Chapter 11

Matt and Jeff were almost to the house when Jeff's phone rang again. Without thinking, he picked it up.

"Hello?"

"Hey Honey." Meg said. I was just calling to make sure your flight went okay."

"Yeah, everything's good. We're on our way to Stamford right now." Matt gave him a look and he shrugged. "How you doing?"

"Good. I just finished straightening up the bedroom. We made quite a mess."

"Sorry about that. I wished I could've helped you clean up."

"Oh, don't worry about it. I was up early anyway. We got some strange call early in the morning, so I was up after that."

"What kind of phone call?" He asked.

"It was just some guy saying something, but I couldn't understand. When I asked him to repeat himself, he apologized and said he had the wrong number. It was funny it sounded like he was saying stay away." Jeff paused.

"Did he call back?" The phone rang again but I figured it was just him again so I didn't pick up. Anyway I was just going to go shopping. I just wanted to say hi and that I miss you."

"I miss you too. I'll call you later."

"Okay. Love ya." Then she hung up.

"We may have another problem." Jeff told his brother.

"Why what's wrong?"

"Remember yesterday, when I told you that I got woken up early by a wrong number?" Matt nodded. "Well the guy on the phone said 'Stay Away or else'". I got the same phone call the day before. I figured it was just some hotel prank but then Meg said we just got the same call at the house."

"Did you recognize the voice?"

"No. It didn't sound familiar."

"What do you want to do?"

"I don't know. I mean whoever it was apologized to Meg"

"They probably thought they had dialed the wrong number. I would let security know. I mean he called your home number."

"I'll let Stephanie know today. Man can we have any more problems." Jeff said as they pulled up into the driveway. He looked around the house. He had spent a lot of time there. He noticed that she had installed a large security gate, which was good because she lived alone. She had inherited the house when her mother died when she was eighteen. She was an only child who had never been close to her mom, and her father didn't have any contact with them after the divorce. To Jessica, the McMahon's were her family. When they were still together, Jeff had suggested she sell it, that it was too big and secluded, but Jessica couldn't part with it. She felt that it was all she had.

They headed up the stairs, and Matt knocked on the door. Paul answered it.

"Hey guys."

"Hey Paul. Didn't think we'd see you here." Matt said.

"I didn't want Steph to come out alone so we left the kids with Vince and Linda." At that moment Stephanie and Jessica came into the house. Matt and Jeff both went over to her. Matt gave her hug, but Jeff stayed back and just gave her a reassuring smile.

"Hey guys. You really didn't have to fly all the way up here."

"We wanted to." Jeff told her.

"Why don't we all sit down?" Stephanie suggested and everyone took a seat. Then they all looked to Jessica.

"All right. Don't everyone stare at once." She said.

"We're sorry." Matt spoke for the group. "When you're ready."

"I don't know where to start."

"Do you want me to?" Stephanie asked.

"No, thank you. I should do it. Uhm, I guess I'll just". She paused. "When I left the WWE, there was a lot going on in my life. Besides the uh situation," She looked to Jeff, who lowered his head "I had been receiving some threats."

"At first they were nothing too serious. It was just a voice, saying hello and then hanging up. Eventually, he started saying that he loved me, and we should be together. Then they became threats."

"Why didn't you say anything?" Matt asked her.

"I was afraid. He kept saying that this was our little secret. He said if I told someone then people would start getting hurt. He threatened you and Jeff, Amy; he even threatened your dad. I wasn't going to let anything happen."

"He kept calling, sending letters, and flowers. He said I was his and only his. He was planning for the time we would be together. I was getting something from him at least 4 times a day."

"I know you guys all noticed something was going on, I just couldn't talk about it. At one point, I was gonna tell you," she motioned to Jeff, "But somehow he knew, he told me he would kill you. Then we broke up, and it got worse. He kept saying he was coming to pick up the pieces; we were going to be a family. One day he called and said that he was coming over. I panicked and I called Stephanie, I told her everything. She said she was gonna get help and then called me back. When the phone rang again, it was him. He had found out. He was angry and said I would regret telling someone. He said Jeff was gonna die" Stephanie, who was sitting next to her put one arm around her, as the tears rolled down Jessica's face.

"That was it. I flipped out. I begged him not to do anything. I told him I would do whatever he wanted. He said he'd there shortly and I'd better make it up to him. I said I would. When he hung up, I went upstairs and I did this." She pulled up the sleeves on her arm to reveal scars on her wrists. "I tried to kill myself. I slashed both wrists, and swallow a lot of pain killers. I figured that this way it would be done. I'd be dead and he wouldn't do anything. I couldn't deal with it. I just wanted for all of this to be over. I called Steph. I told her what I had done and that-" She was now crying too hard to continue.

"When she called I freaked out." Stephanie continued for her. "I called my dad, who called the cops again, and then I called Paul. My dad picked me up and we drove down here. By the time the cops got here Jessica was already unconscious. They took her to the hospital and saved her."

"When she woke up in the hospital, she freaked out. She kept saying that he was gonna hurt someone; that they should have let her die. She needed to die. She was inconsolable. They had no choice," Stephanie's voice trailed off.

"I was committed." Jessica said softly. "I spent almost a year in that hospital. The doctors there helped me so much."

"When I got out, I was afraid of my own shadow. I wanted to call you guys, but I was too scared. Steph and Shane were great. One of them was here at all times. Vince and Linda called constantly and all contact with whoever it was had stopped."

"Jess worked real hard with her recovery. Over time she didn't need one of us to stay with her all the time. She was almost the same old Jessica." Shane said. "So much so, that a couple of weeks ago, we approached Jessica about returning. I took some prodding, but eventually she agreed."

"Which bring us back to Tuesday night. I mean when we were all at the bar, I felt great. It was almost like the old days. The way my life should have been. Then yesterday, when I got home, there was a message; it was him. That's when Matt called and I saw that kid outside. I freaked out. After the cops left, when the phone rang I figured it was Matt again, so I picked up."

"But it wasn't me." Matt said.

"No, it was the voice again. He said Welcome Back then hung up. The phone rang again and it was Jeff."

Matt, Jeff, and Chris didn't know what to say when she was done speaking. The story she had told was almost too unbelievable, but one look at Jessica and they knew it was true. All that she had been through, Jeff thought to himself, and all he did was think about himself. There was some guy who was out there stalking her, terrorizing her, while he went home and cheated on her.

"I'm sorry; I know I should have gotten help sooner. I just shut everyone out, and drove everyone away." She tried to explain to them. "Please stop looking at me like that." She pulled back down her sleeves, covering her scars.

"Stop apologizing." Jeff said. "None of this is your fault."

"I just want my life to be normal again."

"So where do you want to go from here?" Matt asked.

"I think maybe we should slow down Jessica's return." Stephanie said and the others agreed.

"No." Jessica said standing up. "I'm not giving it up."

"Jess," Shane stared at her as she was shaking her head. "This guy hasn't moved on. We're not saying you shouldn't come back. Just, maybe you should wait a little. Let's give someone a chance to find him."

"No. It's been three years and still no one knows who he is. I can't wait that long. That's putting him in control."

"That's keeping you safe, and sane." Stephanie argued.

"So I what, stay locked up in this house. That would be what would drive me insane."

"Maybe she's right." Matt interjected.

"What would you know? You guys weren't here. You were too busy to see what was really wrong with a friend and you" Shane paused looking at Jeff. "You were too busy screwing some other girl."

"Shane!" Stephanie yelled. She saw the pain in Jessica's eyes.

"Well, it's true." He said as Matt stood up and got into Shane's face.

"Are you done?" Matt yelled. "Because this isn't really helping anyone. It doesn't do any good to bring that up and you can stop slamming my brother every second you get!"

"Well, why doesn't he stand up for himself instead of hiding behind his big brother? He's a fuck up that relies on you to pick up the pieces. Maybe it would have been better if she had let him kill him."

"Don't you ever say that about my brother!" Matt said and swung at Shane. Shane dodged him and before anyone knew it. Matt and Shane were rolling around on the floor punching each other.

"Shane? Stop it!" Stephanie looked to Paul to help her. He and Chris tried to pull them apart. In the chaos, Jeff saw Jessica shake her head, grab her cigarettes and walk out the back door. Jeff wanted to follow her out but he had to clear his thoughts. He had had no idea that all this had been going on. Then a realization came to him. The phone calls he had been receiving had to be connected to her. They started the day of her return and that wasn't a coincidence. He was warning him to stay away from her. Whoever it was knew she was returning and now he was threatening Jeff too. Thoughts of his own safety didn't concern him; he only wanted to make sure she was safe. This was his opportunity to make up for some of the pain that he had caused.