Dark Saviour

Chapter 14 - Plenty of Questions and Strange Answers

….

Jeff P.O.V.

Great, this is just great. I was having a nice, John-free week and now that's all turned to shit. I thought that maybe, just maybe, rooming with Mark would make everything better. I mean, he had been right for the most part. John hasn't come to bother me since I started staying in with him.

(Sigh) But maybe he was too busy planning his big return, the asshole. I don't know why he bitched and complained so much just so that he could return in the Royal Rumble match itself. It doesn't make any sense. I would have thought he would have wanted to come back and attack Randy. That would have made more sense. If he interfered with my match against Randy, made sure that I won, he would have guaranteed that he would have had me all to himself. Nothing would be standing in his way then.

I just don't understand why he changed his mind all of a sudden. I lost my chance at the gold and it's all because of John. I just don't get it. I mean I'm glad that I don't have to deal with him one on one, but still, I would like to know what has caused him to change his plans.

Wait! What if it has absolutely nothing to do with me this time? What if all of this is because of Mark? That could be why he wanted to rip off Mark's performance last year, come out number 30 and win. No, that's crazy talk. He wouldn't start going after Mark because of me, would he?

….

Jeff sat on the bed in the hotel room, thinking intently. Things were happening quickly now and he could almost feel his head spinning from it all. Taker had gone downstairs to go have a drink with his brother, leaving Jeff alone in the room. Sure, Undertaker had asked if he had wanted to join them, but Jeff didn't want to be a third wheel.

Besides I know the rumors flying around about the new arrangements. Mark doesn't need more of them flying around because he is seen out drinking with me too.

Jeff shifted slightly so that he could lie down on his side. As he hugged the pillow toward him, he realized how much he really missed Matt. No matter how many doubts he had in his mind about his brother, he still missed the big guy. Jeff chuckled at the thought of Matt being the big guy. Sure he was small compared to some of the other Superstars, but he was still bigger than Jeff, which could only mean that Matt was the big guy.

As Jeff stretched gingerly, trying not to undue the amount of healing his body had managed to accomplish, he could still feel some tension in his shoulders. A week free of Cena had allowed his cuts and bruises to heal with most of them fading enough that you could barely see them. Which was more than what he could say about Shannon. Shannon was still busted up after his encounter with Cena, JBL and Batista. Jeff felt really bad for putting his childhood friend through that, but he couldn't help but feel at least a little happy at the fact that Shannon couldn't remember who had done it. Or at least, was choosing not to remember.

I just have to make sure that nothing like that happens to Mark. He's been too nice to me. I don't know what I would do if anything happened to him.

Jeff closed his eyes, hoping to keep his mind from imagining some of the things that Cena could do to Taker if he chose to inflict even more torture on those around him. Undertaker was already slightly pissed off that his feat was made to seem so insignificant. He had been the first to ever do that in a Royal Rumble match and to have that taken away so quickly left a bitter taste in his mouth.

Jeff shook his head and sat up, wincing as he did so. Even though they had had a chance to heal, some of the bruises still hurt the same as when he had first received them. He glanced over at his phone, which currently sat on the nightstand next to his bed. He really wanted to talk to Matt. No, he needed to talk to Matt. His brother could help him sort through these feelings he was having.

He reached over to the nightstand and grabbed the bottle of pills that sat next to the phone. After popping a couple into his mouth, he swallowed them down with water from his water bottle and reached for his phone.

Jeff dialed the numbers from memory. He had called Matt enough over the years that the number was permanently burned into his brain. So long as Matt never changed his phone number, he would always be able to call his brother, no matter what state-of-mind he was in. After three rings, Jeff took the phone away from his ear, believing that Matt was screening his calls. Jeff sighed as he went to cancel the call.

"Hello?"

Jeff paused, looking at the phone as if it had mutated and grown a talking head.

"Hello?"

He quickly put the phone to his ear. "Matt?"

"Jeff?"

"Yeah, it's me."

"Hey man, nice to finally hear from you."

"Really?"

"Well, yeah. I've been trying to reach you for weeks now."

"You have?" Jeff asked, confused.

"Yeah, I wanted to know how you were doing. I was starting to feel a little shunned," Matt replied. "I mean you were never this busy when I was there. I was worried that you had gone and replaced me."

"I could never replace you," Jeff found himself wanting to believe what Matt was saying, but something was holding him back. All the things that Cena had been telling him for the past few months reared their ugly head and slammed into him, making him slightly regret calling Matt in the first place.

Could what he is saying be true? How could it be? My phone has never been turned off. Not even when I have been fighting in a match.

"Well, that's good to hear. I'd hate to have to hurt the guy who's replaced me as your brother."

"Yeah," Jeff replied, slightly distracted by his own thoughts.

"Hey, what's wrong?"

"Nothing."

"Jeff, I know that tone and you haven't returned any of my calls until now. Something is wrong."

"What calls?" Jeff asked, trying to keep the hurt from his voice as his fears took over. "I never got any calls for you."

"What? That doesn't make any sense."

"Of course it does. It only took you to leave for me to realize how pathetic I really am."

"Jeff, what the hell are you talking about? You're not pathetic."

"You'd like me to believe that, wouldn't you?" Jeff muttered, his voice cracking slightly.

"Jeff, what's gotten into you? Where is all this coming from?"

"How much do you pay them, Matt?"

"Pay who?" Matt asked, getting more and more confused as his concern about Jeff's behaviour grew. "What are you talking about?"

"Don't lie to me," Jeff snapped. "I've had enough with all the lies," he could feel all his emotions running rampant within him. He just wanted to scream to easy his turmoil.

"I'm not lying, Jeff. I honestly don't know what you're talking about."

"Shawn, Rey, Hunter, all of them. How much did you pay them to be my friends? To be nice to me?"

"What's happened to you, Jeff? Did they do something to you?"

"So you admit it! You have been paying them! Why, Matt? Why would you do that to me?"

"Jeff, listen to me . . ."

"No!" Jeff yelled, interrupting Matt. "I don't want to listen you anymore."

"But, Jeff, you have to. I don't know where you're getting these ideas from, but I didn't pay anyone to be nice to you. I wouldn't do that to you."

Jeff wanted to believe his brother so badly that it hurt more then his body did. The part that he found most distressing was that a part of him truly did believe his brother. "I've got to go, Matt."

"No Jeff, don't. I need to talk to you."

"I'll try to talk to you later."

"Jeff!"

Jeff hung up the phone, cutting off any further protest from Matt. Calling him had been a mistake. He should have just left Matt alone instead of hearing the lies come directly from his mouth. Jeff closed his eyes again, holding the phone close to him as he felt his world shatter again. Opening his eyes, he grabbed the bottle of pills again, wishing that they would easy the pain he felt in his heart like the eased the pain in his body.

….

Matt looked at his phone as panic set in, listening to the dial tone. Something was seriously wrong with Jeff and it bothered him that he wasn't there in person to help his brother. Matt jumped slightly when he felt a hand on his shoulder. Looking up, he saw that the head of the WWE promotion crew was standing beside him, concern in his eyes.

"Is everything okay?" Jack asked.

Matt shook his head. "I don't know."

"If you want, we can call this thing off."

"No, it's okay," Matt said as he tried to put a smile on his face. "I'll finish this one and then maybe we can put some space between now and the next one. Maybe get someone else to come in my place if need be."

Jack nodded. "That's fine. We'll be ready to start in about 10 minutes."

Matt watched as Jack walked back toward a group of people who all looked at him with concern and awe. Matt seriously hoped that he hadn't started to shout during his conversation with his brother. The last thing he needed was for a rumour to be started that there was something wrong between him and Jeff, or more specifically, that Jeff was in trouble.

With 10 minutes left till he was needed, Matt turned back to his phone so that he could try and call Jeff back but as he looked at the number he was about to redial, he frowned.

That's not Jeff's phone. That's . . .

Not finishing the thought, he changed his mind and quickly went through his phonebook to find Rey's number instead. As Matt waited impatiently for Rey to pick up an odd assortment of thoughts went through his mind, all of which increased his concern for Jeff's welfare.

"Hello?" Rey asked groggily when he finally answered the phone.

"Rey, it's Matt."

"Matt?" Rey asked, slightly confused.

"Yeah, did I wake you up?"

"Only a little."

"Sorry about that and send my apologies to Shawn too, but I needed to talk to you about Jeff."

"Shawn's not here," Rey yawned. "What's wrong with Jeff?"

"Shawn's not there?"

"No, he's gone to visit his kids. He'll be back sometime tomorrow."

"Well still, sorry for waking you up at least. But I really need to talk to you about Jeff."

"What's wrong?"

"Has Jeff been acting strange lately?"

"Not that I know of. Why?" Rey asked, seeming to have woken up a bit more as he picked up the concern in Matt's voice.

"I just got a strange call from him. I have been trying to get a hold of him for a couple weeks now and I haven't been able to get through."

"How strange was the call?"

"He seemed to be thinking that I was paying you guys to be nice to him."

"That is strange."

"That's what I thought. I was curious if you knew where he could be getting those thoughts from."

"I don't have the slightest idea. I know he's been hanging around a lot with Mark lately, but that's about it."

"He's been hanging around with Mark? As in, The Deadman?"

"Yeah, strange isn't it? I mean, I can understand them being together when we would drag Mark out on one of Shawn's random trips, but they seem to be hanging out on their own lately."

"Do you think that Mark is the one filling Jeff's head with those ideas?"

"No," Rey said without hesitation. "There's no way he would do something like that. Give Mark some credit. He's better than that. Besides, he respects Jeff too much to do anything to hurt him."

"You're right. I don't know why I would say something like that."

"You're worried. Trust me, if our places were reversed and I found out that the only difference that could be seen about my brother was that he was hanging around with Mark, I would be drawing the same conclusions."

"I just don't know what to do. Something is going on with Jeff and I don't know what it is."

"If you want, I could get Shawn to keep an eye on him for you."

"No," Matt replied quickly. "I don't want anything like that. Jeff already thinks that I'm paying you and Shawn to be nice to him. If he saw that Shawn was watching him, he'd think I was paying him to do that too."

"I wish I knew what you could do."

"So do I," Matt paused. "Maybe there is something you can do. Do you know why Jeff would have Cena's phone?"

"No. I didn't think he liked the guy."

"Well, Jeff called me from Cena's phone."

"I don't know why he would do that. I could ask him for you thought?"

"It's okay. I'll try and call him again later and ask him then but listen, Rey, keep an eye on Mark for me. I want to make sure he's not doing anything to put Jeff in harms way."

"Okay, I can do that even though I know Mark isn't behind this." Rey said biting his lip in indecision.

"Thanks, Rey. I appreciate it."

"Although, I should tell you something."

"What?"

"Jeff is sharing a room with Mark now. They started to room together a couple of weeks ago, after Shannon was attacked."

"What?" Matt asked in disbelief.

"Don't go and get your panties in a knot. I told you, Mark would never do anything to harm a hair on Jeff's head. I just thought that I would tell you that he did offer the spare bed in his room to your brother before the Royal Rumble. So, if you want to call Jeff, I think the easiest way would be try Mark's number."

"Oh, okay," Matt said, a bad feeling creeping over him. "Thanks for telling me, Rey."

"No problem. Just don't be too hard on him, Matt. If Jeff is as messed up as you're making him seem, don't push him."

"I won't. Talk to you later, Rey."

"Bye."

Matt hung up, his feeling of dread growing. He couldn't figure out why Jeff would have Cena's phone, it didn't make sense. But then, neither did Jeff shacking up with Undertaker. Matt looked over his shoulder, seeing Jack motioning for him to come forward.

So whose filling Jeff's head with all these doubts? Cena or Mark? Why would either of them start doing this now? There have been plenty of times before this that they could have gone after Jeff. So why would they start now?

Matt shrugged his thoughts away and walked over to where the group was standing. No matter what anyone said, he was catching the first flight he could get. He needed to see Jeff. He needed to talk to him face to face. He needed to know what the hell was going on with his baby brother.

….

After hanging up the phone, Rey rolled out of bed and quickly got dressed. If he hurried, he may still be able to catch Taker in the bar. No matter what Matt said, Rey had to talk to Taker about what was going on. There were no if's, and's or but's about it. If something was wrong with Jeff, Rey wanted to go to his best resource currently on what Jeff was doing. Rey ran out the door and down the hall, quickly descending the stairs two at a time, figuring that the stairs would be faster then the elevator.

He made his way to the bar, scanning it for any sign of Undertaker. He found the man he was searching for in the back corner, talking with Kane. Slowly, but with purpose, Rey made his way over to where the two brothers sat. Kane noticed Rey first and pointed him out to Taker.

"Hey, Rey, what are you doing up again?" Kane asked.

"I need to talk to Mark in private for a couple minutes," Rey replied, looking directly at Taker.

"Okay. I'm ready to head up to bed anyway. I'll talk to you later, Mark."

Taker nodded as Kane got up and walked away. He then looked up at Rey expectantly, "What do you need to talk to me about?"

"It's about Jeff."

"Why? What's wrong?" Undertaker asked, angry with himself for allowing his concern to show through.

"I was hoping you could tell me," Rey replied, taking up the seat that Kane had vacated.

"Why would I know what's wrong?"

"Come on, Mark. Everyone knows that the two of you have shacked up. I want to know why?"

"He doesn't want to be alone," Taker replied, choosing his words carefully. "And since Glen is rooming with Punk, I had an extra bed. Instead of going through the hassle of changing rooms, I offered it to him."

"That's all?"

"What is it with you people? Do you always need to think that there is always something more going on?" Taker asked, a little frustrated.

"I'm only asking because Matt got a strange call from Jeff a few minutes ago. He called me to ask what was wrong with his brother. The only thing that I could think about that had changed about Jeff recently was that he's started to hang out with you."

"Are you accusing me of hurting the kid?"

"Hell no! It's nothing like that. I'm just worried about him," Rey explained. "Since you two seemed to be getting close, I wanted to know if you knew anything that could help shine a light on this."

"I don't know anything."

"Mark, please? Is their anything at all that you can tell me?"

"I can't tell you anything," Taker said, looking at Rey sharply.

"So you do know something?"

Taker looked away, biting the inside of his cheek as he thought about what he could tell the Master of the 6-1-9. "I don't really know anything. He hasn't confided in me."

"Do you know why Jeff would have Cena's phone?"

"What?" Undertaker asked, confused.

"Jeff called Matt from Cena's phone."

"That's impossible."

"No, it's not."

"Yes, it is. Jeff's in the hotel room right now and I know for a fact that he hates that bastard," Taker replied.

"I know that too, but that still doesn't explain why he was calling for Cena's phone."

"Maybe . . . maybe he picked up Cena's phone by accident," Taker whispered.

"How is that even possible?" Rey asked.

"They have the same phone. If one was just sitting there, it may have been picked up by accident," Taker explained, but even as he said it, it sounded farfetched.

"But the contacts wouldn't be the same," Rey replied. "Wouldn't he have noticed that?"

Taker shrugged, not meeting Rey's gaze.

"What else are you not telling me?" Rey asked as he stared Taker directly in his eyes.

Taker looked away from Rey once again. "There is nothing else for me to say."

"Damn it, Mark! This is important!"

"Look, I told you there are some things that even I don't know. All I do know is that Jeff will only talk when he is ready."

"But . . ."

"No," Taker interrupted. "I can't tell you else when it comes to Jeff's behaviour. I can only offer speculation and gossip which helps no one. All I can tell you for sure is that Shannon wasn't an accident."

"What?"

"What happened to Shannon last month, that was no accident," Taker repeated as he stood up. "Now, if you excuse me, I'm heading to bed."

Rey watched in silence as Undertaker walked away. He didn't know what to say to keep the Deadman there. Things were slowly getting out of control. First Jeff is acting weird and then he calls Matt from Cena's phone. Now Taker was acting strange. If Rey didn't know better, he would say that Cena and Taker were working together, but Undertaker hated Cena just about as much as anyone, if not more. There was no way that they would ever work together willingly.

Damn it! What the hell is going on?

….

Taker walked quietly into the hotel room, not wanting to disturb Jeff if he was sleeping. Once he closed the door, he discovered that Jeff was indeed sleeping; his back turned toward the Deadman. Undertaker tiptoed his way to his own bed, trying to be as quiet as possible. As he got closer, he saw Jeff's phone sitting on the nightstand beside him. I wonder?

He picked up the phone gingerly and flipped it open. Undertaker quickly scanned through the phonebook, every once in awhile glancing over at the sleeping figure, making sure that he wouldn't get caught red-handed.

It looks like Jeff's phone. It even has his band members in it. So why would he be calling from Cena's phone?

Undertaker glanced over at Jeff, trying to solve the puzzle that was the high-flyer, but no matter how much he tried, he was unable to figure him out. The Enigma was as confusing as ever.

Maybe Cena is the one behind all of this. Maybe at one point he switched phones with Jeff. But then, how would his phone have the same numbers in it? When would he have had the chance to do that? Taker shook his head, trying to clear his thoughts. Maybe, maybe it was after Matt left or during his farewell party. Maybe that's why Jeff didn't show up on time the following night. But that doesn't make sense, does it?

Taker once again let his gaze roam over Jeff's outline. There were so many questions and too few answers. All of the answers lay with Jeff. Only he knew what was really going on and it didn't look like he would be telling anyone anytime soon. Taker sighed once more before putting the phone down and crawling into his own bed.

I just don't see John doing it though. Jeff can easily take him on. John's scared of the kid. He knows that Jeff has more talent in his little finger then he has in his entire body. Maybe he has help?

Undertaker slowly drifted off to sleep, trying to come up with answers to the riddle that was slowly forming around his once peaceful life. As sleep finally claimed him, his mind held onto one thought.

Damn it all. What am I going to do with all this drama? What am I going to do to help him?