Chapter 18

Jason's laughter is the only thing keeping my eyes open. When I had agreed to watch TV with him, I thought we were going to watch shows or movies that we both enjoyed. Instead, I'm watching reruns of Fairly Odd Parents.

The show makes absolutely no sense to me, but I guess it makes complete sense in Jason's brain. Yeah because it's perfectly normal to have two goldfish that transform themselves into fairies. The goldfish I won at a fair died before I even left the fair.

"Can we watch something else?" I whine, when Jason makes a move to click on another episode. He points but places the remote in my lap.

"Watch what?" he asks, hugging a pillow closer to his body while I carefully decide on something else.

As much as I want to see Spencer Reid, Criminal Minds has too much violence for him. I don't even want to think about him watching Bob's Burgers. I don't think he'll enjoy watching Supernatural very much. American Horror Story is definitely out of the question as well.

"How about a movie?" I suggest, running out of options since I don't really watch any other show.

"Can I pick?" he asks, with a hopeful look on his face. I nod and he walks towards our small collection of DVDs. Most of the movies we have came from either Haley or Lucas and sometimes Tony for our birthdays or Christmas.

He shows the movie Marley and Me and I smile. "Sure. But while I put that in, can you grab me that box of tissues?"

***

"Braska, why are you crying?" Jason asks, peeking at me before returning his attention back to the screen. The movie is already over but Jason thinks that the end credits are part of the movie so he has to watch it.

"I'm not crying, I just have something in my eye," I lie, wiping away the last of my tears with the tissue. Don't judge me. I know I'm not the only one who still cries watching this movie. It's just so sad.

"What time is it?" he asks.

I look over at the clock. "Eight, which means that you have to-"

"I don't wanna!" he whines, covering his ears. I roll my eyes at his behavior and point down the hall towards his room.

"Jason, bed. Now. And brush your teeth before you go," I tell him. He pouts but otherwise says nothing as he trudges slowly towards his room. Just before he's out of sight, he looks back at me and sticks out his bottom lip.

Any other day, it might have worked and I'd let him stay up an extra hour, but I'm already worked up from the fight with Haley and everything that happened this month so I maintain my blank face and point to his room. He glares at me before running towards his room, slamming the door once he's inside and I let out a huge sigh and rub my face. Great, now my own brother hates me too.

After about a minute of just sitting there, I hear the doorbell ring. I groan before standing up. Whoever it is, I'm not in the mood. I slowly make my way over to the door and open it, before letting out a shriek.

There, standing right outside my door, is a girl covered head to toe in blood. Behind her, I see a trail of blood making me pale and suddenly I feel everything I've eaten in the past hour slowly come back up. This girl bled the entire time walking here...

I swallow down the bile and back away from her but she grasps my arm, letting me feel her warm blood. I scream again terrified before pushing her away from me. My arms are now coated in her blood and I start panting hoping that this is all a dream. Please let this be a dream.

"You!" she shouts, leaning against the door frame for support. Her voice sounds so familiar but I push that to the back of my mind and grab my phone before dialing 911.

"911, what's your emergency?" a female voice answers.

"You did this!" the girl shouts, glaring at me while I continue backing away from her. "It's all your fault!"

"There's a girl here and- oh my God she's covered in blood and I don't know what happened but I think the lack of blood is making her delusional so please hurry I don't know what to do," I rush out, hoping that someone's already on the way here. I don't even care if they can track my call or not they just need to get here now!

"If it wasn't for you, he would have never come after me!" she screams, and I let out a cry while covering my mouth. What's she talking about?!

"Ma'am, what's your address?" the lady asks and I hurriedly recite my address to her. "We'll send help as fast as we can," she says.

"You're the reason why he did this to me!" she shrieks, before dropping to the ground. By now I'm already on the floor and I scoot further away while grabbing a couch cushion. I don't know what to do!

"What are you talking about?" I ask, noticing that she's covering her torso. Is that were she got shot? Or stabbed? Or...I don't know! Her entire body is covered in blood and I have no way of knowing if all that is hers or not.

The ambulance is going to be here soon, I recite to myself. She'll be fine. She'll get the help she needs and she'll be fine. Everything will be fine.

"I'm talking about you sending your little boyfriend to kill me!" she grits out, looking like she's in extreme pain and I feel my eyes widen at her statement. My boyfriend...I don't have one. But there's one person who I know even considers himself to be my boyfriend.

"What did you do?" I ask, feeling terror creep in my core. Her face is stained with red but she looks so familiar to me. There's no way I'm getting closer to her to figure it out though.

She opens her mouth but then starts to breathe hard. How does one handle a situation like this?! I bury my head in my hands before paramedics rush into my house and start to tend to the bloody girl. One of them goes towards me and starts asking questions but I remain frozen in my spot.

All the creep has every done is send creepy notes and gifts, not once has he ever threatened anyone. At least, that I know of. If he knew everything about me, then that means that he knows everyone close to me. What if he visited any of them without my knowledge?

The thought makes me numb that I almost didn't feel the paramedics drag me away. Just before I get shoved in a police car, I start thrashing around in whoever's arms I'm in. "Let me go! I didn't do this! My brother is going to be alone in the house, he's only eight!" I shout at them.

One cop goes back inside the house and carries back a crying Jason in his arms. He hands Jason over to me and I hug him tightly against my body while whispering soothing words to him. The fight we had earlier doesn't matter anymore. Nothing matters anymore.

"What's happening?" he asks, crying into my shoulder.

Before I could even come up with a response, the cop in the drivers seat speaks to me. "We need to ask you some questions. But for now, we'll keep your hands free of the cuffs because of the child in your arms," he says.

Throughout the entire ride to the station, I blankly stare out the window while stroking Jason's hair, my mind in complete and utter turmoil.

***

"Can you describe to me what happened?" the cop asks, for the fourth time. The least they could do is get more creative with the questions. All they're doing is asking the same ones over and over again!

"I already told you," I stress out, "the girl knocked on my door and when I went to answer it, she was already covered in blood and then I called the cops."

"Did you see anyone else?"

"No, it was just her."

"Are you sure? Maybe there was someone watching you from the street."

"Well obviously I wouldn't notice since there was a bloody girl in my doorstep!" I snap. Blame it on not getting sleep but it's almost midnight and I need at least eight hours of sleep for my brain to function. I envy the people who get by on two hours of sleep and coffee.

"We're trying to find who did this-"

"How?! Questioning me is pointless since I'm not the one who killed her! You should be out on the street, following the trail of blood or warning the public that there's a killer on the loose! You shouldn't be wasting your time interviewing a witness!"

"You're the only one who we know so far who was near the victim."

"Because she came to my door!" I let out a sigh while rubbing my forehead. "Did you guys follow the trail of blood?" I curiously ask. I know that girl. At least, I think I do. Maybe if I find out where the trail leads I can figure out who she is. But I do know that I've seen the girl before. But where?

"Some guys on the team did earlier. It lead to a house not too far from yours. The girl was a friend who was sleeping over at the house. The girl's family is at the hospital while some of the family members at her friend's house are here," the cop responds. I sigh in relief at the news. It puts my heart at peace knowing that the girl's family is there with her.

"Is there anything, anything, that you could tell us that would help the case?" he asks, rubbing his eyes. I must not be the only one around here who needs sleep. My mind goes back to the notes and gifts and I bite my lip. Before it was just annoying and scary.

But this...this has gone too far.

This isn't some joking matter that I can brush off anymore. Someone got physically attacked and sent to the ER because of me. Even though I didn't personally do it, I know she was attacked because of me. I need to know why she was attacked. Maybe it'll help me warn the others, my friends and family.

"For the past few months," I start, "there's been this man stalking me. At first I brushed it off thinking it was just some joke, but I think he has something to do with the attack."

He writes something down in his notepad. "What makes you think he had anything to do with it? Has he ever attacked you before? Or threatened you with anything?"

"No, but he's like that. He knows where I live, who I hang out with...everything. A few weeks ago he even kidnapped my brother and made him tell him about myself and my life," I confess, playing with my fingers in my lap.

"I was going to! The thought of him hurting Jason if I called crossed my mind a couple times but I still wanted to call. But when I got home later that day, I found him in my room. I tried to ask him about the stalker but he couldn't remember, or didn't know, how to describe him."

He writes some more down. "And this stalker...has he ever threatened you or sent you anything?"

"Just notes in my locker and boxes of stuff to my house. I didn't think he was capable of hurting anyone," I admit, staring at the floor. Haley's words ring in my mind about how everything the stalker has done being considered sweet or caring. Good thing I didn't believe her.

"Do you have any of them we could analyze?" he asks, and I look down and blush a little. I did, that one note where he called me beautiful. For some reason, I kept it in one of my drawers and read it every night to myself. God I'm such an idiot.

I nod to the cop. "Back at my house, it's down the hall third room at the left. Under the pillow is a note that's from the stalker," I tell him. He closes his notepad and stands up and I remember something. "Wait! Is it okay if I go to the hospital to see the girl who was attacked? It'll help me sleep better to kow if she's alright or not," I say.

He thinks it over for a moment and nods. "Sure, she's at the hospital near the highway," he says, before leaving the room. I walk out of the room after being given the clear and grab Jason before making my way to the streets. Luckily the station is only a few minutes walk from the hospital.

The girl who was attacked is the only person who's seen my stalker. I know that I know the girl from somewhere. Whoever this girl is, she needs to tell me how he looks like, who he is, and what he wants from me.

I just wish I was prepared for the answer.

_____________________

I just got crazy inspired and wrote down the entire chapter in one day. I'm not sure if I'm going to split the book in two books or just write it all down in one book.

Oh well, I'll tell you later what I decide.

But tell me what you think :)