Chapter 4
Okay, I said I'd do it.
I know, I know, I had just managed to agree to let Paul do whatever it is he wanted with me. The only thing is, I was pretty sure that he had no intention of sleeping with me-thank God. But, on the other hand, he was asking me to cheat on Jesse, something I had never even considered.
Except, of course, Paul was saying that if I didn't do what he said, Jesse and I would have to go through exactly what we went through before. Only this time I'd be gagged, so it wasn't like I could just order Jesse to stop. I mean, look, that whole experience had shaken Jesse just as much as it had shaken me. I really didn't want to put Jesse through that again.
"So, what?" I asked when Paul had finished explaining his proposition. "I agree to let you do this, and you let me live?" It wasn't exactly the greatest of choices, let me tell you.
Paul actually laughed at that. I felt my stomach churning. "Not quite. I still plan to kill you, don't worry about that. But this way your precious Jesse won't have to be apart of it." He leaned back in his chair, crossing his arms over his chest. "And this way you get to go home."
That surprised me. I wasn't sure what exactly was going through Paul's mind right then, because the minute I got out of there, I was planning on going directly to the police.
"What?" I demanded.
"You can go home." Paul shook his head. "Everyone's so sure that I'm dead, no one will believe you if you try to tell them. But if do try to tell someone, well, then I'll have to kill you a lot sooner."
I stared at him. There was, I soon found out, no way out of it. If I told him that I wasn't going to go along with his little plan, he'd subject me to the worst possible death that I could think of-at the reluctant hands of the guy I loved. But if I did go along with it, well, then maybe I could find a way out of it, while staying alive.
It was probably the worst mistake of my life.
*** Meanwhile.
Jesse sat in Susannah's window seat, reading "A Tale of Two Cities" by Charles Dickens. It was, as Susannah had pointed out to him the day before when he'd borrowed the book, close to the time when he had lived.
It was just as he was getting near the end when someone appeared in front of him.
Jesse looked up to see a girl, probably no older than Susannah, standing before him, looking around the room nervously, as though she were afraid that someone might find her there.
"Are-Are you Hector de Silva?" the girl asked.
"Yes," Jesse said, wondering why on Earth the ghost of a young girl would be looking for him, instead of Susannah. She was, after all, the mediator.
"I.um.listen, your girlfriend, Suze, she's in a lot of trouble."
Jesse was on his feet in a moment. Really, why did Susannah always need to get herself into trouble? "What happened?" he demanded.
The girl swallowed. Jesse realized he sounded more than a bit forceful, but he didn't have time to care at the moment.
"Well, Paul, he took her to the forest preserve, and he tied her up in this- "
"What?" Jesse grabbed the girl by the shoulders. "Paul Slater? Paul Slater has Susannah?"
The girl nodded.
"But Paul is dead," Jesse said, sounding far more truthful than he really was. In his mind, he was remembering the last moments in the burning warehouse, when he'd seen Paul escape. He hadn't mentioned it to Susannah because he knew, or at least he thought, that she was better off not knowing the truth.
"No, he's still alive," the girl insisted. "And he's going to kill her." Before the words were out of her mouth, Jesse was already trying to think of places in the forest preserve that Paul might take Susannah.
Before he could come up with one, the girl said, "I can take you there."
Which was why Jesse found himself at the old abandoned ranger station. He went through the door first, followed by the girl-he later found out her name was Sarah-and found Susannah lying, asleep-he hoped-on the cot.
She wasn't alone.
*** As it turned out, Paul wouldn't let me out of the station until the next day. Since it was a Friday, he just took out a cell phone-where he got one, I don't know-and ordered me to call my mom and tell her I was spending the night at CeeCee's.
After awhile, I kind of fell asleep-Paul had bound my feet with more cord that he'd procured from the backseat of the truck so I couldn't go anywhere- though how I managed to do that with a psychotic killer in the room, God only knows.
When I woke up, however, things were much different than what I'd expected. For one thing, I was wearing a nightgown-once again, I don't know where Paul got one-that had somehow found its way onto me while I was asleep. I shuddered to think how it got there, and I didn't like any of the ideas that came to mind. Also, my hands and feet had been untied. Paul was sitting on the bed beside me, his body far too close to mine if you asked me.
Oh, and yeah, Jesse was there.
This, you can imagine, wasn't exactly what I wanted to see. I mean, it was bad enough that I'd agreed to, let's face it, cheat on Jesse, but if you think about it, I really didn't have any other choice. But now Jesse had to show up and see me in bed-in a nightgown, no less, since he only ever saw me in boxers and a t-shirt when I went to bed-with his mortal enemy.
Not that anything happened. At least, not as far as I knew of, anyway. But you could tell by the look on his face that Jesse thought just that. That something had happened between Paul and me, I mean.
"Slater," Jesse said in a voice that could definitely not be described as friendly.
Paul just regarded Jesse coolly. "Nice to see you again, Jesse," he said smiling. He reached back and pulled me up alongside him, slipping his arm around my waist. I felt sick to my stomach. He looked at something by the door and smiled. "Sarah," he said casually.
I turned to see a girl, or rather, her ghost, about my age with big brown eyes and jet black hair. She looked like she wanted to run for it just then, but she stayed put. It took me a minute to realize where I recognized her from. I'd seen her picture at Detective Arnold's office, when he'd shown me all that stuff about the girls Paul had murdered.
From what I remembered about her file, her name was Sarah Willis, and she'd been found strangled to death in her bedroom. I had no doubt who'd killed her and why.
Jesse got my attention just then by saying, "What have you done to her?"
I turned to face Jesse. I saw that there was a murderous look in his dark eyes, and I wasn't quite sure if it was solely directed at Paul. I tried to sound indignant, after all, I was trying to act like I wanted Paul to touch me-not, I hoped, that he had in any way that might be damaging to my virtue. If it had, I'd seriously have to consider killing Paul myself. "He didn't do anything to me," I said, swallowing. "Nothing that I didn't want him to do, anyway." I could feel Paul grinning at me, but all I could see was Jesse, and the way the look on his face went from one that was murderous to one that I could only describe as betrayed. My heart was in my throat as I looked up at him. I'd betrayed Jesse, I realized. I hadn't wanted too, but I had. I knew that when this was all over-if it was ever over-I'd have a lot of explaining to do.
Jesse took a step forward. "Susannah," he said in a voice that I'd never heard him use before.
I swallowed again, glancing at Paul.
He cleared his throat. "Look, Jesse, Suze is here only because she wants to be," he informed Jesse. "If she wants to leave, she can." He squeezed me a bit. I bit my lip to keep from cringing. "I'm not forcing her to do anything."
Yeah, right, I thought.
Jesse didn't look convinced. "You," he said to Paul, "can make her do anything you want." His eyes flashed.
Paul smiled. "Fine, have it your way. I'll prove it to you." He turned to look down at me. My heart pounded as I waited for him to speak. "Suze," he said in his mind-control voice, "anything that I've ordered you to do up to this point, forget it." It was actually kind of funny if you think about it.
Except then, I really did forget everything he'd ever forced me to do. I'm not kidding; it was like someone had just hit the delete button or something on those memories. I couldn't even remember when he'd done it.
Luckily for me, Paul hadn't ordered me to forget about our deal. Nor had he ordered me-at least, not using mind-control-to not tell anyone that he was alive.
But now, there was nothing I could point to and say "This is what Paul did to me." And the only person who would probably tell me looked just then like I'd snapped his heart in two.
I knew how he felt. I'd done exactly the same thing to myself.
Just as all of this was sinking in, Paul leaned down and kissed me. Seriously, he kissed me full on the lips. And yeah, he was a good kisser, but I still felt like I wanted to throw up. But despite that fact, I had to kiss him back. That was the deal, anyway.
When we finally broke apart-my lips fully battered and bruised-I realized that Jesse was gone. And so, I noticed, was Sarah Willis.
I turned on Paul then. He was just sitting there, grinning. I glared at him. "You little-"
Paul held up a hand to silence me. "Now, now, Suze, none of that. You did, after all, agree to this."
He had a point there. But it didn't exactly make me feel any less crummy.
Okay, I said I'd do it.
I know, I know, I had just managed to agree to let Paul do whatever it is he wanted with me. The only thing is, I was pretty sure that he had no intention of sleeping with me-thank God. But, on the other hand, he was asking me to cheat on Jesse, something I had never even considered.
Except, of course, Paul was saying that if I didn't do what he said, Jesse and I would have to go through exactly what we went through before. Only this time I'd be gagged, so it wasn't like I could just order Jesse to stop. I mean, look, that whole experience had shaken Jesse just as much as it had shaken me. I really didn't want to put Jesse through that again.
"So, what?" I asked when Paul had finished explaining his proposition. "I agree to let you do this, and you let me live?" It wasn't exactly the greatest of choices, let me tell you.
Paul actually laughed at that. I felt my stomach churning. "Not quite. I still plan to kill you, don't worry about that. But this way your precious Jesse won't have to be apart of it." He leaned back in his chair, crossing his arms over his chest. "And this way you get to go home."
That surprised me. I wasn't sure what exactly was going through Paul's mind right then, because the minute I got out of there, I was planning on going directly to the police.
"What?" I demanded.
"You can go home." Paul shook his head. "Everyone's so sure that I'm dead, no one will believe you if you try to tell them. But if do try to tell someone, well, then I'll have to kill you a lot sooner."
I stared at him. There was, I soon found out, no way out of it. If I told him that I wasn't going to go along with his little plan, he'd subject me to the worst possible death that I could think of-at the reluctant hands of the guy I loved. But if I did go along with it, well, then maybe I could find a way out of it, while staying alive.
It was probably the worst mistake of my life.
*** Meanwhile.
Jesse sat in Susannah's window seat, reading "A Tale of Two Cities" by Charles Dickens. It was, as Susannah had pointed out to him the day before when he'd borrowed the book, close to the time when he had lived.
It was just as he was getting near the end when someone appeared in front of him.
Jesse looked up to see a girl, probably no older than Susannah, standing before him, looking around the room nervously, as though she were afraid that someone might find her there.
"Are-Are you Hector de Silva?" the girl asked.
"Yes," Jesse said, wondering why on Earth the ghost of a young girl would be looking for him, instead of Susannah. She was, after all, the mediator.
"I.um.listen, your girlfriend, Suze, she's in a lot of trouble."
Jesse was on his feet in a moment. Really, why did Susannah always need to get herself into trouble? "What happened?" he demanded.
The girl swallowed. Jesse realized he sounded more than a bit forceful, but he didn't have time to care at the moment.
"Well, Paul, he took her to the forest preserve, and he tied her up in this- "
"What?" Jesse grabbed the girl by the shoulders. "Paul Slater? Paul Slater has Susannah?"
The girl nodded.
"But Paul is dead," Jesse said, sounding far more truthful than he really was. In his mind, he was remembering the last moments in the burning warehouse, when he'd seen Paul escape. He hadn't mentioned it to Susannah because he knew, or at least he thought, that she was better off not knowing the truth.
"No, he's still alive," the girl insisted. "And he's going to kill her." Before the words were out of her mouth, Jesse was already trying to think of places in the forest preserve that Paul might take Susannah.
Before he could come up with one, the girl said, "I can take you there."
Which was why Jesse found himself at the old abandoned ranger station. He went through the door first, followed by the girl-he later found out her name was Sarah-and found Susannah lying, asleep-he hoped-on the cot.
She wasn't alone.
*** As it turned out, Paul wouldn't let me out of the station until the next day. Since it was a Friday, he just took out a cell phone-where he got one, I don't know-and ordered me to call my mom and tell her I was spending the night at CeeCee's.
After awhile, I kind of fell asleep-Paul had bound my feet with more cord that he'd procured from the backseat of the truck so I couldn't go anywhere- though how I managed to do that with a psychotic killer in the room, God only knows.
When I woke up, however, things were much different than what I'd expected. For one thing, I was wearing a nightgown-once again, I don't know where Paul got one-that had somehow found its way onto me while I was asleep. I shuddered to think how it got there, and I didn't like any of the ideas that came to mind. Also, my hands and feet had been untied. Paul was sitting on the bed beside me, his body far too close to mine if you asked me.
Oh, and yeah, Jesse was there.
This, you can imagine, wasn't exactly what I wanted to see. I mean, it was bad enough that I'd agreed to, let's face it, cheat on Jesse, but if you think about it, I really didn't have any other choice. But now Jesse had to show up and see me in bed-in a nightgown, no less, since he only ever saw me in boxers and a t-shirt when I went to bed-with his mortal enemy.
Not that anything happened. At least, not as far as I knew of, anyway. But you could tell by the look on his face that Jesse thought just that. That something had happened between Paul and me, I mean.
"Slater," Jesse said in a voice that could definitely not be described as friendly.
Paul just regarded Jesse coolly. "Nice to see you again, Jesse," he said smiling. He reached back and pulled me up alongside him, slipping his arm around my waist. I felt sick to my stomach. He looked at something by the door and smiled. "Sarah," he said casually.
I turned to see a girl, or rather, her ghost, about my age with big brown eyes and jet black hair. She looked like she wanted to run for it just then, but she stayed put. It took me a minute to realize where I recognized her from. I'd seen her picture at Detective Arnold's office, when he'd shown me all that stuff about the girls Paul had murdered.
From what I remembered about her file, her name was Sarah Willis, and she'd been found strangled to death in her bedroom. I had no doubt who'd killed her and why.
Jesse got my attention just then by saying, "What have you done to her?"
I turned to face Jesse. I saw that there was a murderous look in his dark eyes, and I wasn't quite sure if it was solely directed at Paul. I tried to sound indignant, after all, I was trying to act like I wanted Paul to touch me-not, I hoped, that he had in any way that might be damaging to my virtue. If it had, I'd seriously have to consider killing Paul myself. "He didn't do anything to me," I said, swallowing. "Nothing that I didn't want him to do, anyway." I could feel Paul grinning at me, but all I could see was Jesse, and the way the look on his face went from one that was murderous to one that I could only describe as betrayed. My heart was in my throat as I looked up at him. I'd betrayed Jesse, I realized. I hadn't wanted too, but I had. I knew that when this was all over-if it was ever over-I'd have a lot of explaining to do.
Jesse took a step forward. "Susannah," he said in a voice that I'd never heard him use before.
I swallowed again, glancing at Paul.
He cleared his throat. "Look, Jesse, Suze is here only because she wants to be," he informed Jesse. "If she wants to leave, she can." He squeezed me a bit. I bit my lip to keep from cringing. "I'm not forcing her to do anything."
Yeah, right, I thought.
Jesse didn't look convinced. "You," he said to Paul, "can make her do anything you want." His eyes flashed.
Paul smiled. "Fine, have it your way. I'll prove it to you." He turned to look down at me. My heart pounded as I waited for him to speak. "Suze," he said in his mind-control voice, "anything that I've ordered you to do up to this point, forget it." It was actually kind of funny if you think about it.
Except then, I really did forget everything he'd ever forced me to do. I'm not kidding; it was like someone had just hit the delete button or something on those memories. I couldn't even remember when he'd done it.
Luckily for me, Paul hadn't ordered me to forget about our deal. Nor had he ordered me-at least, not using mind-control-to not tell anyone that he was alive.
But now, there was nothing I could point to and say "This is what Paul did to me." And the only person who would probably tell me looked just then like I'd snapped his heart in two.
I knew how he felt. I'd done exactly the same thing to myself.
Just as all of this was sinking in, Paul leaned down and kissed me. Seriously, he kissed me full on the lips. And yeah, he was a good kisser, but I still felt like I wanted to throw up. But despite that fact, I had to kiss him back. That was the deal, anyway.
When we finally broke apart-my lips fully battered and bruised-I realized that Jesse was gone. And so, I noticed, was Sarah Willis.
I turned on Paul then. He was just sitting there, grinning. I glared at him. "You little-"
Paul held up a hand to silence me. "Now, now, Suze, none of that. You did, after all, agree to this."
He had a point there. But it didn't exactly make me feel any less crummy.