Chasing Jenna (21 page)

The room was still and dark. He slowly opened the door, the light broke through the darkness like it was searching for something – and there she was.

She shielded her eyes from the light. I gasped at the sight of her. I’d seen people depressed before, but Katie was almost unrecognizable. Her face was pale and sunken in, because sunshine was not available in the dark place her mind had gone. I moved slowly toward her. All the color had drained out of her once beautiful and dramatic eyes – they were vacant.

She sat on the couch with her back against the arm rest, legs straight out and arms just hanging uselessly at her sides. Her breathing was slow, deep and deliberate – as if it was almost impossible for her body to remember how to perform this act. It looked excruciating – and familiar. I knew exactly how she felt, but Ryan had been there to help me wake up – Katie had been all alone.

I went to her, first sitting on the edge of the couch. When she did not object, I moved closer whispering her name, hoping she would show some type of recognition.

“Katie, it’s me,” I whispered as I lightly touched her leg. As soon as I did, she jumped to the corner of the couch and pulled her knees to her chest. Tears sprung to my eyes, as she cowered like a beaten animal. She held onto herself tightly. I couldn’t tell if it was to protect her from more pain getting in, or if she was trying to make sure her last bit of sanity didn’t escape out. With her eyes wide and breathing rapidly through her open mouth, she rocked back and forth attempting to soothe herself.

I looked at Ryan, hoping he had an idea. His face was pale and filled with terror. I thought for a second he might be in shock.

“Katie, I know something terrible has happened to you and I want to help you.” She stopped rocking. Hope surged through me – maybe she was ready to listen now.

“Katie, I don’t know why this happened to you, but it almost happened to me too. We need you to help us figure this all out. We can’t let this happen anymore.”

The sound of her voice was a whisper of what it once had been, but it startled me anyway. “

“Training is not fun, training is not fun. No training for you.” She started rocking again, only with more frustration.

“Who trained you Katie? What were they training you for? Who did this to you?”

“Quinn, Quinn is the trainer.” She winced as she said his name and buried her face in her knees. “Quinn.” She whispered again. I didn’t have to look at Ryan to know he had picked up a bag and was stuffing clothes of mine into it.

I moved closer to her and extended my hand. “Katie we are going to take you with us. Come on and get some of your things. I won’t let Quinn hurt you anymore.” She stopped rocking and looked at my extended hand like she was unsure what to do with it. Her eyes met mine and she spoke as her mind had suddenly cleared.

“They
are
going to kill you, Jenna. Why did you have to run? Now they’re going to kill you.” Ryan stopped what he was doing and stared at Katie. Her eyes faded back to the darkness. She was no longer talking to me; she was talking at me when she said calmly. “He’ll be here soon. They’ll kill us both if he knows you were here.”

A knock on the door echoed through the room. Katie’s expression exploded into fear and panic. I grabbed her arm and tried to pull her up. Ryan was already at the window, throwing my bag to the ground.

“Katie! Get up!” I was begging her. “Please come with us! You don’t have to stay.” She stood and stared in the direction of the door, as the voice on the other side said her name. It was Quinn.

Slowly she turned her head to me and whispered. “Go, or he will kill us all.”

I shook my head wildly, “No, I won’t leave you.” I whispered, tears running down my face. She was like a robot as she walked toward the door. I knew what she was doing – what she was willing to endure to keep me safe. I couldn’t leave her – not like this. She had to come with us.

Ryan grabbed my arm and started pulling me toward the window. “Katie, we’ll be back for you tomorrow night – be ready.” Ryan whispered.

She whispered, “Tell Marcus, I love him.”

Ryan pushed me out onto the fire escape. I fought to get back into the room. I wanted to fight for Katie, and fight for myself, but I knew she was right. Quinn was prepared to kill us all. The best thing I could do for her now was stay alive. We would come back and get her tomorrow and the three of us would run together.

Ryan jumped out of the window and joined me on the fire escape. I was still looking to Katie, waiting for that one little hint she’d changed her mind, but she never looked back at me. She just continued to the door.

Tears poured down my face while agony consumed my entire body. I knew what Katie had just sacrificed to keep me safe, and I could not bear the thought of what she was going through. As we got to the bottom of the fire escape, Ryan jumped off, turned and lowered me to the ground. We ran around the building until we were safely under the cover of darkness.

I dropped to my knees, my stomach retching.

“I know you’re terrified for her right now, but we can’t stay here waiting for them to find us.” He grabbed my hand and led me through backyards and allies. We didn’t talk as we ran along holding hands. I knew if he wasn’t leading me, I would crumble into a ball and let whatever was going to happen to me, happen. But once again – he was saving me.

We ran until I couldn’t breathe anymore. I followed him like a tiny child. I had no idea where we were. My surroundings were blurred from fear and anxiety. I couldn’t get her face out of my mind.

“Ryan, I can’t ... I can’t run anymore.” I said in a breathy whisper. I stopped and bent over, bracing my hands on my knees. He was coming at me by the time I looked up and did not say a word. He grabbed me by the back of my arm, an attempt to support me so I could keep going. I knew by the look on his face, he was as horrified about leaving her as I was.

After two more dark allies, I started to recognize things. It was a relief to know we were almost back to the apartment. Not in my wildest dreams did I ever think this part of town would somehow give me comfort.

The building we stayed in was as dirty on the outside as it was on the inside. We rushed into the entry way and crossed paths with the woman I’d seen out my window last night. Our eyes met for the briefest of seconds before she looked down.

I continued to follow Ryan up several flights of stairs and down the long hallway leading to our door.

I sat on the bed watching him lock the multiple locks. “I wouldn’t feel safe even if this entire room was steel,” I whispered. Although I knew he heard me, he did not respond.

When he finished, he fell into the kitchen chair and put his head in his hands. We sat in this little room and let our fears and insecurities drown us. The more I tried to calm myself the more I could feel the panic rising.

Ryan’s breathing started getting faster and faster, and I knew he was also struggling with these monsters and wondering why in the hell we’d left her there. I went to him, hoping to find the right words to speak. Before I could say anything he turned and buried his face in my stomach, holding me as tight as he could and cried. I caressed his hair and whispered, “It’s going to be okay. We’ll figure this out.”

He squeezed me tighter and I knew I was the only thing he had left to hold on to. Being together was the only thing that made sense right now. I was Ryan’s hold on reality in the middle of all this insanity – the one thing he was counting on. Finally, if only in a small way, I was saving him.

>CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR<

Morning came in with a flood of light – the type of sunshine that made you believe it carried warmth, but it was only an illusion. I pulled the blanket up and moved closer to Ryan. He was not awake yet and it was comforting to be lying with him. His rhythmic breathing was just what I needed to keep me in a calm place where nothing can hurt you except your own mind.

It was only seconds until the memories of the night came flooding back. I opened my mind to the harsh realities of this situation quickly consumed me … The burden of fear coming back in full force.

I glanced at Ryan. Somehow it calmed my nerves to know he was relaxed and dreaming. I hoped his dreams were good, because the nightmare would begin as soon as he opened his eyes. I carefully slid myself out of the bed without disturbing him. Fueled by a strong desire to keep things as normal as possible, I went into the bathroom and quickly showered, brushed my teeth and made a mental list of things to do. I would: wake Ryan, make something to eat while he was showering, get a hold of my mom and let her know things were okay with me – I paused for a second, wondering what had happened to my phone.

The emotions rushed me all at once. I grabbed the edge of the sink and a shooting pain rushed through my head and chest; my throat constricted and burned.

“Katie,” I whispered to myself, covering my mouth with one hand trying to keep the sob inside. I closed my eyes and whispered her name over and over again. I hoped somehow she was able to feel me and knew I was coming. She only needed to hold on for a little longer.

I stared at my reflection in the mirror. My fear suddenly switched to anger. I thought about Quinn and the things he was doing to Katie. I decided in that moment, I would kill Quinn. I didn’t know how or when, but I would take his life for what he’d done. My list was now complete – the most important being, get Katie and kill Quinn.

My every intention was to wake Ryan so we could start working on my list. But when I opened the door and my eyes fell on his sleeping face, time stopped. He looked so peaceful, like a sleeping child. Kneeling beside the bed, I let my eyes roam over his perfect features. I tried to fight the desire to touch him, but couldn’t resist. I used the back of my fingers to brush his cheek.

Stretching, he took a deep breath in and his eyes fluttered. He looked rested and smiled at first, but as he focused in on my face, there was something else in his eyes. I understood – it was sadness.

“Are you all right?” I asked as I rubbed his cheek again.

“No, I’m not.” His voice was raspy and soft. “I need you to know I would never let anyone hurt you. I would never just leave you like I left Katie last night.” Tears filled his eyes. “I didn’t want to leave her; I just didn’t know what to do. She told us to leave.” He covered both eyes with the palms of his hands.

“I know. We need to focus on getting her here tonight.” I gently pulled back on his arms and he dropped them.

“Right?”

He nodded and wiped a tear away. “Get up and shower and I will make some breakfast.”

He followed my orders and went into the bathroom. I was shaking as I walked toward the kitchen and opened the fridge.

Ryan had already told me he needed to check in at the house today. He had not been there at all yesterday and people would be wondering where he was. Even though he and Cale were not on the best of terms, he said he thought they believed him when he told them he hadn’t found me. So he needed to keep up that act.

“Ryan,” he looked up from the food he hadn’t touched. “We have to get the police involved. We can’t do this on our own.”

“No. We have to be very careful, Jenna. This is a dangerous situation and we have to be smart.” He stood up and grabbed his sweatshirt, pulling it on over his head. “The Brothers aren’t looking for you to talk this out, Jen. They know everyone in this town and if you think they don’t have a friend or two on the police force, then you are just naive.”

“But don’t you think they could help us?”

“We need to have the whole picture so the police are forced into action.” His voice was stern – there was no way I was going to change his mind.

“I need to get you and Katie away from here, and then I will deal with The Brotherhood.”

He walked over to me and pulled me into a tight hug. “Please promise me you won’t leave the apartment until I come back to get you.”

I was silent.

“Jenna ...”

“I promise.”

~~~

His words rolled around in my head over and over as I paced the apartment. It shouldn’t have come as a surprise to me, especially after seeing Katie. He was right; I had no idea what I was up against. But still, I felt like he knew a part of the story I didn’t.

I needed to find out who had put me in that basement room and why they were doing what they were to Katie. None of this was making any sense to me. Why us? What was the purpose of all of it? What do they have to gain?

That basement held all the answers, I was sure of it. There had to be some clues to all of this. I couldn’t figure out how to find the answer without the protection of the police. I just couldn’t see this ending well without them.

If Katie and I went to them, told them everything that happened, how could they not go and look around? How could they ignore it?

I made up my mind. Tonight we would go get Katie, and tomorrow after Ryan left, Katie and I would go to the police ourselves. Guilt coursed through my body immediately for thinking about going against Ryan’s wishes. He was trying to keep both Katie and me safe, but I had to take some responsibility in it too. I wasn’t going to just sit here and wait for them to find me.

I needed to connect with the outside world. Maybe I could find some horrible soap opera or talk show to dive into and shut off my brain for a bit. Just some background noise to help me drown out these constant thoughts running through my head would be helpful.

A scream rose up from the alley. I glanced out in time to see the alley dog chasing someone. It was a big dog, a German Shepherd, I thought. That guy must be an idiot to provoke it. I stared mindlessly out the window, watching the action.

“Police have the area blocked off,” I heard faintly in the background. I watched the dog as he backed the man up against the dumpster. I shook my head, knowing the dumpster was the wrong place to try and hide.

“…in hopes of finding the girl’s roommate.”

The man held up his hands in front of him, looking all around for help.

I glanced at the screen and looked away again, before it hit me. The picture was a shot of the front of my dorm building. All other noise left the world and I dropped to my knees.