at the edge of the cliff || ✔

chapter thirty-seven: the kidnapping

at the edge of the cliff

chapter thirty-seven: the kidnapping

There were voices. Or maybe just one voice. The back of my throat burned and I had the urge to cough but I held it in, wanting whoever decided to drug me to think that I was still asleep. Or knocked out. Keeping my eyes shut, I do my best to listen to the person or people talking. "Oh shit." the voice said. The voice was so, so familiar. But I could not put my finger on it. My first initial thought when I woke up was my father. But then as I started to gain more and more consciousness I remember that he was in jail, and from what the judge said, he wasn't getting out for a long, long time. Then my mind went to Amilio, but I remembered he also went to jail. So despite being drugged in my school parking lot and kidnapped and taken to who knows where, I calmed down a bit. "What the hell did I do?!" The voice yelled. Was it just him? Or was he talking to someone? The urge to know who my kidnapper was grew to strong, so I opened my eyes. 

No fucking way. 

I sat strapped to a desk chair, from the school no doubt, in the middle of the football field, watching Justin pace back and forth in front of me. It was dark now and I was still very confused and slightly freaked out but I was relieved. Relieved that it wasn't my father or Amilio, or just some creepy old guy. But still. . . what the hell? "You're awake." I snap my eyes up to meet Justin's. I was frozen. Confused. I take in his rough appearance. His eyes were bloodshot, his face was red and puffy, and he was shaking. He looked crazy. 

Absolutley insane.

"Justin?" I ask carefully. He shakes his head and resumes pacing. 

"Please don't do that. Don't make this harder." he says, his voice desperate. I stay quiet for a moment unsure of what was happening and how to go about it. I open my mouth to speak again, but he stops his back to me, and starts talking. "I was so desperate for money, Shay. Trust me when I say I needed  it." his voice shook as he spoke. He sounded as if he could break any moment. "I didn't know you. I didn't know you'd be so. . .perfect." he breathed out. I just stared at his back confused and lost. "He found me downtown all strung out." he started. He turned around, tears freely flowing down his cheeks. "He said he would pay me if I found you. Watched you. Told him every little thing that you did. Who you talked to. And I did."

"Who?" I whispered. What in the hell is he talking about? I can't even express how confused I am at the moment. But with every word he says, I feel myself growing more and more scared. "Who told you to do that?" I asked, my voice coming out sterner this time. Justin brought his hands up to his hair and pulled, letting out a frustrated scream. 

"I'm so sorry Shay." he shook his head, beginning to pace again. "I was just going to do it from a distance at first. I watched from outside your house. I would watch you dad beat you. And I felt so bad. But I couldn't help it. I needed money." I felt my heart beat faster and faster and a knot form in my stomach. I felt sick. He watched me? "But you were so beautiful. Even with the bruises on your face." He came closer to me, bringing his hand to my face. He traced a cold finger down my cheek. "Then I followed you to that cliff one day. The day you tried to kill yourself?" he asked like I might of forgotten. "I felt so guilty. I could have stopped you. Your little boyfriend was there that day. You know that?" His voiced turned from soft and guilty to harsh in just a second. "You know that?" He screamed getting right in my face. I flinched before nodding slowly. "After watching you two hang out for so long, and reporting back-"

"Reporting back to who?" I rush out. Who payed him? Why did he do it?

"Amilio." My heart stopped. I couldnt breath. My stomach dropped. My brain buzzed. Amilio? He knew Amilio? Amilio sent Justin to watch me for him? Just watched me for so long under the order of Amilio?

"Amilio?" I say, my voice cracking. I wanted to scream and yell at him. I wanted to actually kill him, but I had too things stopping me. One: I was tied to the chair. Two: I was just so confused and had so many questions that I couldn't.

"Shay, don't do that." He pleaded knealing down in front of me. He was so close to my face and all I could do was shake my head. "I wanted to stop!" He suddenly yelled standing up. "I realized that you were gorgeous, little, funny, amazing, and you had these people that were here for you and I didn't want to mess that up." He rambled.

"Why did you do it?" Once again, my voice came out in a vunerable whisper. He met my eyes and I see that his are glossy.

"He told me what you were doing." He said, his tone growing scarier, coming out low and slow. I watched as he turned away from me looking out into the empty field. "He told me how you knew I was watching you. He told me how you were the one messing with me. And by the way you acted when we met, how nice you were, proved that you what you were doing. Playing with me." As he kept talking it came to my realization that he is insane. Like, belongs in an asylum. And this right here proves how insane and dangerous Amilio was. Like worse than my father. How he got inside Justin's head, convincing him I was the one messing with him the whole time when I actually had no idea I was being stalked for all that time.

"I was nice because I was just being nice. I didn't know who you were." I said sounding as convincing and calm as I could without showing how scared I was. Justin shook his head.

"No. You helped me. You let me into your group of friends. Even when you knew I was watching you."

"I didn't know you were watching me!" I snap. I was losing my cool. I was actually scared. And angry. And creeped out. Justin knealed down to me and looked me dead in my eyes.

"Don't you dare lie to me." I got the chills when he spoke now, realizing how he is sounding like Amilio more and more. I shook my head.

"I was being nice because I thought you were new. I was nice because I was trying to be your friend." I said truthfully. "Not every one is like him."

He just stared at me for a moment. I could tell he was having an inner argument with himself. He lets out another frustrated scream and stands up, continuing to pace. While his back completely turned to me, I feel something pressed against my hip in my pocket.

Oh my God. I'm an idiot.

My phone!

I look back up at him, watching as he walks farther and farther away just pacing around the field mumbling incoherently to himself. Keeping my eyes on him, I manage to get my hands, that were just tied together with a rope resting in my lap, to my front pocket where my phone is. As sublty and quickly as possible, I get it in both my hands and type in my passcode. I shove it in between my legs when I hear him yell out. My heart stops. "Get the hell out of here!" He yells running farther away to a group of kids walking onto the feild. Taking my chance, I begin typing out the quickest possible message to the first person that popped into my mind.

To Grayson:
Call cops. Football field. Hurry

I'll just have to pray that he checks his phone.

After hitting send I shove my phone back into my pocket, acting as if nothing happened. I watch for another two to three minutes as Justin stays across the field talking to those kids. All of a sudden they scream and run away. I squint my eyes confused trying to figure out what happened. He starts back towards me. Something silver and shiny catches my eyes and they travel down to the object dangling from his fingers. As he stumbles closer and closer to me, I realize what that shiny object was.

A gun.

Oh shit.