"What are we going to do?!" Ashley asked. They were trying to figure out
where they could go that was safe.
"We can't go to any of our homes, not until we loose him, or else he'll know where we live!" Jo tried to hide her panic, but it was becoming difficult. It would be getting dark soon. They had to think fast.
"Uh...we could...go back to school, and then we'll loose him there." Ashley said.
"If we're lucky, he wouldn't be stupid enough to follow us inside..." Paige said.
"But wait, how can we be sure? I don't see him now, but I'm sure as hell that he's there...how will we know that we lost him?" Jo was getting scared. She felt her history was repeating itself.
**Flashback**
Jo was running down the dim lighted street. She managed to get out of the ring those boys had formed around her but they chased after, and were gaining on her. Blinded by her tears, she had no idea where she was going. She found that she had run into a rather dingy neighborhood. She could here the boys behind her. She had to keep going. Luck unfortunately was not on her side. She found herself facing a dead end..
"You can run, Red, but you can't hide..." a voice snickered behind her. There was nowhere to go, she looked for a window, a fire escape, a ladder, and stool, anything! But there was no way out. The leader boy came forward. With every step he took, Jo took a step back toward the wall. He rolled up his sleeves, his smile never leaving his face. Then he turned to the group "One of you, go and keep a look out!" he ordered "I plan on enjoying this...I think you will too Red..."
"No! Go away!" Jo was backed up into the wall and she prayed that she could fall through it and escape.
"I'm not going anywhere, Red, and neither are you..."
**End of Flashback**
"Come on! He'll find us if we just stand here." Jo encouraged the other two to keep going. Although she tried not to show it, she couldn't hide that she was scared.
"Maybe we should separate? Then we could loose him." Ashley said.
"And risk one of us getting caught? No way, we're staying together!" Jo said. "Listen we can't hide in the school, you two are coming to my house, it's closest."
"But what if he follows us?" Paige asked. "Any creep that tries to get into my house, Brent and I will put his lights out. We'll have Brent drive us to pick up your stuff. You could stay at your homes of course."
"I don't think I could sleep knowing he's on the loose. I'm up for a slumber party." Paige said.
"Count me in too, Jo." Ashley smiled.
"Alright, come on." They began to run.
~*~
They all sat in their P.J.s on the living room floor watching T. V. They didn't see Dean following them after they got to Jo's house but they still felt jittery. They hadn't explained the situation to her brother.
"Maybe we should call somebody, the police."
"And say what? "Hi, how are you? Have you set free any rapists lately? No? Well he must have escaped..." Why else would he be doing if the cops themselves haven't set him free?" Paige was still angry.
"Maybe Ashley is right Paige...isn't there somebody we could tell?" Jo asked.
"There is NO way I'm going through court AGAIN!" Paige hissed. Ashley and Jo were startled by Paige's reaction. Jo kept her eyes on the T.V. screen. She knew that they would have to tell somebody eventually, especially if Dean kept following them around. Not only that but it was dangerous to have Dean on the loose, he could hurt somebody else. Maybe he already had.
Brent came down the stairs, car keys in his hand. "Jo, I have to run a few errands to pick up a few things, will you girls be alright on your own for a few hours?" he asked.
"Um...yeah we'll be fine..."
"Alright, the baby is asleep upstairs. Call my cell if you need me. Want me to get you anything?" He got his coat from the closet.
"You guys want anything?" Jo asked Paige and Ashley. They shrugged.
"Just some sodas, please Brent."
"Will do. I'll see you girls in a few hours." Then Brent went out the door. The girls heard his car pull out of the drive way. When he was gone they didn't say a word for a while. Suddenly they heard thunder strike outside, and then came the rain.
"Oh perfect, just what we need...a stormy night..."Jo said.
"Alone..." said Ash.
"With a crazy, psychopathic rapist lurking around somewhere..." said Paige.
"Heh..." Jo stood up. "Now all we need is a black-out!" Thunder crashed and with that out went the lights! The T.V. went out as well, leaving them in total darkness. The girls screamed.
"Alright! That's not funny!" Ashley yelled.
"I didn't mean it!" Jo defended. They all began to struggle in the dark.
"Ouch! Who was that? Ash!"
"Paige, chill out!"
"Quit pushing...Where are you?"
Jo stumbled into the computer desk "Ouch! Damn it! Where is that flashlight?!"
"Ahhh! Who touched me?!"
"Sorry..."
"Hey watch out! Ahhh!" Jo heard a crash but continued her search in the desk drawers.
"Here is it!" Jo turned on the flash light. She shown it in the living room and saw Ashley and Paige all tangled up and the coffee table knocked over. She smiled and tried not to laugh.
"Not funny Jo...ouch." Paige stood and put the coffee table back up right.
"Yeah, yeah...you two stay here and I'll go lights some candles."
"Think we should call your brother?" Paige asked.
"Over a black out? Nah, he wouldn't be able to do anything about it. It's not really an emergency anyway. We can wait for him." Jo headed into the kitchen to look for some candles. After getting a few out of the drawers she then set out to find the matches. Ashley stood up with her arms out in front of her. "I'll be right, Paige. I got to find the bathroom." She said and slowly started walking out of the room, trying not to bump into anything.
Paige sat on the couch, slowly her eyes started to adjust to the darkness. She then heard cell phone ringing from inside her purse, probably Spinner calling about the storm. "Hmm..." she looked at the number, she didn't recognize it but she answered quickly.
"Hello?"
"Hey Spirit." Said an all too familiar voice.
"You.."
"Yeah sweetheart, it's me."
"How did you get...? What are you...?"
"Dark night, isn't it, Spirit? Bad time to not have power..."
Paige hung up. He knew where she was! The phone rang again. It was him. She quickly turned her phone off. She got up and went to find Jo. She wasn't in the kitchen. "Jo?.....Where are you...?" The house was still, nothing seemed to be alive inside it. She went across the kitchen and looked out the door leading into the hallway.
"Ashley?.....Jo..."
"What?"
"Ahhhhh!" Paige screamed. She turned around to see that she had knocked Jo over.
"Cool your jets Paige! It's me!" She stood up again. "I found the matches."
"Good...great..." Paige breathed.
"Are you alright? You seem a bit jumpy...or are you always like this in a storm?" Jo lit a candle on the kitchen table. She lit another and was taking it to the fire place. Paige followed her.
"I...I...got a call..." she said.
"A call?"
"From...him..."
Jo looked at her, eyes wide open. "No way..."
"He had my cell phone number!"
"Shit...Ashley?!" Ashley came back into the living room, after doing her business. "What?" she asked.
"Guess who decided to give us a call?" Jo lit another candle.
"Dean?! Is he here?!" Ashley looked around.
"Oh I certainly hope not! Paige...?" Jo looked at her.
"I don't know, he said something about the power..."
"Ok, that doesn't mean his outside...the power could be out all over town...right?" Jo asked Ashley.
The thunder crashed outside. The loud crackle made the girls jump.
"Ah! This is ridiculous! He knows about the storm! He's just trying to scare us!" Jo said firmly. Thunder crashed again, and the girls then heard Charlotte crying upstairs. Jo sighed "I forgot about the baby. Come on, I hate to leave her alone up there." All three marched up the stairs.
Charlotte was standing in her crib, wailing away. Jo picked her up and cradled her in her arms and the baby calmed down. Ashley sat down on the toy chest. Paige saw a cushioned window seat and sat down there. She looked out the window. It was hard to see with the rain and no light but everything seemed as it should be.
When Charlotte fell asleep in her arms, Jo tucked her in her crib.
Lighting flashed, Paige was just going to get up when she saw a dark figure dash across the driveway. Or at least she thought she saw it. The thought that somebody was lurking outside the house sent chills down her spine. She quickly got up to follow the other two girls down the stairs. They quietly walked each step, when they heard a clink sound, they froze.
"What was...?" Ashley started. Jo gasped "The mail slot!" she whispered. They started to freak out again. Was somebody peeking in? Jo kept walking down the stairs and turned the corner into the entry way. The mail slot was shut. Something caught Jo's attention. Something white was lying on the floor. As Jo got closer, she saw that it was an envelope.
"Paige...Ashley..."
They both slowly came into the entry way when they were called. Jo picked up the envelope. It had no name on it. They all went into the living room and sat on the couch. Jo placed a lit candle on the coffee table. The envelope wasn't sealed, just tucked in. It was slightly damp from the rain. Jo opened the envelope, inside, were three pictures. What they were of made the girls skin crawl. One was a picture of Paige, in her spirit squad outfit. Another was of Jo! She was sitting on the steps in front of the school. The third picture was of the three of them going into the fabric store. They were taken on different days. Jo was shocked, she remembered the day she sat on the steps, and she didn't remember seeing anyone with a camera. Jo looked at the back of the photos, there was a message on the back of the picture taken that very day. It read: There's plenty more where this came from, Spirit.
(A/N: Review!)
"We can't go to any of our homes, not until we loose him, or else he'll know where we live!" Jo tried to hide her panic, but it was becoming difficult. It would be getting dark soon. They had to think fast.
"Uh...we could...go back to school, and then we'll loose him there." Ashley said.
"If we're lucky, he wouldn't be stupid enough to follow us inside..." Paige said.
"But wait, how can we be sure? I don't see him now, but I'm sure as hell that he's there...how will we know that we lost him?" Jo was getting scared. She felt her history was repeating itself.
**Flashback**
Jo was running down the dim lighted street. She managed to get out of the ring those boys had formed around her but they chased after, and were gaining on her. Blinded by her tears, she had no idea where she was going. She found that she had run into a rather dingy neighborhood. She could here the boys behind her. She had to keep going. Luck unfortunately was not on her side. She found herself facing a dead end..
"You can run, Red, but you can't hide..." a voice snickered behind her. There was nowhere to go, she looked for a window, a fire escape, a ladder, and stool, anything! But there was no way out. The leader boy came forward. With every step he took, Jo took a step back toward the wall. He rolled up his sleeves, his smile never leaving his face. Then he turned to the group "One of you, go and keep a look out!" he ordered "I plan on enjoying this...I think you will too Red..."
"No! Go away!" Jo was backed up into the wall and she prayed that she could fall through it and escape.
"I'm not going anywhere, Red, and neither are you..."
**End of Flashback**
"Come on! He'll find us if we just stand here." Jo encouraged the other two to keep going. Although she tried not to show it, she couldn't hide that she was scared.
"Maybe we should separate? Then we could loose him." Ashley said.
"And risk one of us getting caught? No way, we're staying together!" Jo said. "Listen we can't hide in the school, you two are coming to my house, it's closest."
"But what if he follows us?" Paige asked. "Any creep that tries to get into my house, Brent and I will put his lights out. We'll have Brent drive us to pick up your stuff. You could stay at your homes of course."
"I don't think I could sleep knowing he's on the loose. I'm up for a slumber party." Paige said.
"Count me in too, Jo." Ashley smiled.
"Alright, come on." They began to run.
~*~
They all sat in their P.J.s on the living room floor watching T. V. They didn't see Dean following them after they got to Jo's house but they still felt jittery. They hadn't explained the situation to her brother.
"Maybe we should call somebody, the police."
"And say what? "Hi, how are you? Have you set free any rapists lately? No? Well he must have escaped..." Why else would he be doing if the cops themselves haven't set him free?" Paige was still angry.
"Maybe Ashley is right Paige...isn't there somebody we could tell?" Jo asked.
"There is NO way I'm going through court AGAIN!" Paige hissed. Ashley and Jo were startled by Paige's reaction. Jo kept her eyes on the T.V. screen. She knew that they would have to tell somebody eventually, especially if Dean kept following them around. Not only that but it was dangerous to have Dean on the loose, he could hurt somebody else. Maybe he already had.
Brent came down the stairs, car keys in his hand. "Jo, I have to run a few errands to pick up a few things, will you girls be alright on your own for a few hours?" he asked.
"Um...yeah we'll be fine..."
"Alright, the baby is asleep upstairs. Call my cell if you need me. Want me to get you anything?" He got his coat from the closet.
"You guys want anything?" Jo asked Paige and Ashley. They shrugged.
"Just some sodas, please Brent."
"Will do. I'll see you girls in a few hours." Then Brent went out the door. The girls heard his car pull out of the drive way. When he was gone they didn't say a word for a while. Suddenly they heard thunder strike outside, and then came the rain.
"Oh perfect, just what we need...a stormy night..."Jo said.
"Alone..." said Ash.
"With a crazy, psychopathic rapist lurking around somewhere..." said Paige.
"Heh..." Jo stood up. "Now all we need is a black-out!" Thunder crashed and with that out went the lights! The T.V. went out as well, leaving them in total darkness. The girls screamed.
"Alright! That's not funny!" Ashley yelled.
"I didn't mean it!" Jo defended. They all began to struggle in the dark.
"Ouch! Who was that? Ash!"
"Paige, chill out!"
"Quit pushing...Where are you?"
Jo stumbled into the computer desk "Ouch! Damn it! Where is that flashlight?!"
"Ahhh! Who touched me?!"
"Sorry..."
"Hey watch out! Ahhh!" Jo heard a crash but continued her search in the desk drawers.
"Here is it!" Jo turned on the flash light. She shown it in the living room and saw Ashley and Paige all tangled up and the coffee table knocked over. She smiled and tried not to laugh.
"Not funny Jo...ouch." Paige stood and put the coffee table back up right.
"Yeah, yeah...you two stay here and I'll go lights some candles."
"Think we should call your brother?" Paige asked.
"Over a black out? Nah, he wouldn't be able to do anything about it. It's not really an emergency anyway. We can wait for him." Jo headed into the kitchen to look for some candles. After getting a few out of the drawers she then set out to find the matches. Ashley stood up with her arms out in front of her. "I'll be right, Paige. I got to find the bathroom." She said and slowly started walking out of the room, trying not to bump into anything.
Paige sat on the couch, slowly her eyes started to adjust to the darkness. She then heard cell phone ringing from inside her purse, probably Spinner calling about the storm. "Hmm..." she looked at the number, she didn't recognize it but she answered quickly.
"Hello?"
"Hey Spirit." Said an all too familiar voice.
"You.."
"Yeah sweetheart, it's me."
"How did you get...? What are you...?"
"Dark night, isn't it, Spirit? Bad time to not have power..."
Paige hung up. He knew where she was! The phone rang again. It was him. She quickly turned her phone off. She got up and went to find Jo. She wasn't in the kitchen. "Jo?.....Where are you...?" The house was still, nothing seemed to be alive inside it. She went across the kitchen and looked out the door leading into the hallway.
"Ashley?.....Jo..."
"What?"
"Ahhhhh!" Paige screamed. She turned around to see that she had knocked Jo over.
"Cool your jets Paige! It's me!" She stood up again. "I found the matches."
"Good...great..." Paige breathed.
"Are you alright? You seem a bit jumpy...or are you always like this in a storm?" Jo lit a candle on the kitchen table. She lit another and was taking it to the fire place. Paige followed her.
"I...I...got a call..." she said.
"A call?"
"From...him..."
Jo looked at her, eyes wide open. "No way..."
"He had my cell phone number!"
"Shit...Ashley?!" Ashley came back into the living room, after doing her business. "What?" she asked.
"Guess who decided to give us a call?" Jo lit another candle.
"Dean?! Is he here?!" Ashley looked around.
"Oh I certainly hope not! Paige...?" Jo looked at her.
"I don't know, he said something about the power..."
"Ok, that doesn't mean his outside...the power could be out all over town...right?" Jo asked Ashley.
The thunder crashed outside. The loud crackle made the girls jump.
"Ah! This is ridiculous! He knows about the storm! He's just trying to scare us!" Jo said firmly. Thunder crashed again, and the girls then heard Charlotte crying upstairs. Jo sighed "I forgot about the baby. Come on, I hate to leave her alone up there." All three marched up the stairs.
Charlotte was standing in her crib, wailing away. Jo picked her up and cradled her in her arms and the baby calmed down. Ashley sat down on the toy chest. Paige saw a cushioned window seat and sat down there. She looked out the window. It was hard to see with the rain and no light but everything seemed as it should be.
When Charlotte fell asleep in her arms, Jo tucked her in her crib.
Lighting flashed, Paige was just going to get up when she saw a dark figure dash across the driveway. Or at least she thought she saw it. The thought that somebody was lurking outside the house sent chills down her spine. She quickly got up to follow the other two girls down the stairs. They quietly walked each step, when they heard a clink sound, they froze.
"What was...?" Ashley started. Jo gasped "The mail slot!" she whispered. They started to freak out again. Was somebody peeking in? Jo kept walking down the stairs and turned the corner into the entry way. The mail slot was shut. Something caught Jo's attention. Something white was lying on the floor. As Jo got closer, she saw that it was an envelope.
"Paige...Ashley..."
They both slowly came into the entry way when they were called. Jo picked up the envelope. It had no name on it. They all went into the living room and sat on the couch. Jo placed a lit candle on the coffee table. The envelope wasn't sealed, just tucked in. It was slightly damp from the rain. Jo opened the envelope, inside, were three pictures. What they were of made the girls skin crawl. One was a picture of Paige, in her spirit squad outfit. Another was of Jo! She was sitting on the steps in front of the school. The third picture was of the three of them going into the fabric store. They were taken on different days. Jo was shocked, she remembered the day she sat on the steps, and she didn't remember seeing anyone with a camera. Jo looked at the back of the photos, there was a message on the back of the picture taken that very day. It read: There's plenty more where this came from, Spirit.
(A/N: Review!)