Chapter XV

Sherry

The week went by smoothly for her; Jake stayed with his mother for two days to help her out around the house and informed Sherry that he had not forgotten about what they had discussed about the mission. Sherry told him she was glad to know that the thoughts hadn't escaped him and that she didn't want him to worry about it, if he said yes, great, if he didn't – she would survive.

Come the evening Sherry found herself lying on her couch with boredom. The television held nothing of interest and her cats hung around her waiting for her to feed them, meowing incessantly.

"You guys can go play, you know," she teased them as they meowed with annoyance. She stood eventually and fed them only to throw herself back on her couch.

At 10:10, Sherry went out for a walk. Jake hadn't contacted her for a while and she did not wish to bother him with text messages while he spent time with his mother. As she walked through the chilly night she was unaware of the footsteps behind her. Unaware of how the street she was on was completely empty.

Sherry was locked in her thoughts of the first time she had been really hurt with Jake there. She could really only remember falling through the air and Jakes arms wrapped tightly, almost to the point where it hurt, around her. Then she felt Jake's breathing, which was loud in her ear, suddenly become silent as her own gasp rang through the air. Something had pierced her. And then she blacked out only to wake up and find a piece of metal lodged in her back.

Sherry was locked in her memories so tightly that she didn't even noticed the footsteps getting louder. But suddenly there was an arm wrapped tightly around her waist and she was pulled against a building. She shrieked with panic as her head collided with the brick behind her.

Instantly she fought at her attacker without a second thought but found that her hands were instantly pinned to the building, and try as she might she was getting dizzy. She was most certainly bleeding from her head, and then she realized that there were two different men, one pinning her right arm, and one pinning her left.

"Stop it Sherry!" The voice from the left stilled her… oh, no, no no… "You're hurt, stop it."

"Jeff…" her whisper was shaky, and as she searched for his face in the darkness she had trouble, "What the hell are you doing! Get your hands off me right now! Get off! Let me go!" She cried out indignantly as Jeff pressed her tighter to the wall, his leg was wedged between hers. "You traitor!"

Jake

"I'm sure she's fine Jakey," his mother smiled softly at her son from where she lay on the bed. Jake nodded, sitting beside her with a basin of water and a rag. "She's not texting you because she's not overbearing – relax yourself."

"Fine," he huffed and tossed his phone to the side and then looked at the woman before him who suddenly looked wearier as she spoke. There were heavy bags under his moms eyes, and it seemed to him that now that she was diagnosed with terminal cancer that the spirit within her faded more and more every day. "How are you feeling mom? You don't look so hot."

"I'm fine." She assured him but that wasn't the truth, and he could see that very clearly. Her eyes were droopy and threre was a thin film of sweat on her forehead. He reached to her forehead with the rag and frowned at the relieved sigh she gave.

"Mom don't lie to me. When you're not feeling well just tell me."

"Jakey-

"I'm serious." He stated fiercely, "I don't want you lying to me."

Ms. Muller smiled softly, "Oh Jake, I love you so much."

"I love you too mom."

Sherry

"I'm sorry it had to be this way," he said sadly, "I'm not trying to hurt you Sherry but you get so riled up just seeing me!"

"You lied to me!" She hissed at him in the dark, as her eyes adjusted she could see him better, his eyes looked watery, "You were the one that ensured that I couldn't get the job. You knew how much this meant to me but your own vindictive nature stopped you from just letting me be happy."

"Sherry, don't say that all I care about is your safety. You're bleeding we have to get you help."

"You aren't taking me anywhere." She spit and threw her head out to hit him but failed as he leaned away from. She tried to take her foot and hit him in the groin but failed at that too when he simply pressed himself against her so that she couldn't move. "Jeff just leave now! This doesn't have to go any further." She begged him gently, trying to make him understand. She was starting to panic now. What if he drugged her or tried to rape her?

"You are mine," he cried suddenly, "I can't let him have you Sherry! I stopped you from going there on that fucking mission because it was a suicide mission! I can't be without you." He whispered feverishly against her neck. She shivered with revulsion. Her heart was pounding harder now. Jake would kill him; Jake was going to snap his neck off.

"Jeff – stop this right now." She said sternly and he pulled his lips away from her skin to stare at her mournfully. "Just let me go and all will be forgiven."

"All will be forgiven no matter what," he hissed, "you're not going on that mission. And if you stay with him he will try to please you. He will say yes and then you will be killed." Jeff shuddered, "Jake doesn't care about you Sherry! He doesn't care if you die, don't you get it?! I do!"

She shivered, "Jeff what is it that you want?"

"All I want is for you to end your relationship with him and return to me." He paused, "And if you try to lie and say that you will break up with him let me warn you that I will so. So I'll give you incentive. If you do not really – really," he stressed, "break up with him, I will hurt him by hurting you. I will end your career. And if you try to bring this back to HQ I will simply make your life miserable – and you know I have the connections to do that."

Sherry did in fact know. She also knew that her career would be ruined and that even more easily anything Jake wished to participate in would be ruined. Jeff would hunt him down wherever he went and reveal history that would threaten all of Jake's chances of being a normal individual. He'd have to go into hiding no doubt. He'd be hunted by terrorist groups out to have a weapon like Jake Muller on their side, and high profile agencies looking for test subjects. This applied to Sherry as well.

Jeff licked his lips, "think about what I've said. Do you wish to find yourself a lab rat again?"

She said nothing to him and dropped to her knees as he released her. Her stomach felt like it was going to come out of her mouth. The urge to vomit had never been so strong In her like now. Sherry struggled to hold it all back.

"Break up with him Sherry, if you do not a disaster will befall all of the people who could possibly care about. I expect you to do this as soon as possible."

"I will not!" She growled at him, "I love him. I love him..."

"I don't care," he hissed in her face. I don't care if you are in the happiest relationship of your life, I will make you twenty times happier and you know it. You like the excitement he brings you and the comfort he brings you once in a blue moon. But you know better than I do that he is dangerous, unstable, and should locked up in a psych ward. He's not stable for you and your relationship with him has never been stable, even when the two of you were friends."

"I won't leave him." She repeated with a whimper, she was trying ot heal the wound but was finding it difficult.

"Sherry, think about what I've said."

With that he left her on the cement with a pained look on his face.

He wished it didn't have to be this way, but he needed her to see his side. She was no good with someone like Jake, someone who couldn't support the better decisions she should have made. No, he couldn't have Jake getting her killed as he once almost did. He couldn't have her bravery getting her in situation that called for death. He wouldn't have it.

With that Jeff turned back around to where Sherry was still on the floor, "Sherry. Let's take you home, I'll be there with you when you do it. Moral support."

Sherry gave a sob of submission.

Jake

When he was on his way up to her apartment complex Jake felt the insatiable anger rising in him. He had called, texted, so many things and yet she did not answer. He considered the possibilities as to why she wasn't pickig up but found them to be ridiculous. Sherry always picked up her phone, the girl could not be away from her phone for more then a few hours at a time.

And then the anger had given way, what if she was hurt? What if something had happened while he was away and that was why she couldn't pick up the phone?

As he approached the door he sucked in a deep breath to calm himself. Hesitantly he raised his knuckles and rapt on the door patiently, listening for sound inside. To his dismay the only response he got was that of the cats meowing at the door. He frowned deeply, waiting for the short blonde to come bobbing up to the door and greet him with a smile and a hug. When he heard small footsteps his heart loosened within his chest as he braced himself for the embrace she would throw at him, but when the door opened it wasn't anything like this at all.

Instead Sherry stood there demurely, her eyes were stony and her short blonde hair looked… red?

"Is that blood!" Jake hollered immediately as he stepped forward and grabbed her jaw carefully to examine the wound at the back of her skull. Sherry shrank away from him, "what happened! Damn it Sherry talk!"

"Jake stop," she pleaded softly, "please you need to get out of here."

"Not when you're bleeding from your head and won't tell me what the hell is going on! Why haven't you answered my calls?" He asked her as he took her by the hand and pulled her to her kitchen, he shot her a glare as she stood before the chair silently but she took a seat as he grabbed a towel and doused it in warm water. "Is it because of that?" He asked, meaning her wound.

"No… not really. Jake we have to talk." She murmured, eyeballing him carefully.

"Alright, well let's talk." He told her, pressing the towel to the back of her head. He noticed how she trembled and still hadn't really touched him of her own accord. She was wearing jeans and a long sleeved shirt, so she definitely wasn't cold.

"Jake, you know how much I care about you." Her tone was feeble and he stiffened. "I love you more than anyone else. You're the only person I love." She said it fiercely and he pulled away from her to examine her face, he noticed the stony glare was cracking and her eyes were beginning to water, "anything I do I do for your safety."

"What the fuck are you saying?" His statement was hard and vicious. Not so much a question at all.

Sherry took a deep shuddering breath. He waited impatiently as she swallowed and then looked up at him with some sort of newfound resolve, "Jake, it's over. This between you and me, whatever it was, it's over."

For a moment he thought his ears were deceiving him, but as the silence transpired and she didn't say anything else he knew he had heard correctly. His hands bunched up into a fist. He wouldn't lose himself; he wouldn't expel his rage on her. "Why?" The sound of his voice had darkened and deepened.

"Jake don't ask me-

"You owe me an explanation!" He roared, unable to control it. She jumped up in fright and nodded. "Speak!"

"Because I decided that I love Jeff too… he's… he's safer than you are Jake. You're all over the place all the time and you don't love me," she lied. He saw right through it and glared harder, coming up to her as she struggled to move away. His hands found her hips and he pulled her towards him, cornering her near the table and the fridge of the kitchen. "Jake don't-

"Don't what?" He asked.

"Don't do this. This!" She pushed at his chest, efficiently getting him away from her and letting her have an escape to the living room. Sherry felt dizzy and her legs were going numb, his scent was everywhere and she felt was going to get high off of it if he didn't get away from her, "Jake, please just accept this – and lets be friends-

"Shut up." He bit at her, following her into the living room. He saw her back stiffen and she turned around to stare at him, "you're such a bad liar it's pitiful. You'd think someone who is a spy would be better at something like-

"I'm not a spy-

"Lying. And you suck Sherry, so cut the bullshit and tell me what's really going on."

"Jake I don't want to do this anymore." Her tone was starting to harden again, "I need you to get out of here. I promise I'll still be your friend but –

"Stop it!" He hissed furiously, "Just stop!" He couldn't bear to hear that! It was going to drive him insane!

"Stop what!" She yelled at him. Now her tears were starting to build up and her resolve was cracking, "Stop telling you that you don't love me but that I've been in love with you enough? I will never be what you want and you know it, so don't stand there and tell me that you don't want this to happen when you know it's what's best. You have never, ever, told me anything that would make me think I'm the first priority in your life. And you know why Jake?" Her voice died with a sob, "because I'm not."

He was speechless as he watched her weep and pass him quietly; she took the rag off the table silently and pressed it to the back of her head, directing her eyes to everything but him.

"Sherry, please - tell me what's going on."

"I already told you," she moaned, her head was pounding and the wound was starting to burn, in her stress she couldn't heal it. Try as she might.

"Sherry whatever I did to piss you off –

"It wasn't you."

Jake didn't know what to do or what to say. A part of him wanted to leave, to curse at her and then escape this torment, but another part of him knew that she was too good for him and that she didn't deserve half of the dismissal he gave her. But rationally, he knew that something had spurned this on, or better yet – someone.

"Who is it? Was it Jeff?" He asked her quietly, she looked to him with a teary gaze, suddenly the stony resolve from before was totally gone.

"Jake… don't do this."

Jake didn't need any more words. Angrily he marched to the bedroom with Sherry hot on his heels, she was whispering for him to stop, to please just leave. "Just go!" She begged.

Jake kicked open the bedroom door angrily and froze in his rampage at what he saw.

In Sherry's bed lay the most disgusting piece of shit he had ever laid eyes on. Jeff was stripped of all his clothing and the only thing that protected Jake's view from his full on nudity was the bed sheet draped over his hips haphazardly. He felt his heart drop and he looked to Sherry with confusion as Jeff sat up with a moan, had he just woken up?

Jake's eyes were wide and shocked and for a moment he felt that he might thrash her. But he did no such thing. Instead he closed the door and walked past her, ignoring her as she grabbed at his wrists, he only jerked his arm away from her whenever she grabbed at him.

"Jake I didn't do anything! I swear to you I didn't!"

"Get the hell away from me." He growled at her.

"Jake! I'm sorry please! He made me do this!"

Jake whirled around to face her in a fury, his eyes were glowing now and Sherry trembled in terror as he pressed her against a wall with his eyes, "What, did he force you to act like a fucking whore?" The words cut deeply, he saw it, but it just felt so good to let it out, "are you going to tell me he forced you to do that?"

"I meant.. b-break –

"I see now why you wanted me out of here so badly. Fuck you. You're a dirty slut Sherry," he hissed harshly, watching her cry, the tears cascaded down her face like a faucet now and she covered her face. "I hope the two of you are happy, he clearly doesn't know how fucking disgusting you are so maybe you'll enlighten him in the future when you end up sleeping with his friend or another co-worker." He didn't stop, not even as she covered her ears, instead he forced her hands away and held them bone tightly as she shook horribly in his grasp, she gasped for breath every time he said a curse at her. "And you know what? I'm happy you're doing this, now I don't have to do all the work in this fucking relationship. Whatever it was wasn't good enough, you're fucking right about that. You'll always be a slut." He growled in her ear. His heart dropped as she rocked with a sob and almost fell against him.

"Jake stop," she pleaded as he turned and made a move to leave. "I didn't sleep with him!" She sobbed, falling to her knees horribly and catching herself on her palms, "I didn't sleep with him," she whispered more to herself now. She seemed to be having a hard time breathing.

Jake turned one last time at the door way and looked down at her, she wasn't even looking at him anymore, just sobbing at the rug, "I don't want to ever see you again. I think it's a good thing your father wasn't here to see what you've become." He growled and slammed the door shut, storming out of the apartment complex and to the nearest bar.

Sherry

"Oh God," she gasped, "oh god, oh my god…"

"Breathe Sherry, breathe." Jeff was at her side with his gentle hands on her back, "this is for the best."

"Get the fuck away from me!" Sherry slapped him harshly in the face and then shoved him against the wall with her arm crushing his throat. "I didn't sleep with you!" She sobbed weakly, "and now he thinks I'm a fucking slut and worse because of you! He's my best friend!" She punched Jeff sharply, her knuckle cracked and he gasped as the taste of blood exploded in his mouth and he crumpled to the floor.

"He hates me now." She whispered, realizing it in a daze.

"Sherry, we need to get that wound stitched up, you're going to pass out." Jeff said, licking his bloody lip as if there were nothing there at all. He watched the short blonde stumble to her bedroom; he followed quietly as she struggled to put on her jacket. "I can't let you go out in your condition-

"Fuck you." She hissed and trembled past him, but before she could make it to the door she collapsed on the floor in a heap from exhaustion and blood loss.

Woo! So there you have it! Sherry and Jake have broken up because of - dun, dun, dun - Jeff!

So, tell me what you think, was Jake way too harsh with her? I wanted to display how out of control he gets when he is enraged as it seems he has a bit of a tendency to say things he doesn't really mean within the game and he doesn't really have a filter. I think I made him be way too harsh with Sherry, and I hope I don't have the type of fans who are on his side because Sherry is a female, you know the types that are like 'yeah shes a total bitch' but were it the other way around they would be on Jake's side and say that Sherry was too cruel?

I think you know what I mean haha!

And by - the way - if this situation were real, please don't try to romanticize it, a man should never speak to you the way that Jake and Jeff speak to Sherry in this story, it's called verbal abuse and should not be tolerated by anyone, ever.

So, next chapter is going to be more intense - so please review your hearts out because I promise you - the next chapter is going to be ... whew! I already have it all planned out and I am beyond excited to show you what I've got planned.

REVIEW!