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/Flashback/
Chapter 2: Nightmares
I've never noticed all the little interesting grooves on my ceiling. There were so many…Little swirls, dots and whatnot. It's funny when you think about it…I mean, why would anyone build a rough ceiling? It makes it so much harder to paint…
Don't ask me why I was analyzing my bedroom ceiling. I guess it's because when ever I tried to think about somethingelse anything else…I thought about the one thing that I didn't want to think about any more. It just wouldn't go away.
So here I was forcing myself to focus on my stupid, plain ceiling. How freakin' pathetic. I had hit rock bottom.
Wow Suze Simon, congratulations, you've finally managed to hit an all time low. Running away from your own mind; now that's lame.
The insanely loud beeping of my alarm clock made me jump. 5:45 flashed into my face.
Shooting my hand out I turned it off as I closed my eyes and somehow managed to sink deeper into my pillows. I swear the reaction was instantaneous. The second my eye lashes hit my cheeks the memories came rushing through my mind. It was like some mini version of the old sadistic Paul was in my head hitting replay in slow motion over and over again.
And the madness would Not STOP.
/Anger quickly faded into fear as I fell to my knees next to him. 'Jesse?' I clasped one of his large hands in both of mine. 'Please, tell me what's going on…'
Haunted pools of dark brown rose to gaze up at my own troubled emerald eyes. 'Susannah,' Jesse seemed breathless, 'you can't leave…' My own breath caught when I saw more tears spill from his eyes…/
I blinked hazily as the bell rang. Damn, late again. I really should start catching up on all that sleep I've been missing.
Just as I was reaching my classroom, I saw Sister Ernestine rounding the corner. I froze and pinned myself up against the wall praying that she wouldn't see me. Yea, as if I would just disappear into the wall. Real smart Simon. I swear this Jesse thing was really messing with me. Suddenly, as if someone had heard my prayer, Sister Ernestine turned around and started yelling at some sophomore. I breathed a sigh of relief. Ha! She hadn't seen me. I slyly slipped into my homeroom, snuck into my seat, and began rejoic--
'Susannah Simon!' Blast, foiled again! 'Your presence is requested by Father Dominic in the Guidance office.' VICTORY IS MINE! No late slips and a ticket out of class.
Y'know, you've gotta love Father D. I swear it's like he knows that I need to talk to him.
Feeling eyes staring at the back of my head, I turned around to CeeCee's questioning gaze. I plastered an innocent smile on my face and winked. An, "I'll explain later," look.
She smiled while Adam managed to paint the most puzzled face I've ever seen.
Ha, a new record.
Oops, it seemed Sister Ernestine was getting impatient. She was tapping her heel and everything. You know...that loud nunny high-heel tap...Have I ever mentioned that Catholic school is way over-rated? Those nuns can be scary...
Anyways!
I smiled brightly as I passed her.
Okay, so it was more of a taunting gesture than a polite smile. A, "Ha, you can't get me in trouble!" smirk.
I casually strolled down to the office, smiled at the secretaries and looked over at Father Dominic's office door which, as always, was in his warm, welcoming way...
...Closed?
That's odd. Must have slipped his mind as he walked in.
Well, I guess I'll just knock...
After all, I needed Father Dom's help with the whole Jesse situation. And if he was having an important conversation or something with another student and I just came barging in, he might get mad at me and not listen to anything I have to say.
Not that a PRIEST such as Father Dominic would ever blow off a student in need...
I mean, the horror.
I froze, my hand a nanometer away from the wood (err, veneer) of his office door. It seemed that Father D was indeed involved in what seemed to be a serious conversation.
Uh-oh. Someone must be in trouble...I turned back around. Not really polite to just interrupt something like that. Like I said, it sounded like serious stuff, and I'm not that rude.
I looked around me for some...guidance, but both secretaries had gone MIA.
Hooray for the empty chair next to Father D's office! ...Yay...
I'm almost positive I've mentioned that I'm impatient...But still, that's no excuse to go busting down doors like some...Ghostbuster or something. Although, if you think about it, that's kind of what I am, y'know? I mean, sure, I'm missing the pint-sized nuclear reactor strapped to my back. Oh, and those...lovely gray overalls.
I'm glad I'm not really a Ghostbuster.
Oh Jeez, I should never be left to my own thoughts for this long...
Bored, I looked around the office. It was kind of...colorful in here...I mean, wow. It's almost too bright. I mean, sure, it's nice to have little paintings and whatnot on the walls to attract the little ones and not scare them off from the terribly plain and awful guidance office of infinite boredom...
But they just went a little overboard. Now they've managed to scare off the older students. I mean really...that yellow is burning off my retinas. I'm going blind I tell you...BLIND!
Okay people, cut me some slack. I'm trying to keep myself from eavesdropping. It's a bad habit that I've been trying to break. And right now, it's a more than tempting idea. It's all ajar and non-soundproof and...It's just begging for me to drop some eaves!
Whoa. Back up there, Samwise... "drop some eaves," ? I swear, I'm losing it. Way too much Lord of the Rings...
WAIT A SECOND!
PAUSE! and REWIND! Not eavesdropping seemed like a good idea till I heard my name. Who in the world was Father D talking to about ME? Sweet, innocent, little old me?
Now I was standing with my ear practically shoved against the door. If the conversation was about me, then I have every right to listen.
That's my logic anyway; it makes sense to me.
Maybe it was one of the dwarves...Maybe I should be in the room too. Maybe something happened to mom or Andy!
Suddenly, I started getting nervous. Until I heard a certain someone's voice.
An unmistakable voice...
Jesse's voice.
'I...Father, I can't seem to piece together the meaning, though it seems so clear...I should understand, I know that I should. But I can not...'
...Looks like Jesse got a head start. No wonder Father Dom called me down before I got a chance to get to him.
'Perhaps, Jesse, you are too close to the situation. Maybe you should try, hard as it may seem, to detach yourself from it.'
'How can I do something like that when this is so close to my heart? Nombre de dios, Father, she is my life, the air around me! She sustains me.
'...I mean, I can finally be together with Susannah, really be together, and now I'm so afraid I'm going to lose her...' He sounded, dead. Void of life; that was the only way I could describe it.
'I can't lose her.'
My hand clutched the doorknob tightly as my heart constricted in my chest. Well, this was a side of Jesse that I have never seen before…I don't know what to do. Should I just walk in and risk Jesse and Father Dom clamming up to "protect" me? Or should I sit out here and listen, viewing this as an opportunity to finally find out what's been up with Jesse?
Father D's voice seemed to answer my question for me. 'Jesse, does Susannah know about any of this?' I heard Father D sigh; Jesse must have given some sort of silent reply. 'Well then, maybe it's best that we keep it that way for now...'
'But Fath-'
'No, Jesse, hear me out on this. You know how Susannah can get. She will undoubtedly try to figure everything out for herself and - if indeed this dream means what you fear it means - she could get seriously injured.'
I was seething in silent fury. I couldn't believe the pair of them! And if he seriously had no intention of telling me what was going on, then what was the point of calling me out of class in the first place?
'Alright, Jesse. Let's go through this again. Explain the dream to me one more time.'
'Very well,' Jesse sounded reluctant. 'When it begins, Susannah and I are walking along a dark road, lit only by the moon, on a clear night. There is not a star in the sky. We walk back to her house and go up to her room. We sit down on her bed together as I hold her in my arms.'
I blushed. I cannot believe he just said that to Father Dom.
'All of a sudden, there is a terrible shrieking noise and the roof of the house tears off, revealing the night sky. But it is different now. Three bright stars light up the entire sky. But they are no normal stars. They are blood red, and each one is ringed by a circle of white fire. Unexpectedly, I felt Susannah leave my arms. When I look back down to assure myself that she is alright, she is missing. I search the entire house, but I cannot find her anywhere...' Jesse stopped suddenly.
The insanely loud ticking of the clock was the only sound in the room.
Father Dom broke the silence, 'Jesse, I know this is difficult but--' He broke off, 'How are you so sure that this means something terrible is going to happen to Susannah?'
Somehow, that seemed like a more appropriate question. I mean, nothing sounded all that bad. Not yet, anyway.
'I ended up running into an abandoned building to find her lying on the floor. Her blood...her blood is everywhere. All over her. All over me...Dios, I'm covered in her blood...' I could practically see him running a hand through his hair, 'I fall to my knees next to her and when she reaches out to grab me, her hand slips right through me, as if I were a ghost again. Except...this time she can't touch me. She is dying in my arms. Then she fades away completely, but her blood remains. Deep, dark marks that stain the walls and floor. I can hear her calling out my name, but I cannot do anything to help her.
'I can't reach her...'
'And last night?'
'We saw the same three stars on the beach last night.'
That was the last thing I heard, because, suddenly, someone was grabbing me by my wrist and pulling me from the guidance office. I was totally clueless as to what was happening. I tried to protest but for some reason my mouth wouldn't form coherent words.
'Stop it! Let me go! I need to hear the rest of that conversation!' Oops. Was that me? Oh jeez, I'm in trouble now...
'Suze, be quiet.'
Well THAT'S rude!
I opened my mouth to speak those very words, but before they had a chance to even leave my mouth, a hand clamped over it. A warm hand. A very soft, warm hand... A very soft, warm, clammy hand...
Ew...
I jerked away and found a pair of tender, blue eyes focusing on my face... Paul's eyes.
...Wait a minute...
Paul's eyes aren't supposed to be tender. They're supposed to be...
Icy. Yeah, that's the word; icy.
Y'know: cold, heartless, unfeeling, stony eyes.
Oh yea - that's right - Paul was "reformed".
Okay...THAT rolls right off the tongue.
Paul smiled at me teasingly, 'Jeez, you'd think that I was raping you or something.'
Ha! Wouldn't be the first time! 'Paul, as much as I'd love to sit idly by and chat with you, I'm afraid that - WHOOPS - there's a conversación muy importante that I'm missing right now. So, adios amigo.'
Paul started laughing at me. 'Attempting to learn Spanish?'
Blushing, I commented sarcastically, 'My, aren't you ever the observant one?' I started to spin around in order to walk back toward the guidance office but Paul's hand clamping down on my shoulder stopped me. I sighed 'Paul, can you make this quick? I really have to get back to the guidance office…' Suddenly, I felt completely drained. I wonder if this is how Jesse feels…
Paul's teasing smile dropped from his face, 'I saw Rico--' I shot him a nasty look. He swallowed, '--Jesse walk in. He didn't look too good. When I saw him meeting with Dominic I figured something must be up. So, I went to Dom's secretary and told her the he had asked me to tell her to call you down. I thought that you might want to know that de Silva was here…'
I felt a sudden rush of gratitude toward Paul. Then the guilt kicked in. 'Thanks. Sorry that I snapped. But how's this any of your business?' I raised an eyebrow.
'Oh come on, Suze.' Paul remarked smugly, 'Since when aren't you my business?'
I couldn't help myself; I laughed, 'Cute.'
'So when are you going to tell me what's going on?'
I sighed. 'I'm not.'
Paul's eyes flashed. 'You still don't trust me?' It was a statement more than a question. 'God Suze, how many times do I have to say that I'm sorry? That I was wrong? I don't know what else I have to do to get you to believe me!'
I blinked. What the hell just happened? 'What are you talking about? This has nothing to do with trusting you…it's just that I don't know what's going on.'
He sounded skeptical, 'Yea, right.'
I laughed, 'Wow, hypocrite, talk about trusting each other! I'm serious Paul. I really have no idea what's going on. I wish I did, but no one wants to include me in on the conversation.'
The frustration in my voice must have convinced him. 'Sorry.' He practically grumbled it under his breath.
'I'm sorry, I couldn't really catch that. Could you maybe say it louder?'
He grinned, 'Shut up, Suze.'
Right then a teacher decided to pop his head out of a nearby classroom. 'Hey, do you kids realize that there are actually classes going on right now? At this exact moment?' I blinked. He smiled at me. 'Yea, that's shocking isn't it? I mean, who would have the gall to teach a class at school? Speaking of which, shouldn't you two actually be in class right now?'
Thank god for Paul, because at the moment I was completely dumbfounded. I kept thinking, "Gotta love a teacher with a good sense of humor!"
'Actually, we're waiting for Father Dominic to call us into his office.'
The teacher nodded. 'And why are you not waiting inside the guidance office?'
'Because! The secretaries kicked us out in order to perform an important…umm…' Way to go Suze!
'Private phone call.' Paul drawled out lazily.
'Yea! A phone call, that's what I meant.' I added lamely. I'm just batting a thousand today aren't I.
I saw Paul give me a strange look as the teacher nodded. 'Well, due to the length of your conversation, I'm almost positive that this "private phone call" has ended. Why don't the two of you scurry back into the guidance office now?'
He knew that we were lying; that much was obvious. But, for whatever reason, he was letting us off the hook. I nodded gratefully. 'Sure thing, sorry for disturbing your class.'
He smiled kindly. 'Me? Oh, I don't have a class right now. This is my period off. Have a good day!' He disappeared behind the classroom door.
'Well, he was weird.'
'Weird?' I looked at Paul in disbelief. 'He could have totally busted our asses, but he didn't. He didn't even ask to see a pass…I call that nice, not weird.'
Paul shrugged. 'He probably saw how pathetic you sounded. What was up with that anyway?'
That made me angry. 'Jesse is in Father D's office right now talking about how I'm apparently supposed to die and neither of them seemed to think that it's important enough to tell me about it! Excuse me for letting that UPSET me!'
I was losing it. I could totally tell. My voice started to raise an octave and my blood started roaring in my ears. I forced myself to calm down. 'You know what? This is none of your business. Thanks for the help Paul. I really appreciate it, I swear. Now, I'm going to head back to the guidance office, that is, if you don't mind.'
For the second time I turned around to walk away, and for the second time his hand reached out to stop me. 'What if I do mind? What if I want you to tell me right now what's going on?' He snapped through gritted teeth.
I wrenched my shoulder away from him. 'I told you that I don't know.'
He stepped away from me, blue eyes flashing. I sighed, suddenly drained again. 'Lets just get back to the office, okay?'
He nodded and slipped his hands into his pockets, brushing past me.
I sped up in order to keep up with his long strides. 'I'm sorry I snapped, okay? I'm just frustrated.'
'Whatever.'
'Oh, stop sulking, I'm trying to apologize.'
'Okay.'
'Paul…' He shot me a sideways glance, his eyebrow raised expectantly. 'Ugh, I don't even know why I'm trying. I'm not about to start begging for forgiveness. If you want to be angry. Fine, be angry. See if I care.'
Paul smiled. 'Oh come on Suze, you know you care.'
I rolled my eyes. 'Yea, Paul. Sure.' I brushed past him to enter the guidance office first. He was so infuriating!
I absently noticed that the secretaries were still gone.
'You know you love me.' Paul was laughing by now. I turned around to face him.
'Yea Paul. How could I not love such a giant pain in my as--'
'Susannah.' I froze. The look on Paul's face was priceless. I would have laughed had the situation called for it.
Slowly turning around, I plastered the most sincere smile that I could manage onto my face. 'Hey Father D. How's life been treating you?' When I was fully turned I was face to face with Jesse. I felt his eyes boring into mine. 'Jesse? What are you doing here?' Somehow, I managed to sound innocent.
Jesse started to reply but Father Dom cut him off. 'Why aren't you in first period Susannah? Paul? What are you two doing down here?' His voice was kind but his baby blues were blazing.
Before Paul had a chance to even think up a reply I bit out, 'Oh you know me Father D. Always out looking for trouble; thinking that I can handle everything on my own.' I felt Paul elbow me from behind. 'I'm talking about my financial aid paperwork of course. I came down here to get it because I figured that I didn't need to wait for you to help me with it. I can figure it out all by myself. Just like everything else. But, funny thing really, I never got to pick up the papers because, wouldn't you know, when I got here all the secretaries had mysteriously vanished.
Now it was all over, I was totally in babble mode…
'Oh and Paul here just seemed to lurk in the shadows. He came outta nowhere I tell ya. You know him, too, of course. Always hiding, out to take whatever he can get his greedy little hands on...' I was of course referring to the Gutierrez's money. Obviously, I was going a little crazy; I knew what Paul had done with that money, but I kept going anyway.
'What?' Paul stuttered over his words stupidly.
'See, Father Dom? Even he sees that it's useless to try and convince you otherwise. We all know that Paul is always up to no good…Probably cutting class. You should assign him a detention.'
I knew that I was being an immature brat, but, to tell you the truth, I really didn't care.
The room had become strangely quiet. I guess I had that effect on people. Jesse's eyes were fixed on mine. He looked angry. Well, that goes for the two of us. Father D just seemed clueless. Served him right.
Finally, Paul broke the silence, 'Okay then. I'm heading back to class…' Next thing I knew, he was extremely close to me, whispering urgently into my ear. 'Please, meet me after school, we really need to talk.'
No shit.
Then he kissed me lightly on the cheek. His lips were soft as they brushed against my skin. Heat flooded my face.
His lips felt amazingly cool against my extremely flushed face. My entire body seemed to tense and relax at the exact same time. What the hell was he doing?
I wanted to turn around and grab him; shake him and ask him, why? Why did he have to pick right now to pull off one of his bold stunts?
I really wanted to believe that he had changed – that we could somehow be friends. But suddenly, I believed that all of his sincerity had been a lie. Worse even; a giant, fat lie.
And in front of Father Dom? How crude.
Okay people, maybe I'm over reacting. I mean, it was just a kiss on the cheek, right?
Jesse started to open his mouth to say something but Father D placed a hand on his shoulder as if to stop him.
'Susannah, could I see you in my office for a moment?'
Me? What did I do? He kissed ME! Not the other way around!
But I didn't say that. No, instead I intelligently replied, "Uh - um, but…' I told you it was intelligent.
'Now, please.' A frustrated Father Dom. That was new.
Paul pulled away from me. I turned around and shot him a dirty look. He just smiled innocently. 'I'll see you later.' Then he turned and walked out of the office.
Like hell he'll see me later.
Sighing, I whipped back around to see Jesse standing right in front of me. 'Susannah, what is going on?'
Gee, that's what I'd like to know. Before I had a chance to say just that, Father D stepped in-between us. 'Jesse, you should leave now. We'll have a chance to talk again later.'
Jesse nodded, still staring at me. 'Yes, Father.'
'Susannah.' I blinked. Father D was suddenly standing in front of me me, blocking my view of Jesse, 'My office.'
'Sure.' I brushed past him and Jesse and went into his office. I felt Jesse staring at me, but I did not turn to look back.
Cut me some slack, I was peeved. Besides, it wasn't like I wouldn't have a chance to talk to him later.
Father Dom walked in and shut the door behind him. The sound of the door slamming made me jump.
'Susannah, what's going on between you and Paul?'
Gee, he sure didn't beat around the bush.
'Me and Paul? Father D, you're kidding right? Nothing is going on between us.' This is ridiculous. He kissed me! It's not like I returned the favor!
'I know that this may be hard to believe, but I AM in love with Jesse.' I responded sarcastically.
Father Dom sighed. 'No Susannah, you are misunderstanding my question. I meant, what are you two up to? Why were you really in the guidance office?'
I blanched. Oh, that's what he meant. How convenient. 'Um—'
'The truth, Susannah.'
'Right, the truth. Well—' I couldn't think up anything besides the truth, so I
decided to give in. 'Paul was down here when he saw Jesse coming in to talk to you. He figured that it was something important, so he had your secretary call me down.'
I realized a second too late that I might have gotten Paul into trouble. 'It wasn't Paul's fault. He was just looking out for me.'
Father Dom nodded absently, sitting down heavily in his office chair.
Oh my god. I just defended Paul. If it ever got back to him, he'd never let it go.
'What did you hear?'
I looked up at Father Dom questioningly. 'Excuse me?' I was genuinely baffled.
Father Dom's light blue eyes were blazing again, but not, I noticed, with anger. With something else. 'Jesse and my conversation. How much of it did you hear?'
I blinked. 'Not enough to really understand what's going on.'
Don't ask me why I practically admitted to hearing everything. It just sorta spilled out.
He nodded. 'You should get back to class.'
'Okay.' I stood up and headed toward the door.
Just as I was about to leave, Father Dom stopped me. 'Susannah?'
I turned around to face him. 'Yea?'
He seemed to be fascinated with a piece of paper on his desk. 'Don't bug Jesse about this, and just-' He paused, and focused his bright eyes on me. 'Be careful.'
I was taken aback for a moment before I managed to pull it together and flash him a bright smile. 'C'mon Father D. You know that I can take care of myself.' Then I walked out of the room.
As I closed the door behind me, I swore that I heard his voice whisper, 'That is what I'm afraid of,' but I dismissed the thought as my overactive imagination.
I saw that the secretaries had managed to find their way back from wherever they had disappeared to. I also saw that Jesse was gone.
He didn't even wait to say goodbye. Coward.
After that, the school day just seemed to fly by. All of my teachers had found it necessary to give us tons of homework, and I had missed lunch because I had gone to the library to research stars.
Nothing, surprisingly, had managed to catch my attention.
So, on top of being tired, I was hungry. But I guess that was my own fault. I hadn't even had a chance to catch up with CeeCee and Adam. But in a way, I was glad about that. Lord knows that they enjoyed their alone time.
That afternoon, I was walking out to Dopey's car when Paul stopped me. He looked smug. 'Hey, Suze. Where are you headed?'
'Um, home? Y'know, the place where I live?' I continued to walk past him. That is, until he grabbed my arm.
'I thought that we were going to talk.'
'No, you assumed that we were going to talk. But, funny thing really, I don't ever remember agreeing to that.' I yanked my arm away from him for the third time that day. 'And stop touching me.'
Paul frowned. 'Oh give me a break Suze. You know that we need to talk.'
I saw that Brad was busy talking to Debbie, so I figured that I had time.
'No, I don't know that. Actually, I have no idea what we could possibly talk about, considering, as I've already told you, that I have no idea what's going on.'
Paul glared at me, 'Why are you so stubborn?'
'I don't know. Maybe I'll be able to tell you when you tell me why you're so pigheaded and obnoxious.' I flipped my hair over my shoulder and started to walk away again.
Was it just me, or do I seem to have a temper problem today?
Paul stepped in front of me. 'Will you at least let me give you a lift home?'
Jeez, this kid will never give up. 'No.'
'Suze! Come on! If you don't get in the car right now, I'm leaving!' Ah, seems as if Dopey was finished talking to Sleazy.
I smirked, 'Gotta run!' Pushing past him I headed toward the car again.
'Suze, will you just wait!' I ignored him and jumped into the front seat.
Paul stared at me for a moment before he finally turned and walked away.
'What's up with the two of you, anyway? I thought that you had a boyfriend. Are you cheating on him?'
I looked over at Dopey. 'Ugh, no. Nothing is going on between Paul and me. So, why don't you mind your own business?'
'Fine. Jeez, I was just asking.'
Then it dawned on me. We were missing someone. 'Brad, where's David?'
Dopey grunted, 'He went home with a friend.'
'Do mom and Andy know about this?'
'Yea,' He shot me weird look, 'We talked about it during breakfast, remember?'
Oh. This morning. When I had been completely zoned out. 'Right. I forgot.'
'Are you smoking something?' He sounded so incompetent.
I rolled my eyes. 'No, I'm not.'
The rest of the ride went in on silence. When we got home I immediately clicked off my seatbelt and jumped out of the car.
The second I went into the house, I started to head up the stairs, but Andy stopped me. 'Hey Suze,' Dopey started to brush by me but Andy stopped him too. 'Brad, wait, I need to talk to you too. David is staying over his friend's house tonight, and as you know, Jake is out of town. Now, something came up and your mother and I have to go out of town for just one night. We'll be back early tomorrow…'
My head was starting to pound, 'Is everything okay?'
Andy smiled brightly, 'Yea, it's just that I've got a huge contracting meeting out of town, and your mom wants to tag along.'
Okay, I didn't want to give it that much thought.
'Now listen to me, Brad. Absolutely no one is allowed to come over tonight, do you understand me?'
At this point I had stopped listening because someone else had caught my attention.
A little girl dressed in a long white gown was standing next to Andy. Her large brown eyes were overflowing with tears as she tried to grasp Andy's hand, but couldn't. Then she proceeded to plop on the floor and sob. Very loudly.
I felt my heart skip a beat. I really felt sorry for her. She was so young; no more than eight. It wasn't very often that I encountered little kids, but whenever I did, I couldn't help but think about the injustice of it all.
'Suze? Did you hear me?' I blinked a few times to clear my head. Brad was staring at me like I was crazy. Andy was just smiling and waiting patiently for a response.
I shook my head. It was hard to hear over her sobbing, but I tried to keep my voice at a normal tone. 'No, I'm sorry. Could you repeat that?'
Andy's smile brightened. 'I said that I'm leaving 50 dollars by the phone so you two can order dinner and have some money just in case anything happens. Also, the hotel number is there too just in case you can't reach our cells.'
I nodded. 'Okay.' The little girl had calmed down but was still sitting on the floor, now hugging her knees.
I slowly started walking back down the stairs when the little girl suddenly dematerialized.
Damn.
Sighing, I trudged into the kitchen to grab a diet coke. I was kind of shocked. After all, it had been almost a full week since I'd last had a run in with the dead. I couldn't help but smile as I thought that Jesse probably had something to do with that. Keeping the dead away from me, I mean. I think he wanted to help me feel like a normal 17 yr old.
Too bad he didn't realize that just being with him made me feel the best I'd ever felt. Then again, maybe he did.
Andy was staring at me. 'Are you feeling okay Suze? I can tell your mom to stay if that'll make you feel better.'
I laughed slightly. 'Yea, I'm fine. I've just had a rough day. I don't care if Mom goes.
He looked skeptical. 'Really?'
'Yea! I promise. Thanks though.' It was sweet, really. As weird as it was to adjust to my new 'family', I was happy that my mom had found someone sweet that could keep her truly happy. And his food was totally worth the hassle dealing with stepbrothers!
I walked up to my room and shut the door behind me. I dumped my book bag next to my vanity and fell onto my bed face first. I really needed to talk to Jesse. I needed to know what's going on.
God, I needed the person that I was going to spend the rest of my life with to freakin' trust me!
I know. I'm being dramatic. Sue me.
I groaned in frustration, and flipped onto my back. That's when I heard it. Crying. I shot up quickly and looked around. There she was, sitting on the window seat, crying.
I felt my heart break again. She made such a heart wrenching picture. I stood up and kneeled in front of her, resting my hands on either side of the seat. That got her attention as she stopped crying to stare at me. Surprise fled across her very young features. 'Can, can you see me?'
I nodded. 'Yea, I can. Hi, my name is Suze, what's your name?' Normally, I wasn't so friendly, but she was just a little girl. Probably scared out of her mind.
Sobbing, she threw herself into me, wrapping her tiny arms around my neck and burying her face into my shoulder. I stiffened immediately.
I do not like ghosts touching me.
'I d-don't k-know what t-to do!' She wailed, 'N-no one c-can help m-me!'
I bit my lip and patted her sort of awkwardly on her back. 'Um…It's okay now. I can help you.'
'D-daddy always t-told me t-to try and be b-brave, a-and I'm t-trying, b-but it's s-so hard b-because I-I'm all a-alone.' She started crying harder, which made the situation a lot more awkward.
I used this as the perfect opportunity to pull away from her. She seemed reluctant to let go, but did. I sat back on my heels and stared at her. 'Why don't you tell me what happened?'
She blinked the tears away from her eyes and swallowed hard. 'They won't stop h-hurting me'
I was taken aback. Hurting her? Someone was hurting her? 'How? Who's hurting you and how?
'T-those mean men who hate d-daddy.' She sniffed.
For an eight year old, she was very well spoken. 'Are they hurting you right now?'
Her eye's roamed around my room, as if making sure that no one else was there besides us. Then she dropped her voice to a whisper, 'Yes. They never stop.'
Stunned, I decided, for the moment, to change the topic. 'Why don't you tell me your name?'
She blinked her large, haunted brown eyes at me. 'S-Stephanie.'
I was trying to think of the best way to handle her. 'Alright Stephanie, can you tell me if you can see your daddy? Can he see you?'
She shook her head violently, her shoulder length hair whipping her cheeks. 'They, t-they did something to him.'
I took a deep breath. 'Can you tell me if these men are…alive?'
She shook her head, 'They gots killed. B-but they aren't down there like they are supposed to be.' As she said this she pointed to my floor.
'Down there?' I glanced at my floor, perplexed.
'Before mommy went to heaven she told me that all bad people go down there.'
Oh. Down there, if there is such a place.
I continued to chew on my lower lip. 'How do they hurt you…?' Oops, bad choice. Stephanie started to sob uncontrollable again.
'N-no, I c-can't tell a-anyone. T-they'll hurt me a-again if t-they find out!'
'Okay, okay! You don't have to tell me! Everything will be okay!' I tried to calm her down, but nothing seemed to be working. 'Stephanie, please.'
'N-no! I can't…' Her voice dropped to a whisper as she started to dematerialize.
'Wait!' But I was too late, and with a flash, she was gone.
Ohmigod! I am so incredibly sorry. I swear to god, I didn't fall off the face of the earth. I just had a lot of personal stuff happening all at once. No chapter will ever take that long, ever again! I swear it.
Anyway, I hope you all like it! As usual, comments are always welcome, and highly appreciated. Also, constructive criticism and ideas are greatly valued.
To the Reviewers:
Lolly Pop Ali : Thank you so much! I am so honored that you were my first review .! Thanks for the advice, I'm trying really hard to pay attention and fix the teeny and irrelevant things. Obsessing over it more like, but you get my point I'm sure!
Moving along, your opinion meant a lot, so thanks again. Keep up the AMAZING work!
If you haven't read her stories, I highly advise you go check them out…now. ;D
Poison-Tearsxo/Missy Mee : Everything will come together, soon. I don't really know if these were pleased comments or not, so, I hope you're enjoying the story thus far, and if not, maybe you could tell me where it's lacking? You can email me anytime, or just leave another comment. Up to you! Thanks all the same!
Susie Madison : Thanks! Your comment really made me feel good! I'm so sorry about the long wait, but I hope this chapter was to your liking. The third chapter will be out in no time, promise!
Frolicking Bananas : Hopefully, this chapter was slightly less confusing, and answered some of your questions. I know almost exactly where I want the story to go, but I'm still trying to figure out the best way to lay down the plot. Hope, that you're still interested, lol. Thank you!
Awakened Dreams : Lol, thanks. I like it too; the point was to get people confused and hooked. Again, sorry for the wait! It'll never happen again! I swear!...Well unless I suddenly disappear, then, I suppose it'll happen again. But, that's very unlikely… . … . ….Lol
Psi-ko : Thanks! I'm going to try really hard, I promise…but sometimes, the characters just take on minds of their own ..
Mochaluvinmarie… : Wow, thanks for the inspiration! Hope that this chapter made more sense. If it didn't however, the next chapter should.
EvincarofJustice: No comment… ;P :grumble: Love you too…
Trisisabel: Thank you! Hope you liked this chapter! The next will take nowhere near as long as this one did!
Plutobaby494: Wow, I've had so many uplifting reviews, and yours is definitely one of them. Yea, I actually wanted to go for something completely different. So, I'm hoping that I'm succeeding. The third chapter will be out a lot sooner. Thanks again.
Szabatka2: I hope that it was weird in a good way, lol. Sorry for such the long update. This chapter, for the most part, should have answered the question of what happened to Jesse. I promise though, everything will come together, and soon. Thanks a ton for the review.
Hope everyone enjoyed! Please continue to comment, it actually speeds up the process!
Love Nikki.