Chapter 20

As the time passed, his anxiety came in, step by small step. He'd always laughed when he watched a horror movie, and the main character had done something stupid, but he wasn't laughing now. He was in a horror movie. And he was the main character. It wasn't funny now. All he could do was listen for footsteps. And his mind wouldn't leave him alone, either. What if Oliver or Harley dies? What if she finds me? What if she knew about Oliver and me? What.....what if she kills her own son? It was a possibility. She had chosen work over him. He had practically been raised by Oliver, Harley, and Ann. That's why he considered them family. They were the only ones who had talked to him and looked out for him. The only ones who cared for him. "Jack, dear, I won't hurt you if you show yourself." Yeah, right. One thing about his mother: She wasn't the type of person who kept promises. She'd promised to raise Jack. But she didn't. His friends did. And it was the same for his father. "Jack, you have to move. If we get to the police sooner-" Ann started, but he cut her off with his voice in a whisper. "I can't. My leg's gone numb. I can barley move it an inch, much less a few feet!" He wasn't angry. He was just scared and worried and panicked. "But we need to get out-" The snap of a branch cut her off this time. He gripped the knife hard, ready for another fight, but a hand gripped his shoulder. "I'm with the police, you can hide the knife. Are you Jack or Oliver?" He tied the knife to his belt loop. "Jack. Oliver's on the other side. You have to help him. My father, he.. he's turned into a fucking madman and is trying to kill him right now-" "I know. I'm Officer Woe, and I need you to come with me, ok?" Jack nodded. "One problem. I can't move my leg." "I'll call the medics." He pressed the radio on his shoulder, and spoke into it, "Officer Woe, I'm gonna need a medic at my location, boy can't move his leg." A second later, it beeped. "Their on the way. In the meantime, stay with him." "Copy." Woe took out his gun, and held the point toward the ground, searching the forest with his eyes. "Jack, honestly, I thought I raised you better than this." He bit back his retort. His friends had raised him, not her. She had never ever been there for him. Nor had his father. She had been too busy playing dress up. And he had been too busy traveling the world for business meetings. Two more people joined them, both wearing white coats, and knelt next to him. "We'll take it from here." Brown eyes said. The Officer nodded, and jogged off, probably to search for his parents. "You can't move your leg, is that correct?" "Yes." "And you have several other injuries....help me pull him up." Brown eyes grabbed one of his arms, Green eyes grabbed his other, and they stood, stumbling along. Ann turned around, and smiled, looking way too cheerful for someone who had died an hour or so ago. "At least you, Harley, and Oliver will live. And I can still talk to you." He gave her a small smile, too, not wanting to say anything to her in front of the medics, and they arrived at the ambulance. The lights were still flashing, but the sirens were gone. He could make out a figure sitting on the ambulance, since it's doors were open, and she stood at the sight of Jim. "Jack! Oh, my gosh, I thought..." She ran over, and wrapped her arms around him, giving him a bear hug. For the first time in a while, he also wrapped his arms around her, and accepted the hug. He had needed it after everything he'd expirenced. "Where.....where's Oliver?" "He's, um,....." Jack needed to take a moment and compose himself. "He's fighting my father right now-" "HE'S WHAT?!" She yelled, pulling back, and escorting him to the van. He took a seat next to her, and let the medics do their job, explaining as they did. "Both your parents?" She asked, shocked, and enraged. "Yeah, I....I didn't like it. I cracked my father's skull." That made her smile, and she turned to him, holding a fist out. "Bump it, because that's my brotha!" He smiled, too, and gave her the fist bump, rolling his eyes playfully. Then he noticed the stitches on her forehead, in a zigzag pattern, coming out from behind her hair, and stopping just below her right eye. "What happened to you?" He asked, brushing a piece of her hair back, just to get a better look. "Oh, that bitch who signed us in went crazy, chased me and Oliver, and ended up slashing me. It's ok, though, it'll only leave a scar. And I think she's getting a life sentence for trying to kill Oliver." "As will his parents." One of the cops nearby added. "Good. They deserve it, that asshole of a mother, and dickhead of a father." Harley smirked. Ann's ghost did too. "You should tell them that you can see me. Not the medics or the cops but Harley and Oliver. I think they'll believe you." He didn't answer, but she knew he had been listening, and told Harley, "Once we're alone, I have something to tell you and Oliver. But you two can't tell anyone or they'll send me to the physch ward." She nodded. "To be honest, you've needed to go there since the first time we met, Jack." She laughed, and he did, too, as did Ann. He missed this. He hoped everything would be just like this when they got home. Back to normal. But....Ann's ghost was bound to him now. And Harley had scars, as did Jack, and maybe Oliver, too. Maybe they wouldn't go back to being completely normal.