Prey{CURRENTLY EDITING & REALLY SLOW UPDATES}

Chapter Six

Something is wrong. I can't explain. Everything changed when the birds came. You'll never know what they might do if they catch you too early. We need to fly ourselves before someone else tells us how. Something's off. I feel like prey, I feel like praying.

I couldn't help the shakes that overwhelm my body as I place Georgie down for his nap and the tears that fall as I rush into the bathroom then lock the door to hold my shit together. Jesse cannot be serious. He can't be.

This fucker seriously threatened to hurt my Georgie. My baby brother, the innocent orphan who I happily raised, Georgie.

His words echo in my head and they haunted me when I locked the windows and door. What could Jesse possibly do to Georgie? What if.....STOP IT! I hit my fists against the sides of my head to clear it of those terrible thoughts. 

Jesse won't do jackshit to Georgie because he's not being serious. He's just trying to adjust to the fact that you're back in his life and he still loves you. Yeah, that's just it.

I'm gonna fucking kill that side of me that still sees the good in Jesse when I can't tell if it exists anymore! The good Jesse who met me in that football field, heartbroken and aching. The good Jesse who didn't care about my dad's thoughts on his multiple tattoos and piercings. The good Jesse who made me feel like I was worth it and I made him feel like my prince.

That Jesse seems dead to me now. 

But, what could I do? The first thing for me to do is to keep Georgie in my sights at all times. I listen to myself by leaving the bathroom, change into shorts and a shirt, then lay down in bed with Georgie. The second thing is to keep Jesse away at all costs. I listen once again and check all the windows and door before laying back down.

The third thing to do is to stand my ground. I can't melt or freeze in fear when Jesse acts like that again. "I can't do that again. This is more than just me and Jesse now..." I whisper to myself.

It's true. He threatened Zach earlier just for hugging me and who knows what he'll do to Jane. He threatened to hurt Georgie just because I left him for my baby brother.

Georgie presses himself closer to me and I smile at his sleeping body then touch his hair. Maybe Mom and Dad were right about dating Jesse, but they're still also wrong. Jesse gave me the best moments I ever had and I wish to have those back. Sadly, he's been tainted with jealousy and the urge to become a predator stalking its prey.

The memory of Alyssa with her boyfriend fills my head and I gasp at the thought. The thought of ending it the same way Aly did and being free. She told me to do it whenever Jesse became this way and we're way past that. What would happen to Jesse? He'd be free to do whatever he wants here....with Georgie.

That's what convinces me to not take the other way out and to do things on my own terms. Jesse will not scare me into thinking that killing myself is the only way to end the fear.

No, I'm going to show that fucker who I really am. I'm Max, the girl who had no idea on how to take care of a child and accomplished so far while surviving many tragedies. I'm going to prove to Jesse that I'm no longer scared of him and he will not control me.

I fall asleep with new determination to ignore Jesse and protect my Georgie. I wake up to the sound of loud knocking on the door and Georgie cowering into me. "Baby, what's wrong?" I ask him with worry as I rub his back.

Georgie whispers, "He yell at me. I said you were sleeping and he....and he...." he begins to cry softly and I hold him close to me. "He called me no-no words. He called you no-no words too and I cry. Why is he like this?"

He pulls away slightly to look at me with broken eyes identical to Mom's. What would she say in this situation? What would she say to Georgie and I to comfort us? God, what would Mommy say?

I kiss Georgie's sweet head then wipe tears from his delicate face and tell him, "Jesse has just turned bitter. He isn't Jesse right now. Ignore everything he says because the words he said to you earlier are lies. I'm going to pack our things and we're going to stay with Jane and Zach for a bit before we can find our permanent home, back in Paris."

The knocking fades away as I focus only on this small human being who I love more than anything. He nods his head and we move off the bed quietly then pack our bags just as silent. Although I told myself I wouldn't be afraid of Jesse anymore, I can't help but be nervous about alerting him.

Who knows what he'll do if he hears me packing? Once we're done, I text Jane to quickly drive to the house, but to be sneaky about it. 

Jane, I need you to drive to the apartments, but make sure Jesse doesn't see you. He's not acting like himself right now and I need to get Georgie out of here.

She responds back that she'll arrive in a few minutes since she doesn't live that far from here. I open the window that leads to the fire escape and carefully carry Georgie along with our suitcases down the ladder.

Once we touch the ground, we run to the front of the apartment complex where Jane parks the car and I toss our suitcases into the back of the car. I sit in the passenger's seat with Georgie in my lap and buckle the seatbelt across his chest then wrap my arms around him.

"Drive." I tell Jane and she drives away from the apartment complex where Jesse resides with his predatory behavior.