More Than One: A Novel (30 page)

              My head is pounding, but my vision is starting to clear up. I'm being pinned to the floor. Someone is holding me down, my face smashed to the concrete. I squeezed my eyes shut and then opened them again. Ash! Ash was here and he was fighting with Michael in front of me. I tried to move my head to see if anyone was with him, but it wouldn't budge.

              “I will kill you, you bastard,” I heard Ash say in between blows to Michael's head. He was on top of him punching him in the face. My hearing was finally coming back.

              Where was Elizabeth? I hadn't seen her since... I tried to lift up again; using all my strength, I forced my head to look toward the entrance. So many people were standing around, arms waving, shouting, scrambling. My dad, Dr. Dean, Abigail and my mom stood paralyzed.

              “Ash don't do this!” Dr. Dean yelled.

              So much was going on, it was hard to register it all. I still couldn't see Elizabeth and my heart started back in panic mode. Was she the one holding me down? Was there still a chance I could die? All these thoughts were swirling around in my head and I got sick. I tried to sit up regardless of whoever was on me. Much to my surprise, there wasn't any resistance.

              My arms felt like jello as I scrambled to my feet. I was so disheveled, I fell back down to my knees. Finally, I felt a hand holding my arm to help me up. It was Dr. Lewis. He face was polite, but weary. He put his arm around my waist until I found my balance and helped me walk toward the others.

              “What were you thinking leaving the house like that?” my mom yelled. “You could have been killed.”

              She had tears in her eyes when she rushed to me and gave me a hug. I was holding it in, but after the embrace from her, I let it all go and broke down.

              “I'm so sorry mom... I was stupid... I just didn't know...” I said in between sobs.

              “I don't know what I would have done if we'd lost you,” she said.

              I stood holding her, not caring about anything else. I tuned out all the shouting and the noise and relished in the moment of me being alive and with my mom.

              “Nooooo,” Abigail cried out and ran in the opposite direction.

              I turned to see her running toward Elizabeth, who was slowly crumbling to the floor with the knife in her chest and a scared look in her eyes. She collapsed right before Abigail made it to her.

              “Why did you do that Elizabeth? I could have helped you,” Abigail said crying.

              “I don't want to be here anymore, not like this,” she said and then her eyes went blank.

              Abigail scooped her up and cradled her. Her sobs got louder and louder as she rocked back and forth with Elizabeth's lifeless body in her arms.  She loved her. And now her only family was gone.

              Michael and Ash were no longer fighting, both trying to process what happened. Once Michael got a better view of her, he broke down, too. He tried to get up and go to her, but Ash still had him pinned down. I knew he wasn't going to let him go that easily.

              Dr. Dean made his way over to Abigail and she was still holding Elizabeth, crying. He put his fingers on her neck and after a minute, his head dropped. I knew what this meant for him. He shook his head and stood up to walk to Mrs. Dean.

              Everyone was dumbfounded.  No one expected these events, but here we all were, everyone with their own part in this crazy play. My heart sank as I looked around at all the sad faces. It was finally over.

Chapter Twenty Five

I woke to the flight attendant giving us instructions for our arrival. We left Rome in a hurry to get away from all the drama. I couldn't stay there another minute and my parents were happy to oblige my request. Ash was with us and I was happy he didn't decide to stay behind like his parents wanted him to. I know it was selfish of me, but Georgia was where he belonged.

              While I waited for the plane to descend, I thought of the final events of our stay in Rome. All I could think about was how Michael went crazy because Elizabeth killed herself, and how Abigail didn't speak for the duration of our stay. She looked at me with cold eyes, even though I knew she didn't blame me for anything.

              The faces of the victims kept coming back to me. All of them wanted to know why. Why did they have to die? I couldn't answer the question. I didn't know what to say. In the end, their killer avenged them, as well.

              But who was going to take the rap for the murders? Was this going to go on being unsolved? There was no way the Dean's would turn themselves in and sadly, I wouldn't want them to. What kind of person was I that I didn't care what happened to the victim’s families? Not worrying about them being consoled or getting closure. Honestly, there was nothing I could do, but if I could, would I?

              Ash grabbed my hand, breaking me from my thoughts and we exited the plane. My parents were right behind me and that gave me comfort. My dad's face has been placid since we left Ash's house and my mom hadn't stopped crying. I think she is struggling with whether she is mad that I put myself in danger or relieved I'm okay. It has been a roller coaster of emotions for everyone.

              “I'll get the bags, you kids go find us a taxi”, my dad said with his arms wrapped around my mom.

              “Yes sir,” Ash replied.

              Still holding my hand, Ash led us through a group of people coming in the opposite direction. I gripped his hand still hanging onto the silly notion someone was after me. I couldn't shake the feeling. Once we were outside in the fresh air, my mind began to clear.

              “I'm going to walk down here to check and see if they can call for a taxi. I'll be right back,” Ash said letting go of my hand.

              “No,” I screamed before I could catch myself. The word came out of nowhere.

              Ash stopped in his tracks. Once he took in my scared expression, his faded and was replaced with concern. He pulled me into a hug and kissed the top of my head. I was so overwhelmed, I started crying.

              “Shh, it's okay. It's all over now. I promise, you're safe,” he said.

              I still couldn't control the tears. I knew it was all over, but why did it have to happen in the first place? I was never going to forget this. I was never going to forget the innocent people whose lives were taken for a cause that didn't even pan out. I was so grateful to get on that plane and come back to my normal life, that I didn't think twice about it until now. My life was never going to be the same again.

              Standing outside this airport in Atlanta made it all real for me. I was back home and I still felt like someone was watching me, waiting to take me out.

              “Is everything alright?” my mom said running up to me.

              My dad was behind her with a bag in his hand and some young man trailing him with a cart carrying the rest of our luggage.

              “Yes, she's just a little shaken up. I think she needs some time to process it all,” Ash said.

              I let go of Ash and buried my head in my mom's chest and started up again. My dad took no time to put his arms around the both of us. Even this wasn't helping. All those years of trying to protect me and even they couldn't erase this pain.

              “This isn't right. Michael is insane now and God knows what Abigail is going through. And what about the people Elizabeth killed, their families? Who is going to help them?” I said.

              “Baby, there was nothing you could have done to stop what was happening. It's not your fault,” my dad replied.

              “Yeah Jay. I know you feel bad about what happened, but you had no control over it,” Ash chimed in.

              “Listen to yourselves. Don't you care at all?”

              “We do care, but what can we do? What could we have done without getting my parents arrested for the whole mess?” Ash asked.

              “I don't know,” I yelled, pulling away. “We didn't even try though.”

              I started crying harder. I didn't want to be the monster Elizabeth was. She killed those people without a backward glance and now I'm disregarding it. Did I have blood on my hands, too? This was too much. I felt like throwing up. I knew deep in my heart I couldn't have helped those people, but in that same area of my heart, I knew I should have tried.

              My dad pulled me into his arms and hugged me tight. I hugged him back and drained myself of all my tears. I was tired of crying, tired of hurting, tired of everything.

              “Let's get you home,” my dad said.

              A taxi pulled up in front of us and rolled down the window asking if we needed a ride. Ash helped grab the bags and put them in the trunk. We got in and headed to the dorm.

              We made it to the school within an hour, Rach wasn't in the room like I expected. I hadn't talked to her in a couple days either. She was probably with Derrick.

              I flopped down on the bed and looked around the room. Everything was as I left it. This was normal I guess. My parents and Ash entered the room soon after. Ash was carrying my bags.

              “Honey, you know you can come home with us to Kansas. You don't have to stay here. Take some time off and clear your mind and then come back,” my mom said.

              “I know mom, sounds tempting, but if I'm going to put this behind me, I can't run from it. This is my life, here, in school and working and being around my friends,” I said looking at Ash. He smiled big. He was probably worried I would leave. “Besides, if Ash can do it, so can I. He will protect me, right Ash?”

              “Oh, you have nothing to worry about Mr. and Mrs. Whitlock, I will take care of Jamie. I won't let anything happen to her and I'll make sure she gets through this,” he said.

              I was still a wreck, but I had to say something to comfort my parents. I didn't want to go home and be in some cocoon of nothingness. I wanted to stay here and get back to my life. That was the whole reason we went to Rome in the first place. I knew soon enough, the events would be a distant memory. I just had to fight to get to that point.

              “Okay baby, the offer will always be on the table if you want to come home. You're a grown woman now and I will respect that, but next time, you better call us if anything happens. I don't care what it is, we need to know,” my dad said.

              “We mean it Jamie,” my mom chimed in crying.

              “I promise.”

              I stood and hugged them both. My mom squeezed me so hard, all the air left my lungs for a quick second. She didn't let go until my dad came and pried her off me to hug me himself.

              “We are going to the hotel and get rested up. We'll be here for a couple of days just to make sure everything is okay,” my dad said.

              “Okay, call me later when you get settled in,” I said wiping a tear from my mom’s cheek.

              “We love you so much kid,” my dad’s eyes were watering as he spoke. I didn't know if I could bear it any longer without crying myself.

              “I love you guys so much, too,” I said.

              “You get some rest. Maybe now it will be of rainbows and unicorns,” he said grinning, making the lines more apparent around his eyes.

              “I will.”

              “Ash do you need a ride?”

              “No sir. If its okay with Jamie, I wanted to stay here and uh, hang out,” he said looking at me.

              “Of course its okay.”

              “Well, we'll see you guys later,” my dad shook his hand and they turned to leave.

              Before they got out of the door, my mom turned and looked back and forth between Ash and me. She managed a shy grin and walked to Ash and embraced him. He was caught off guard, but welcomed the hug.

              “You are a good person. Always remember that. Thank you for being here with my daughter. She needs you more than she realizes,” she said. With that she blew me a kiss, turned on her heel and they left.

              Ash stood stunned in the middle of the room. He looked at me, his wicked smile returned and he winked.

              “I told you your parents loved me. This is a sign Jamie.”

              He rushed over and squeezed me. I inhaled deeply. This felt right. I pulled away from him, but with my arms still around his waist and looked into his eyes. Those big brown eyes. He came to save me. He loved me no matter what and I loved him, now more than ever.

              I released his waist and put my hands on the sides of his face and pulled him to me. He kissed me, but not like before. Before he held back, I know that now. This time all his emotions went into that one kiss and I was able to reciprocate. He was my knight in shining armor. Rach was wrong. It was him who came to my rescue.

              He finally pulled away from me and I couldn't place the look he had on his face. What look did I have on my face? I wasn't confused anymore. I wanted to be with him.

              “I'm sorry Jamie, I thought that's what you wanted me to do,” he said backing away.

              “No, no Ash, I did want you to kiss me.”

              “But your face... you look scared or something.”

              “I'm not scared, Ash. I know what I want and I want to be with you.”

              His infectious grin returned and he picked me up and swung me around. He was holding me so tight and I felt so safe in his arms. My Ash.

              “Are you serious?” he asked putting me back down.

              “Yes, I'm serious. I love you, Ash,” I replied.

              “I love you, too, Jamie.”

              The kiss was so intense. And once again, I was taken to my favorite place. The ocean. He's holding my hand and leading me to the water. The sun is setting behind him, making his skin look more golden than usual. His smile is bright and there is love in his eyes. Love for me. He picked me up and threw me over his shoulder and walked further into the water.

              “I'm so in love with you Jamie,” he said and kissed my forehead. “This is it baby. I'm all in. Together forever,” he said.

              “Together forever.”