A/N: Hey! for anyone following this story, I am so sorry for the long wait! I had writer's block for a while, and also I have been insanely busy with school and stuff... So here it is, finally! hope you enjoy! let me know what you think in the reviews, I always love hearing them!
I know that this isn't very long, and I'm sorry, but I hope you enjoy this little tidbit! :) thanks for reading
Jacquie~
The silent room surrounding me seems to wake me up as I feel my skin crawling off. The memory of the camera staring back at me appears and I feel so utterly disgusted that nausea begins to creep up on me slowly yet surely. I feel the memory plague me and the thought strikes me again as it did while we were in the car, the fact that the cameras hadn't surprised me at all. For some reason I was wondering why I hadn't discovered them sooner, as if my subconscious already knew that they were there. The empty room feels desolate and I swallow the bile in my throat. I want to change my clothing but the vents in the room, the objects around me glare at me making my skin feel sticky with filth. Camera locations filter through my mind and I busy myself by walking to and from different places like a lamp on the end table and the phone next to it. I take the screwdriver lying on the entertainment table and walk to each vent in turn checking behind the grates. Empty space behind each one soothes my eyes momentarily and I continue looking for spaces that they could be located. I take a post-it note and cover the peep hole on the door.
Feeling a little vulnerable still, I grab my clothing items and crawl under the covers of the bed. I cover myself completely by the comforter and change, with much difficulty. I finally spread myself out and pull the comforter to my ears. The loneliness around me pummels me over and over again, as does the feelings of helplessness and of being completely violated. I jerk with horror as I hear the lock on the door click and the door swings open.
"Jacquie?" a voice, I instantly recognize, hits my ears. Nancy. I sit up still holding the sheets over my chest.
"Nancy," I respond hoarsely.
"How are you doing?" she asks coming to sit beside me.
"Honestly? I am not doing so good. I feel awful..." I mutter and she nods.
"That's understandable under the circumstances." She says nodding and then sighs bringing her hand up to her forehead.
"Nancy, what's that on your sleeve?" I ask seeing a dark crimson stain browning a bit at the edges.
"Blood..." she answers with a cringe.
"Are you alright? are you hurt?" I ask floored by the possibility.
"It's not my blood," she answers looking carefully at her hands, "It's mark's." She says and I stare at her trying to form words, trying to formulate complete thoughts, trying to process the words she just spoke.
"Don't worry he is okay now, but I won't lie, he wasn't okay for quite a while." she says and I stare at her swallowing the gigantic lump clogging my throat.
"What happened?" I manage to ask, my voice shaking.
"He was stabbed..." she admits briefly after making eye contact with me. She grabs my hand soothingly to comfort me.
"And he is okay? I need to see him, Nancy!" I cry feeling so overwhelmingly guilty, because this is all my fault.
"I know... we'll have to think of something, so you can see him without letting this guy see you.." she says thoughtfully.
"Why? I'm going now!"
"Well," Nancy says, "I suppose it's only fair to warn you that by being near him you're putting him in more danger." she says softly. Her words sound extremely sad, as if she didn't want to say them, and yet she knew she had to.
"So it is my fault... Mark was hurt because of me?" I ask feeling too dizzy to eve sit up. I fall back onto the bed, tears rolling from my eyes and down the side of my face and onto my pillows. Nancy's calming eyes meet mine and I feel my own close. All I want to do is to see him, to hold his hand, and to tell him that I am so sorry that I have done this to him.
"It isn't your fault, Jacquie. This sicko is doing all of this, and none of it, none whatsoever is because of anything that you have done. He is doing this because he wants to..." she says and I nod, but still feel guilt mounting upon my heart. The need to apologize to Mark becomes a necessity, but if I want to keep him safe I have to stay away from him... She stays by my side as the emotions overflowing from my heart, drain from my eyes and spill down my cheeks in the form of scalding tears.