he was holding his.
"Hi!" Lauren waved. "Are you ready?"
Jonah nodded. "So ready!"
Lauren laughed. "Cool."
Jonah noticed a small cooler in her hand. "What's in there?" he asked her.
"I sneaked us extra puddings and some mini containers of milk," she said with a wink.
Jonah grinned. "Awesome!"
They got into the canoe and together they rowed out to the middle of the lake, where they then stopped and ate their pudding cups.
"Lauren, I really want to thank you for giving me the time of day. No one else at school likes me other than my small group of friends. Heck, sometimes I don't even think my parents like me very much," Jonah said as he ate.
"Well, anyone who doesn't like you is just a jerk and they are missing out!" Lauren said. "I think you're the coolest boy I've ever met!" Lauren gushed.
Jonah smiled and blushed. "Really?"
Lauren nodded and grinned. "Really! You're different than all the other boys. I really like you, Jonah." She moved closer to him and brushed her lips against his ear. She then lowered her voice to a seductive purr. "I mean, I really like you." She ran her hand over his thigh.
"I've never kissed a girl before," Jonah whispered.
Lauren smiled. "Don't worry. It's not rocket science. Just close your eyes and let it happen," she purred.
Jonah closed his eyes.
Lauren smirked, then reached into the cooler. She then took out a water snake and held it up to his lips.
Jonah kissed it.
"Open your eyes," she purred as she took out her phone with her other hand.
Jonah opened his eyes and screamed when he saw the water snake right in front of his face. He moved back in a panic and the canoe began to shake.
Lauren burst out laughing, and took a picture of him. "What's the matter, Jonah? Didn't you like the kiss?" She pushed the snake toward him again and Jonah screamed again. He moved back even further, and fell into the water with a loud splash.
All the sudden, another canoe came over to them from behind. It held AJ, Jason, Becca, and Jake.
"Ha, ha! He fell for it!" AJ said.
Lauren grinned at Jonah who was struggling to stay afloat. "Say cheese!" she snapped another picture of him.
"I don't understand!" Jonah said, latching onto the side of the canoe. "I thought you liked me."
Lauren cackled. "Oh, please! As if I would ever like am ugly, fat, slob like you! I'm a gorgeous cheerleader for goodness sake!" She climbed into AJ, Jason, Becca, and Jake's canoe, and kissed Jason hard on the lips. "Jason's my man. Unlike you, he is incredibly hot and muscular and not a tub of lard like you!"
Jake laughed. "She was playing you the whole time, you fat loser! It was all leading up to this. She was going to make you fall for her and then bam! Humiliate you like the loser you are."
"We didn't know how exactly how we were going to humiliate you, but when Lauren overheard you telling Claire how afraid of snakes you were, we knew exactly what to do!" AJ explained.
Lauren grinned. "This lake has water snakes all over the place!"
Jonah quickly climbed back into his own canoe. He was crying. He was too traumatized by both the snake, and being played by Lauren to be able to stop himself from crying this time.
"Aw! We made the itty bitty baby cry!" AJ said in a baby voice.
Lauren snapped a picture. "I can't wait to post these pictures all over school when we return!"
They then took off toward their own camp.
"Goodbye, Loser! Don't let the water snakes get you!" Jason called out.
Jason, AJ, Jake, and Lauren all laughed, then Lauren and Jason made out until their canoe could no longer be seen by Jonah.
Jonah threw himself down onto his stomach in his canoe and sobbed. This time, he couldn't seem to stop.
~*This love came back to me.*~
After they had been walking along the shoreline for a bit, Aiden stopped Hope and made her face him. He then took both of her hands in his own.
She smiled at him. "What is it?"
"I want you to know that I meant what I said to your father. I love you more with every beat of my heart and breath that I take," Aiden began.
"I feel the same way about you," she said, pulling a hand out of his and gently stroking his cheek with the back of her hand.
"I know to say that I screwed up in the past would be the understatement of all understatements…" Aiden began.
Hope shook her head. "We already discussed this. No more talk of that night, all right?" she said gently.
Aiden nodded. "I just want you to know that I am going to spend the rest of my life making it up to you. Now, I know it's only been four months since we've gotten back together, but Hope, I love you. Now that we've finally gotten things back to the way they were before…when we were together the last time… I talked to your dad about something else that night we had dinner at his and Julie's."
Hope raised an eyebrow. "Oh? About what?"
"About me asking you to become my wife again," Aiden said.
Hope's expression was one of shock.
Aiden took out the ring box and opened it up as he got down on one knee.
Hope gasped, and covered her mouth.
"He says as long as it makes you happy, we have his blessing. And I love you more than life itself. So, Hope Williams Brady Jennings, will you do me the honor of becoming my wife again? Will you marry me…again?"
Hope had tears running down her cheeks.
"I hope those are happy tears," Aiden said with a smile.
Hope nodded. "They are. And yes! Yes, Aiden, I will marry you again." She held out her left ring finger.
"You've just made me the happiest guy to ever live!" Aiden said as he slipped the silver ring in the shape of a tulip on her finger. It was encrusted with diamonds.
Hope looked at it on her finger. "I love it so much! It's a tulip! It's so perfect for me!"
"Nothing but the best for my baby," Aiden said.
Hope pulled him in and kissed him passionately. She then rested her forehead against his and murmured, "Take me back to our room and make love to me, Mr. Jennings. Please?"
Aiden moaned. She didn't have to tell him twice!
He picked her up and carried her away from the shore.
She laughed. "We have to grab our stuff!"
He groaned. "Let's make this quick."
He gently set her down. They put their sandals back on, then gathered up the blanket, ice bucket holding the Champaign, chocolate, and strawberries, then they headed up to their hotel room, eager to celebrate their engagement.
~*This love came back to me.*~
Earlier, Lani had gone out and bought the gasoline she needed. She had paid in cash of course, and didn't get the cans all in the same place. She came down the stairs of the basement and spread the gasoline all around the basement. "This place is really going to blow!" Lani said with a laugh. She made sure not to get any gasoline near the stairway. After all, she didn't want to accidentally burn herself when she threw the match.
"Lani, please. Just leave my family out of this. All right?" Rafe asked.
Lani rolled her eyes. "If I did that, then you could die with some piece of mind that your family is okay." She narrowed her eyes. "You're going to suffer for rejecting me, and if that means seeing your family burn to ashes, then so be it!"
"You're insane! You know that, don't you?" Rafe asked. "You belong in a mental hospital!"
Lani rolled her eyes. "Please! I'm just tired of being rejected by men time and time again. It's time one of them pays for rejecting me! There's nothing wrong with a little payback, Rafe."
"There is when innocent people's lives are at stake!" Rafe snapped.
Lani shrugged. "Sometimes innocent people have to sacrifice themselves for the greater good." She splashed some gasoline over him.
Rafe coughed, for some had gotten in his mouth.
Lani rolled her eyes. "Oh, give me a break!" She walked over to the table and grabbed some duct tape. She cut off a piece and placed it over Rafe's mouth. She then cut off another piece and double layered it. "That ought to hold ya!" she said.
Rafe's phone buzzed in Lani's pocket. She took it out and looked at it. She smiled. "They're here."
She quickly texted back. Come on in and down to the basement. I need help with something.
She pressed send. She then looked at Rafe. "They're here. I guess this is goodbye. I'd love to say it was nice knowing you, Rafe, but it really wasn't." She kissed his cheek.
Rafe tried to scream, but it was muffled by the duct tape. He tried to break free, but he couldn't. The chair was too strong.
Lani quickly headed up the basement stairs. She then hid behind the open basement door so that she would be out of sight.
Eduardo and Dario came into the house.
"Why did he buy a house all the way out here when his job is back in Salem? It makes no sense!" Dario said.
"He hasn't been the same since Hope left him for Aiden. Take it easy on him. He probably just wants a place to get away from it all; to get away from her. It must be hard having to see her at work all the time and around town with that Aiden guy," Eduardo said.
"This must be the basement," Dario said as they got to the basement door. He sniffed. "Do you smell gasoline?"
Eduardo sniffed as well. "I do. It's very strong in this area. That's odd. Rafe?"
They headed down the basement stairs.
"What the hell?" Dario and Eduardo both asked when they apparently found Rafe shackled up in the chair with the tape over his mouth.
Rafe's muffled scream could be heard.
"Who did this to you?" Eduardo asked.
Lani moved like lightening. She took a matchbox out of her pants pocket and lit the match. She then tossed it down into the basement as far as she could throw it. It hit a nice puddle of gasoline about a foot away from Rafe's chair.
"Look out!" Dario yelled.
Lani quickly shut the door and locked it. She then took the can of gasoline she had on the main stairs of the house, and spilled some gasoline right outside the door of the basement. She then spread the gasoline all along the house. Finally, she stood in the doorway of the house and lit another match. She tossed it into the house causing the main part of the house to go up in flames.
She smiled as she heard screaming coming from the basement.
She shut the house door, then got in her car which she had hidden in the detached garage. Finally, she pulled out onto the road.
By the time she was out of the drive, the whole house started to go up in flames.
She drove for miles before stopping by a sewer. When he was sure no one was around to see, she dropped Rafe's skinny cell phone through the grates of the sewer, then got back into her car and headed back to Salem, laughing as she thought of the Hernandez men burning in the basement. They were probably dead by now she knew.
She smirked. "Justice has finally been served," she said to herself. She only hoped the fire got to them before the smoke inhalation killed them. After all what fun was a murder without making them suffer in the process?
~*This love came back to me.*~
Chase lie in bed that night. He hoped the night passed soon so that he could get home. After breakfast tomorrow, the campers parents were going to pick them up, then the councilors could go home on the bus they had ridden in on.
This whole time in camp, Chase had tried to think of what his mother had meant by saying that he had hurt her. For all he knew, it was just a meaningless dream. Then again, was there something he was subconsciously not remembering? Had he hurt his mother somehow and he just didn't remember? She had placed her hand over her heart in his dream when she told him that he had hurt her. Maybe it was an emotional thing.
Jonah came into the cabin. Chase was kind of annoyed. He had purposely skipped the s'mores and campfire to be alone to think.
"I didn't think you'd pass up on free s'mores," Chase quipped.
Jonah took off his shoes and began to dress for bed. "I'm not in the mood. Besides, I don't eat all the time! I'm not that fat!"
"Dude, chill! I didn't say you were fat. I just know you like s'mores, so I was just surprised is all. Relax!" Chase said.
Jonah finished getting ready for bed and crawled into bed. He didn't say a word for the longest time as they lie in the darkness. Then, he spoke. "Chase, my parents texted me earlier and said they will be late getting home tomorrow. I forgot to bring my house key. Do you think I could stay at your place until they get home?"
"Sure. No problem," Chase agreed.
"Your parents are away, right?" Jonah asked.
"Right!" Chase confirmed. "We can't throw any party's though, sadly. Hope is a cop. She has a way of finding things out. Besides, they will be home on Sunday and I don't feel like having to clean up a mess before she gets back."
"I always forget she's a cop. Does she keep a gun at home?" Jonah asked.
"Yeah. She has a couple of them. I think she keeps one at the station though," Chase replied.
"Where does she keep the one at home?" Jonah asked.
"In a locked box on top of our coat closet. Why?" Chase asked.
"No reason. Just curious. It must be nice to know she is prepared in case there is ever an intruder in the house," Jonah said.
Chase shrugged. "I never really thought about it, but yeah. I guess so."
"Goodnight, Chase. I'll see you in the morning," Jonah said.
"Goodnight, Jonah." Chase turned onto his side and closed his eyes, trying to think of how he could have hurt his mother, but falling asleep before he could think of anything.
~*This love came back to me.*~
Hope and Aiden lie in bed kissing and making love.
Aiden kissed her neck and she closed her eyes, running her fingers through his hair as he continued to kiss her neck and make love to her.
His lips then met with hers as they continued to share their love for each other.
Even after it was over, they continued to kiss, just loving the feeling of being in each other's arms.
Hope rested her head on his chest and examined her ring. "It's so beautiful. I love that it' a tulip! How did you ever find one like this?"
"I went to a jewelers in the square and told the jeweler a little bit about you and us. I showed her a picture of you, and she came up with this. It wasn't even on sale yet, but she knew it would be perfect for you. She brought it in from the back. As soon as she showed it to me, I knew it was the right ring for my love," Aiden explained. He nodded toward it. "Look on the inside."
Hope slid the ring off her finger and looked inside the band. She read the inscription out loud. "My love for you grows more every day." She looked at Aiden with happy tears in her eyes. "Oh Aiden, it's beautiful!"
"I had it specially inscribed. I thought it was a perfect for you, and perfect for this ring." He took the ring back from her and replaced it on her left ring finger. He then kissed the finger.
Hope pulled him in for a passionate kiss on the lips. She rested her forehead against his. "My love for you grows every day too. In fact, it just grew right now," she said.
"Show me how much it grew," he said quietly.
She moved so that she was now on top of him, his face between her hands. "You want me to show you how much my love for you just grew?" she asked softly, the look of desire and love flashing in her eyes.
Aiden nodded. "Yes show me how much your love for me just grew."
Hope moaned, and then kissed him passionately on the lips as she went to work at doing just that!
~*This love came back to me.*~
Chase was glad to be home. Camp wasn't his thing. It wasn't horrible, but it really hadn't taken his mind off things. In fact, it seemed to have made things worse. He was eager to be back in his own bed. He also wanted to be hypnotized to try to remember what he did to hurt his mother. Even if he couldn't get Marlena, he'd find another psychiatrist. He knew his parents didn't think he should speak to one, but he wanted to. In fact, he felt he needed to.
"It's dinnertime. Do you guys want to go out for pizza before we head home?" Ciara asked.
Claire nodded. "I'm down. Just let me text my parents and tell them I won't be home for dinner."
Theo nodded. "Same."
"I already assumed we'd be going for dinner, so my parents have already been texted," Joey said. "I texted them on the bus."
"What about you, Jonah? Are you going to join us?" Claire asked.
"Actually, I'm not feeling very well. I think I'm going to sit this one out," Jonah said. He turned to Chase. "Can I have your house key?"
Chase nodded. "Sure." He took it out of his pocket and handed it to him.
"Thanks!" Jonah said.
"Are you sure you don't want to join us? You barely touched your breakfast, and you didn't even get anything when the bus stopped at Burger King for lunch!" Claire said to him.
"I'm fine. Really. I probably just caught a stomach bug or virus from one of the campers," Jonah said. "I'll see you when you get back," Jonah said, holding the key up to Chase. "Thanks!" He then took off. It was only a ten-minute walk from the school (where the bus had dropped them off) to Chase's home.
"I'm worried about him. Did something happen at camp that we don't know about?" Ciara asked as they walked to the pizza place just down the road from the school. "He hasn't seemed himself since last evening."
"I don't think anything happened, but he hasn't been eating. That's so unlike him," Claire said.
He seemed a little down last night. He skipped the s'more's campfire thing. I thought that was unlike him," Chase said.
Joey nodded. "And he's been avoiding Lauren like the plague. It's really weird."
"Maybe he's been bitten by Rochelle, and she really is a vampire!" Theo said.
Claire rolled her eyes. "Don't tell me you're still on about that! If she's a vampire, then how can she be out in the daylight? Hm?"
Theo shrugged. "Maybe she is part human so she can still be in daylight."
Ciara rolled her eyes. "Lame."
~*This love came back to me.*~
Jonah used his key to get into Hope's house. He was sniffling as in his mind, he replayed Lauren's betrayal.
He set the key down and shut the door. He then went into the coat closet and found the lock box. He took it out. He set it on the coffee table then went into the garage. When he found a hammer, he came back out and smashed the lock box's lock. It broke open.
He then took the gun out and held it in his hand. Next, he headed up to Chase's room to see if he could find a piece of paper and a pen.
~*This love came back to me.*~
Chase didn't know why he had bothered coming along for pizza. He wasn't hungry either. Before they even ordered, he decided to just go home. "You know, I'm not feeling very well either suddenly. Maybe something really is going around! I'm just going to head back."
"Are you sure?" Ciara asked.
Chase nodded. "Sorry about that. I'll see you tomorrow or whenever." He then left the pizza place without even saying anything to the rest of his friends.
As he walked home, he kept trying to think back to the last day he remembered his mother being alive. He remembered playing with that shiny object he wasn't supposed to play with. He didn't know how to work it, but he sure had fun trying to figure out how to. His mommy was drinking and not paying attention. She wasn't even in the room. His daddy was working….
Chase thought about it the whole way home, but by the time he got home, he just couldn't clearly picture what he had in his hands.
He opened the door of the house…
~*This love came back to me.*~
Jonah hadn't known what to write, so he just kept it simple.
I'm sorry. Mom, Dad, I love you. Please don't blame yourselves. I'm just not happy in this life. I never have been. Maybe once I'm with Jesus and God I'll be happier. Ciara, Claire, Chase, Theo, and Joey, thank you for being the best friends I ever had. You gave me a chance when no one else would. You deserve a better friend than a big, fat loser like myself. I'm sorry. I love you guys. I hope to see you on the other side one day. Please remember me- Jonah.
Jonah set the note down on Chase's desk, and then he took Hope's gun and held it to his head. He cocked the gun…
~*This love came back to me.*~
Chase hadn't even had time to close the door when he heard it. It was loud—so loud!
Bang!
The sound vibrated in Chase's ears, and suddenly, the object in his mind became clear to him. It was a gun. He had been playing with a gun! It was Meredith's gun.
He remembered it all then.
His mother stormed toward him. "That is a gun!"
Chase was hardly paying attention as he continued trying to see what it did and how it worked. Then he heard a loud boom and saw his mother fall to the floor, the drink in her hand splashing to the ground.
She wasn't moving or talking anymore. There was a red liquid all over her and him. He was suddenly frightened, and started to cry.
Eventually Aiden came home from work. He looked at Chase, who was still sobbing. "What have you done?"
Chase remembered it all now. "I killed my mom," he said quietly. He sank down to the floor, placed his arms around his legs, and began rocking back and forth. "I killed my mom."
Just then, Ciara came running into the house. "Chase! I heard a gunshot! What happened?" She noticed the empty gun box on the coffee table. "Is that mom's gun box?"
"I killed my mom. I killed my mom. I killed my mom." Chase kept chanting it over and over as he rocked back and forth, back and forth, staring off into the distance.
"What are you talking about? Chase! Chase snap out of it! Where is mom's gun? Where is Jonah?" Ciara yell-asked.
"I killed my mom." Chase said, looking at her blankly.
Ciara shook her head, and ran up the stairs while Chase went back to chanting and rocking.
She looked through all the rooms, calling out Jonah's name but getting no response.
When she got to Chase's room, she peered in and screamed louder than she had ever screamed before in her life. Jonah lay on the bed, a bloody gash in his temple. Blood was all over the walls and the floor—not to mention all over his clothes. He loosely held Hope's gun in his hand.
Her eyes fell upon his suicide note, and she read it.
Sobbing, she picked up her phone and dialed 911.
"911 emergency. What can we assist you with?"
"It's my friend." Ciara sniffled. "I just found his body. He killed himself!" She then burst into tears as the 911 responder tried to get more information out of her.
She dropped her phone and sank down to the floor, grabbing her knees and sobbing uncontrollably.