I'm so sorry this incredibly short and sorry excuse for a new chapter was so late in coming. Believe it or not I wrote the last chapter before the first chapter. I know how it ends but the middle is kinda hard... Wow, that sounds so lame! Anywhoo, here is the third chapter. There might be 2 more or maybe 3... Not sure yet. But I'm wrapping it up. Thanx so much for the reviews and don't give up on me. I swear I'm gonna finish this!

She Has Secrets Too

Crisslyn wanted to cry. She had never felt so utterly helpless before. Nicole had called her cell phone almost an hour ago and asked Crisslyn to meet her at the beach house. Crisslyn knew Jon would be there and she wanted to look good, but now she just wanted to crawl into a hole and die. She looked in the mirror and nearly drove her fist into it. Her hair was done up in a messy bun that she was quite satisfied with and her makeup was basic but still looked good. Beyond that, Crisslyn was in full crisis mode.

Almost every shirt she owned had somehow shrunk two sizes too small. She hadn't realized that when she did her laundry in town where it only cost a quarter to do a full lode, that she would get what she paid for. Most of her clothes had suffered massive sand damage when her boxes fell open on the journey from the car to the cabin and she had to take them all into town to be washed. It wasn't until she started looking for something nice to wear that she realized all her shirts were so small that they showed her stomach. Crisslyn made it a point to not wear shirts that showed her stomach for a reason. A knock on the door caused her to jump and yelp.

"Crisslyn!" An oddly familiar voice called out from her front door. "I know you're in there!" Crisslyn quickly grabbed a baby-blue tank top and pulled it on over her black bra. She slipped her legs into a pair of jean cut-off shorts and, as quietly as she could, grabbed her cell phone and tip-toed into the bathroom. "Crisslyn!" The voice was moving around the porch and she knew he was looking in the windows. "Dammit, open the door! I know you're here! I can see your car!" Her blue Jeep Wrangler was easy to spot. The license plate read Criss-16 because it was a birthday gift from her grandmother.

Crisslyn looked down at her cell phone and cursed silently. The damn thing was so tricky! It worked in the kitchen, but in the living-room and bathroom she couldn't get a signal. "Everywhere network my ass." She whispered. She could hear various thumps and footsteps coming from the porch as if he was trying to test the walls for weak spots. Tears fell down her cheeks and she tried not to whimper. He might hear… Then the footsteps were running down the stairs. She dared not leave the bathroom too quickly. It might be a trap.

"Crisslyn?" This voice made her cry out in relief. She flung open the bathroom door and ran to her front door. She tore the door open an threw herself into the arms of her savior. "Um, I like you too but… Jon would kill me." Crisslyn laughed while tears streamed down her face as she looked at Kyle. She let go of him and wiped her hands down her cheeks.

"Sorry Kyle, I just…" How could she tell him?

"So who was they dude I just chased off?" Kyle pointed his thumb behind him and Crisslyn turned to grab the sweat-shirt Jon had given her. "I didn't actually mean to chase him off but when he saw us pull up, he ran off." Crisslyn's head swiveled around as she pulled her shoes on.

"Us?" She stood and grabbed her keys. "Who's us?"

"Me and Jon. When you didn't show up, Jon wanted to come looking for you. We saw some dude on your porch. He took off and Jon went after him." Crisslyn took a few seconds to register the fact that even though she had just thrown herself into Kyle's arms, he still remained outside of her doorway. 'Hmm, odd.' She decided not to dwell on it and instead left the cabin making sure to lock the deadbolt. As she and Kyle made their way down the stairs she could see Jon running towards her. He grabbed her at the last step and pulled her into his arms.

"I didn't get him. He took off in a truck." He said to Kyle while still holding Crisslyn. Kyle shrugged at him. "Who was that guy?" He pulled himself away from Crisslyn and made eye contact with her. She let her eyes drop slightly.

"I dunno. He just showed up and started knocking and yelling. I hid in the bathroom but my stupid phone doesn't get a signal in certain parts of the cabin." She realized she was still clutching the phone in her hand and quickly shoved it into her pocket.

"Come on, let's get you out of here." Jon took her arm and led her to his bike.

It felt good to be on the bike with him. The cold air whipped around on both sides of her but she felt so warm being wrapped around him. 'I'm falling in love.' She knew it was reckless. She had just met him. But being with him mad her fell so safe, like nothing could ever harm her. Not even her past mattered when she was next to his warmth. Her past that had quite literally just come back to say hello. She tried to hold in the tears.

When Jon helped her off the bike he could tell that she had just been crying. Her makeup was streaked down her cheeks. He led her into the house without a word and into one of the bathrooms. He sat her down on the toilet seat.

"Are you going to tell me what's up?" He asked while running warm water over a rag.

"What do you mean?" 'Oh God, please don't ask me this!'

"Who was that guy?" He asked very seriously as he gently wiped the ruined makeup off her cheeks. She made eye contact with him for a split second before letting her eyes drop again. "Look at me." Her eyes came up slowly. She looked at him with such a terrified look on her face that it caused him to drop the rag. He reached out to her suddenly and she threw her hands up in front of her face protectively and let out a small gasp. That's when he saw it.

She had left the sweatshirt unzipped and when she lifted her arms up her tank top came up with them half way up her stomach. On the left side, right next to her belly-button, was a four inch long scar. Jon's eyes went wide as a rage he had never felt before shot through his body. The world spun out of focus and Jon staggered backwards until he hit the wall behind him. He cursed loudly when he realized Crisslyn was no longer there.

Twenty minutes later Jon was ready to kill someone, and not just because he hadn't fed in three days. He and Kyle had looked everywhere for Crisslyn but there was absolutely no sign of her. Jon picked up a glass full of vodka and smashed it on the ground. Ignoring the looks people were giving him he made his way to the beach hoping the roar of the ocean could soothe his nerves. And that maybe some drunk idiot was out there alone. Damn he was thirsty!

Kyle watched Jon stalk off to the beach and shook his head. For the first time in a long time he couldn't think of anything smart-ass to say about Jon. He respected (just a little) the fact that Jon really cared about this girl. Kyle snapped his fingers and he remembered one place where they had not thought to look for her.

Crisslyn had no idea how she had ended up in the wine cellar. She didn't even know it was a wine cellar until she saw the shelves of bottles everywhere. It was a little warm but mucky in the cellar but she somehow found the feeling of earth all around her very comforting. She found an old wooden bench near the back of the cellar and sat down. Pulling her knees up to her chest she finally let out all of her anguish. The sobs came out quiet at first but the more she let loose, the louder she became. She knew it wouldn't be long before someone might hear her but she was beyond the point of caring. Life just wouldn't give her a break.

"Crisslyn?" It was the third time she had heard her name called out that night. She looked up and saw Kyle but something about him was different. He wasn't smiling. "Are you okay?" He moved at her like he was moving towards a wounded animal.

"No." Her voice was raspy from her sobbing.

"Do you want me to get Jon?" Kyle turned back towards the stairs.

"No please!" She cried out. He turned back to her. "Can you get Nic?" She sounded like scared child.

"Yeah sure." Five minutes later Nicole was sitting beside her, holding her and stroking her face while she cried. Shane stood in the shadows wondering if this was at all Jon's fault.

"Jon!" Jon lifted his head at the sound of his name. The drunk (and now very much dead) girl underneath him had done little to calm him down. He had made sure to be clean about it and there was only a little blood on his chin when he was done. Kyle was rushing towards him but slowed down when he saw what (or whom) Jon was holding. Kyle rolled his eyes and helped Jon drag the body away from the beach and into a boathouse near the mansion where they stored bodies in a freezer until they could burn them away from prying eyes. Jon washed his face off in the ocean water before the two of them walked back to the mansion.

"Is she okay?" Jon asked after Kyle had told him where he had found Crisslyn.

"Yeah, but something's got her real scared. And she only wanted to see Nicole." Kyle could've smacked himself in the head when he saw the impact his last remark had on Jon. Both of them walked the rest of the way in silence. They stopped at the door to the wine cellar. Jon could hear Crisslyn crying and as much as he wanted to pound the door down and demand she tell him what was wrong… He held back. Kyle could see the toll this was taking on him. The door opened and Shane's head popped out. He looked at both of them and beckoned them to come in.

Nicole had never seen her friend like this. It was true, they hadn't been terribly close, but she still cared deeply for Crisslyn. Looking at what a mess her friend was made Nicole want to cry too, but she knew it would make Crisslyn feel worse.

"Please tell us what's wrong." Nicole spoke as softly as she could. Crisslyn sniffed as she looked at Nicole and the now three men standing to her right. She pulled apart the sweatshirt and let them all see her stomach. "Oh my God!" Nicole slapped her hand over her mouth realizing she had just shouted and made Crisslyn jerk away from her. Shane knew immediately what was going on.

"Your ex did this to you didn't he." Crisslyn nodded. Jon got on his knees beside Crisslyn and took her hands into his.

"Was he the guy at your house tonight?" Jon asked making sure to make eye contact. She simply nodded again. He didn't mean to squeeze her hands as hard as he did but she didn't seem bothered by it.

"I don't know how he found me. I swear I didn't tell anyone where I was going when I left. He must have had his cop friends look for my car." Her voice squeaked

"You thought I was going to hit you in the bathroom. That's why you ran." She looked away shamefully. "I would never hurt you Crisslyn. And I won't ever let this guy near you." She faced him again. "Do you believe me?"

"Yes," she said breathlessly.

"I want you to tell us everything about this guy. I can find out where he's staying and make sure he never bothers you again." Jon gave Shane and Kyle a knowing look as he said this.

Crisslyn gathered up what little bit of vocal strength she had left and told them everything she knew.