Chapter 39
"Oh my god, Jeff," She struggled to her feet and ran to him.
"Stay away from him!" Shane reached out and yanked Jessica's arm so hard she fell to the ground. Jeff struggled to free himself and come to her aid as Shane moved closer to her. "What is it about him? What makes him so great?" Violently, he picked her back up twisting her arm.
"Shane stop!" She cried out. "You're hurting me!" Not knowing what else he could do, Jeff tried to move himself towards them but only succeeded in knocking himself and the chair back on to the floor. Thankfully that was enough to get Shane's attention.
"Oh I'm sorry, does this bother you?" He teased him. "How about this?" He pulled Jessica closer to him and forced his lips on her. Jeff screamed through his gag as Jessica pushed him off of her. Shane went to raise his hand at her and she dropped to the floor to protect herself. Seeing her cowering on the floor Shane froze.
"Jess, I'm sorry." He said crouching down to her. "I didn't mean to hurt you. Baby forgive me."
"Please," She said looking up at him. "Please just stop. We can work all of this out, just let us go."
"But we're supposed to be together."
"No, we're not. Not like this." She reached out to touch him. "Shane, I'm begging you to stop all this. For me."
"That's why I'm doing this. I did all of this for you, so you could be happy. We can be happy, together." Jessica shook her head. "Tell me you believe me. Tell me you love me."
"I'm sorry but I don't" She whispered to him softly.
"Why?" Shane asked her pleading. She looked at him not sure how to answer. He was calmer now and she didn't want to say anything that would set him off again.
"I just don't."
He stepped away from her and started pacing around the room. Jessica looked to Jeff lying on the floor and as much as she wanted to reach out to him she was just too scared of what Shane's reaction would be.
"Shane." She started but one look from him made her freeze.
"Don't, don't say anything." He told her. "I just need time to think." Shane walked out of the room locking the door. After waiting a few minutes to make sure he wasn't coming back, Jessica went over to Jeff to help get him loose from the chair. When she finally got his hands free, Jeff reached up and slowly removed the tape from his mouth.
"Are you okay?" He asked her taking her in his arms. She slowly nodded touching his bruised face. "You shouldn't have come here."
"I know but we had no idea where you were or if you were okay."
"Well, what about Matt or Tony? Where are they?" He asked her and she looked away.
"They have don't know where I am."
"Jess." He sighed running his hand through the air.
"I know, I'm sorry but when he called all I could think about was finding you, so I stole Matt's car and snuck out. I was desperate."
"It's all right." He said slowly putting his arm back around her. "We'll think of some way out of here. Did he say anything to you about what he's planning?"
"No, all he kept saying was how now we can be together." She paused. "I can't believe I was so stupid. It was Shane all this time."
"Honey, you had no way of knowing. None of us did."
"But I did. My whole life he's always been there being super attentive, I thought he was just playing the big brother role. And then when we started going out? He was obsessed with trying to get me away from you."
"Those aren't signs that he was stalking you."
"I know but he was there that night." She said and Jeff looked at her quizzically. "It wasn't the cops that found me on the floor, it was him. He kept saying that he was sorry over and over again. I could have stopped this ages ago. Why didn't I remember?"
"Jess, don't blame yourself. You weren't able to handle everything that was going on. So maybe when you came to, you suppressed it to just focus on getting better mentally."
"Yea, well, look where that's lead us. We're trapped in a room in the middle of nowhere. What is he leaves? No one even knows where we are."
"I'll figure out something." Jeff stood up and walked around the room hoping to find an easy way out but there was none. "Looks like there's only way out is the door." He fumbled around the bolts and hinges to see if anything could come loose but Shane had taken precautions and reinforced it. Frustrated, he kicked it.
"Jeff don't." Jessica warned him. "What if he comes back again?"
"Well, if he doesn't I don't know how we'll get out of here because this door is solid."
"So we're trapped." Jessica wrapped her arms around her legs and leaned her head against the wall. "Is it just me or does the room feel smaller now." Jeff walked over and sat down next to her.
"We'll be fine. You'll see." He told her and she shook her head.
"I screwed this up, didn't I? I shouldn't have just come out here. I could've told Matt, he would have been game."
"I would have killed him. I still might if we get out of here." Jeff said.
"Don't blame Matt; Shane knew what he was doing. He was watching and planning everything. He knew Matt was in the kitchen when he sent me down the stairs. He got Stephanie out of the room with a phone call." Jessica froze for a second. "I am so stupid." Jeff looked and watched her pull out her cell phone.
"Are you kidding me?"
"I forgot I had it." Jessica flipped it open and was about to dial when they heard movement at the door. She quickly slipped it back in her pocket before Shane came back in.
"Just stay behind me." Jeff whispered to her and then stood back up.
"Well, look whose standing?" Shane said staying by the door. He looked around Jeff to see Jessica. "You ready to go now, sweetheart?"
"She's not going anywhere." Jeff told him. "At least not with you."
"Oh, are you going to stop me?" Shane clenched his fist preparing for a fight.
"If I have to."
"I'm gonna enjoy this." Shane laughed at him and ran at Hardy.
Jeff got in the first few blows before Shane was able to return a hit but when he did he knew to hit Jeff in the ribs that he had already worked over. Grimacing in pain, Jeff fell to the ground giving Shane the advantage he needed as he repeatedly kicked Jeff over and over again. Jessica yelled to Shane to stop but he wouldn't. She charged at him jumping on his back. Shane quickly spun her off of him and she fell to the ground. He immediately returned his attention to Jeff and continued his assault of him. Jessica tried again this time grabbing on to Shane's leg to stop him from kicking. Unable to stop his momentum his foot connected with her head and she slumped to the ground.
"Damn." Shane said and went to check on her. He shook her trying to wake her but she wouldn't stir. Angry with himself he turned back to Jeff. "See what you made me do? This is all your fault! Look what you did to her!" He lifted Jeff's head and forced him to stare at her motionless body before hitting him again. He continued his attack as Jeff struggled to get to Jessica.
"Jess!" Jeff called out to her hoping that she would be okay. Shane pulled him away making her further out of reach. With all of Shane's yelling, Jessica finally came to. She looked over and saw Shane continue to beat on Jeff till he could no longer fight back. Jeff was swollen and bleeding and she could tell it hurt him just to move. Jessica had to do something and do it quickly before Shane went too far.
"You win." She whispered then repeated it louder when she wasn't heard. Shane turned to her not sure he had heard her correctly. "I'll go with you but only on one condition."
"Anything."
"You leave Jeff alone, right now and I'll go with you."
"I don't believe you. You love him."
"I can love you. I'll leave him right now and go with you." She pleaded with him. "We can start our life together like you said, please."
"You'll just walk away from him?"
"Yes, I promise. We can leave right away." She said and Shane smiled at her.
"I knew you'd come around." He pulled her up and hugged her then looked around. "Uh, just let me grab a few things. I don't want anyone to figure out where we're going." He walked out and shut the door leaving her alone with Jeff. She leaned down and caressed his face.
"Don't…" He started to say but she kissed him.
"I can't watch him hurt you anymore." She told him after she pulled her lips away. "I love you too much for that. I got to do this."
"Jess."
"Please don't. This could be the last …" She let her voice trail unable to finish the sentence that this could be the last time she sees him. "I don't want to waste it." She leaned down and kissed him again tears freely flowing down her face.
"Don't leave me." He said to her.
"I have to but it will be okay. I promise. I'm gonna get you help." She pulled out her cell phone, dialed 911, and then put it in his pocket. "Someone should be here soon just hold on for me." She looked down at him desperate for a few more minutes to be near him but she was afraid Shane might come in and seeing them together might set him off again.
"I gotta go." She said to him trying to wipe the tears from his eyes. "Just remember, I love you." She leaned over and kissed him one last time. Denying her heart, she walked over to the door and waited for Shane.
When he came back she took one last look at Jeff before Shane took her hand and guided her out the door. Jessica looked around anxiously half expecting to see paramedics or police pull up at any moment. She wasn't sure which one she wanted more. On the one hand they were her only hope of getting out of this, however she didn't know what Shane would actually do if they approached him. She looked at the building one more time and thought she could hear the sounds of sirens in the distance as Shane placed her in the car. At least Jeff will be safe, she thought to herself as the car pulled away.
