CHAPTER 19

CREEPING THE CREEP OUT


Jason was heavily sleeping on Mikey's bed, exhausted from all the shopping, beer, sex, fight and tension he had for the past 24 hours, in that exact order. But Mikey's bedroom faced the street, and he heard a masculine voice whispering outside. Even dead asleep, he heard the sound and woke up, alert, because there was obviously someone looking for trouble outside. He quickly made his way to Dianna's bedroom, to wake her up, and his heart sank to the ground when he saw the disheveled empty bed, so he ran to the ensuite and the kids' bathroom, and she was nowhere to be found.

His heart was racing and he tried to focus, staying calm in the chaos, and he opened the bedside table drawer at the main bedroom to get his handgun. It wasn't there. Now he was just terrified and went back to the living room, glancing outside, but he couldn't see anyone from that angle. The whispers became more aggressive, and he heard Dianna's voice whispering too. He quickly opened the safe he had hidden in the living room and got his second handgun.

He was about to get out from the front door when he noticed a soft breeze. His glass door to the backyard was slightly ajar, and he made his way outside from that door.

He held his gun with both hands and, glued to the outside wall of his house, followed the voices to the side of his lot. Surprised, he saw Dianna, wearing his gray pajamas, and a tall guy with a black motorcycle helmet and black jacket, whispering to each other. And Dianna was holding his handgun in her hands. Perfectly holding it, he noticed, and pointing at the guy's chest. The guy was about six feet away from her, and he had his hands up.

"I swear to God" Dianna whispered, "if you don't take off your helmet I'll shoot your knee and rip it out of you myself".

"Calm down, lady, I told you, I was just passing by. No need to be so angry. Just let me go and I won't call the cops", the guy apparently was trying to calm her down, but his voice sounded forced, even while whispering. Fake.

"I'll count to three" Dianna whispered and lowered the gun, pointing it precisely at the guy's knee. The guy took a step to the side, still with his hands up, and Jason was about to alert her, because he pretended that he was going to take off his helmet so she'd relax and he could disarm her. Jason walked fast to reach them, but to Jason's surprise Dianna knew that maneuver and took a step back, so he only tapped her gun, and she could've escaped him, but she furiously advanced at him, to knock his head with the gun, but he was able to grab her hand and gun then. They were fighting for it and Jason didn't hesitate when he shot the guy at his arm, close to his elbow, and he immediately lost his strength and released her hand.

The guy fell to the floor and Dianna turned to the side and saw Jason. Her face was alarmed and she was about to explain, but she didn't have to. Jason didn't stop walking until he reached the guy, and he, as well as Dianna, knew exactly who the guy was. He recognized the maneuver, the precision, the body type, and he also recognized his mannerisms.

He stood in front of the fallen guy, and filled with hatred, he put his own gun, locked, on his back, then aggressively ripped the black motorcycle helmet off of him, it had a mirrored front, but Jason felt no surprise at all when behind it he saw Will's face.

"You fucking bastard" Jason could barely speak and he grabbed Will like he was a thrash bag, because that is exactly what he was, and he raised him and threw him violently to the floor, a few feet away. He walked fast to him because he knew he'd have a gun somewhere, so he kicked his stomach and grabbed the handgun that was on Will's back, throwing it far away.

"Coward son of a bitch. I'll kill you" Jason didn't even know where to start, because there were many things that he wanted to do with him. He obviously wasn't even listening to Dianna behind him, or feeling her hands holding his t-shirt and arms, or noticing the shocked neighbors that came out to the street after they heard the shot.

Dianna was desperate, because she knew that anything that Jason did to Will after shooting him wouldn't be considered self-defense anymore, and he'd be penalized by the Navy. But more than that, she would die of guilt for being the reason for him doing it. Since he wasn't listening to her and he was too strong for her to stop him physically, the only way she thought about stopping him was to put herself in front of Will.

Jason stopped just for a second to think if he'd drag the dizzy Will on the paver holding his feet, so his face would be ruined, or holding his arms, hurting his legs. He decided to ruin his handsome face first, and when he took a step towards him, Dianna protected Will with her body, hunched down over him, and Jason looked, confused. He didn't understand at first, but then she said "He's not worth it", and she had tears in her eyes. Then Jason knew she was doing it for him, and not Will, but he didn't care. The guy was a threat to her and all women, and had shamed the Navy too, he had to pay. He probably wouldn't kill him, but he'd definitely hurt him a lot.

When Jason grabbed her arm to get her out of there, Dianna suddenly took the handgun she had and shot the floor right next to Will, that protected himself, scared. Jason stopped and looked at her, alarmed.

"If you don't step back, I'll shoot him" she threatened.

Jason's face twitched, "No you won't".

"I promise you. I will, Jason. I won't kill him, but I'll shoot him somewhere where he'll suffer. And I'll lose my job. Probably get a light sentence. But I won't work again". She sounded very reasonable, and it was too precise for Jason's comfort; she thought it through.

Jason shuddered, and asked dangerously "Why are you doing this?"

"I could never live in peace knowing that I was the reason you were kicked out of the Navy", Dianna answered, with tears rolling down her face.

Jason stared at her, now with tears in his eyes too, and he kept looking at her for long seconds, she wasn't moving the gun. They heard police sirens coming closer, and she kept pointing the gun at Will, who was still laying on the floor and whining, until the cops came closer and she threw her gun to the floor and raised her hands, with Jason doing the same thing. The cops didn't arrest them, but they had to go to the police station to give their statements, while Will was taken to the hospital, with police escort. A couple of neighbors gave their statements to the cops still at the street.

Dianna and Jason were taken in separate cars and gave their statements without talking to each other, and they were both released and brought back to his house when it was already dawn. Each waived their rights to an attorney, because neither of them was suspect of anything. Dianna called Ralph to tell him what happened and he quickly said he'd get information from the VA Beach police department, and he would tell her anything he found out. Jason called Davis and told her everything, and she'd call the Navy attorney to check with him what could happen now.

Jason was brought back to his house first, and he waited for Dianna in his small front porch, wearing the jeans, t-shirt and jacket he quickly put on when he had to go with the cops.

The police car dropped Dianna almost an hour after Jason arrived. She was wearing a burgundy sweater, jeans and her boots, with her hair on a high bun. She walked to him slowly, with her arms crossed, and sat next to him at the bench. He didn't move an inch, and kept his hands in the pockets of his jacket.

"When did you know it was him?" Jason calmly asked, not looking at her.

Dianna looked down. "I suspected when you told me that the Seals had the kit to mess with those locks. I was sure when Ralph told me the DNA wasn't in the system".

Jason kept quiet for a few seconds. "And your panic attack?"

"Will." Dianna answered, with a shaky voice.

"What did he do?" Jason asked with a dangerous voice, still not looking at her.

She raised her shoulders. "Advanced on me. Threatened. Followed. Seduced. Typical obsessed guy. Stalker".

Jason swallowed. "Did he touch you?"

"No. You opened the door to the room" she answered, exhaling, and he turned his face away from her.

Dianna decided to explain about what happened that night.

"I couldn't sleep" she licked her lips, looking down, and Jason turned to face her. "I was looking at the insta and noticed Will liked all of the pictures from the other guys where I was tagged at The Bonfire. I don't have him on my insta, but I think some of the guys do. So I had a feeling that he watched me there, from the beach, most likely. And probably saw us leaving together" she glanced at Jason, who had a stern face. She exhaled.

"So I definitely couldn't sleep anymore, and heard a sound of a motorcycle slowly passing by the street, and heard it stopping further away. I decided to go outside with your gun and hide until he showed up. And he did" she stopped and sighed, and Jason was looking at her now with an angry and anxious face. "I saw this guy in a helmet taking a peek into one of the front windows, then he was walking to your backyard, probably to try to look in there too. I was sure he'd come back while you were deployed and do something to your house, or backyard, or something. I'm sure he would" she had tears in her eyes, and sniffed.

Jason nodded, still angry. He turned to her. "And you didn't think it was a bit risky for you to approach him, huh? About what he'd do to you?"

Dianna raised her shoulders again. "Maybe. Usually stalkers are cowards. When he saw me with the gun he tried to run, but I blocked his way and wanted him to show his face. I'm not a cop, Jason, but I had a lot of training with guns and self-defense at the PD's where I worked. I could've handled him if I kept my distance, I just… lost my temper", she admitted. If she hadn't advanced at him, she could have just called the cops after Will tried to attack her.

Jason nodded again, then he calmly stood up and turned to her, still with his hands in his pockets. "Come on, let's go inside. You should get some rest, you said you haven't slept all night".

She shook her head. "I can't. I have to go to my place take out a few things where Will didn't… touch" she felt nauseated, and so did Jason, "because Ralph said he got a crew for me that took out everything else out of my place and, I don't know, burnt it or whatever. But he said there are a lot of stuff and clothes without any traces of… stuff near, that I could take to my deployment. If the Navy still wants me to go, of course" she swallowed.

"I'll go with you" Jason stated, with a low voice.

Dianna looked up, "No, it's ok, I can take an uber, it's safe now. You should rest".

Jason insisted. "I slept a few hours already, and I can sleep at the plane. If they'll let me get deployed too" he softly chuckled, making her smile. "I don't care. I'll go. You shouldn't go there alone" he said, affectionate.

She nodded and got up, with tears in her eyes. She didn't say anything because she had a lump in her throat.


"They locked it back for me" Dianna explained, when they arrived at her apartment door, and she used her special keys to unlock it.

They got in and they both shivered. It was missing the sofa, the bed and even a kitchen table. Jason grumbled, indignant, while looking around. Her apartment was basic but he could see perfectly where the owner's things ended and Dianna's started. All of her décor, picture frames, kitchen stuff, plants, paintings and rugs were charming, in an european style, traditional but clean. It was definitely very cozy and clean. Except for the sperm that was there before, he bitterly remembered.

Dianna was perplexed and walked around the apartment, then she stopped near a window, with her back to Jason, and pointed at the floor. "There was a plant here". He came closer and looked perplexed, and she put her hand on her mouth and started to sob. "Jesus, Diana" he didn't even know what to tell her. The guy was really disgusting. Then she turned and Jason saw, surprised, that she was laughing, with her hand on her mouth.

"Oh my God" she took her hand off her mouth, and pointed with her hand to the spot where the plant was, "the guy came here and, like, decided to jerk off on my plant" she kept laughing, and Jason started to laugh from her laughter, "he is such a loser", she continued laughing from the ridiculous situation, and Jason couldn't help himself but to laugh too.

"Ah. How pathetic" she concluded, sighing. "Come on, let's see what he left for me, huh" she casually said, and Jason followed her to the bedless bedroom. She gladly found out he didn't do anything to her shoes and coats that were kept in a separate closet, he was more fixated on her underwear, bathing suits and dresses, apparently.

"I'm glad I didn't have more dresses" she muttered, "but my underwear and bathing suits are gone. I'll be doing some shopping before next summer. Can't live at the beach and not have a bathing suit, right" she said, casually, again. Jason was loving her mood, but he hoped it wasn't a facade and she was going to burst into tears as soon as she was alone.

"I'll go shopping with you" he playfully volunteered.

She shook her head, smiling. "I should just take some shoes and a couple of jackets and we can go. They said we're going to Western Asia first and then somewhere in Europe, right? I mean, if you and I are going" she asked.

"Yeah. That's what Davis said". He answered, concerned. Davis made it sound like they just included the mission to Western Asia due to an urgent situation.

"Oops, talking about the devil" Dianna said, after hearing her phone buzz and looking at her phone. She read it, then looked at Jason, with a strange face. "Well, I guess you and I are getting deployed, according to Davis. But that's blunt."

Jason looked confused, then heard his phone buzz too, receiving a text from Davis as well. Probably the same she sent to Dianna. He read it out loud. "'You and Dianna are good to go. Tell you the rest at the plane'. Well, ok then" Jason raised his shoulders and put his phone away, and helped Dianna carry her stuff from her apartment to his car. They were going, then. Western Asia. He just didn't know the country yet. But he already had a bad feeling.

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