Chapter 38

"Good." The voice said to Jessica. "You've done what I said."

"Where is he?" She demanded into the phone.

"Soon. Just keep following my directions."

"I want to speak to him."

"That's not possible."

"Why?" She asked him.

"Because, he'd probably try to talk you out of coming and I can't have that."

"I'm not going to back down." Jessica said trying to get him on her side.

"I don't think we should take the chance. Just keep following the directions I'm giving you and before you know it, this will all be over and you and I can start our life together." Jessica kept driving. She had long ago stopped trying to figure out where she was. He had kept giving her turn after turn, that she felt like she was going in circles. It didn't help that everything looked the same. She had driven past field after fields and felt like she was now in the middle of nowhere. At this point she wouldn't have been able to turn back even if she wanted to.

"How do I know he's even there?" She asked him.

"Well, I guess you'll just have to trust me." He laughed.

"Yea, because everything you've done up to now has been trustworthy."

"I said I would never hurt you, didn't I? And I haven't. I think that's pretty honest."

"You think you haven't hurt me?"

"Let's not fight." He said. "You don't want to make me angry. I could hang up the phone right now and you'll never find him." She sighed realizing he was right. She had to find Jeff.

"Just tell me who you are? Tell me something." She said desperately.

"In time." He told her. He checked his watch and realized they had been on for too long. "Just make a left two miles down and I'll call you back."

It's almost time, he thought to himself looking down at a still unconscious Hardy. He had to get everything ready for when she got here. He leaned over and picked Jeff and the chair off the floor. He took a good look at his enemy. He didn't look good. Jeff's face was swollen and he was bleeding from where he had busted his lip. Jessica wasn't going to be happy, but at least he was alive. She couldn't complain about that.

"Time to wake up." He said mockingly to Jeff. Impatient, he slapped him across the face. Jeff slowly opened his eyes and looked up at his captor. "I'm sorry, did that hurt? I just thought you'd like to make yourself presentable for Jessica."

"Where is she?" Jeff looked around with concern.

"Oh, she's not here yet but she will be soon."

"What did you do to her?"

"I didn't do anything. I never had to. Thanks to you, she's coming to me. I'm surprised. I didn't think she'd have the nerve, you know with her 'fragile' state."

"How could you do to this to her?" Jeff asked trying to buy some time. "She trusted you."

"I know that's what's so sweet about her. How trusting she is."

"She won't forgive you. You know that."

"Why not? She forgave you and in my opinion what you did is far worse."

"Worse then stalking her all these years? What about making her believe you were her friend; that you cared about her safety? How about how you drove her so crazy that she actually tried to kill herself? She could have died."

"I'm sorry about that and I'm sure when we have a chance to talk, she'll understand, why I had to do all of this."

"Why?" Jeff looked at him. "Why did you have to do it?"

"To show her how much I love her of course. It could have been much simpler, I should have been up front with her in the beginning, but you came into the picture, and no matter how hard anyone tried, she wouldn't let you go. So you see, none of this is my fault, it's yours."

"You need help." Jeff muttered.

"All I need is her, and that's going to happen any minute." He glanced at the phone. "You'll have to excuse me, she's waiting on my call. Not a sound from you, or else." He dialed the phone and she picked up on the first ring.

"Make the next right, then go down for another five miles, right hand side. Don't take too long. Jeff's waiting." He hung up again.

"You won't get away with this." Jeff told him.

"Wow, that's cliché, like we're in a movie or something. So this would be the part where I share my dastardly plot and spill what I'm going to do next?" He laughed. "Or maybe it's where I explain why I am what I am."

"Why not?"

"Because we are not in the movies. That's why they'll be no happy ending. Well, at least not for you but Jess and I, we can stroll into the sunset."

"You're losing it." Jeff told him.

"No, you are. You are about to lose everything that's important to you. You thought it was hard the way people treated you when you broke her heart, wait till you see how they treat you when you're responsible for her disappearance. No one will talk to you."

"So this is about me?"

"It's about her, always about her. I'm going to make her happy. It's like I said, she deserves it. She went through her life thinking no one really cared about her, that she was alone but she never was. I was always there for her, and always will be. Now I can finally prove it to her." They both turned at the sound of a car pulling up. "It's show time." He said and headed to the door.

"Wait!" Jeff yelled desperately.

"Times up." He took a piece of tape and covered Jeff's mouth to keep him quiet then left the room. Excited he took his hiding spot. He had been waiting for this moment for years. Soon, everything that had happened in the past wouldn't matter. They'd be like they used to be. This is it, he thought to himself as the door opened and Jessica slowly came into the house. Just a few more feet then he'd make his move.

"Hello?" She called out stepping further into the house. Jessica struggled to see anything in the darkness. She listened quietly for any sound but nothing came to her.

"Look, I did what you said!" She called out pleading. "Please, where is he?" She went down what appeared to be a hallway and started opening doors to find him. She heard a muffled sound after she got to the third door. "Jeff?" She yelled out and tried to turn the knob. It was locked. Shaking the handle she tried opening the door again to no avail. In the shadows, she sensed someone come up behind her. She turned to try to avoid him but wasn't quick enough. Putting one arm around her neck, he pulled her close to him. She felt a cloth being placed over her face and started to feel overwhelmed by a strong odor. She struggled harder trying to break free.

"Just relax." He said. There was a familiarity in his voice. She tried to focus her mind on who it was but everything was getting hazy. She had to break free, she thought to herself, and she knew the best way to do it. She pulled her leg back and firmly kicked her assailant in the groin.

"Ow." He cried and fell to the ground. She kicked him one more time waiting to see if he would move. When he didn't she returned her attention to the door, trying to find a way to open it. Seeing that she had moved back to the door, he jumped back up and this time instead of being gentle, he rammed against her forcing her head to slam against the metal door. As she slumped down, he forced the cloth over her nose and mouth again.

Her eyes widened as she tried to avoid inhaling the fumes but she had no choice. Everything was becoming a white haze as she saw a shadowy figure standing in front of her and her mind drifted back to that night on her bathroom floor.

"Jessica? Jessica?" Stephanie yelled as Jessica hung up the phone. This wasn't happening fast enough. She thought to herself. She should just fall asleep. What if he shows up before she dies? She didn't want her last moments to be with whoever it was that had terrorized her, and brought her to this state. She opened another cabinet and pulled out one of Jeff's razor blades. Without thinking, she slit both her wrist. She lay back on the floor and waited to die. I love you Jeff. She said as she closed her eyes and then there was a voice.

"Jess? Oh my god, what did you do?" She had felt someone grab her wrist trying to stop the bleeding. "Look at me."

"Open your eyes, don't do this!" He pleaded with her trying to get her to wake. "I'm sorry, I'm so sorry. I didn't think you'd take it this far. Please, don't die." With all of his shaking she started to slowly open her eyes. She squinted at who she saw before her and that last thing she remembered doing was whispering his name.

"Shane?"

"Don't be afraid." Shane told her. She had stopped fighting and he could tell when he saw the look in her eyes she had finally realized who he was. He removed the cloth from her mouth. "It's okay now."

"It was you?" She said shocked. Shane smiled down at her and started to caress her face. She attempted to pull away, but he was on top of her and too strong. "Why? How could you do this to me?"

"I did it for us. Don't you see? Now we can be together."

"Shane, no." She said shaking her head.

"It's okay. I know you're confused, but I had to show you how much I love you."

"I can't believe this." She said trying to grasp the situation. "Everything you did to me."

"For you, I did it for you." He lifted her off the ground but made sure to keep a firm grasp on her arm. "You're upset. I know, but after we leave and get settled I'll explain everything. You'll see. It will be just like old times, you and me, and no one to get in the way." Jessica was beyond scared. This was not the same Shane that she had thought she knew.

"Shane, please. Just let me go and we can get you some help. I promise everything will be okay."

"Of course everything's okay. You're with me now. I was wrong not to say anything earlier, but I was too scared and you weren't ready yet. I knew we would be together since we were kids, and now it will finally happen." His smile sent shivers down her spine.

"What about Jeff?" She asked him.

"What about him? I've told you before, you don't owe him anything. He can't love you like I can. You'll be safe with me. You'll see. Hardy's useless."

"Where is he? I want to see him."

"No! You don't need him. You have me."

"Shane," she started calmly. "I love him."

"You don't. You just think you do but you can't possibly love him as much as you love me. Look at all I did for you. I'm giving up everything so we can be together but it's okay because you love me."

"I do." She said trying to reason with him. "You mean a lot to me, and growing up, you've helped me through so much, but I don't love you in that way."

"Yes you do. I saw the signs, the way you would look at me, the way would talk to each other, or just how happy you always were when we were together. That was real."

"It was. Shane, I don't know how to say this without making it worse. You're my family, but honey, that's it." He paused and thought about what she said, and she can see him going from desperate to angry.

"It's because of him, isn't it."

"No, Shane we were never going to be anything more, regardless of me and Jeff."

"You're lying. He changed the way you feel about me. I knew it. I should have taken him out earlier. Damn it!" He punched his fist into the wall. The shock and the pain caused him to let her go and Jessica tried to run from the room. Shane regained himself and was able to grab her before she could make it too far.

"You're not going anywhere!" He said to her forcefully. "I'm going to fix this once and for all." He dragged her back to the door and unlocked it throwing her into the room. She lifted her head and saw Jeff for the first time.