Chapter 3: Don't Trust a Stranger
If I began to tell you all the thoughts that were running through my mind at this point, I'd probably write a book. I was a criminal, no, I was worst than that. I was a murderer. They'd give me life in prison if I were to get caught, without a doubt. I had killed Tori Vega! And for what? A stupid prank? That phone call from Beck had been a terrible joke and look what it had caused me to do. Well, I'll admit it wasn't all because of the phone call. I never liked Tori and I guess that was the main reason why I had killed her. I was jealous of all the attention Beck gave Tori. I guess you can say I let my insecurity get the better of me.
I had absolutely no idea where I was going. I figured Beck or Trina had already found Tori's body. They had to have already found it. Beck would get all sad because I killed the girl he would've loved to be with. I don't care if he didn't actually cheat on me with Tori. I know for a fact that he had a thing for her. Still, I was now a fugitive and I would probably be on the run for the rest of my life. That is, if they didn't catch me. I was hungry, but you're nuts if you think I was going to stop anywhere. I had to keep driving. I had to get out of the state and maybe out of the country. Mexico seemed like a good place to go, I mean, that's where all the fugitives in the movies escaped to. The only problem was I had no idea how to get there. Besides, if Beck or anyone had called the cops, they undoubtedly gave them a picture of me, which they would send to every border in the country. Well, maybe not. It was Tori I had killed, not the Mayor.
I drove well into the night. I only had to stop a few times to pay border fares. I was sure I was out of California now. I mean, I really didn't pay attention to any of the signs on the road, but I was almost positive that I was out of California. Score one for Jade. By now my eyes were but little slits and my body was begging me to sleep. I was driving past what looked like woods. I decided to drive into them and fall asleep. Hopefully there were no bears or anything like that. I turned at the next exit and drove down a road that led into the woods. It was 5:45 AM. I pulled over near what looked like an abandoned campsite and turned the ignition off. I instantly fell asleep.
I woke up and I was suddenly back in Hollywood. I was in Tori's bedroom from what I could see. I was sitting on Tori's bed, with a pink pillow in my lap watching TV. I began to laugh over something when the door opened ever so slowly. Tori entered the room. She had a mad look in her eyes and she carried a knife. She slowly approached me with the knife raised.
"W-what are you doing?" I asked in a frightened tone. Tori just smiled this cold, cold smile and continued to approach me.
"Tori stop, please! Help! Somebody help!" The next thing I knew, Tori lunged at me and began to stab me repeatedly. I screamed as loud as I could, but no one came to help me.
"This is what you get, bitch! You killed me, now I'm taking you to hell with me!" Tori screamed, blood all over her clothes.
I awoke with a start. My head banged against the window of my car. It had been all a terrible nightmare. The late morning light trickled my face. It was 11:14 AM. I had been asleep for almost six hours. Outside there was nobody. I could hear the sounds of animals playing up on the trees. I took a look around the car. I looked at my dash and cursed. I had almost no gas. I knew I wouldn't be able to make it to a gas station, so I got out of the car and took the knife with me. I didn't know where I expected to go, but I didn't care. I had to find gas and I was starving, so I had to find food as well. I made sure to conceal my knife in my leather jacket as I walked down the road back towards the highway.
As I made my way down the road, my nightmare replayed itself over and over in my head. Tori's evil face, the stabbing, my scream, it all kept coming to me over and over. Was that the same way I had looked at Tori when I had killed her? Was that the same way she screamed? Was that the same fear she had felt as I murdered her senselessly? I tried as best as I could to shake the visions out of my mind. I couldn't worry about that right now. Right now, my only goal was to find gas and to find food.
As expected, the highway was buzzing with cars. My plan was to stop somebody and get them to help me. I would stand at the edge, with a thumb up in the air like a hitchhiker. It took a while, but finally, a man in a red pickup truck stopped. He pulled over and rolled down his windows.
"Are you lost, sweetheart?" he asked in heavy southern accent. He was a big man with a shaved head, a big brown beard and he was wearing a red plaid shirt and black shades.
"Actually, I just need help. See, my car has no gas and I really need to get somewhere," I answered. He pulled his shades down a little, revealing bright blue eyes.
"Where is your car?" He asked. I pointed to the road.
"Just a few minutes down that way," I replied. He nodded.
"Tell ya what, I don't have any extra gas on me, but I can attach your car to the back of my pickup and get you to the nearest gas station. It's not too far away from here." I smiled. This man seemed nice enough. And even if he did try anything, I still had my knife.
"Sounds good," I said. I got in the back and led him to where my car was. When we got there, we got out and he hooked the front of my car to the back of his pickup and then we were off. I was doing a lot of thinking as we drove down the highway. Like what happened back in Hollywood. Had the cops taken Tori's body away? Had they warned the whole country that a mad murderer was on the loose? With me being lost in my thoughts, I didn't realized that we had past not one, not two, but three gas stations. When I finally snapped out of it, We were in some isolated area. There were trees and a whole lot of grass.
"Hey! Where the hell are we?" I asked. The man smiled coldly. He unfastened his seat belt and turned around to face me.
"We're in someplace where nobody'll hear your screams," he said, unbuckling his belt. My heart began to race. My whole body began to shake. My tongue went numb.
"W-what are you doing?" I asked. He got closer to me. Only now did I smell the slight whiff of alcohol on his breath.
"You see, I recognized you from the news. You're that skank who killed that girl in California. Well, I have a daughter about your age and I don't want no murderers loose around here." He pulled his pants down a little. So my fears were confirmed. I was a fugitive who was on the news. I pulled out my knife. He laughed when he saw it.
"What? Gonna kill me too? I don't think so!" He smacked the knife out of my hand and grabbed me. I began to kick and scream, but the man was too strong. He ripped up my leather jacket with his bare hands. I realized that there was nothing I could do. He was going to rape me and then, most likely, kill me. I kept screaming though, even after he had pulled his pants completely off. I then stopped screaming and braced myself for the worst...