Chapter Thirteen
Alexa spent the night in Alona*s room, not wanting to be alone but not wanting to be anywhere near JC either. Much to her dislike, the night was far from peaceful. She had barely fallen asleep when the dreaming started all over again. But this time it was different. JC wasn*t a part of her dream. Only Justin. That*s not really what made the dream different, though. The entire atmosphere was new. And when she woke the next morning she couldn*t even remember all of it. Only that Justin and/or Arthur had been trying to warn her and/or Gwenhyfar about something.
Shaking off the ominous feeling, Alexa crawled out of Alona*s bed, careful not to disturb her best friend, and headed for the bathroom. The person she saw staring back at her from the mirror when she got there made her slightly nauseous. She was pale, remarkably so. And though most of her bruises had faded to a sickly yellowish-green, the circles under her eyes were dark as ever. Her jaw throbbed. Her head ached. And her broken ankle felt like it was on fire.
"I*m sick of you," Alexa spat out at her reflection, tugging mercilessly on her long auburn curls, mussed from a night of sleep. "This stops, here and now."
With new resolve, she left the bathroom and went straight to the guest bedroom where she had been staying. She quickly pulled a pair of her favorite jeans and a forest green tank top out of the closet. After gathering a black thong and matching bra from the dresser, she went back to the bathroom. She was going to take a shower, do her hair and makeup, and then she was going out. She needed the fresh air. She needed to be away. And absolutely no one was going to stop her.
~*~
"Morning," JC greeted Alexa nervously when he found her sitting at his kitchen table nearly an hour later. He had just gotten out of bed.
"Hey," she smiled in return, surprising him immensely. "It*s about time you got up. I wanted to leave but I knew you*d freak if I didn*t tell you first."
"Leave? Where are you going?"
"I just need to get out," Alexa informed him matter-of-factly, playing with a thick curl hanging in front of her face. "Go for a walk or something. Maybe even do some shopping. I don*t know, really. But I can*t just sit here anymore. I*ll be back later."
"Wait," JC interrupted, sitting down across from her at the table. "You can*t just go out. It isn*t safe. You need someone to go with you. Let me come*I*ll make sure*"
"No," she cut him off, the smile on her lips fading. "Thanks for the offer, but no. I need to be alone for a while, JC. Can*t you please respect that?"
Her words cut him to the bone. She was being nice, overly nice. As if she no longer had any feelings for him. Like she was simply putting up with him for the sake of kindness. He realized suddenly that he might have messed up worse than he had originally thought. "But what about Tyrell?" he asked, grappling to keep the conversation going."
The glass of juice Alexa had been drinking from slammed to the table with a clatter. "He ruled my life when I was in LA, why should he rule it while I*m here? I*m going out*"
She stood up to leave the room but JC grabbed her arm. Alexa glared at him icily as his fingers closed around her wrist. He let go of her almost immediately. Dropping his head, he sighed. "Will you at least let one of the bodyguards go with you? Or Alona even? Just*please*don*t go out by yourself."
Alexa knew that JC was genuinely concerned. Her heart softened just slightly at the way he eyebrows puckered when he looked up at her. His eyes were dark with worry. "Alona is seeing Chris again today. But, if it*s the only way you*re gonna let me out of this house, I*ll take Mike with me."
JC smiled and nodded, never realizing that he was sealing Alexa into a fate that neither of them wanted.
~*~
"So how long have you been working with JC?" Alexa questioned Mike as they left the mall where they had spent the last three hours. It felt so good to be out of that damn house. JC*s home was magnificent. But to Alexa, it was nothing more than a magnificent prison.
"A while," was Mike*s only reply. He hadn*t spoken much at all during their time together. It was starting to wear thin on Alexa*s nerves. It made her feel like he didn*t like her and she didn*t understand why he wouldn*t.
Nearing the large, black Sports Utility Vehicle with tinted windows in the parking lot, an overwhelming sense of*something*hit Alexa directly in the chest. It almost felt as though she were being watched. She glanced around quickly. She saw no one. Despite the warmth of the sunny Orlando afternoon, chill bumps broke out across her arms. Mike unlocked the doors to the SUV and Alexa threw her crutches through the door, quickly jumping inside behind them. Immediately afterwards she understood the sense of dread she had felt.
~*~
JC jumped from his bed. He*d been napping for about an hour. With Alexa as angry as she was at him, he really had no desire to do anything but sleep. And since Alona and Chris were out, there was nothing stopping him from doing just that. Nothing, that is, except for the phone ringing on his nightstand.
"Hello?" he grumbled after picking up the receiver.
"C, is Lex there?"
JC rolled his eyes. "No, Justin, she isn*t. She went out."
Justin got very quiet. A little too quiet.
"J, what*s wrong?"
"Look, I don*t know what the hell is going on, but I can*t shake the feeling that something is really, really wrong."
"You said that last night," JC sighed. "You were wrong then."
"Was I?" he replied coldly. "You gonna tell me that everything was really okay last night?"
JC fell silent.
"I didn*t think so."
"Last night only went bad because of you," JC finally spit out. "Everything was fine until you called. You and your damn jealousy are what screwed everything*"
"Shut up," Justin cut JC off. "I*m serious, we don*t have time to argue about this. I really think there*s something wrong."
"Why should I believe you? She*s out with Mike. I*m sure he can take good care of her. Better care than either one of us."
Justin got very quiet again. The nervous feeling in his stomach intensifying. "Alright JC, you*re probably gonna think I*ve lost my damn mind*but I have to tell you something. I*ve been having these crazy-ass dreams lately*"
"What kind of dreams?" JC interrupted quickly, his heart rate speeding up.
"Dreams about me and Alexa*and you*except not. Like, some medireview shit or something."
JC swallowed hard but continued to listen. "Go on."
"Well, the reason I called last night was because I had a dream about you and Lex*and it turned out to be true*so now I feel like I can*t take this shit lightly. And just before I woke up this morning I was dreaming about telling Lex to be careful. I can*t remember about what, but I know it was something serious. And now I have this feeling*I just can*t shake it, C. Something is definitely wrong."
JC*s hands shook as he tried to breathe deeply. He couldn*t ignore Justin anymore. He knew this was serious. "She went to the Florida Mall. Meet me in the parking lot by Nordstroms." Without another word, JC hung up. Justin wasn't far behind him.