Part 8

Jordan's eyes shot open as she heard the door close and the sound of someone entering the living room. Joey came in, gave a "hello" nod to Jordan and placed his bags down on the floor.

"Rough night?" He asked.
"Sort of," Jordan answered, sitting up from the couch.
"Still having nightmares?"

She slowly nodded.

"Look, um...I wanted to apologize for my actions a few nights ago. I didn't mean to take it out on you and...well...Clay and I are still reeling from his fiancee's death and..."
"Yeah, I heard about that," Jordan said.
"How'd you hear?"
"Clay and I had a talk last night and...he mentioned it. I felt so bad for him."

Clay suddenly entered the room and spotted Joey with some shock.

"I thought you were going to Bellevue," he said.
"The convention got cancelled and...well...I'm stuck back here," Joey answered, "If it's cool with you guys."
"Yeah," Clay said, "It's fine."

After a moment of silence, Joey sighed and said, "How bout we hit a restaraunt tonight?"
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(Hours later)

"Clay, I don't know about this," Jordan whispered as they walked down the street to the nearest restaraunt.
"Why?" Clay asked.
"Well, what if they show up again? What if they jump us without knowing and..."
"Relax. Joey and I came prepared."

Clay opened his jacket slightly and revealed the cross, holy water, and a few stakes.

"You have nothing to worry about," Clay said.
"Hey. You chuckle heads aren't talking about me, are ya?" Joey asked as they caught up with him.
"No," Jordan said, "We're talking about...the Trix rabbit."

Clay glanced at her and quickly replied, "Yeah. Silly rabbit."
Joey glanced at them for a moment and continued to walk down to the restaraunt.
"That was lame," Clay whispered to Jordan as they continued to walk.
Jordan shrugged and replied, "It worked, didn't it?"

Minutes later, the three friends were enjoying their dinner and laughing about whatever came to their minds. Jordan turned her head for a moment and noticed that another figure was in her view. She quickly blinked, and spotted no one. Just tables and chairs.

"Hey Jordan," Clay said, snapping her back to reality, "You OK?"

She shook her head quickly and replied, "Yeah. I'm fine."
"You sure? You're getting nervous again."

She then got up from her seat and replied, "I shouldn't be here."

As she was about to walk out the door, Clay followed her out and asked her to wait up.

"What's going on?" Clay asked.
"I shouldn't be here, Clay," Jordan answered nervously, letting the cold air flow around them.
"What are you talking about?"
"I'm still an easy target after all that's happened. I don't want to be found by them again and have the same thing happen to all of us."
"I told you. Whenever Joey and I go out, we always come prepared..."
"Yeah I know. But I'm just worried that it won't be enough."

Jordan suddenly held her head and sighed.
Clay placed an arm around her and replied, "C'mon. Let's head back, OK?"
Jordan nodded and proceeded to walk back to the house while Joey watched them walk off without warning. But Joey had other plans...
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Part 9

(Hours later)

Clay watched her stare down in silence from across the kitchen table while they played chess.

"Your move," he said, trying to snap her out of her thoughts.

Jordan glanced up and asked, "What?"
"It's your move."
"Oh. Sorry."

Jordan moved her chess piece to the front while Clay smirked slightly.

"What's so funny?" Jordan asked.
"We don't know how to play this game and none of us even won a set."

She smiled back and replied, "Yeah, you're right."

Once they cleaned up the table, they slowly sat down on the couch in silence while Jordan glanced at the pictures next to her side, along with a black and white picture of Clay's fiancee, Jocelyn. Jocelyn's face was pleasant as her long, curly hair flowed in the breeze.

"Was this your fiancee?" Jordan asked, picking up the picture.

Clay glanced over at the picture, nodded and replied, "That's her all right."
"She's beautiful."
"She was. She definitely was beautiful."

Clay suddenly rubbed his eyes, trying not to let the tears sting or flow.

"I'm sorry," Jordan said softly, "About Jocelyn."
"You shouldn't be sorry. You did nothing wrong."
"I know but...I just wish I could've helped in some way..."

They suddenly heard a thud and Jordan stopped short.

"Was that Joey?" Jordan asked.

Clay shook his head and replied, "I don't know."

He suddenly called out his name, but heard nothing. They suddenly got up from their seats and walked into the kitchen, looking around for the noise. Another thud erupted, and ended with a crashing sound from behind.

Jordan and Clay turned around sharply and listened for the noise again. Before they could do anything else, Jordan felt something hit the back of her head and collapsed to the ground without a word. The last thing she heard was Clay screaming her name.

(To be continued...)