The thunder became louder while the flashes of light were barely seen in the light of day. The heavy rain came down hard, hitting the windows and making a rattling sound. I lifted my gaze up to meet Jason who was staring at me.
“Let’s go upstairs, Kass; in bed like we wanted.” He left the counter and marched towards me, taking my hand and leading me upstairs.
The deafening crack of the thunder made my skin crawl. Bed was exactly where I wanted to be. But what of Jason? I couldn’t let anything happen to him because of me. It would completely destroy me. He forced me into bed and held me as he nuzzled his face slowly into the back of my neck. I held in my worry, both of us lost in what had happened.
“I hate the rain,” he murmured. I reached up and cupped the hands holding onto me.
“Me too,” I whispered.
I slowly fell back to sleep; it’s always been my way when it rained.
“NO! STOP! DON’T COME NEAR ME!” I screamed at the top of my lungs trying desperately to run, but I couldn’t. “NO! DON’T TOUCH ME!” I pleaded, my hot tears falling uncontrollably down my face. I saw a young man; he looked sickly, his face sunken in.
“Come here!” he yelled after me, but I ran away trying to get him away from the cupboard underneath the stairs. I ran around until I reached the kitchen. I stopped dead in my tracks; the blood was everywhere. I followed the blood where it originated from. There, on the floor, were two people. A man and a woman, both were shot. I tried to scream, but it was stifled by a hand.
“I’ve got you now, bitch!” He threw me down onto the ground and straddled me.
“GET OFF ME!” I cried.
But all he did was smile.
“NO!” I screamed so loudly that I jolted out of bed, trying to catch my breath.
“Kass! Kass, baby, are you okay?” Jason grabbed my face and searched my eyes. “Kass?” My heart was beating so loudly I could scarcely hear him. I began to hyperventilate. “Kassia, you had a nightmare. You’re okay now,” he tried reassuring me. “Slowly breathe, baby,” he instructed me.
I pushed his hands off me and stood up from my bed. I began pacing, trying to wrap my mind around what I just dreamt of. My dreams were never so vivid about that night. What the fuck happened to me? What was I blocking out?
“Kass baby, talk to me,” Jason pleaded, but I continued to pace.
Jason jumped out of bed and grabbed my arms. “Look at me.” I looked to see his grey eyes were full of worry.
“I'm fine,” I tried to reassure him, even though I wasn’t. It was late in the afternoon and the rain was letting up.
“Did you dream about…?” Jason’s words trailed off.
“I need water.” I pushed his hands off me and walked downstairs to my kitchen.
I reached for a bottle of water and guzzled it down. I could still feel that man’s touch on me. I shook involuntarily. Please dear God, let it not be true. What if I was raped? What if I was really hurt back then?
“GET OFF ME!” I screamed. I turned around and it was Jason; he had tried to hug me from behind. “I'm sorry,” I said, on the verge of tears.
“It’s okay, Kassia. It’s only me.” Jason held out his hands. I bit my lower lip, scared and worried. I nodded, tears were now falling. I fell into his arms and he held me tight. “You don’t ever have to worry. I will never let anything happen to you,” he said softly.
“Hmm.” I sobbed quietly as he held me.
Those Damn Grey Eyes
“I want you to leave!” I said forcefully to Jason. I had pushed whatever had happened yesterday out of my mind. I didn’t have the time to deal with all of that when there was a crazed lunatic threatening the man I cared for.
“Kass, I'm going to go to work and you’re going to put on the alarm and then I'm coming back,” he replied calmly.
“No! You’re going to stay the hell away from me until we catch this guy,” I fired back.
“Look Kass, you can either make it hard on yourself or you can make it easy. I'm telling you, I'm not going anywhere. You need me more than you ever did before. So get over it,” he growled. He picked up his duffle bag and swung it over his shoulder.
“I called a few of my cop friends. They’ll be patrolling the area. You will put on the alarm and lock the fuckin’ door. The phone will be next to you so if anything happens, you call me,” he ordered. “This would have been so much easier had you just stayed at my place. But no, not you Kass, you have to do things the hard way.” He shook his head.
“Jason, I'm not some fuckin’ little girl who you can speak to anyway you want. I’m telling you that I don’t want you here anymore.” Of course I was lying, but I couldn’t get him involved with my stalker. I couldn’t believe I had a stalker now. “I called Tiff and my editor. I'm going to call my brother, too. I don’t want you involved in this anymore,” I spat out, trying my hardest to be venomous without hurting him. He threw his bag on the floor and took two giant steps towards me.