Caught In The Shadow [Jenlisa]

Chapter Fourteen -

Jennie

There was a reason I didn't want to sleep. I didn't want to dream. I didn't want to think about my mother, or Jackson, or my brothers and sisters. Or everything that followed between Lisa and me.

I especially didn't want to envision Irene, beautiful Irene, lost and wandering around Mexico looking for me. I would never forgive myself if something happened to her. I tossed and turned as anger, sadness, and worry turned my mind inside out. The pain in my shoulder didn't help and my tossing and turning had created a dull ache that felt like it was part of the bone.

And then there was the inevitable. The hushed voices. The memory of being held down as they pulled my clothes off. The way they ignored my screams as they sucked and pulled at me. I felt it all over again – that horrible beating.

Against the strength of the drugs I forced my eyes open and screamed. I sucked air into my burning lungs and tried to focus my eyes.

Lisa's body jerked from the chair she'd been sitting in, and she turned on the light.

Realization hit.

I'm safe. I'm here. Lisa's here. She's not going to hurt me.

I gasped. My voice was laced with unshed tears and thick with emotion. "It was so real. It was like they were...." Lisa sat next to me and I went to her, seeking comfort, solace, anything. I didn't need to say anymore.

"It's alright. They can't hurt you anymore." Her words were perfect. So right and comforting. I reached around her with my right arm and pulled her closer.

For long, blissful seconds there was only the feel of her arms, the hard plane of her chest, her heartbeat pulling me away from the horror of my dream. I inhaled. "You smell like soap," I whispered weakly into her shirt. I didn't like the thought she had left me alone. I didn't want to be left alone in the dark, not ever again. Her fingers sifted through my sweaty hair.

"I waited until you fell asleep. It didn't take long." That surprised me some. I was so accustomed to Lisa's snide comments. I had been expecting something more like, 'My, my, Kitten, what a big nose you have.'

Were things so different now? Were we different? In some ways, I knew the answer.

"You didn't have to sleep in the chair."

"Really?" Lisa's voice was slightly mocking but lacking harshness or condescension. I realized she was teasing me.

"Asshole."

She held me a little tighter, "You always have a retort."

It was her tone that caught me off guard. "Is that suddenly a good thing?"

"It means you're not broken." She laughed softly and it made me want to do the same. But I didn't have a laugh in me just yet. So I sighed contentedly.

It had been that strange, morbid humor that could only exist between Lisa and me at that very instant in time. We both tried to hold on to it, but it faded just as quickly as it had come on. And then we were just quiet. Holding each other and knowing there were a million things that needed to be said, or asked, or explained and knowing neither of us was looking forward to it.

"We have to leave this place today." Lisa whispered the words, as if by doing so she could lessen their impact. Sweat bloomed anew across my body, but still, I couldn't let her go. I should really get up.

Right the fuck now.

But I didn't want to move. Not while Lisa's lips rested near my temple and not while the feel of her lean and muscular body wrapped around mine gave me a sense of security and belonging I'd yearned for all my life. But, in the end, it was too dangerous to stay.