Banshee Song Book One

Chapter Thirty

Chloe slowly blinked open her eyes and wondered for a moment where she was. Then she realized that she was still in the Jeep with Brady. The dashboard clock showed 2:00 AM. Chloe stretched and yawned tiredly.

"Oh, you're finally awake, I see." Brady smiled at her, his eyes trained on the dark freeway before them.

"Yeah, I don't remember falling asleep, though." She yawned again, growing more alert.

"Yeah, well I do. You've been snoring for the last three hours." He cracked.

Chloe violently wished for a pillow to smack him over the head with. "I do NOT snore!" she cried vehemently.

"Tell THAT to the rattling windows." He quipped back. He saw her scowling face and crossed arms. "I'm just kidding. You didn't snore THAT loudly. It was actually kind of cute."

Chloe softened despite herself.

"Anyway, did you sleep okay?" he asked with a concerned tint to his voice. While she slept she had twitched a few times, apparently caught in a dream. She had moaned softly and Brady wondered if she was having a nightmare. Then suddenly it was over.

"I slept great. There's just something about riding in a car on the highway that makes me sooo sleepy. But I think I dreamt about something. But I can't remember what it was. It was kind of disturbing. Not that that's unusual, or anything."

Brady nodded silently. Chloe had had horribly vivid dreams following her traumatic experience at Christmas and even though the dreams were less frequent, he knew that she still had them occasionally. He reached over to gently grasp her hand.

"It will get better." He told her softly.

"I know." Chloe gazed out the window at the dark world outside. Trees bathed in moonlight flew past in a blur. She craned her neck back to look up at the clear sky. The stars twinkled down on her as if to say "hello!" A lighted sign went past that read "Welcome to Pennsylvania."

"Wow." Chloe remarked. "We've covered quite a distance."

"Yeah," Brady sleepily replied. "We've only got about five hours to go." He yawned deeply and shifted in his seat.

Chloe grinned at her sleepy boyfriend. "Do you want me to drive for awhile?" She asked seriously.

He cocked an eyebrow. "You? Drive MY Jeep? I don't think so."

"What? I'm a good driver."

"And how would you know that? I can count on ONE hand the number of times you've driven a car."

Chloe slumped in her seat, a slight pout to her full lips. "I can't believe you don't trust me to drive your car." She said sullenly.

He looked at her seriously and then turned his gaze back to the road. "It's not you I don't trust." He said softly. "Chloe, there are some crazy, dangerous people out on these roads. If something were to happen, I at least have more driving experience. It's not about you, okay?" He kept his eyes firmly on the road and with one hand gently caressed Chloe's cheek.

She smiled at his puppy dog expression and brightened. "Okay." She chuckled when a hot red sports car blew past them in the passing lane. "You sure don't drive like other guys your age."

"What do you mean?" he asked as he checked his rear view mirror.

She motioned at the sports car that was now quickly leaving them in its wake. "Could you BE driving any slower? My MOM drives faster than you." She quipped.

"I'll have you know that I am going FIVE miles above the speed limit." He countered huffily.

"That's my point. Most guys go MUCH faster. I mean, Phillip drove like a maniac."

"Yeah, well that's because he IS a maniac." Brady smiled. He then grew serious. "Besides, MOST guys don't have the most precious thing in the world riding with them in the passenger seat. I'm willing to drive a little slower if it means your safety."

Chloe's heart melted in her chest at his sincere words. "Brady." she sighed and placed her hand on his knee. She turned her wide blue eyes toward him. "You know I was just kidding, right?"

He smiled his wide Brady Black grin. "Of course. Listen, we'll stop at this next rest stop and I'll get some more caffeine to keep me awake."

They pulled into the well-lighted parking lot and exited the Jeep, locking the doors behind them. The men and women's restrooms were located in separate buildings so Brady walked her to the ladies' room before heading over to the men's side.

After seeing to her body's needs, she washed her hands and then her face. She stood looking at her face in the mirror and tried to recall her strange dream. She seemed to remember her foster father's nightmare face, laughing at her, pointing a gun at her. She also remembered trying to swim in a heavy, dark liquid but a heavy weight kept pulling her down. Chloe shuddered and cleared her mind of the strange visions.

She gasped when suddenly the lights in the restroom went out. She was bathed in complete, suffocating blackness.

"Hello?" she called out, believing a maintenance worker must have accidentally shut off the lights. "There's someone in here!"

"Yes, there is." A strange voice whispered behind her. Chloe whirled to react only to have a gloved hand clamp down over her mouth. She felt a sharp knifepoint press into her throat and a hot breath on her neck.

"Do what I say and you won't get hurt." The disembodied voice whispered into her ear.

Chloe was paralyzed by fear, remembering so many times with her foster father, when he raped her repeatedly. But as quickly as the fear had washed over her, she remembered her self-defense training and immediately took action. The complete absence of light did not hamper her fighting one bit as she grabbed both of the attacker's wrists and twisted out of his grasp.

"BRADY!" she yelled as soon as her mouth was free. She maintained her hold on his wrists and bent them backwards, causing him to drop the knife and gasp in pain. She then tugged on his arms, pulling him forward and down while simultaneously bringing her knee up to land hard against his face. A spinning roundhouse finished the job and Brady rushed in the now lighted bathroom to find Chloe standing over her would-be attacker with a satisfied smirk on her face.

He looked at the unconscious man on the floor and back at Chloe. "Are you okay?" She nodded simply. She was smiling and shaking at the same time. "We should probably get out of here. What should we do about him?" Brady asked.

They finally decided to simply leave him there. Brady hated the idea of the bastard getting away with what he had tried to do, but Chloe just wanted to get away from there as quickly as possible. She didn't want to worry about pressing charges and all of the extra time that it would require.

Brady looked over at his silent passenger with concern. "Are you sure you're okay?"

Chloe smiled back at him. "Actually, I'm feeling pretty good. When he first grabbed me, I was instantly reminded of Dr. Moore, and I couldn't move from the fear that I felt. But then my fighting instincts just took over and the fear vanished." Her smile widened in a proud grin. "I kicked his butt!"

Brady looked at her proudly and grinned also. "Yeah you did. I'm proud of you." He glanced down at the clock. "You know, suddenly I am wide awake."

He clicked on the radio and surfed through the stations before finally landing on a station playing a soft love song. He began to sing along, softly at first and then growing to fill the vehicle. They roared down the highway with the windows down and the cool night air blowing through their hair.

Chloe breathed deeply and closed her eyes. She listened contently to Brady's soothing lullaby, feeling all of her earlier fear and tension dissipate. Her eyelids grew heavy from the rhythmic beating of the tires on the highway and from the rich music floating in the air. Before she knew it she was asleep once again. This time she dreamed of a time long ago where another man had once sung to her and claimed her heart.









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