Chapter Twenty Nine

"Alright Tray, this is enough. Leave Marissa alone. She's not even going to charge you. Just leave. Leave Newport, leave the country. Please. Kill me- not her. Cause you know I won't let you do that to her." Ryan pleaded in a calm voice.

"But I love having some fun, Ryan." Tray called out, from on top of Marissa Cooper- the deadly blade still padding Marissa's neck.

"Damnit man- you're wasted. Just get off her. We'll deal with this, okay?" Ryan pleaded some more.

"Ryan! He has a gun! Go! Leave! Run while you can!" Marissa yelped from under the knife, and she felt it tighten under her skin.

"You dirty brunette. You've done enough. Can't you realise that if you hadn't blabbered this crap to your baby boo then you might not have been the one under the blade? That's what sucks about this honesty s hit. That's what you get. There's always this one guy, who wrecks it all." Tray started to say in a slightly loony voice. He was the type of guy, in Marissa's opinion, that needed a chainsaw and a hockey mask- he'd be the perfect murderer.

"Tray, please. You know," Marissa thought instinctively, and coolly. She tried to keep her heart's incessant, pounding beat to a low, so her brain would have quiet- and could think, "You're the one I want!" Marissa finally shrieked out. She was crying. She tried to look at Ryan, tell him with her eyes that it wasn't true, but she couldn't get her eyes off Tray who was looking for such a credulous weakness, to allow him to believe it was a lie. If he saw it was a lie, he would of course, kill the two of them. Marissa didn't know what kind of drugs he was on, but he had to have taken his weight's worth.

"Marissa Cooper, falling for Tray Atwood? As shocking as that as is, it's totally believable." God this night can't get any worse, Marissa thought in her clouded mind when she saw the beautiful blonde she knew as Jess appear into her limited view.

"Man Jess, you always know how to make, or break an entrance." Tray laughed out loud.

"So what's going on? Tray- are you trying to kill Cooper? You've got to admit… she is a slight waste of time, do you not think so?" Jess said in her 'I'm-up-to-something' voice. She glanced at Ryan, and for the first time in about forever, her glance reassured him. He knew that she was about to save Marissa's life. "I always thought you loved Marissa. It's a shame you're going to kill her under a measly blade."

"I'll kill you in a second, if you don't shut up." Marissa felt the blade being slightly lifted- but maybe she was so numb that even a small shift made her think he was going to remove it from her flesh. She was scared to gulp, as she thought Tray would take it the wrong way, and think she was trying to move… get away eventually.

"Hey, Tray. Don't get mad or anything. Palease. All I'm sayin is this girl you love so much, is better off screwed then dead." Jess continued in her sweet, yet oddly devilish voice.

"Jess…" Ryan quickly murmured under his nose, hoping Jess would quit 'trying to save Marissa'.

"Tray, come on. You're wasted. I'll take you home, ok?" Jess finally offered.

"Are you trying to save Marissa?" Tray got up, forgetting about the Marissa that he left on the ground, numb from anxiety.

"No, Tray. I'm a little horny. I think we could spend a beautiful night together." Jess raised an eyebrow, and stuck her hand in her pocket, feeling for something. When Tray heard a quiet rustling of a plastic bag, he knew it was what he wanted. Behind Tray, Marissa started to move slowly, but when she looked at Jess her eyes widened slightly, telling her no- so she didn't move. Seconds later, Tray looked back at her. He figured that she was too shocked to do anything. He turned back toward Jess, and he smiled, inching toward her curvy body.

"So you say we call it a night?" Tray asked quietly.

"Hell yeah." Jess responded.

Tray then pulled out his gun quickly and pointed it at Jess, who's expression now turned from angelic, to devilishly frightened.

"I say you call it a night, and screw the angels." Tray grinned coldly.

"Tray, put it down." Jess said- her breathing pace quickly advancing. Ryan couldn't stand it. He grabbed a rock that conveniently lied near the shrubs that they were between. He crept up behind Tray and as hard as his frightened arms could allow him, he smashed the rock into Tray's messed up head. Both Jess and Marissa screamed- then Marissa started to cry once Tray fumbled toward the ground. Ryan quickly went to hug Marissa, who was crying almost too hard from the whole drama that night. Jess gulped, and she let a few tears swap down her cheeks. She two had been emotionally challenged that evening.

"You're welcome." Jess called out silently to Marissa, and she decided to turn around and leave.

"Jess," Marissa called out through her tears, "Thank you so much. You," Marissa paused to swallow, "You saved my life."

"Don't worry about it. It was nothing." Jess smiled and took off.

"What are we going to do with him, Ryan?" Marissa cried out to Ryan.

"Let's pray he gets amnesia and moves to Seattle." Ryan remarked frigidly, carelessly.