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There was an earthquake. Everything was shaking. Shawn stared in horror as the ground split open, the Psych office fell, spinning downwards into the abyss. Suddenly green spikes emerged from where the office had disappeared.
Shawn watched with a mixture of fascination and horror as a giant pineapple shot up through the ground reaching towards the sky.
'Shawn, did you really use our case fee to buy magic beans again?' Gus scolded as he suddenly appeared next to Shawn.
'What, no Gus, of course not!'
Gus folded his arms angrily, 'You need to climb up there and get us a refund Shawn.'
'What! Gus, no, I am not climbing that giant pineapple!'
Gus stared at him angrily.
'Man, fine. I'll do it,' Shawn muttered, moving towards the pineapple, using the spikes as footholds as he pulled himself up along the side.
On the bright side, with a giant pineapple he and Gus would have unlimited pineapple juice and pineapple smoothies for years! He just hoped their insurance covered office destruction by pineapple earthquake. Shawn wasn't too worried though; Gus was usually prepared for all potential disasters.
He glanced back down at Gus. Why didn't Gus look further away? Frowning, he glanced back up the pineapple. Why wasn't he farther up? He'd been climbing for forever.
The tree shook and slowly started to slither back into the ground.
Gus was screaming at him to jump off, back to solid ground.
'I can't!'
'Jump Shawn!'
Shawn leapt and was falling, falling, falling, until all he saw was black. Suffocating stifling blackness.
'Shawny what are you doing here?' Yang leapt from the shadows, leapt from everywhere, and skipped towards him.
Shawn scrambled to his feet, backing up in the emptiness. 'Stay back!' he ordered, feeling his hand tremble as he pointed at her.
Her face fell, 'Shawny. I'm on your side remember?'
Shawn shook his head 'Like hell,' he hissed.
Yang sighed, sounding disappointed, 'Shawny,' she whined.
'Get out of here!'
She pouted and crossed her arms, 'Fine. But I don't see why I haveta go when you're letting him stay Shawn,' she gestured into the darkness behind them.
"Shawn!" Shawn frowned and spun around. That was Jules's voice. Oh god no.
He turned back to Yang. 'Where is she!' Yang crossed her arms. Shawn grabbed her and shook her 'Where is she!'
"Shawn!"her voice was even farther away.
Shooting Yang one last hateful glare he sprinted into the darkness, screaming for Juliet. In the dark, he hit something that felt like a brick wall and he fell to the ground. Looking up, Yin was looming over him.
Shawn felt the sheer terror at the man's imposing presence consume him. He forced his mouth to work, 'Where's Jules?'
Slowly Yin tilted his head to the right. Juliet was lying on the black floor, wearing the same grey pant suit she had worn the night she had been kidnapped, a red hole growing rapidly across her chest.
"Shawn!" her voice didn't even seem to be coming from her body. Oh god, was she…? No.
'Jules!' Shawn screamed and lunged for her, but he couldn't get to her. He kept reaching for her but she was just out of reach. 'JULIET!' and she was falling. And he was screaming and suddenly he couldn't breathe. He flailed wildly, he had to go, he had to save her.
He could still hear Juliet calling his name. He jerked awake suddenly to the dark forest, a hand clamped down on his mouth. He struggled in the dark against the hand, grabbing and clawing at it, kicking out until he heard his attacker gasp in pain. Shawn stopped instantly, still breathing heavily, a large lump growing in his throat as the terror and adrenaline continued to flow through him, "Jules?" he whispered, his voice thick. Had that really just been a dream?
"Shawn?" His eyesight was adjusted now. Jules was rubbing her leg, one hand still firmly on his shoulder. She was staring at him in concern. Laying his head back against the tree he breathed a sigh of relief, "It was just a dream," he calmed himself.
Juliet was silent a long moment, taking in his haggard exhausted expression before she spoke, "Shawn you were screaming and thrashing around. That was more like a night terror," she said quietly. Suddenly Gus's words from last week rang in her head, 'He's having nightmares'. She swallowed down a sudden lump in her throat. He'd been doing this for weeks?
Shawn licked his lips before he turned to her. "It was just a bad dream Jules," he hesitated, "I didn't sleep all that well last night," he skittered around the truth, he hadn't slept at all last night or the night before that; he was suppose to be getting his twelve hours of terror free sleep right then, but with all the adrenaline and trying to stay up and stay guard his plan seemed to have failed.
Juliet shook her head, she wasn't going to let him get off that easy. "Shawn, I know this isn't the first time," she stared at him intensely in the dark, she wasn't going to let this go. She cared too much.
Shawn fidgeted uncomfortably, "Of course it's not Jules," he chuckled weakly, "Everyone's had bad dreams before."
"That's not what I meant Shawn."
Shawn grit his teeth. Gus was, of course, the only explanation. He had been so not helpful lately. Shawn hung his head, exhausted.
In their confined space Juliet shifted even closer to him, "Do you want to talk about it?" Shawn smiled softly, the way she said it didn't make it sound like he had a choice. "You were screaming my name. And…and the word Yin," Juliet confessed quietly.
"Then I think you've got the basic gist Jules," he nodded his head, "There's also usually pineapple, but those are hardly the terrifying part."
"Shawn," she plead quietly. He'd been so not himself lately, tired, off his game, continually exhausted. If these dreams were causing even a little bit of that she wasn't going to let it go.
Shawn stayed silent, rubbing his hand over his eyes trying to wake up. He couldn't believe he'd fallen asleep on her. Jules was the injured one. He turned to her slowly. "How's your leg?"
Juliet felt her shoulders slump involuntarily. He wasn't going to tell her. She shook her head and shrugged, "Its fine…all things considered," her answer didn't satisfy Shawn, whose hands were already working the bandage free. A stab of pain shot through her leg at the slight movement and she couldn't stop the hiss that escaped her lips.
Shawn's eyes were on her face instantly, "Jules," he whispered quietly, his hand reaching out and taking her hand, which she gripped tightly as the flare of pain dyed down. "This is infected," he murmured as his hands inspected the area around the wound in the light of the rising sun.
Shivering involuntarily Juliet shook her head, "No its not," she muttered, trying to hide her fear. She knew it was infected, knew it had been for hours. Juliet could feel her temperature rising, a fever setting in, but she wouldn't tell him that. He'd do something stupid, like let a Rottweiler chase him wearing catchers gear. Shawn drew his lips into a thin line.
"Yeah, it is Jules," he didn't let go of her hand as he shifted , pulling himself up so he could look out into the surrounding forest. The area looked way too tranquil and innocent for the mass murder that had been occurring in it. He glanced back at Juliet. They'd been in that tree for hours. Judging by the angle of the sun it was at least 9 am. Which meant that people were definitely looking for them-had probably been looking for them for hours. But it was a large forest. And their searchers would probably start looking in the direction of the scavenger hunt, east of the lodge. Shawn closed his eyes, pulling the map up in his mind. The river ran north to south, eventually letting out into the Pacific, meaning it would have eventually brought them past the Lodge. Shawn grit his teeth; he just didn't know how far down the river they had gotten before they had managed to escape-they could still be North of the lodge for all he knew. But he couldn't just sit here, letting Juliet's leg get worse while they waited for help to come.
He swallowed hard. He hated the idea of leaving her alone, but the tree had proven a safe hiding place this far, and if Ivan and Cruz were still out here then he needed to move fast. And she couldn't walk. He ran a hand over his mouth; either way she was trapped in that tree till help arrived. Him looking for help was her best bet.
"Jules, I'm going to look for help," he declared as he turned back to her, the look in his eyes deadly serious.
Juliet shook her head feebly, suppressing another shiver. "No, Shawn, those psychopaths are still out there and they are looking for us," Shawn shook his head and shrugged, "They will not hesitate to kill you and bury your body here where no one will find it," she added feeling a spark of energy surge through her as Shawn started moving to leave the tree. Reaching out she tried to grab him, but the shift of her weight sent a stabbing pain through her leg and she fell back against the tree. "Shawn," she felt her voice tremble. He couldn't do this. It was stupid and reckless and beyond dangerous.
Shawn gave her a large grin, "I'll be back Jules," he promised and just like that he slipped down the tree and disappeared again into the depths of the forest.
Back at the Lodge:
After hours on the road, Henry Spencer arrived to find the lodge in a flurry of activity. Carlton Lassiter was yelling at anything that moved from his position on the deck, crutches supporting him as he shouted at every detective in front to him. Henry rolled his eyes, steeling himself for the worst. He had absolutely no doubt that all this chaos was somehow Shawn's fault.
"What the hell is going on?" Henry barked and he slammed the door on his pick up and strode purposefully up the steps towards Lassiter.
The younger man groaned and rolled his eyes, muttering a 'Damnit' under his breath before he addressed the elder Spencer. "Your son and my partner never came back from a scavenger hunt activity yesterday," Lassiter explain, hobbling over to a large map of the area splayed out on the table. "When we realized they were missing Guster here," Lassiter gestured to Gus who was sitting next to the table. Gus bristled. "Finally decided to inform me of the investigation they were conducting up herewithout my approval," Lassiter glared at Gus.
Gus turned to Henry, "We had orders from the Chief. Juliet knew though," he informed the quietly fuming father of his best friend. Henry looked ready to explode.
Lassiter shrugged, "It doesn't even matter. What matters is that my partner and your idiot of a son are out there somewhere in that god forsaken forest with squirrels and…" Lassiter's faced pulled into another angry glare.
"And armed gunmen," Gus added, "The hunters Shawn and I were here to investigate never came back last night either."
Henry inhaled deeply before turning back to the SBPD's head detective. "My son and your partner are out there and you're still just standing here?" Henry's lip twitched as he bit back a few choice a names.
Lassiter grit his teeth, "I would be out there, but there's not much I can do until we can get some guns. I'm not sending more people into the forest unarmed."
Henry frowned, "How is it that not a single detective has a gun on them?"
Lassiter hung his head, "Department mandate, and Chief and O'Hara searched my car before we left," he grumbled.
Henry rolled his eyes. "Fine. I have two guns in the truck," he moved off the porch back towards the pick-up. "You coming?" he hollered over his shoulder.
Lassiter grit his teeth. There was only one person he hated more than Shawn Spencer; and it was always Shawn's fault when he had to work with that one person. "Yeah, old man, I'm coming," he muttered as he set his crutches down and gingerly stepped down the porch biting back a hiss.
Next chapter ends Act 2. And it ends in a pretty big way! The chapter is pretty huge too!
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