Thanks so so much for the lovely reviews!
IM SO SORRY, I'M THE WORLDS BIGGEST IDIOT! The song in the last chapter was by James BLUNT not James Morrison! It was a stupid mistake and I'm sorry.
Another super quickie, please review. Tell me if it's okay.
Chapter Thirty Five # Telling Tales #
Tali knocked on the door of Sara's house for the fifth time, starting to get both irritated and worried. Her friend had promised that she could come over at seven to get some Chemistry homework done. She knew Sara's parents would be gone until gone midnight, but both sets of parents had consented anyway.
"Sara?" She called.
In irritation she grabbed the handle and the door swung open.
"Sara?" She called again, stepping into the house.
She poked her head into the kitchen. It was clean and empty, save from a washed up dish, cup and set of cutlery sitting in the rack. Knowing Sara would probably be in her bedroom and wondering if she was listening to music or something Tali made her way upstairs, feeling slightly bad about breaking in. The door to Sara's room was slightly ajar.
She knocked softly. "Sara?"
She pushed open the door and gasped.
Sara was on the floor, unmoving save for the laboured breaths, a small pool of vomit by the side of her.
"Sara!" She raced over and put a hand on her friend's forehead. She was burning up. "Sara, wake up, come on, come on!"
Her friend moaned softly. "Wake up!"
"No, no, don't, leave me alone, stop, please!" Sara mumbled. "Don't hurt me, please?"
"Sara, it's me, Tali, wake up, please..."
Sara's eyes cracked open.
"Tali?" She whispered.
Tali half smiled in relief. "Yeah, I'm here. God are you okay?"
"Where...where is he?" Sara cried suddenly.
"Who?"Tali frowned.
"That...that guy... JJ...oh god." Sara clutched at her churning stomach.
"Slow down Sara. There was a guy here?"
Sara started to panic. "I, he - where is he? Tali where is he?"
"Who, Sara?"
"The flowers..." Sara muttered. She stared at her open laptop, the screen saver floating around the screen. "The disc!" She lurched forward and stopped short with a moan as her stomach protested. She dragged the laptop toward her but the CD was gone. "It was here..."
"What was, Sara?"
"A disc." She whispered. "He took it back!"
"Who is he, Sara?" Tali put her hands on her friend's shoulders.
Sara's head spun frantically around the room. Looking around her bedroom, nothing was out of place. Under the bed the pipe was exactly where she had left it when her mom put it there six months ago.
"It doesn't make sense." Her voice cracked. "He was here!"
"Sara, you're sick. I think you're imagining things." Tali bit her lip.
"No, he was here!" She cried tearfully. "He injected me with... I don't know! There were flowers and two notes, threats, they're in the kitchen."
Tali took a deep breath. "Sara, the only thing in your kitchen is a washed up dinner plate. I checked on the way in when you didn't answer the door."
"What?" Sara whispered. She looked at the computer. "Nick was... Nick was screaming."
"Okay...okay..." Tali put her arm around her friend.
"I don't feel so good." Sara whispered. "Oh. I gotta clean up the floor."
"No, I'll do it." Tali shook her head.
"No, it's disgusting!" Sara protested, embarrassed.
"I've cleaned up a lot worse before, trust me. One of the hazards of living in a war zone. Just sit down; I'll get you a glass of water."
She raced downstairs and grabbed a glass of water, sticking a mop and a bucket of hot soapy water under her arm, though she didn't use bleach. Sara hated the smell of bleach, and Tali knew it. She raced back up to Sara's room.
Her friend was tucked up, her knees drawn into her chest rocking back and forth in the corner of the room, and her eyes were wide open. She was muttering quietly into space.
"It was real, he was here, it was real, he was here, he was here..."
"Sara..." Tali sighed, leaning the mop up against the door and walking over with the water.
"He was here, Tali, I'm not mad!"
"I know you're not mad. Here." She passed Sara the water. She accepted it and sipped at it gently. Tali quickly cleaned the mess up with the mop, before walking over to Sara putting an arm around her.
"It's okay...it's okay."
Sara moaned softly. "My stomach."
"I'm gonna call a doctor okay, see if they can tell me what's going on?"
"Okay." Sara whispered.
Tali dialled the number and quickly described the situation.
"Okay, does she have any underlying illnesses?"
"No, I don't think so."
"Does her family?"
Tali paused. "Uh...what sort of illness?"
"Any. Mental, physical..."
"Her mom has schizophrenia." Tali said quietly.
There was a pause on the end of the line. "Okay. Keep her hydrated and comfortable. If the symptoms don't disappear by morning then have her parents bring her in then."
"Okay, thank you." She turned to a frozen Sara. "She said you're gonna be fine."
"I'm not schizophrenic."
"I didn't say you were-"
"I'm not schizophrenic."
"Sara, I-"
"I'm not schizophrenic!" She yelled, tears in her eyes she scampered away from Tali sobbing. "I'm not, I'm not!"
Tali's eyes were wide. "Sara-"
"No! My mom's...I'm not like her Tali, I'm not! I'm not schizophrenic." Sara broke down sobbing."I can't be like her, I can't, I can't, I can't..."
Tali was shocked. She'd never seen Sara like that before. "I believe you Sara."
"Am I?" She sobbed. "Am I a schizophrenic? Tali, am I-"
"No!" Tali shook her head and crossed the room, wrapping Sara in her arms. "You're not schizophrenic."
Sara sobbed. "Feels so bad."
"It'll be okay." Tali soothed her friend, rubbing her back gently. Slowly Sara allowed herself to be guarded over to sit on the bed.
"You don't have to stay." She whispered hoarsely.
"I'm not gonna leave you alone."
Sara smiled gratefully. Tali squeezed her hand. "You're gonna be alright."
The phone rang and Sara yelped in shock.
"I got it." Tali smiled, picking up the phone. "Hello?"
"Is that Tali?"
"Yep. What's up, Nick?"
"Is Sara okay?"
Tali frowned. "What did you do?"
"Nothing, I just...I got a bit shook up, that's all and I didn't walk her all the way home. She's okay, right?"
"Actually she's not. She's really ill."
"Are you kidding?" Nick cried.
"Na uh. She's not doing so good, but she'll be okay."
"Damn. Will you tell her I'm sorry?"
"What for?"
"That she feels ill. I'm sorry she's sick."
"Okay, I will. Bye, Nick."
"Bye."
"Nick says he's sorry you're feeling sick."
Sara nodded weakly. "Tali?"
"Yeah?"
"Please don't leave."
Tali wrapped her arms around her best friend, knowing how hard it was for her to admit that she needed help.
"I'm not going anywhere Sara."
When Sara's parents arrived home hours later Tali explained everything, and James Sidle was kind enough to give her a lift home.
Sara curled up into a ball above the covers when Tali left. Her mom came in and stroked her hair for a while and her dad got a glass of water. She didn't mention the man.
She accepted the fact that she'd imagined it. She had to have imagined it.
CSIVCSIVCSIV
One week. Seven days. That's how long she took it.
On every single one of those seven days there was something, some tiny detail to persuade her that she wasn't hallucinating.
She woke up the day after she was ill with a black rose petal on her face. The next day found a CD in her computer, blank save for the letters 'Ha ha' scrawled in black marker on the front. She threw it in the trash and by the time she thought to go back and look for it, it was gone.
The following day she was woken by James Blunt's famous 'You're Beautiful', but the words were different. They'd been changed. The whole song was a threat. The radio switched off as soon as she opened her mouth.
The day after that she received a voice mail call. "Tell Nicky-Boy I say hi! Lots of Love JJ!"
The day after that it was a text. "Watching you, beautiful. Love JJ."
The day after that it was a phone call that she picked up. "Hello?"
"Hey gorgeous. You're going crazy!" The voice sang.
This morning it was a video sent to her phone as she was in the school bathroom alone at break.
The screen was dimly lit, very dimly lit but Sara could just about make out a little boy on a bed, curled in a ball, sobbing.
"What do you want, baby boy?" A man crooned, leering over. The man prodded the little boy. "Nicky-Boy? What do you want?"
"Leave me alone!" the little boy whimpered. It was the same voice as the voice on the CD Sara had heard a week ago. Nick?
"What. Do. You. Want?"
"I want my mommy!" the boy sobbed. "And I want you to leave me alone!"
The screen went black, and 'JJ' flashed onto the screen.
Sara burst into A11 and strode right up to Nick. "I need to talk to you. Alone. Now."
Nick's grin melted from a laugh to a confused smile. "Okay..."
He followed her into the hall, but instead she dragged him into an empty classroom next door and shoved him against the wall.
"Sara, what the hell-?" Nick cried.
"Who the hell is JJ?" she growled through her teeth.
"I...I don't know..." Nick stuttered.
"Nick, tell me! Who is he?" Sara cried.
"Sara, get of me! It was a prank." Nick put his hands on Sara's.
"It wasn't a fucking prank, Nick!" Sara yelled. "Last week I got delivered two death threats and a CD of a little boy screaming and a guy talking over the top, telling me that the boy was you, telling me that if I told anyone, I would die. Then someone broke into my house. He sat on my chest and pinned me to the floor. Then he stuck a needle into my neck. Next thing I know, Tali's waking me up and I've puked all over the place. She told me I was hallucinating, and I believed her, because everything had gone. But ever since, I've been getting texts, phone calls, videos. Whoever JJ is, he's not a prank caller."
"He...he did that to you?" Nick whispered. To Sara? To one of his best friends? To Sara?
"Yeah, he did." There were tears in Sara's eyes and she took her hands away from his shoulders, crossing her arms. "Please, Nick...please, tell me I'm not crazy!"
Nick swallowed. "I... you're not crazy, Sara. But I...I can't, not here, not now..."
"Nick, I've been getting death threats-"
"I know, just, one minute, okay?" Nick ran his hands through his hair. "Okay... It's the last day of term then we have a three week holiday so I don't think we're going to be doin' much work...we gotta ditch, Sara."
Sara raised her eyebrows. "Ditch? Me?"
"Yeah, Sar, I'm serious but I can't explain here, I'm sorry, it'll make sense, I swear. Just...please?"
Sara sighed. "Fine. Just let me call Tony."
"Okay, but we gotta go." Nick ran a hand through his hair. Within minutes Nick and Sara were getting into Nick's car. He'd got a permit a few days after he got out of hospital, and his dad had brought home a simple, unmarked company car from work that Nick could use.
"Where're we going?" Sara frowned.
Nick bit his lip. "The Stables."
"Why?" Sara frowned.
Nick took a deep breath. "Honestly?"
"No, I want you to lie to me some more." Sara scowled, here arms crossed tightly over her chest.
Nick winced. When he answered, his voice was small and almost childlike. "Because I feel safe around the horses."
"Safe from what?"
"Everything." Nick swallowed again.
Soon afterwards they pulled into the stables. Carlos, the ranch owner was out in the ring, and apart from Sara and Nick the stables themselves were abandoned.
Nick headed straight for Muse. The horse whickered when he came into the stable and Nick reached out to his horse. He stroked the smooth flank of the horse and took a deep breath.
"His name's Jason Johnson. He's Maria's husband. It was boyfriend when I met them." Nick whispered, leaning his face on the horse.
"And?" Sara leaned against the stall, lips pursed and arms crossed.
"She wasn't lying, she was a last minute baby sitter." Nick sniffed. "Rosa was in Mexico..."
"Nick, I know about that thing with the shed and the bats-"
"There was no shed." Nick interrupted quietly. "There were no bats."
"What are you talking about?" Sara frowned.
Nick's lip started to tremble. "She said it was a game. I didn't wanna play. She took my pyjamas off, she dragged me into the bed... she started touching me." He said monotonously as if he couldn't care less, as if he was detached from it all, though he was squeezing his eyes shut and pressing his face into the horse.
Sara's mouth popped open. "Wh...wha...what?"
"When she was done she called her boyfriend in. I thought he was going to help me..."
"Help me!" he begged. "I don't like it!"
"He...he..." Nick swallowed. He squeezed his eyes shut and gripped the horses mane even tighter. "He asked if I was a faggot...he...he ra...he raped me, Sara, in my own bed in my own house... I was nine..." Nick's voice broke. "I screamed. I cried, I begged. Then he told me he'd do it to my sisters, and my brothers and he'd kill everyone if I told on him. I was nine, I was scared. I was pathetic, I was weak..." before Sara could interrupt, Nick continued, tears escaping from his tightly closed eyes, his fingers entwining even tighter in the horse's mane. "And then they left town. So like the pathetic weakling I am, I didn't tell anybody. Then they showed up in Vegas and talked to Greg, and all I could see was them taking Greg and hurting him like they hurt me and I... when I tried to prevent them doing it... When I left school? It was him, at the bus stop, that mugged us, Warrick and me...He knocked Warrick out, dragged me into the bushes first, I thought he was gonna..."
Nick cracked and started to sob.
Sara couldn't lift a hand to wipe the tears coursing down her cheeks. She was so shocked. "That's why you...that's why you went so...detached... Oh, Jesus, Nick!"
Nick just sobbed into Muse's warm neck. Dirty, pathetic, weak, broken were the feelings coursing through his veins. He knew what Sara would think. He knew.
"He said he'd kill you all, he had a gun and I wimped out again... I'm so sorry!" he sobbed, and suddenly Sara's limbs unfroze. She wrapped her arms around Nick tightly.
He clung to the horse like a lifeline for a moment, before slowly relaxing his grip.
"Nick, I'm sorry..." she murmured, "I had no idea. But Nick, we have to go to the police!"
Nick shuddered. "I can't! I can't, Sara, I can't!"
"Sure you can."
"Actually, no he can't." A casual voice spoke up. Both teens froze as Jason strode into the stall. "Nick, I must say you have beautiful friends."
The man walked forward slowly, reaching out towards Sara's cheek. Nick dragged his friend behind him. "Don't touch her!"
"Oh, protective, much?" the man rolled his eyes, twirling a gun around in his hand. We have contacts, Nick, and if you so much as nod at the police, we'll know. And we'll kill all of them. Cute little Greg and Morgan. Ryan and Archie, Tali and Warrick, even Catherine and Tony. Then we'll move on to Ethan and Mary-Jane and Tyler, then your parents and finally you."
"The police'll find you first." Sara retorted.
"No they won't. Do you know how I know? The other little boy wasn't a wimp. He told. Luca Constantine. That was his name. Sweet little thing. His family's dead now."
Nick's blood ran cold as he remembered the news. Johnson was telling the truth.
"I'll give you a deal. We're skipping town. I'll leave little Sara alone on the condition that neither of you tell. If you do tell, then I will take Greg Sanders and kill all three of you. If I take Sara, you can tell. But neither will happen, right?"
Stuck, both teens nodded mutely. "Good. Have a nice day."
The man walked away.
"Nick?" Sara whispered.
"We can't tell anyone. You have no idea what they're capable of. They will take Greg."
"But Nick, we can't just let them get away with this!" Sara protested.
Nick turned her round and grabbed her shoulders. "You know what they'll do to Greg if we tell anyone?"
"But they won't get a chance-"
"Sara!" Nick cried. "They won't just kill him!"
Sara's lower lip wobbled. "What should we do?"
Nick shook his head. "I don't know. If they're leaving town..."
"Then they'll do it to someone else!"
"I know, Sara, I know! Do you think this isn't killing me? But if we wait...mid January, then their contacts won't be looking..."
Sara just shook her head.
"Sara... I'm so sorry!"
"I know. It's agreed then. We'll wait." Sara said.
Nick nodded. "We'll wait."
CSIVCSIVCSIV
"You quit?"
"Yeah. They'll think we're skipping town."
"Good. Now we wait?"
"We wait."
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