Justin ran his fingers over the cool sleek silver metal. His fingers moved up and down the base of the weapon, gently grazing the trigger. He’d come into possession of the gun quite easily. Being a member of the upper class meant having friends not just in high places but also in low ones.

After his fallout with Jessica he’d fallen in with the rough crowd. Hard-core drug dealers, lone sharks, alcoholics – you name it. He had become friends with them all. For a while he’d even fallen into some of their dangerous forms of self-mutilation. He’d used heroine extensively shooting up wherever and whenever possible. The state the drugs left his mind in was a welcome release from the memories of how he had hurt her which taunted him daily. He’d long since kicked his drug habit though, his only inspiration being Jessica. He didn’t want her to see him like this.

Recently he’d made good on a promise and in return he had been bestowed with the weapon a few short days ago. No questions were asked, no motives were sought.

Today, the gun was with him for one reason only. It was his protection in case he and Jessica were interrupted. He’d patiently waited almost a year now for their reunion. Nothing and no one was going to get in his way.

Justin was crouched slightly to the left of the beach house behind an inconspicuous set of rose bushes. He’d been waiting all day for the perfect moment. Much to his chagrin, he had witnessed Nick and Jessica say goodbye to each other this morning. He had jealously listened on as Nick had told Jessica that if she needed him he’d be over in a second. He’d watched in vain as Nick had kissed her on the lips before leaving.

Justin had been ready to pounce on Nick right then but he had restrained himself miraculously. His time with Jessica would come soon enough. He couldn’t afford to mess up now.

All day he’d watched agonizingly as slowly one by one everyone except Jessica left the house. Like little pawns, every step they took was one in his favor. They were just making it easier for him. A little too easy in fact.

Returning his attention to the house in front of him, his heart stopped as he laid eyes upon her. Every time he saw her, the same familiar feelings of want and need would rise inside of him. Not being able to touch her was driving him crazy. He watched her surreptitiously from his hiding spot desperately trying to read the look of utter confusion upon her face.

Justin had taken all the precautionary measures to ensure that upon first glance Jessica wouldn’t realize that the letter was from him. In the store earlier, he had persuaded the old lady behind the counter to write the card for him. He’d even tipped her quite graciously at the end. He’d let Jessica think that the card was from her beloved Nick and then he’d tell her whom it was really from in person. He longed to see the look on her face when she realized that the feelings he possessed for her were still as strong as ever.

Justin watched Jessica, the anticipation in his eyes rising as Jessica carefully replaced the flowers in the mailbox. The letter however, she folded neatly and stuffed in her pocket. Looking hopelessly confused and quite scared Jessica finally began her slow decent down the stairs. As Jessica walked away slowly from the house, the most crucial part of Justin’s plan was complete. From here on it would be easy.

Stealthily, he crept from behind his hiding spot. He climbed the stairs quickly and just as he’d seen Jessica do herself mere days ago, he retrieved the spare key from under the flowerpot.

“Don’t worry Nick. I’ll take good care of her. I promise,” he whispered aloud as he let himself into the dark empty house.

Brian sat next to Lila silently eyeing her out of the corner of his eye. They were comfortably settled under a thick blanket in front of the television. They were watching one of their old favorites. It was a comedy of sorts, but somehow neither Lila nor Brian was laughing.

All night Brian had been trying to get close to Lila with no avail. Each and every time he had placed his arms around her or drew near for a kiss, he had felt her body tense up. Ever since their romantic evening a few nights ago, Lila had been acting strangely. The little kisses and touches that they usually shared were now far from existent. Brian was lucky if Lila even looked at him when she spoke.

At the moment, Lila sat with her eyes glued to the television fully aware of Brian’s watchful gaze. Somehow, she just couldn’t manage to look at him. Not after what she had done. Just then, she laughed aloud pretentiously playing up to the pretence that she was actually watching the movie. Brian watched her contrived laughter and fake smiles, his heart sinking lower and lower. She was hiding something from him.

As Lila feigned another laugh, Brian’s heart began to beat faster and faster, a sense of urgency taking over his body. He couldn’t take it anymore. Lila was like an open book. One that he had read and reread many times and knew cover to cover.

Despite her various attempts to fake normalcy today, it was obvious that she was troubled. He could feel it in her touch, hear it in her voice, and see it in her eyes. He was tired of sitting by and not doing anything about it.

Thankfully the movie ended and Brian seized his opportunity readily. Leaning close to her he whispered in her ear. “Lila,” he began.

As Brian’s body inched closer to hers, Lila could feel her heart beating at an incredulous pace. She couldn’t answer the questions that he would inevitably ask. She wasn’t ready to and for that matter Brian certainly wasn’t ready to hear what she had to say. She desperately prayed for divine intervention as he reached for her hand.

Aware of her trembling hand, Brian lifted it to his face caressing it gently as if to tell Lila not to worry. He wanted her to know that whatever it was that she was going through, he’d be right by her side through it all. “Lila, I know there’s…” he began.

As if by a miracle, the door to the den suddenly swung open. Totally oblivious to the scene he had just interrupted stood Nick. Panic masked his features, his blue eyes filled with worry. “I just called Jess. She’s not answering,” he said in a rush.

In a split second, the intense moment that Lila and Brian had almost shared was forgotten. “That’s strange. She wasn’t planning on going anywhere,” Lila said with confusion.

“I called her at least 5 times.”

“Maybe she’s sleeping,” Lila offered trying to keep her calm. Her face must gave given away to concern though because Nick looked anything but reassured. Lila was well aware that Jessica was a fairly light sleeper.

Recently out of habit, Jessica kept her phone next to her beside table. Once or twice she had actually woken from a bad dream and called Nick. Each time Nick had willingly stayed on the phone with her talking to her until she fell asleep. He always waited patiently for the silence and the sound of her steady breathing on the line before he hung up.

Brian glanced at his watch quickly. It was only 9:00. Jessica wouldn’t be sleeping this early. “Maybe she went out for a while,” he suggested.

Nick and Lila exchanged doubtful looks. They both knew that Jessica was neither in the mood nor right frame of mind to go anywhere by herself. She was too terrified to even set foot out of the house in the daytime let alone night. Panic began to set in as Lila’s heart told her that something was definitely amiss.

Mya sat on her bed, her eyes roaming the ceiling above her. Her routine for the past three hours had consisted of finding an interesting spot on the wall and analyzing it until her vision became blurry. It prevented her from thinking about AJ, which was something she was surely liable to do if she wasn’t distracted.

Anticipating AJ’s reaction to her attitude, she had firmly told her grandparents that if anyone called or came by to visit to tell them that she was out. Her grandparents had been curious as to her actions, but as usual they respected her wish and did as they were told. The phone had rung numerous times that afternoon; each called skilfully fielded giving little to no indication of Mya’s whereabouts.

With a sigh and a heavy heart, Mya rolled over onto her side. She covered her head with her pillow in an attempt to banish all thoughts of AJ from her mind completely. In her opinion, harboring feelings for AJ was pathetic and useless. Especially when AJ had made it perfectly clear that his intentions as to any further relationship between the two of them were merely friendly. For Mya liking AJ was like a fantasy – an impossibly unattainable one at that.

A soft knock at her door startled her from her thoughts. “Come in,” Mya announced rather dejectedly. The door creaked open slightly as her grandmother walked in. Even at her age, Mrs. Winters could pass for Mya’s mother. No wrinkles or unsightly age blemishes marred her face. The only indication of her true age were the flecks of grey in her hair. Her grandmother bore a striking resemblance to Mya’s mother. Her mannerisms and speech often brought tears to Mya’s eyes for they were so much like her mother's.

Mya and her grandmother had always been close. Despite the fact, that her grandmother had not necessarily approved of her artistic endeavors, she had nevertheless supported Mya every step of the way. She had been one of the very few and at times the only person, who had praised Mya for her work. Being very articulate and soft-spoken, she always had a way with words that made Mya feel better about herself. Her grandmother’s opinion and comments had always been very valuable to Mya as she considered her more often than not to be her confidant.

“For you dear,” Mrs. Winters said with a warm smile. Ever so slowly, Mya retrieved the small paper from her grandmother's outstretched hand, clutching it tightly. Her name was scrawled simply on it in neat handwriting.

“He was very adamant that you received this. He seems to care about you a lot,” she stated matter of factly with a warm smile.

“Thanks grandma,” Mya replied uncertainly. She stared silently down at the paper, fidgeting with it as she contemplated whether to read it or not. Taking this as her cue to leave, Mrs. Winters gave Mya’s shoulder a warm squeeze before she exited the room quietly.

Mya ran her hand along the smooth surface of the glossy paper a couple of times before opening it. As her eyes scanned the note, she could feel her heart involuntarily speeding up.

I need to see you. Meet me at the pier at 9 tonight so we can talk. I’ll be waiting for you – AJ

Glancing at the clock, Mya noticed it was only 8:30. She could still make it in time. She wanted nothing more than to talk to AJ and to tell him that she was hopelessly scared of losing his friendship and that she wanted him in her life but not just as a friend. She wanted him to know that she needed him to be more than a friend to her. She needed him to be the one to kiss her at night, to hold her when she missed her parents and to wipe away her tears when she was sad. She had waited her whole life to find someone that made her feel the way AJ did. It was such a shame that she had finally found him after all these years but he didn’t return her sentiments.

The words her grandmother had spoken to her a few minutes ago resounded in her her head. “He seems to care about you a lot.” Mya only wished that her grandmother could be right. If only he cared about me as much as I care about him, she thought bitterly. With a final sigh, she crumpled AJ’s note in her fist and tossed it carelessly into the garbage can near her desk. She then closed her eyes and covered her head with her pillow waiting for sleep to take over her body.

Jessica walked down the deserted beach. Normally, she would have been scared out of her mind, but she was so pre occupied that fear was unimportant to her. She couldn’t get Nick’s note out of her mind.

“Every step I take is one closer to you,” Jessica repeated to herself as she wondered in vain what Nick meant by that. Something about that line bothered her. That one line was so elusive and aloof that it scared her. Shivering slightly as the winds picked up, Jessica rubbed her bare arms. In her haste to get out of the house, she had forgotten to bring her jacket. Goosebumps broke out on her skin from the cold as her hair whipped furiously about in the wind.

Trees and leaves swayed in the wind and suddenly Jessica began to feel uncomfortable being all by herself. Confused and now scared she suddenly wanted to go home. Picking up her pace, she turned back in the direction of the beach house. As the wind howled around her she picked up her pace.

Her mind still swimming with confusion over Nick’s letter, she drew nearer to the beach house. With a watchful paranoid eye, she mounted the stairs making sure no one was following her. As she climbed the stairs she debated over whether or not she should call Nick. His letter was so uncharacteristic that she was slightly intimidated by it. A million thoughts raced through Jessica’s mind, as she became oblivious to her surroundings. Her mind in a daze, her hand reached for the doorknob. As the knob turned easily beneath her grasp, she was so impossibly confused that she completely forgot she had locked the door before leaving. She even managed to forget about the keys in her pocket.

Entering the house, out of habit and fear she remembered to lock the door. Wearily, she stepped out of her shoes leaving them carelessly in front of the door. She blindly headed towards her room too tired to even bother turning on the lights. Jessica suddenly wanted nothing more than to just lie in her bed and drift off to sleep. A feeling of uncertainty washed over her momentarily as she wondered if sleep would come to her at all without Nick by her side. She pushed her feelings of fear aside realizing again that Nick couldn’t be there every second to kiss away her tears or hold her tightly.

Approaching her room, her fears and uncertainties were curbed as the need for sleep took over her body. She entered the dark room quietly not bothering to turn on the light. Quickly, she stripped out of her clothes throwing them haphazardly on the floor. She threw on a silk white night gown, which was lying on her bed. Distractedly, she ran her fingers through her somewhat tangled blonde hair. She didn’t bother to wash her face or brush her teeth for she was too exhausted.

As she pulled back her bed covers and climbed inside, a cold uncharacteristic chill ran throughout her body. She peered cautiously around her room suddenly feeling very vulnerable and insecure. Her heart sped up as she noted the eerie silence of the room for the first time. Suddenly, she didn’t care if it was wrong to need someone by her side. She didn’t even care if it was wrong that she wanted that someone to be Nick. She fumbled for the phone next to her bedside table and grabbed it clutching it tightly in her hands, which were shaking incessantly. With unsteady fingers she managed to press the talk button pressing her ear up against the phone. She waited anxiously for the dial tone, but all she heard was silence. Total silence at that. The line was dead.

The phone slipped from her shaking hands as her heart beat faster. Her hands began to feel clammy and cold and the rising lump in her throat was making it nearly impossible for her to breathe. She willed herself to calm down, taking deep breaths which came out sounding more like strangled cries than anything. She told herself repeatedly that it was nothing, probably had something to do with the aftermath of the storm and bad weather that they had been experiencing recently.

She clutched her pillow to her chest tightly hoping in some way to take comfort from it. She wished now more than ever that Nick were there to hold her until she fell asleep. All fears and paranoia would disappear quickly with him by her side. She squeezed her eyes shut tightly practically begging for the sleep to take over her body. However, it was a lost cause. She was far too terrified.

A sudden rustling noise caught Jessica’s attention as she snapped her eyes open quickly. Shielding her face with her pillow protectively she slowly peeked cautiously around the room. As her blue fear filled eyes wandered about, her blood suddenly ran cold. The shaking in her body ceased completely as she saw him.

“Hello Jessica,” he whispered softly.
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