Vindicated (5 page)

“Do you want one?” Sal offered.

“That’s okay,” I refused politely.
 
“I’ve got some errands I have to do.
 
Do you want me to get you anything at the store?”

“Umm, some socks, and a jar of honey.”

“Alright,” I said as I walked to the door.
 
“I’ll see you tomorrow, Sal.”

The knot in my stomach wouldn’t release as I closed her door behind me and started back home.
 
I couldn’t help but look over my shoulder.

X

Blackness wrapped around me like the coldest blanket that ever existed.
 
I groped around me, searching for a surface to orient myself, but there was nothing.
 
Wherever I was, it felt empty and void of anything.

Jessica,
a voice whispered through the dark.

I whipped my head around, my eyes searching wildly for the source of the voice.

Jessica.

“Who’s there?” I demanded.
 

They’re watching you.

That time the voice was unmistakable.
 

“Cole?”

They know something’s wrong.
 
Four times now they should have had you before them and yet they haven’t.

“What are you talking about?”
 
My heart was hammering in my chest.
 
My eyes searched wildly through the dark, seeking Cole’s familiar face.

Don’t let them see for themselves what has happened to you,
Cole’s butter smooth voice said through the dark.
 
I suddenly sensed a presence next to me in the dark.
 
It is the only advantage you have against them to save him.

“To save Alex?” I repeated quietly.

You must be more careful.
 
They will try to take everything from you.

“What am I supposed to do?” I asked, panic rising in my throat, threatening to claw me from the inside out.
 
“How do I stop them from taking Alex?”

The air suddenly seemed to be shifting, growing warmer by the second.
 
The ground beneath me started to vibrate.

“Cole?” I said, my voice panicked.
 
“How do I stop them?!”

They are watching you.

CHAPTER FIVE

“Cole!” I gasped, sitting straight up in my bed.

“Whoa!” Alex jumped next to me in the bed.
 
“Jessica, it’s just me.
 
Cole’s gone, remember?”

I placed a hand over my eyes, trying to catch my breath.
 
My heart was still racing.
 
I forced my breathing to slow.

“You want to talk about it?” Alex asked, placing a hand on my arm.

I let my hand drop to my lap, blinking my eyes hard to try and clear the sleep from my head.
 
“No,” I lied.
 
I shook my head.
 
“It was just…”

“A nightmare,” he said quietly.
 
“It’s okay.
 
You’ve seen enough in your life to still have them every once in a while.”

“Sorry,” I whispered, resting my chin on my shoulder, not quite looking him in the eye.
 
For some reason I didn’t want to tell Alex what I had just dreamt about.

“Don’t apologize,” he said as he leaned forward and kissed my forehead.

I gave him a sheepish smile, slumping back against my pillow.
 
“Still no traces of your mom?”

Alex shook his head, his lips tightening.
 
“No, and I looked everywhere I could think yesterday.
 
She doesn’t seem to want to be found.”

The house felt oddly silent as I extended my senses.
 
I then remembered that Amber was gone.
 
“So…” I dragged out the word.
 
“We have the house to ourselves again?”

A crooked smile worked its way onto Alex’s face as he looked down at me.
 
He shifted his body on top of mine, his lips greeting mine.
 
I traced my hands down his back, enjoying every rise and fall of his frame, my fingers brushing against his raised scars.

One of Alex’s hands slipped behind my back, nearly lifting me off the bed as he pulled me closer to him.
 
His lips trailed down to my throat, his other hand working its way down my stomach, and then slipping down my thigh.

“Three weeks and you’re
mine
,” he said in a rough voice against my skin.

“I’m yours already,” I sighed, my eyes closed.

“
All
mine,” he said quietly as his lips moved further down my chest.

“Hey, now,” I said as I fought everything my body was telling me.
 
“We’ve made it this long.
 
Let’s not blow this streak just weeks from the big day.”

Alex let out a growl, pressing his lips one more time to the skin at the edge of the neckline of my tank top.
 
“
Soon
,” he growled.

“Finally,” I said in mock exasperation.

“Hey, now,” he repeated, raising an eyebrow at me as he propped himself up on his forearms.
 
I just chuckled.
 
“So,” he moved on.
 
“I’ve got an idea.”

“Oh, yeah?”

“Uh huh,” he nodded, a smile starting to spread again.
 
“Now that we have the house to ourselves, and we’re going to be inhabiting it as a married couple soon, I thought maybe it was time to act like real grown-ups and move into the master bedroom.”

I glanced around my current bedroom, memories attached to every corner of it.
 
The basement apartment had been a solace for me.
 
When my life was at one of its lowest points, I had felt protected within these walls.

“Moving on?” I said quietly as I lifted my head from the pillow and pressed a kiss to Alex’s lips.

“Moving on,” he repeated, giving me a soft smile.

“And if Caroline ever comes back, she could use the apartment,” I said as Alex rolled off of me and stood.
 
I couldn’t help but smile as I took in his half naked form.

“
If
Caroline ever comes back, she’s going straight to rehab,” he said in an exasperated tone.

I actually felt excited as we started moving things around, clearing out the few things Amber had left behind, switching the mattresses, boxing up my things and carrying them up.
 
I had been waiting to move on with Alex for so long, and now it was finally happening.
 
I had the ring, and even though we had been living together since basically the first day we met, it actually felt like we were making the
choice
to do so.

As Alex started taking all of my clothes out of my dresser he held something up against him, a smirk crossing his lips.
 
“What do we have here?”

“That,” I said as I snatched the black lace out of his hands, my face blushing instantly.
 
“Is for the honeymoon.”
 
Butterflies filled my stomach.

“And this one?” he said as he pulled another red item out of the drawer.

“Okay, I think it’s time I took over the dresser!” I said as I walked over and pushed him away from it, grabbing the red lace from his hand.

“You haven’t been shopping since I proposed,” he teased as he leaned against the doorframe with his arms crossed over his chest.
 
“Were you preparing for something else?
 
You dirty, dirty girl.”

“Out!” I yelled with a laugh, chucking a pair of underwear at him.

“And now she’s throwing panties at me,” he said in mock shock, dodging the blue fabric.
 
“Where does she draw the line?”

I just shook my head as he winked at me and grabbed a box off of the floor, and headed upstairs with it.

Well that was embarrassing.

“So where
do
you want to go on the honeymoon?” Alex asked, already walking back into the apartment.

“I guess I hadn’t really thought about that part,” I blurted before I even thought about it.

Alex just chuckled as he stood in the doorway.
 
“And what part were you thinking about?”

“Shut up,” I just chuckled as I finished emptying the dresser.
 

“I’m just saying,” he shrugged his shoulders.
 
“Anyway, we should probably book something soon considering that we’re only a few weeks away.”

“Wow,” I said with a sigh as I leaned against the now empty dresser.
 
“There’s so much to do.
 
I still have to get a dress, we’ve got to get a cake.
 
All that stuff.”

“Whatever you want,” he said as he crossed the room and pulled me into his arms.
 
I closed my eyes as I leaned into him, his familiar scent filling my senses.
 
“I’ll make it happen for you.”

“I just want it simple I think,” I said quietly.
 
“Nothing fancy.
 
Just us, Sal, Emily, Amber and Rod.
 
Rita and Austin.
 
Caroline if we can find her.”

“And your parents.”

“And my parents,” I said with a sigh.

“You’ll survive, I promise.”

I swallowed hard, knowing that I could survive
anything
physically.
 
“Let’s just finish moving stuff.
 
I’ll deal with that when we get there.”

It took surprisingly little time to move all of my things into the master bedroom considering that I had lived in this house for over two years now.
 
It felt so strange to see all my things in the large bedroom, my personal things spread about the master bathroom.
 
I felt so grown up all the sudden.
 
Like I had a real life.

The next two days passed in a blur.
 
Alex and I booked tickets to Costa Rica and a little house right on the beach for a full week.
 
Alex decided he wanted to brave the wedding cake on his own.
 
I couldn’t complain, no one would do a better job.
 

I told Austin the news, and to my surprise he didn’t get worked up about it.
 
He had been happy for me.
 
It was nice to see that he was losing interest in me.

Sal continued to get little sleep and I could only hope that she would not decline while I was gone to visit my parents.
 
I let Emily know what to expect while she was taking care of her.

No sign of Caroline was found and I felt both angry and sorry as we packed to leave for Ucon.
 
It was so unfair of her to leave Alex again, after everything he had done for her.
 
She was just going to keep sinking deeper and deeper until she was gone.
 
Until she stood before Cole.

With not a cloud in the sky, the four of us threw our bags into the back of Alex’s truck and loaded in.
 
Considering the fact that Alex no longer required sleep, he and I had decided to make the trip overnight.
 
With no major airports close to Ucon it was easiest to drive.

I still wasn’t looking forward to the thirteen hour drive.
 
It only prolonged my dread.

“Have you talked to mom or dad since I told him we were coming?” I asked Amber as Alex pulled out of the driveway.

“No,” she said with a sigh.
 
“I think he’s still pretty mad I didn’t tell him sooner about the engagement.”

“Sorry, babe,” Rod said.
 
“Guess I should have thought about it for two seconds and asked permission first or something.”