Ugly Beautiful (19 page)

He reached the old gate and put Haley down upon a patch of short dry grass beside the gate. He sat down next to her. He felt exhausted as he watched the farmhouse burn with a cold icy stare. As he continued to watch the burning flames he noticed for the first time since escaping from the house that the sun was shining out in full force with a clear blue sky as its comforting blanket. There was not a single white or grey cloud to be seen anywhere in sight, except for the wild mass of man made black clouds ferociously smoking upwards from the farmhouse.

Jason stared calmly at his surroundings in complete serenity until eventually Haley stirred from her unconsciousness. Her face still covered with dried blood, she looked amusingly frightful. Jason leaned over her upper body and lightly stroked her face and hair.

'Haley? Haley baby! Come on girl. Come back to me Haley. Please, please come back to me and help me figure a way out of this mess.'

Jason took off his dirty blood stained shirt, leaving only his white vest underneath. He wetted a small part of the shirt with his saliva and wiped away some of the dried blood from her face.

'You can beat this Haley. You can beat her. I know you can. You came back to me once so I know, I believe you can come back to me again.' Jason continued reassuringly with all the love and affection in the world. He was laying bare his beaten, but not yet defeated soul before this girl. He sat completely at her mercy. A transformed man from his arrogant, bitter, womanising, self obsessed ways of only a week ago. Jason stroked Haley's cheeks. She stirred, coming around.

'Jason?' Haley wearily whispered. She looked weak with barely the energy to open her eyes.

'I'm here.' whispered Jason right back at her. He smiled warmly right from his heart.

'Jason.' said Haley raising her hand and touching his face. 'You're okay?'

'Yes. I'm okay.' replied Jason still smiling. Haley smiled warmly, forcing her eyes open.

'Where? Where are we?'

'We're just... we're just outside in a field. How are you feeling?'

'Numb. Like I can't even move any part of my body. But in my mind I feel... I feel good.'

Jason took a hold of Haley's hand, comforting her. She turned her head, glancing at the burning farmhouse in the distance for a moment before returning her gaze back at Jason.

'Why didn't you leave me inside to die Jason? Why?'

'Because I love you. And I believe that I can help you. Even if we have to travel halfway across the world to get that help.' Jason said stubbornly. Haley closed her eyes. A beautiful single tear rolled down her cheek.

'I don't think I can do anything in life now unless you're with me. You've changed me so much. The time we spent at the cottage. Talking together up on our hill. If it wasn't for you I think I'd still be the same old selfish, ignorant, arrogant stuck up prick I've always been. Still trying to fuck over as many different people as humanly possible. Giving a damn about no one but myself. I want to do good now Haley. I want to lead a good, normal life. Do good by you. You've changed me Haley. You've changed me so much. And more than anything else, you've given me hope.'

Haley sighed, glancing away.

'I can remember now.' Haley said with a haunting distance in her voice. 'I can remember what she did. All of those sick, evil things she did. And she's going to keep on doing them... unless...'

Haley paused.

'Unless what Haley?'

Haley remained silent.

'Unless what?' continued Jason more adamant. Haley remained eerily distant though.

'I can hear her now. Like a far away thunderstorm rolling over the sky. You can see its thick, might power on the horizon. You can hear its booming roar. You can even feel the change in the thin air. And even when you can't see it you know it's there raging away in the distance and soon it will be raging over all of us.'

Haley took a deep breath. She turned to Jason and looked him directly in the eye.

'She's coming Jason. She's coming back. And I'm not strong enough to fight her anymore. I'm sorry.'

'No Haley. No. I can help you. We can go to a hospital. I can get you the best help money can by. I don't care what it costs or if any of my old friends catch up with me. All I want is to help you now. To be with you. I'll do anything.'

'Then leave me be Jason. Just get up and walk away from here. Go now, get on with your life, leave me to deal with her. Just walk away before she comes back for good this time.'

'You know I can't do that Haley.' Jason replied with tears in his eyes.

'You can't help me Jason. Nobody can help me now. This isn't me remember. This is Her. This is her hands, her face, her body.' Haley's tone became angry, more upset. 'And she's going to take them all back.'

'No. We can stop her. We can stop her together Haley, please. We can do this. Trust me, please. Just come with me now and we can do this.' Jason pleaded, desperate.

Haley struggled to raise herself up using her hands and elbows for support. Finally she rose up to Jason, face to face, eye to eye. He was about to speak when Haley put her finger to his lips, shushing him gently. She held the bottom of his face, his ruggedly handsome rough shaven chin in the palm of her soft hands. She pulled him close. She kissed him, gently at first, then with more passion. They kissed for a long time, caught up in their own zealous world of love, fire and wild passionate emotions. Meanwhile Haley let her hands slip down towards Jason's elbow. She caressed his skin and the whole length of his arm until her hand rested upon his handcuffed wrist.

Haley then moved, oblivious to Jason, and positioned her body on top of him, sitting in his lap and making him even more aroused. Still kissing him passionately, she raised his arms back as if about to remove his vest, but instead she raised his arms up and back, grazing them against the rusty old iron gates. Jason was far to caught up in the passion and the raw emotion of the moment to notice that something unusual was happening.

Haley then took the free end of Jason's handcuffs dangling from his wrists and casually cuffed it to the old iron gate. She broke away from their embrace, backing away. All Jason could do was gape confusingly towards her, not understanding or even comprehending what the hell was happening.

'What. What are you doing?' said Jason, glancing desperately at his bound wrist. 'What the fuck are you doing Haley? HALEY?'

'I'm so sorry Jason.' Haley sobbed. 'I am so, so sorry.'

Haley placed her hands over her face trying to contain her uncontrollable sobbing.

'But I can't let you stop me.'

'Stop you.' Jason cried tugging aggressively at the handcuffs. 'Stop you from doing what? Stop you from doing what Haley?' Jason raged.

Haley stood up, backing further away.

'Haley! HALEY!' Jason called, pleading.

'I'm so, so sorry. I hold so much hope in my heart that there is some kind of heaven, some kind of afterlife and that one day, one day, we can be together in a normal world. As normal people.'

Haley wiped the tears streaming down her face. She turned painfully away from Jason and ran off without even a second glance back. She ran with all her strength and all her might towards the high hills and steep cliffs behind the burning farmhouse.

Jason pulled frantically at the gate while yanking excruciatingly at his handcuffed wrist. He screamed insanely.

'HALEY NO! NO HALEY, NO! HALEY... HALEY! ARRGGHHHHH. Don't you do this Haley. Don't you do this to me. HALEY? PLEASE. Don't leave me like this, Haley please. HALEYYYYYYY.'

Jason yanked and yanked violently, again and again, aggressively at the handcuffs. His wrist broken, his hand bleeding, he continued to yank, yank and yank, persevering through the agonising pain of his torn, strained, broken wrist. Harder and harder he continued to pull. Trying to force his bruised and bleeding, self broken hand through the skin tight hole of the handcuffs. To Jason's overwhelming relief, with one final brutal deformed jerk, he squeezed his wrecked hand and wrist free from the cuffs. His agonising shriek filled the air. But without another moments hesitation, and with an injection of intense adrenaline to break through a threshold of brutal, agonising pain, he hurried desperately, right after Haley. With all his strength, will and remaining power and with all of his remaining life force, he ran towards the top of the nearby coastal cliff tops.

FINAL chapter

Jason's feet were burning with pain and bleeding profusely. His frantic sprint up to the top of the steep cliff soon turned into an exhausted jogging hobble, followed by an unbearable agonising series of limps as he reached the very top. He found himself overlooking the vast and calm deep blue sea stretching right the way out and over the distant horizon. He came to a gradual halt and glanced over at Haley who was on the other side of the steep grassy cliff top. She had her back turned to him as she gazed peacefully down at the steep cliff-face drop beneath her. A life ending drop into the crashing sea waves and the monstrous jagged rocks below.

Before Jason called out to her, a gentle sea breeze blowing in over the cliffs, caught Haley's hair, lifting it effortlessly up behind her head.

'Haley please... don't.' Jason cried, he looked absolutely shattered. 'Whatever you're thinking about doing, please rethink it.'

Jason limped towards her. Haley turned to face the exhausted wreck of a man hobbling desperately towards her. She couldn't stop herself from smiling through her tears at the sheer determination of this broken man.

'Why did you give me this name Jason? Why did you chose to call me Haley? Why?' She sobbed.

Jason slowed his hobbled walk down to a gradual halt. A look of great anguish covered his face. He took a deep breath and glanced away from her briefly before answering.

'It was my mother's name, Haley...'

Jason scrunched his face. There was obviously more to tell. Haley continued to watch him, waiting for the rest.

'And my baby girl...' Jason sobbed. ' This time last week I had an unborn baby girl and a wife. We were going to name her Haley in memory of my Mother of all people. But they're both gone now.'

Jason rubbed the tears from his eyes. He wanted to tell Haley what he'd done. That it was him who had made his unborn daughter disappear, but he couldn't. He just couldn't for the life in him. It wasn't the time or the place. What good would such a confession do here in this moment anyway.

Haley let out a half hearted satisfying nod.

'Then I'm sorry for your loss Jason. It was a good name. A good name that I was proud to bare.'

Haley smiled and remained completely still. Jason edged closer towards her.

'...I love you.' Haley said, turning casually away from Jason and back towards the cliff edge. She raised herself up onto her tip toes with her arms outstretched behind her. For one angelic moment she looked more like a beautiful ballet dancer balancing on the edge of the cliff-top, majestically posing for her final dance. After a moment that seemed to go on for an eternity, she leaned forward, ever so gracefully and made herself fall forward from the cliff's edge.

To Jason it was like he was in some kind of slow motion trance. He was so close to Haley as she fell. He screamed lividly, making a desperate lunge and dive for the edge... Miraculously he grabbed a firm hold of her wrist with his good hand as she fell. Haley swung hard against the cliff-face as Jason tried to steady himself to the agony of his broken wrist.

'Haley, Haley Please.' Jason continued struggling immensely with her weight while desperately trying to hold himself and Haley from the steep, death drop, below.

'Jason? What are you doing? Let me go Jason. Let me go.' Haley cried. Jason finally steadied and balanced himself upon the cliff's edge, using his injured feet as a brace against some nearby hardened rocks on the ground. He tried to pull Haley up with all of his strength and will.

'No.' Haley cried. 'I won't let you do this. I will not... let you...do this. I will not let you leave me like this Haley.' Jason cried. He had the same determination in his breath to pull Haley to safety as she had to fall to her doom.

Suddenly Haley's facial expression changed, as her sick and twisted sister awoke from within.