Jason cut the engine and climbed out of the car, staring at the dark clouds that were building overhead. He tucked his hair behind his ears to keep it from blowing in his mouth. It had been weird, seeing his foster mother after all this time, but she was one of the best jewelry designers in the state, and there was no one else he trusted with Lena's birthday gift. He hurried to the porch when lightning flashed, but stopped short of unlocking the door when he heard talking inside.
"You sure we got the right place?" the voice, cracking from puberty, was impatient.
"Don't be stupid," another scoffed. It was deeper, confident and familiar. "Of course we do."
Jason stepped back, avoiding the board that creaked as he vaulted over the side railing, then went around to the back of the house. The blinds were closed there, too, the lock on the kitchen door jammed open. He slipped inside and put an ear to the door that opened onto the living room.
"Where is this fool?" the younger one cocked a gun. "I want to shoot something already!"
His partner groaned in disgust.
"Go find a rabbit, then," he snapped. "We were ordered to wait here until he got back, and that's what we're going to do."
Jason froze when footsteps closed in, sighing silently in relief when they passed by.
"I'm going upstairs, might be something interesting there."
"Don't even think about it," a different stride, smoother and longer. "We're to kill, not steal."
"Pfft, I wasn't going to steal anything," he laughed. "Just wanted to see if his bitch was around."
Without thinking, Jason threw the door open, his stomach dropping to the floor when he saw the muzzle of a gun an inch from his nose. Gabriele sneered at him over the sight, his fingers almost white around the grip.
"Guess you're not as dumb as I thought."
His partner, a kid whose face was half-scarred with old burns, flashed a twisted, lopsided smile.
"About time you showed up!"
"And I think you know exactly why we're here, cuz," Gabriele's finger tightened on the trigger. Jason threw out a hand, knocking the gun aside as it fired. The bullet cut past his ear as he slammed the heel of his boot into Gabriele's gut, throwing him hard against the wall. A second shot went wild as the kid panicked—an elbow upside the head was all it took to put him down for the count. Jason snatched the dropped pistol, hauled Gabriele to his feet and jammed it against his head.
"What the hell are you doing here?" he demanded. "Who the fuck sent you?"
His cousin cringed, then threw his head forward, catching Jason in the throat. He coughed violently, the gun firing as his hand jerked. Gabriele screamed, falling to the floor with a ragged, bloody hole ripped in his slacks. Jason rubbed his neck, crouched beside him and tapped the grip on the man's good knee.
"I'll give you one last chance," his low voice burned with anger. "Now tell me, who the hell sent you, and what the hell do they want?"
Gabriele glowered at him, then spat in his face.
"You might as well just kill me," he said haggardly. "I'll never say anything."
Jason stared at him, wiping his cheek as he got to his feet. He grabbed his phone from the pocket of his jacket and kicked away the gun from his cousin's side.
"Yeah, this is Jason Vetra," he kept close watch on Gabriele. "I need to report a break-in, we'll need an ambulance, too."
He ended the call, his lip curling when he saw the tears building in his cousin's eyes.
"Please," he begged brokenly. "Please just kill me, you know they'll do it, anyway!"
Jason's glare darkened, and he knelt back down.
"Then you better stop wasting time and tell me what I want to know."
<<<>>>
Jason grabbed the last empty soda can and tossed it in the trash bag, tied it shut and dropped it by the coffee table. The only thing Gabriele had told him was that the people who'd hired him felt Jason was a threat, and they'd paid good money to see him gone. He'd begged to be killed again, but Jason had stuck with saying a pair of addicts had broken in and tried robbing him at gunpoint.
And now he couldn't stop wondering why he hadn't just gone and done it.
Had he wanted the man to know what it was like, having to live with a death threat hanging over his head? He figured it had more to do with the fact he couldn't bring himself to murder his own family, even when several of them had done so much worse to him.
Amy and Carson's cruel laughter flashed through his mind, forcing him to remember the terrified weekends he'd spent in the house while their parents were alive. It had gotten to where he'd had to lock himself in his room at night, sobbing into his pillow while the four of them had played games and watched movies downstairs. He remembered how forced their parents' laughter had always sounded, as though they'd been just as afraid of the two as he had been.
That was probably why they never did anything about it.
He sat on the arm of the couch, shivering as he tried to push the memories back where they belonged—locked away and forgotten in the darkest corners of his mind, at least for a while. There was no point in thinking about them anymore.
And I've got something a lot more important to do.
He glanced at his watch and got to his feet, grabbing the bag on his way to the garage. It was almost seven, he'd have to move fast if he wanted to get there in time.
<<<>>>
Lena slumped in the backseat of Autumn's pale pink car, staring blankly at the pouring rain; she tugged absently at the hem of the short, sleeveless turquoise Qipao dress Heather had somehow talked her into wearing. The two had begged her to come with them tonight all week, and the only reason she'd agreed was the promise they'd leave the second she'd had enough. Heather glanced at her in the rearview mirror, frowning.
"You and Jason are the only ones I know who aren't happy on their birthdays."
Autumn's shoulders tensed, but she stayed quiet. Lena just sighed, pressing herself further into the seat. There was a lot she wanted to say—how Kara had ruined her birthday forever, that she'd spent the last one in a hospital room, but she blurted the one question they'd refused to answer the last few days.
"Where are we going, anyway?"
"The club Ty's parents run," Autumn brushed loose hair from her face and pulled into a covered parking lot. The low black building had a neon sign flashing blue and orange, a uniformed officer standing by the propped open doors. A tan malinois in a K9 vest sniffed everybody who came inside. Autumn shut the car off and stuffed her keys in her purse, then took out three red plastic wristbands. "It's all-age, so they have to be sure no one has drugs on them."
"At least try and have some fun, Lena," Heather turned in her seat and took her hand, snapping the last one on her wrist. "But if you're still not into it after thirty minutes, then we'll go."
Lena watched the people loitering at the edge of the canopy over the lot, thumping electronic music blaring into the night as lights flashed and changed in the smoke that spilled through the doors.
"We know this isn't easy for you," Autumn climbed out and fixed her skirt. She wore a yellow shirt dress with long loose sleeves, Heather a red halter top with matching skirt. Heather had also done up all their hair in high braided ponytails. "But it might help get your mind off things, and the guys said they have a surprise for you later."
Lena looked at them as she stepped on the asphalt, then looked behind her. It was pitch black past the parking lot and the rain was coming down in sheets. Unless she wanted to stay in the car, there was nowhere else to go.
"Fine," she turned back to them and flashed a weak smile. "Let's do it."
<<<>>>
Heather was relieved when Lena ended up having a good time; a group of freshman girls from the university had invited them to a table after a few songs for a shouted, giggly conversation about movies and bands, though they'd gone their own way once they were back on the dance floor.
She craned her neck to see over the crowd as she helped Lena hunt for another table, snickering when she saw the DJ jamming along to his own music in the booth above the stage, set up for the live acts that were soon to follow. She tapped Lena's shoulder when she spotted Autumn, struggling to keep a tray upright as she made her way through the thrumming throng of people.
"Sorry it took so long, guys," she laughed when she reached them. "The line was nuts!"
"This whole place is nuts, in case you forgot!"
Heather took her cherry slush and Lena's iced strawberry limeade, waited for her to set the tray on top of a trash can, then led her to the small table Lena had snagged for them.
"I thought the guys were supposed to be here by now," she leaned close to Autumn, hoping Lena couldn't hear them over the noise. Autumn nibbled the metal straw in her frosted blackberry lemonade as she pulled out her phone; there was a text from Chad, saying they were waiting to be called up. She sighed. "About time."
"I know," Autumn looked across the table, the two of them watching Lena turn down the latest in a string of boys who'd wandered over to ask for a dance. It was clear she was reaching her limit. They turned to the stage when the DJ shut off the music, Lena going stiff as the guys climbed onstage.
"You kept asking for them, everybody," he announced, grinning widely. "So let's hear it for G6!"
The room erupted in cheers; the girls screaming louder when Jason pushed back his rain-spattered hood, wearing the gleaming smile he so rarely did.
"This goes out to a special girl here tonight," he motioned for the band to start. "Happy birthday, babe."
Heather turned to Lena as he started singing, her excitement fading when she saw the mascara and blush running down her face. She pressed her hands to her mouth, shaking with suppressed sobs as she stared at the stage. Autumn jumped to her feet when the song ended, catching Lena's wrist as she tried to leave.
"What's wrong?"
Lena shook her head and tugged out of her grip.
"I'm hitting the bathroom," she was barely audible past the cheering. "Be back in a bit."
She took off, skirting the crowd before she disappeared around a corner.
<<<>>>
Jason pulled off his guitar and leaned it against the amp, ignoring the girls that crowded around him as he climbed off the stage. His phone vibrated in his pocket, and his stomach twisted a bit when he read Heather's text.
'We messed up big time, Lena ran off crying'
He sidestepped the curvy bleached blond trying to corner him, blocking out her screeched gushes about the song as he scanned the crowded room. Lena liked to go off on her own when she was upset, and the further away from people, the better. That left only one option.
The alarm on the back door had never been repaired, and it was knocking against the wall in the wind. He could hear muffled sobbing past the rain.
"Lena?"
He stepped out, seeing her slumped form pressed to the wall by the dumpster. She was already soaked through, her hair and dress clinging to her skin, ruined makeup trailing down her cheeks. She jumped when he coughed, and he was thankful he'd grabbed his black jacket as he wiped roughly at his mouth with his sleeve. He caught her hand before she could take off, pulled her to his chest and hugged her tightly.
"Where did you hear that song?" she asked tearfully, her face buried in his shirt. He shrugged off his jacket and draped it over her shaking shoulders.
"Ty gave me the sheet music for it," he steered her toward the parking lot. "He said a guy named Andy wrote it for you."
She nodded, then rubbed her bloodshot eyes.
"He was my first boyfriend, he played it for me a few weeks before he was killed."
He sighed heavily, pulling back from her when they got to his car.
"I'm so sorry, Lena," his fist tightened around his keys. "I didn't know it would bring up such bad memories."
She shook her head, smiling a bit when she turned to him.
"Ty didn't know either. He was absent when Andy played it for me, and I never told him about it. I didn't even know he'd given it to Ty."
She jumped closer to him when thunder crashed overhead. The rain was coming down hard again. He hugged her, pressing a kiss to the top of her wet head.
"I meant every word," he said softly. "If that makes you feel any better."
She nodded, then turned to the club, seeing the crowd had spilled past the front doors.
"Listen, can we go? I really don't feel like going back in there."
He nodded and unlocked the car, holding the passenger door open for her.
"Whatever you want, babe."
<<<>>>
"Is hearing that song again the only reason you wanted to split?"
Jason laid back on the couch with his hands behind his head. Lena was curled up in the recliner, looking almost like a doll in the shirt he'd lent her. They'd both been soaked when they'd gotten to his house, and she hadn't wanted to go back to Autumn's. She shrugged, playing idly with her hair.
"The truth is I didn't really want to go in the first place, but Autumn and Heather were so excited about taking me that I couldn't say no."
She stroked the damp ponytail slung over her shoulder, staring blankly at the patterned rug in front of the fireplace; he almost never used it, but had made an exception tonight. She'd scrubbed away every trace of makeup as she'd dried off, visibly struggling not to throw her dress in the trash before she'd hung it over the shower curtain rod.
"You're thinking about your family, aren't you," he asked after a while. She hesitated, then slowly nodded.
"It's my second birthday without them," she said quietly. "And I was barely out of a coma last year."
He groaned, holding his stomach as he sat up. The pain had been getting worse lately, and there didn't seem to be any end in sight.
"Lena, we've all talked to you about this—"
"Not everyone gets over shit as quickly as you do, Jason," she snapped angrily. He stood and went to the chair, gripping her shoulders firmly.
"I know how much you miss them," he knelt down. "But you know they wouldn't want you crying over them for the rest of your life, they'd want to see you happy."
She sniffled.
"I feel like crying is the only thing I can do," her helpless gaze cut him to the core. "T-They were all I had!"
"And they're still with you, Lena," he took her cold hands. "They always will be."
He kissed her fingers, then wiped a tear from her cheek.
"I wish I could make this easier for you."
She looked at him, then let out a breath.
"You have your own stuff to deal with," she said. "You don't have to carry everyone else's all the time."
He brought them both to their feet.
"I just can't stand seeing you like this."
She took her hands away and held them to her chest.
"You're always doing a hundred things at once," she told him. "I don't think I've ever seen you fully relaxed before."
She crossed her arms.
"And don't give me the same crap about how you 'like to stay busy'," she went on. "It's because you don't want to have any time to think about what's happened to you, but I know from experience that it won't help you heal. You can't just keep distracting yourself from what's important."
He let out a breath, brushing the half-dried bangs from her forehead.
"You're the only thing that's important to me, Lena."
She waved his hand away.
"That's just it, Jason, you spend all this time caring about everybody else, but you don't take two seconds to think about yourself."
He stared at her, letting out an incredulous laugh before going back to the couch.
"You really want to know exactly why I'm like this?" he asked as she sat next to him. She nodded.
"You're always telling me it'll help to talk about it, I think it's time you took your own advice."
He chuckled again.
"All right," he searched for where to start. "Well, you know what I was like as a kid, right?"
She tucked a loose bit of hair behind her ear.
"I've heard a couple things, but I'm still not sure what exactly happened."
He pulled up his shirt and folded down the lip of his sweats; he was still getting used to not hiding the old scar with a bandage. It was the size of his palm, the lines were faded but still all too clear.
"I don't remember when Amy and Carson started abusing me, but he did this when I was three."
She gasped, her eyes widening as she pressed her hands to her mouth.
"W-Why would he do that?"
"I don't know," he fixed his clothes. "All I really remember is him saying he needed to teach me a lesson and being tied to his bed as it started."
He sat stiffly, an uneasy silence falling over them as the rain trickled off outside, thunder rumbling distantly. After a while, he tilted her head back, and pressed a soft kiss to her lips.
"Anyway, I wanted to give you something after the song," he took the small wrapped box from his pocket and handed it to her. "But I think now works better."
She handled it like it was blown glass, carefully peeling off the shimmering midnight paper, gasping when she opened the lid. The necklace was gold, the delicate chain set with a small, heart-cut ruby.
"Oh, Jason," tears filled her eyes again. "It's beautiful!"
He smiled, brushing her damp cheek with the backs of his fingers.
"I wanted to show you how much you meant to me," he brought it out as she pulled her hair up off her neck, blushing as he clasped it for her. The gold glinted in the firelight as she turned back to him, complimenting her skin perfectly, the ruby nearly matching her lips.
"You look amazing."
He kissed her again, feeling her fingers tangle in his hair as he leaned back against the arm of the couch; she straddled him, her legs tightening on his hips, and he reached for the hem of her shirt.
I never want this to end…
<<<>>>
Heather peered through the small window on the door, keeping watch for passing officers. She'd had to convince her brother that their aunt, the town's historian, had asked her to find some information in the station's archives. She turned to see Autumn digging through the latest in an endless line of boxes and files, wondering why she always insisted on coming in the middle of the night.
"Why couldn't we have come earlier? We wouldn't have to sneak around like this."
"I don't want anyone to find out what we're looking for," Autumn answered in a frustrated whisper she could barely hear. "Besides, we had Lena's birthday party earlier tonight."
Heather bit her tongue to keep from groaning out loud.
"Well, hurry it up," she hissed impatiently. "I'm freaking out over here!"
Autumn looked carefully over the papers in front of her, put away what she didn't want and then stuffed the rest in her backpack.
"Okay, I've got enough for now," she stood up, clutching it to her chest. "Is the hall empty?"
Heather ducked back when she saw the passing shadow of an officer on the night shift, humming a show tune that echoed a bit in the silent hallway.
"We're good," she whispered when he turned the corner. They hurried to the back door, left unlocked by her brother, the alarm and camera set to be replaced in the morning. Half of the lights in the parking lot were flickering, the others knocked dead by the storm. Heather tugged his keys from her pocket and unlocked his car.
"They're only back there once or twice a year," Autumn sounded sickeningly confident as they climbed in. "That gives us plenty of time to find what we need."
Heather rolled her eyes and started the engine, adjusting the rearview mirror.
"And just what are you trying to find, exactly?"
Autumn fastened her seatbelt and tucked the bag by her feet.
"We are going to expose Jason's true colors," she said smugly. "After all, you're the one who said there was something you didn't trust about him."
"Uh, you've always said that, Autumn," Heather corrected her. "You've been bringing it up since we were kids, and you're also the only one who still listens to those stupid stories about him."
Autumn shrugged.
"Well, we're finally going to prove them," she flicked some hair over her shoulder, it was even more wild than usual. "And I have to make sure Lena isn't going to end up in any kind of trouble, she's been through enough."
Heather stopped at a red light and checked the mirrors. No one was following them yet, at least that she could see.
"You really think someone like Jason could cause any trouble?" she swiped at the layer of dust on the dash. "He barely even speaks up in class half the time, and I don't know too many people who volunteer as much as he does."
The light turned, and she made sure to stay under the speed limit. Autumn crossed her arms.
"That's exactly what I'm talking about," she stated. "There's no way he'd try so hard to build a reputation like that unless he wanted to hide something, that's just how it works."
She smiled again and patted the bag.
"It's obvious he's keeping some huge secret, and this time, nobody is going to stop me from finding out what it is."
Heather bit her lip, hardly able to focus on the road with all the questions swirling through her head. There was clearly something more to Autumn's obsession than she was saying, but what could it be? How had she become so convinced that the Jason Vetra they knew was all a lie in the first place? She swallowed hard, hoping at the very least that she wouldn't be there when it all blew up.
Why do I keep letting her drag me into this?
<<<>>>
"You know, you could have at least said something before ditching us," Chad complained. Ty nodded, standing over the trash can as he held a wad of tissues to a nosebleed. The three of them were lounging in Jason's basement, after spending the day washing cars in the heat. "Lance and Dante are getting pretty sick of having to cover your ass all the time."
Jason fell back on the futon, his hair damp with sweat, his face and arms tinged with a sunburn.
"I said we were only doing that song," he argued. "You're the ones who decided we were doing more."
Chad grabbed an orange Powerade from the fridge, then sat on the rug with his back against the TV stand. Ty threw the tissues away and cleaned himself up, grabbing a water bottle before taking a seat on the arm of the futon.
"You're right, we should have cleared it with you," he told Jason. "But you're the one who said we needed more exposure."
"Yeah, but Thursday was different," Jason said. "That was supposed to be something special for Lena."
"Too bad she didn't like it," Chad put in. "What happened to you two, anyway?"
Jason looked at Ty, who cringed.
"Her old boyfriend, Andy, wrote it for her," he explained. "He died a few weeks later, trying to save another kid during a school shooting."
He pressed the side of his fist to his forehead.
"I should've known it would upset her like that."
"It sounded like she wasn't in the mood for a party, anyway," Chad tried to balance the bottle on his knee, then grabbed it when it fell. "Heather told me Lena spent most of the day crying, she and Autumn almost had to drag her out when it was time to go."
Ty's shoulders slumped.
"I don't think you ever get over losing your whole family like that," he said glumly. "Especially when you're stuck with the person you know did it afterward."
"Why doesn't she just leave when Kara's not there?" Chad asked. "Why does she stay?"
Ty shook his head.
"She tried running away more than once when we were kids, but no matter how far she went, Kara always found her," he took a long swig of water. "And she always made her pay for it. She gave up after having to spend two weeks in the hospital."
Jason's fist tightened, and a DVD case fell from the TV stand.
"What I want to know is why the bitch gets away with it all," another case hit the floor. "How the hell did anyone not know what was going on?"
Ty scoffed.
"Believe me, it wasn't a secret, but everyone was too afraid to help, or they thought Lena and Michael were exaggerating it all for attention."
"Kind of like what you went though," Chad told Jason. Jason sighed.
"The difference is my situation stopped eventually, she's still trapped in it."
Chad thought for a moment.
"Wait, hasn't Kara been kind of MIA the last few weeks?"
Jason shrugged, and Ty nodded.
"I think so. Why?"
"Then wouldn't it be pretty easy for her to move out, then?" he scratched a bug bite on his cheek. "It's not like the bitch would know she's gone."
"Until she came back, anyway," Ty reminded him. Chad coughed into his fist to hide his smirk.
Just let me handle that.