He measured her for a moment before nodding slowly. “We can make the arrangements for this weekend.”
I listened as they blurted out spur of the moment arrangements, I was too exhausted to try to include myself in these plans and they were already too worked up on obviously ignoring me. I just listened to the vague information slowly passing me by. Throughout their conversation, I tried to decipher where she lived and why my knowing was such a bad thing. Finally, when they arrived at a slight impasse in their planning, my father left to make some phone calls. Instead of being the normal Jason and asking her a barrage of questions, I merely settled into the sofa and propped my arm on the armrest.
Avery raised a brow at me before sighing and raising her eyes to the ceiling. She sank into the sofa beside me and scooted closer until I could feel her warmth pulsating next to me. She rested her head on my shoulder and scooted in even closer. I sighed and gave in, putting my arm around her while she nestled her head into my chest. I only then noted how I tired I was, of course I hadn’t gotten a good night’s sleep because I was so worried but it was so comfortable now. The peacefulness was encompassing me and pulling me down under and I let it…
“Um, I’m not sure I understand why you two are snoozing on my sofa,” I heard my mother’s voice ring.
I slowly opened my eyes and tried to register her frowning at us. I took a lethargic glance at Avery who was pulling away from me and rubbing her eyes. I could tell we were quite a sight from how aghast my mother looked. I sat up straighter and held my head in my hands.
“What time is it?” I slurred from within my palms.
I heard shuffling before a response came, my mother now sounded exasperated. “About 9:30. Am I to honestly believe you two have been sleeping from the time you got home from school?”
I removed my hands from my face before sheepishly grinning at her. “I was just planning to nap for ten minutes—honest.”
My mother pursed her lips at me. She sighed and produced a large paper bag. “I brought dinner. Avery, I’m sorry I couldn’t make you something homemade tonight.”
I’m sure my face mimicked Avery’s astonishment. This was weird, my mother was having a cordial conversation with Avery. I guess pigs must’ve been flying outside.
Avery struggled to find something appropriate to say. “That’s okay. Thanks though.” Her befuddlement was fitting. I could still see her eyeing my mother, fearful her personality would shift again.
My mother looked quite uncomfortable with our reaction, after all, she wasn’t a bad person per se, she just didn’t exactly approve of the influence Avery had over her son. She handed the paper bag to me and stood, looking sympathetic. Although Avery didn’t like to be pitied, I could tell this facet of my mother’s personality was better than her belligerence. My mother exited the room and left us in awkward silence, it was hard to come to terms with this sudden change demeanor.
I dug into the paper bag and pulled out a poorly wrapped burger, I wrinkled my nose at it before handing it to Avery, who in turn raised a brow at the grease-covered wrapper. She took it and unfolded the wrapper, smelling the mushy looking burger and frowned, I stifled a laugh.
“Do you think she’d try to poison me?” she whispered.
I pursed my lips at her. “No Avery, my mother isn’t homicidal.”
Avery nodded and timidly took a bite. I watched as her face completely smoothed out as she chewed thoughtfully. I followed suit, mildly surprised by how tasty it actually was. The house was quiet which meant everyone else was eating too, which meant that everyone could also have rare peace of mind. There were sounds of muffled speech floating into the room, it wasn’t as strained as I grew to expect, instead it was relaxed. I took a quick glance at Avery who was staring at the ground and smiled, even she looked comfortable in her own way. I guess it was because our home was a fortress and no intruders could nab us.
I finished my burger and crumpled the wrapper into an unrecognizable ball, ready to go up to my room to actually study for upcoming exams for once. My father called from the room over, requesting that I take some papers that he’d left in the foyer and come see him for a minute. I guess my attempts to study had been fully thwarted. Although the foyer was right next to the living room, Avery tagged along, gently pulling on my arm. The papers my father wanted were a scattered mess on the table, I bent to retrieve them when a blinding light shot through the glass window, momentarily blinding me, it was an indication that someone pulled into the driveway.
Ignoring it, I nudged Avery. “It’s probably just someone turning, don’t worry about it.”
For some reason, she kept her apprehensive gaze on the window before nervously bending alongside me, pulling the papers together. I didn’t miss the small tremor of her fingers. I instead tried to keep focused on the task at hand, there were about 50 sheets of paper scattered about. The lights still hadn’t dimmed or moved away from their direct glare at the house by the time the majority of the clutter had been sorted out. My brows furrowed as I inched closer to the window, gently prying the small curtain away for a better look through the tiny frame.
This was odd. There was an unrecognizable vehicle parked in the driveway with the headlights on full blast. I tried to squint past the blinding lights, but they were just that—blinding. Avery had come behind me, taking a look of her own. I heard a gasp and then a faint tug on my arm.
“Jason,” Avery called in a harsh whisper. “Move away from the window.”
I turned to give her a confused look. “What? Why?”
“Jason just—”
Before she could finish there was a loud explosion and glass rained from the window with a loud shatter, I ducked instinctively, pulling Avery down with me. The papers laid in a mass of broken glass on the floor. I tugged on Avery’s arm, pulling her out of the foyer in something reminiscent of a crouch-walk, she obliged careful not to make any unnecessary sound.
Sound.
The entire house had fallen into an insipid sort of silence and fear choked even the very sound of the appliances that would constantly hum. My heart was going a mile a minute in my chest. By the time we had gotten to the living room, I saw my father inching close with his gun poised to shoot.
He took one studying glance at us. Once he realized we were unscathed, he pressed his back against the wall adjoining the foyer and held his gun in the defensive position. Nobody had to ask who had shot through the glass because it was undoubtable would it was. The thing was I had no idea how he even knew where to find us. Avery looked to be in worst condition than I was, her back was against the sofa and she had her fist pressed to her lips, she looked petrified, so much so that I squeezed her knee reassuringly, but at that point I didn’t know if it was reassuring or ominous.
My father was staring at the ceiling, the concentration on his face evident as he appeared to be listening intently. I wanted to help to do something—anything. But there was little I could do. Before long, sounds could be clearly heard approaching the door. I pushed Avery more out of sight before fluidly jumping up, joining my father. He shot me a warning glance, but I shrugged helplessly, I couldn’t just sit and watch.
A loud knock sounded at the front door, I almost laughed in astonishment at how cordial the whole act appeared, as if he hadn’t just shot at me. I decided it made more sense to stand at the opposite wall where I could easily take cover beside the sofa if need be. Another tuneful knock sounded; it was almost as if he expected us to go to the door and meet our demise.
“Is anybody home?” I heard a distinctive voice call in a sing-song tone. I noticed he opened the door as well, slowly entering the house. “I just want to have a little chat.”
It was hard to hear much signs of his movement due to the monstrous beating of my heart inside my ears. The fear wasn’t for my own life but instead for everyone who had no reason to be included in my mess, they were free from blame, really—innocent. I also feared for Avery; I didn’t know what I would do if something happened to
her. It was unfathomable.
“I don’t want to hurt you all,” he said, his voice startlingly close. I didn’t want to take a look and chance it, for all I knew Elijah had no qualms whatsoever about propelling my time to expire. “I don’t even want to hurt Jason, just give me Avery and I’ll be on my jolly way!”
My brows furrowed at how joyful he sounded. There was just something about his tone that had me on edge. My father held a look of contemplation on his face and I gestured to him to show my surprise and how betrayed I would’ve felt. His face contorted as he mulled it over, I was just surprised he was even considering it for a moment. My father was supposed to be the good guy, not someone who looks about ready to offer my… Avery up as a ransom. I watched as he took a deep breath and shook his head at me before straightening up to speak.
“Elijah, son, I’d just like to talk.”
The reply came from what couldn’t have been more than a few feet behind us. “We can talk, yeah.” Although there was a pause before he spoke, I knew he wasn’t that gullible to believe my father actually wanted to talk.
“Let’s talk, but let’s get the weapons out of the way, how about that?” my father commented reasonably.
There was a short laugh. “No can do, this offers some… protection, you know?”
“I’m not going to hurt you.”
“I know you aren’t. I know all about you Mr. Forbes,” he said cockily. I wondered briefly how he even knew my father’s name, but he continued, “You’re the good cop who always plays by the rules. Always the good one. Makes me wonder why your son fell for the bad seed.”
I gritted my teeth in frustration and my father shot me a warning glance. “Yeah, so drop the weapon and we’ll talk.”
Elijah seemed disinterested in continuing that avenue of conversation, so he turned his attention to me—well, his voice that is. “Jason, I know you’re there too, always trying to be the hero, huh? I bet you’re wondering how I found home sweet home, aren’t you? Just think about it, your little school isn’t far from here and I trailed you all the way home, of course you wouldn’t know that being so cuddly with her.”
I heard the sharp intake of breath from the right which indicated to me that my father was pissed, quite rightfully so. I wanted to smack myself in the head for being so stupid, of course in my eagerness to get home I didn’t take the longer route. This was my fault, clearly. If only I’d checked the mirrors, or convinced Avery to stay back a little maybe he wouldn’t have intruded my only safe haven.
“Why did you wait so long?” I asked, my voice coming out more levelly than I had anticipated.
Elijah chuckled darkly. “Honestly, must you act like a dimwit all the time? Of course I waited until after dark.” There was a pause and I swore he was by the arch to enter the living room by then. “I won’t hurt you or your precious family, Jason, honestly. I want one thing and you know it.”
There was newfound moisture above my brow and I quickly swiped it away, shaking my head in disbelief. “You’re crazy if you think I’d agree to that.”
It seemed as if Elijah was surprised at my response. I mean if I wasn’t anything, I think I could say I was loyal to a cause and besides I wouldn’t live with myself if Avery got mauled by a bully. I liked the thought that Avery was mine too much to just throw it all away so quickly. There was just something that made me feel smothered when she wasn’t around—as if someone held a pillow over my face and wouldn’t relent until she got back. I knew if Marc or any of the guys heard me saying that they’d be beside themselves.
“Since you’re obviously a moron, you can watch when I pulverize her face and smash her nose—”
Throwing all caution to the wind and sense might I add, I stepped from behind the wall and glared at him, already in the defensive position. I noticed Elijah’s astonishment plastered over his face. He faltered a bit and lowered his gun significantly while just staring at me dumbfounded. I knew he viewed me as a moron but not this tragically inept. I almost jumped back for cover when my father pulled me back forcefully and stepped where I was. Before I could blink, a gun went off.
In place of the following events, it seemed as if someone put every audible thing on mute. I saw my father frozen in place for a moment before collapsing, his head ricocheting off the floor as he fell. The air in my throat was badly constricted as I watched in horror as his face crumpled in pain. I dropped to my knees, not caring for the moment if Elijah wanted to strike again. His breaths were shallow, and his eyes half opened in a dazed way.
A quick look at the wound made me aware of how much blood he was losing. I quickly pressed my hands to it, trying to breathe around the constriction in my throat—it was nearly impossible. I’m aware that at some point there were screams but, in the moment, I could hardly register it. All I could focus on was the way the pace of my father’s breathing was decreasing. I vaguely noticed Avery creeping up behind me, her chin on my shoulder as her tears wet my shirt. It was hard to remain in the moment because of the lack of oxygen going to my head, something that inevitably led to death.
Death.
There was no reason five letters should possibly have this amount of power but, in all honesty, I could barely grasp why. Something so unfathomably final had to exude some power. I watched as his eyes fluttered close and my heartbeat quickened, I remember myself shouting at him to open his eyes but all that was surrounding me was silence, too loud for my liking. The paramedics came, I’m not sure if they got there quickly or not or even who called them, but I just noticed when they pulled me away from him, hurriedly placing him on a stretcher.
I merely sat on the floor, staring at my bloodied palms as if in a trance. It was impossible to move, even as my mother hugged me, soundlessly crying. Jade was the worst, although everything was inaudible, I could notice her wails from how everyone was staring at her sympathetically. A few cops ushered us out of the house as placating as they could. I complied because there was nothing else I could do. The blue and red lights brightened the community and illuminated the neighbors’ faces eerily.
One thing that must never be done is shoot a cop, that’s encroaching on serious turf. I could see from the way my father’s partner was talking to another cop. He stopped speaking abruptly when he noticed me, his anger dissipating into remorse. He approached me tentatively and placed a hand on my shoulder in what I supposed was a comforting gesture. In some kind of response, I showed him my palms and his eyes widened with surprise. He quickly led me to another ambulance parked haphazardly in front of our driveway.
I suppose they wanted statements from us by the way a slender female was standing around watching the paramedics clean my hands. As soon as they were finished, she pounced, speaking in a clipped way that undoubtedly was to sound professional but came off as a bore. I stared at her teeth as she spoke. They looked white—something from an expensive dental clinic, no doubt. The next thing I noticed was the crisp silver necklace dangling from her throat, maybe a gift.
I raised my eyes back to hers when I noticed her gestures had ceased. She stared at me expectantly, I sighed audibly and spoke, since it was obvious none of the others could. Jade was sat on the sidewalk, her head in her hands and she shook, in fact it was a wonder the blanket draped loosely around her shoulder hadn’t fallen off. My mother had her fist pressed to her mouth and was nodding solemnly to something my father’s partner was saying to her. Avery was staring at the moon-less sky, her eyes red and puffy.
“He got shot.”
The lady gave me a look as if to say, ‘well duh.’ “I know that but what happened?”
“Someone broke into our house and shot him,” I offered simply.
She nodded as if encouraging me to continue. “He was a stranger, then?”
I swallowed before speaking. “Well to my father, yes…but I have spoken to him before.”
“Why do you think he wanted to hurt your father?”
“He wanted to hurt me and…my girlfriend,” I admitted awkwardly. “I th
ink he was aiming for me.” I knew he was aiming for me, but I thought best not to say that.
Before she could attempt to hide her surprise, I saw it, this was new to her I could tell. “What makes you think that?” she asked, her eyes sparkling with curiosity.
I opened my mouth to speak when my father’s partner came over and shot a stern look at the female officer, I noticed how immediately she withdrew at his approach. “Anna, I think that’s enough for now, don’t you think?”
Anna bit her lip and stepped back slightly and nodded whilst averting her gaze. I glanced between them both questioningly, but they were having a silent conversation with their eyes.
“Jason, why don’t you come along with me? I’ll take you to the hospital.”
That word sent an ice-cold chill down my spine, although my thoughts weren’t exactly bordering on being morbid. I nodded absently and let him lead me to the car. As far as I was concerned hospitals weren’t fun.
“Hospital?” I echoed, my voice sounding scratchy.
He nodded and his brows were scrunched as he regarded me as if he thought I was emotionally unstable, maybe my face was revealing more than I was comfortable with. I sighed and stuck my hands into my pockets, urging him to lead the way to his car. I followed, as he headed to a sleek black car parked across the street, the alarm chirped and I got into the back, albeit still a bit reluctant. I had a certain kind of fear surrounding me, it was still impossible to breathe. I was afraid I’d never get to talk to him again, never have him come home grinning at my mother like a cliché 20th century sitcom. I was afraid of death, of what inescapable clutches it had.
The drive to the hospital was much too quick for my liking. My hands were moist and sweaty, and I swore I was shaking. In fact, it appeared that he was calling me for a while before I fully registered it. I couldn’t get over how he was looking at me with his brows knit. That look worried me more than it probably should have. Inside was exactly how I remembered it from my coming here for Gina—even the overwhelming antiseptic smell that was floating from every corner of the room.
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