Questions

 

Chapter 2

Questions

 

Sully was waiting next to her car with that dog sitting right next to her.  I was glad that Sully was driving; I wasn’t in any condition to concentrate on the road, especially with what has been happening.  Sully’s car was definitely a sign of her own personality; she drives an old beat up Ford pick up.  It’s a green color, but with the rust engulfing the vehicle, you wouldn’t know what color it use to be.  Sully is a lot like me in the respect that our families have money.  You couldn’t tell by the way that Sully lives, but that’s what I like about her.  She doesn’t flaunt herself, and she’s practical, sometimes too much.  I’ve tried to talk her into buying a different vehicle, but she loves her old truck and she does spend some money on it, like her stereo system.  She has the latest and loudest stereo system in her truck.  Hopefully she keeps the volume low tonight, my head is really started to hurt a little. 

“Nice color on your hair, Sully.” I smiled.

“Thanks, I was going for platinum blond, but it lightened a little more than I expected, but I can hang for a while with this.”

Sully’s hair is short and spiky; she loves to change up her hair every few months.  I like this look a little bit better than her blue faze.

“Not everyone can be a beautiful red head like you Jayden.” She frowned at me, I hope she didn’t take my comment the wrong way.  Getting Sully to relax after she feels offending isn’t the easiest chore.

“So what are we going to do with this dog?” Sully bent down and pet the dog.

“Well Dad said that I could keep him, but I want to make sure that he doesn’t already have a home. Tomorrow I’ll start calling around. Maybe we could take him with us, he can hang out with the truck while were out.” I squatted to pet this dog.  He walked over to me and buried his face into my lap.  He’s awfully friendly; I wonder where he came from.  Something about him seems familiar, like I’ve seen him before, but I can’t remember from where.

“So, are you a boy or a girl?” Like the dog understood what I was saying, he rolled over onto its back so I could see.

“Well that would work; I guess you’re a boy.” I laughed as I rubbed his belly; he really seemed to like that.

“He’s a very beautiful dog, what kind of mutt do you think he is Jayden?”

“Hum, I don’t know much about dogs, but he looks kind of like a wolf, I don’t know, but I love his mask that outlines his face and his ears, they are so soft.”

“Well let’s get him in the back so we can hit the road, time’s a wasting.” Sully walked to the back of the truck and opened the tail gate.  The dog followed her and jumped into the back like he knew he was going with us.

“Wow, this dog is really well trained.  He must have a home, which will be sad, because I’m really starting to grow fond of him.

“So, Sully where are you taking me tonight?” I asked with hesitation.

“Jasper’s of coarse, where else can I let my hair down.” Sully started the truck and laughed a very mischievously.

What had I gotten myself into, this is might not have been a very good idea.

“Wow, that ring is gorgeous, where did you get that.” Sully grabbed my hand.

“Oh, well I guess my mom had this for me for my 18^th birthday, along with a letter, but my Dad wanted me to wait until I come home to read it.”  I said.

“A letter, that sounds creepy.”  Sully said.

“Sully, it’s not creepy, it’s exciting that I get a chance to hear my Mom again after so long, and the fact that she thought about my 18^th birthday long before it ever came.” I said and I turned away from her to stare out the window.

“Man, I didn’t mean it like that.  Wrong word choice, I just meant that you get a letter from your mom after she’s already dead.  And that reminds me, since it is your birthday today I have something for you, but I’m going to wait until we get to the bar.”  Sully said.

“I know you didn’t mean any harm, it’s just a very hard for me with the recent events.” I turned and smile at her.

“I know that you don’t want to talk about Logan, but did you hear that his funeral is tomorrow?” Sully said with caution.

“No, I didn’t hear, but then again I’ve been not taking any calls for the last few days.  Do you know where and what time?” I asked.

“It’s at 11am at that church on the corner by the High School.” Sully said

“Great, I hate funerals.  The last funeral I was at was my mom’s. Are you going, because I really could use a friend.  Listening to people stand up and talk about Logan is going to do a number on my heart.”

“I really hate to bail on you, but I don’t do funerals.  People shouldn’t have funerals; they should have parties when they die.  Oh and lots and lots of alcohol.” Sully smiled

“I understand, I’m not really looking forward to it myself, but I have to go at least to say goodbye.” I was ready not to talk about it anymore; I was starting to feel dizzy from reality.

We drove for several miles in silence, I’m sure that’s because neither Sully nor I really wanted to talk about Logan.  He was a large part of both of our lives and to talk about it made it more real. 

It didn’t take long to get to Jasper’s, since we live in a small town called Bonney Lake just outside of Sumner, Washington.  Jasper’s bar is in the heart of Sumner, Sully likes this particular bar because were not as likely to see anyone that might now us, that’s the draw back of living in a smaller town. I’m glad that I don’t live in the big city.  There’s too much noise and not enough nature for me, but I do like to visit and do some shopping occasionally. 

We were just a few blocks from Jasper’s and it looked like it was going to be busy.  The one nice thing about Jasper’s was it wasn’t just for one type of person.  You’d see bikers, rockers, preppies, and sometimes an occasional diva.  From the looks of the parked bikes down the street I don’t think there’s much but bikers in the bar tonight.  With this crowd I’m going to have to keep a closer eye on Sully, bikers tend to get her riled up easier. 

We parked on the street a few blocks from the bar.  I loved this part of town; it had that old style feel, with short street lamps that lined the business, to the hanging flower baskets. 

“Sully, since there’s just the two of us, I’m not going to drink tonight.  Someone has to stay sober to drive home.” I turned in my seat to look at her.

“That’s groovy for me, but you won’t have as much fun.”  She said with that smile.

“Can I have your keys please, once you’ve been drinking, I won’t be able to get your keys from you.” I held out my hand.  She sighed and gave them to me with a frown on her face.

“You be careful with my truck, she’s and oldie but a goodie.”  She said.

“I will be careful; you know I’m a better driver than you anyway.” I smiled.

“Right, granny driving, how is that better.” She opened her door and got out.

We walked up to the bar and there was a bouncer at the door. 

“Hello ladies, can I see some ID.” The bouncer must be new; I’ve never seen him before.

“Sure, Bob, here yeah go.” Sully had read his name tag on his shirt while handing him her ID, while I finished in my back pocket for mine.

“You don’t look twenty one, Maria Lopez” Bob said as he was reading off her name on Sully’s fake ID.  Bob gave Sully that look.

“So Lopez is your last name? Huh.” Bob said with doubt.

“Yeah, I’m adopted.” Sully started flirting with him.  She can be very sexy when she wants to.  She grab his hand and passed him a 100 dollar bill.

“Well this is definitely you, go on in.”  He said.

Before I could fish out my fake ID, Sully grabbed me by the arm and pulled me in.   We went to the right, and found a seat at the bar.  The bar wasn’t very big, but it always had a great vibe.  It was a long narrow bar with the bar being on the right and tables on the left.  When you first walk into the bar there’s a dance floor and DJ on the left. 

“Did you just give that guy a hundred dollar bill?” I looked at Sully with wide eyes. 

“How else do you think we were going to get in? Our ID’s are really bad, and the regular bouncer isn’t on tonight so I had to improvise.” She shrugged and turned to the bar tender.  Sully ordered an Alabama slammer, which I have no idea what is in that.  I ordered a coke, since I was going to be driving home.

“Do you have appetizers here?” I asked the bar tender.

“Sure do, chicken strips, mozzarella sticks. Whatever you want.

“Umm just give a little of both, oh wait ..and some hot wings.”  I love hot wings and I haven’t had any since the beginning of the summer at a local fair.

“So, I have something for you, but you can’t get all emotional on me, because I hate that.” Sully reached into her jacket which I wasn’t sure how she even could fit anything into any pockets.  Sully is a very petite girl, she about 5’3” and doesn’t weight more than my left big toe, but I would never challenge her to a fight, she is the toughest little thing I have ever met.

“Ok, I won’t get emotional.” I promised

She pulled out a small white box and handed it to me. 

“What’s this, you shouldn’t have done this, my birthday shouldn’t be that big of a deal.” I hugged her before I even opened up the box.

As I opened the box I felt a little faint, I started to slide off the chair and Sully grabbed me.

“Jayden, are you ok?’ Sully asked with concern

“Yeah I’m ok, I feel really dizzy.  I bet it’s from not eating very much.  I’ll be glad when the food arrives.”

I finished opening the box and inside was a necklace.  It was a beautiful as the ring that I had received today.

“Sully, wow, this is so….beautiful, why would do you this for me.” I got tears in my eyes.

“Hey you promised that you wouldn’t get all emotional on me.” She frowned at me.

“Ok, I’m sorry, it’s just so beautiful.” As I stared at it I realized that it looked a lot like my ring, the design was different but it had the same color stones that my ring had.

The pendant on the necklace was square with a center stone that was brilliant amber, with two blue stones going out from each corner.  The blue stones were almost the color of the sea, but a little darker. 

“Where did you get this, Sully?” I asked

“Well after my folks died they left me my trust fund and a safety deposit box.  I haven’t been able to get up the guts to open it until a few days ago.  There were several things inside the box and one of them one this necklace.” She took a drink of her slammer.

“Oh, Sully, I can’t take a necklace that was left to you by your folks, you need this to remember them.” I started to hand it back to her.

“No Jayden it’s for you, I know this is going to sound strange, but the note that was left said that I would meet someone special in my life and to gift it to them.  I don’t know what that means, but I want to do what they ask of me and you are very special to me.  I know that I don’t show it, but you have always cared for me for who I am and that alone is special enough. Here let me put it on for you.”

Sully put the necklace on for me, and I could of swore that I felt warm inside as soon as it touched me skin.

“Jayden do you have a fever, you feel really warm?” Sully asked.

“I don’t think so, but as soon as you put the necklace on I felt warmer. I know that sounds dumb.” I shook me head as to shake the feelings off.

“Jayden not to freak you out, but that necklace resembles your ring.” She reached for my hand.

“I thought that same thing, but I didn’t want to sound like a freak.  You don’t think that those stones are the same do you, I mean that’s not possible, right?” I took my hand back to stare at the ring a little longer. Those are the same stone, but how could that be, Sully just moved here a few years ago and I know my mom’s never lived in New York.  I really wanted to read that letter and find out what it said, maybe here letter would help clear up my questions.

“Well I’m sure they’re not connected, our families just have really good rich tastes.” Sully grabbed her drink to toast with me. 

“Happy Birthday Jayden, I hope that tonight will be something that you remember forever, and thanks for not being such a prude and coming with me.”

“Your welcome Sully, but I owe you for getting me out of the house, who knows how long I would have laid there.” I sipped on my soda.

My food came and I ate as Sully ordered another drink.  I don’t mind that Sully drinks because I’m not one to judge her.  Even though money is not an object to her she hasn’t had an easy life.  Both of her parents died right after she was born and she lived with her Aunt in New York until a few years ago, when her Aunt passed away.  Now she lives with her cousin here in Bonney Lake.  Moving here was not easy for her, she was use to the fast paced life of the City and her style wasn’t anything but ordinary there, but when she moved here it was a culture shock for her as well as the people at our school.  Everyone thought she was a freak and would tease her as she passed in the halls.  I remember seeing her the first few days of our sophomore year.  I wanted to walk up to her and make her feel welcome, but I could tell by the look on her face, that wouldn’t have been a smart thing to do.  I was glad when I saw her try out for the swim team that gave me the opportunity to make her feel welcome.  The even that bonded our friendship was during our first swim practice.  No one on the swim team was very welcoming, and no one thought that Sully could swim, so a few of the more popular girls dared Sully to do a trip flip off the highest diving board.  The coach would have stopped it from happening, but she was called away from the pool at the last minute.  Sully seemed confident enough during her walk out on the board, but at the last minute I could see in her eyes that she wasn’t so sure.  Her dive was excellent, better than anyone on our team, which shocked them all, but made me smile.  I had overheard the coach talking in the office to one of the secretaries about Sully and how she had one state with her dives.  Once she was in the water all the girls’ mouths dropped open and I clapped and yelled with excitement, until I realized that Sully hadn’t come back up yet and it had been a few minutes.  I looked around and all the girls just stood there starring at the water, so I quickly dived in and found her sinking to the bottom of the pool.  She had dived so great, but had hit her head on the bottom of the pool, which is a risk with diving.  I got her to the pools edge and few people helped her out.  I screamed for them to go get help while I did CPR on her.  She wasn’t breathing and her face was turning blue.  I am so thankful that we all had to take a CPR class to join the swim team, because today it came in handy.  Sully finally came around and spent a few days in the hospital for observation, and the day that she was released I showed up at the hospital to make sure she was ok.  The coach had told her that I saved her life and she thanked me in her own way and from that day on Sully and I had been friends.

Eating that food made me feel so much better, my dizziness started to subside. 

“While I had been consuming my food like a ravenous pig, a guy had sat down next to Sully and started a conversation with her, I could tell from Sully’s body language that she was ok with this one.  Most of the time, she tells that to beat it, and if they don’t listen she’s been known to throw a few punches.  But she promised that she would be on her best behavior so I wasn’t worried. 

This strange guy asked Sully if she wanted to play some pool and she let him know that only if my friend can play too.

It felt so weird to be out without Logan, I’ve never felt so alone.  I never realized how much he really meant to me until he was gone.  I’ve always heard people say that, but I guess you don’t understand until you experience if for yourself.

We played pool for almost and hour, I was bored, but I was glad for the distraction.  Sitting in my room dwelling wasn’t the best place for me. 

Sully seemed really into this guy, probably because he looked like someone that you shouldn’t be around.  I was sitting most of the time watching ever one in the bar.  It’s fun to watch people drinking and mingling.  It’s almost like a ritual mating dance.  I did notice one guy staring at me a few different times through out the night, but I’m sure he wasn’t staring at me.  Sully was a very attractive girl, and seemed to collect a lot of attention.

“I need to use the bathroom, are you ok for a minute.” I said and I rested my stick up against the wall.

“Yeah I’m fine.” She said without even looking at me.

I went into the bathroom and was surprised that there wasn’t a line, but there was a big scary looking guy standing by the door.  I said hi as I passed by, but he just stared at me.

I finished using the bathroom and was washing my hand and I heard the door open.  I’m sure it’s going to be some girls wanting to look at themselves in the mirror so I hurried up.  As I raised my head I saw a guy standing behind me.

“Ummm I think you’re in the wrong bathroom, this is the LADIES room.” I pronounced ladies, just in case he was confused from alcohol.

“No, I’m in the right room with the right person.” He grabbed me by arm

“Excuse me; let me go please before I scream.”  I said as I realized that I wasn’t going to get away.

“I wouldn’t scream if I were you, besides, with the music as loud as it is, no one would hear you anyway. We are going to leave this bathroom and take a left towards the back door, if you as much as look the wrong way, I’ll make sure that your friend Sully feels as much pain as you will.” He told me while gritting his teeth.

“Who are you, I don’t much money on me, but you’re welcome to it.  And I promise that I won’t tell anyone.” I pleaded

“Money, that’s funny, the money that we are getting from this is plenty. No move lady before I get really upset.” He gripped my arm even harder.  I’m sure it was going to leave a bruise.

I was so scared I couldn’t think, it was like my mind went blank.  Get it together I told myself, you need to think about this. 

As he opened the bathroom door the guy that I had saw standing next to the door was right in my face and grabbed my right arm.  Great, how am I supposed to get away when there’s two of them.  Sully was around a corner so she wouldn’t see me, I could try and kick them and run.  They didn’t look like guys that would flinch even if I kicked them.  The were dressed all in black with jackets that hung almost down to the ground.  As one of them turned towards me I thought I caught a glimpse of something shiny under his arm.  I really hope that’s not a gun.

“Now there are people out this door that are smoking, if you make even a peep we’ll have to hurt them too, and you don’t want anyone else to get hurt do you Jayden.”

“Hey, how do you know my name?  What’s going on?  What do you want with me?  I think you have me confused with someone else.”

“Carl, you weren’t supposed to use her name, great.”

“What does it matter anyway, were killing her regardless.”

“Kill me, what, wait, you don’t have to kill me.”

“It’s your destiny to die.” Said the first guy named Carl

As we were walking out the back door I heard Sully call my name.  Thank god she saw me, but I didn’t want to turn around.  I was afraid of what these two big guys would do to her. 

We passed the people congregating outside with no problems, but that’s when I really started to panic.  I started to feel dizzy and I must have been passing out, but I felt like I was flying for a minute.  One of the guys picked me up and threw me over his shoulder, and that’s when I saw Sully running out in the alley screaming my name.  I’m not sure how I was able to manage it, but I reached into my pocket and grabbed Sully’s keys and tossed them onto the pavement.  Maybe Sully could follow us and call the police.  The two guys were running at top speed now.  I knew we were traveling fast, but it didn’t feel bumpy like you would expect, maybe that’s because I was half in and half out of consciousness.  They finally stopped on some dark alley that didn’t look familiar to me.

They flung me to the ground and I woke up a little bit. 

“We want your necklace and your ring, and be quick about it or we will rip them off.”

“My ring and necklace, is this what this is about, some jewelry that was given to me, so you two are just some thugs trying to make some money”

“She doesn’t know about them yet, does she?” The bigger one said to Carl

“No, and if you don’t shut up I’ll have to kill you too.” It sounded like he meant that.

“Now take them off or I’ll shoot you first then I’ll take them off.”  He threw a cloth pouch at me and instructed me to put them inside.

“We can’t touch them right?”

“You idiot are you trying to get us in trouble” He smack the big guy over the back of the head with his hand.

I slowly started taking off my necklace when I heard growling coming from behind the two guys. 

“What the hell is that thing?” Carl turned to look but the dog leaped onto his chest before he got fully turned around.

“Get this dog off me Brent!” Carl said. 

Brent must be the other guy’s name, not that I really cared since they wanted to kill me.  Everything happened so fast, but it seemed like it was moving in slow motion.

Brent reached in his jacket and pulled out his gun and pointed it at Carl’s chest.  Brent couldn’t shoot because he would probably hit Carl too.  Carl feel to the ground grabbing at  the dog trying to get him off. The dog went for his throat and with one quick swipe ripped it right out, blood went everywhere.  As soon as Carl was dead, the dog turned to me and growled, but not in the same way as he did to these two guys.  But before I could get up, Brent took a shot at him and the dog yelped and hit the ground.

“Now you’ve done it, you got Carl killed.  I’m going to pay for that, now take off your necklace and ring.”  I reached over to the dog and he was still alive, but the shot was to the chest and he was loosing a lot of blood fast.  I had to think fast, I reached to my right and saw a large rock.  I grabbed the rock and pulled my arm back to throw it at him.  He lifted his arm and aimed the gun right me.

“You’ll have to shoot me first, because I know you’ll shoot me if I give my jewelry so what’s the difference.”

“Ok, I’ll shoot you first and find away to get the jewelry off your dead body.  It can’t be that hard.”

I closed my eyes, I knew this was it, but I was hoping that it didn’t hurt, or that I die fast. What happens after you die, is there a heaven, and if so what’s it like.  What if there isn’t a heaven, what happens, is that it, your just dead.  I don’t want to die.

I heard something hit the pavement and I was afraid to open my eyes.

“You can open your eyes now, its ok.” This voice was not familiar to me.

I slowly opened my eyes and saw the second guy that was trying to kill me, sprawled out on the pavement next to the other one.  This man that saved me walked over to me and put his hand out to help me up. 

“Are you ok, are you hurt?”  The strange man said to me as I stood up.

“I’m ok, a little dizzy still, but I think I’m ok.” I said.

“Did you knock that guy out?” I asked still leery of this guy, I wasn’t sure who he was or where he came from.

“I found a crow bar up the street and grab it before I got here, just in case I needed it.” He started to wipe of dirt from my back.

“I was lucky you happened to be close by…where did you come from?” I asked.

“I was at the bar and I had just come out of the men’s room when I saw them dragging you out the back door.  You didn’t look like you wanted to go with them, so I followed you, but they lost me after a few block, but I heard the dog and the commotion and found you again.  Is that your dog?” The strange man asked.

“Oh, no the dog, I forgot about him for a second…the shot him, I have to get him to a vet?” I hurried over to him and bent down.  The dog was still alive, but barely. 

“It’s ok, I’ll get help and we’ll fix you up good as new…You saved my life.” Tears started to well up in my eyes.

“Well he’s not the only one that saved your life, not that I want any credit.” He bent down next to me to check out the dog’s condition.

“Oh, I’m sorry,  you did, and I can’t thank you enough.” I was just about to ask him his name when I heard wheels screech to a stop.

“Jayden are you down here.” Sully yelled from the entrance of the alley.

“I’m down here Sully, the dogs been shot, get your truck down here.” I yelled back

Sully pulled her truck into the alley.  Sully ran over to me and put her arms around me.

“I’m so glad to see you, I thought I lost you!” Sully said as she pulled back from me.

“What happened, who are you?” Sully asked the guy next to me.

“We don’t have time for this; we have to get to an emergency vet before this dog dies.  Help me lift him into the back of the truck.”

Sully and the strange guy and I lifted the dog into the back of the truck.  A few times the dog yelped out in pain.  I wished there was another way to get him into the truck, but we didn’t have much time.  Sully had a tarp in the back that we laid down to give the dog a little cushion.

I jumped in the back of the truck with the dog.

“I’m riding with him.” I looked up at Sully who was closing the tail gate.

“Ok Jayden, but you hold on, because I’m going to drive very fast.” She still seemed to be shaking.

“Where did that guys go?” I asked as I looked around. 

“I don’t know, he was here one minute and then gone.” Sully ran and jumped in the truck.

Well whoever he was, I was glad that he was there or I would be dead right now.  I tried to picture his face but I couldn’t, maybe it was all the adrenaline pumping through my body.  My first concern is this dog; I don’t want him to die.  If Sully drives fast enough maybe he can make it.  I sat crossed legged in the back with the dogs head in my lap.  I stroked his head wondering how he found me, how he knew where I was.  He might die trying to save my life.  I closed my eyes and prayed to god not to let him die, while I had my hand rested just under his chest.  I could feel the blood oozing out and down my hand.  Please don’t let him die, I need him with me, I’ve had too many deaths in my life.  Please, don’t let him die.  I know it was chilly outside but I felt warm all over, I couldn’t tell that we were even moving.  I started to see Logan and I running through the woods, the way we use to during cross country.  He was always competitive with me, but I always managed to win the race, I always wondered if that was him letting me win.  I started to feel dizzy again and I remember feeling really hot right before I passed out.

“Jayden, wake up, are you ok?” I heard Sully ask me.

“Huh, what, where are we?”  I said while trying to get my bearings as to where we were.

“We’re at the vet’s; they went to get a stretcher.  Are you sure you’re ok, maybe we need to take you to the hospital too.” She jumped into the back of the truck.

Just as she did that, three people ran out of the building with a stretcher and came to the back of the pick up.

“So what happened to the dog?” One of the people asked.

“He was shot in the chest protecting me from muggers.” I said still not completely coherent.

One of the girls jumped up into the back of the truck and started to check out the dog. 

“I see lots of blood, but I can’t find a wound.” She said as she looked at another one of the people.

“Let me take a look.” The one that jumped into the back of the truck was the doctor, I could she her name with a DVM on the end.

The Vet looked and looked, but finally looked at me.

“Are you sure he was shot, are you girls trying to play a prank, because it’s not funny.” The vet sounded anode.

“Hey, now just back off doc, we aren’t playing around.  I saw the wound myself when we loaded the dog into the back.” Sully said with anger. 

“Well then young lady, you climb back here and you show me where this supposed gun shot is.” The vet said as she scooted over to give Sully room to climb in.

Sully climbed into the back and went through the dog’s fur, while I tried to regain my composure.  I heard Sully and the Vet talking but I couldn’t focus my eyes yet.  I started to sit up a little when I felt something cold and metal feeling in my hand.  I slowly opened my right hand and I saw the bullet, I quickly closed my hand.

“Well I guess the blood must be from my attacker, because the dog bit the guy.  Sorry to waste your time.  Sully we should probably get going it’s getting late.  I’ll stay back here with the dog while you drive.

“But Jayden, he was shot, I saw…”I didn’t let her finish.

“It was a mistake, let’s go.” I growled.

“Ok, ok.” She said.

“Sorry doc, I really thought the dog was shot, we weren’t trying to play games.” Sully helped the two people out of the back of the truck and closed the gate.

She hoped in to the truck and took off down the road, but she pulled over a few blocks away, and got out.

“Ok, Jayden, now that we are alone, what the hell is going on here.” Sully sounded really anger.

“Look Sully.” I opened my hand to show her the bullet.

“What is that?” Sully asked as she reached and grabbed to take a closer look.

“It’s the bullet that was in the dog, I guess.” I shrugged my shoulders.

“So where did his bullet hole go?” Sully asked.

“I have no idea, this is all a little strange, those two guys wanted my ring and necklace and they said a few weird things to each other too.” I sat and told her the whole story.

“This is really weird Jayden, I’m totally confused.” Sully just sat in the back of the truck with her hands on the sides of her cheeks.

“We should probably get going, it’s getting late.” I said as I started to get up.

Even though the dog wasn’t hurt anymore he still seemed exhausted.

“Do you think anyone knows where you live?” Sully asked

“If they knew my name, and your name I’m sure they do, but why are people after me and what is it about my necklace and ring that they want?” I was hoping for an answer, but I knew she didn’t have one.

“Hey Sully, how did you find me?” I asked as I started to get into the truck.

“When you tossed the keys, I went to the truck and the dog jumped out and barked at me, he started to run in the direction that those guys were taking you, so I got in my truck and followed.  He did loose me but I knew you were in the general direction.” Sully said as she started the truck.

“I feel so sleepy; I just want to curl up in my bed.” My eyes were starting to burn a little.

“Sully, would you feel comfortable staying at my house tonight, it would make me feel safer.  I have a blow up mattress in my closet.

“Sure, I don’t want you to be alone tonight anyway.”

We drove back home in silence, neither one of us knew what to say, from what had just happened.  When we pulled up to the house, the dog was still laying in the back of the truck.  I got out hoping that he was ok, but he was still sleeping. 

“Sully, we have to figure out a name for this dog, I can’t keep calling him dog!” I shook the dog a little and he popped up like nothing was wrong.  He jumped out of the back and trotted up to the front door.

“So, what are we going to tell your dad?” Sully asked before we walked in the door.

“Nothing, if he finds out, he’ll never let me leave the house again.” I opened the door.

As I opened the door I remember the letter my mother left for me, I was so excited to read it, but I had to get cleaned up first, I had blood everywhere.

“I’ll get some towels from the downstairs linen closet, if you will take the dog upstairs to the bathroom and run some water in the tub.” I said as I looked toward the credenza.

I went and got some towels and brought them upstairs, the dog was being so good for Sully, just sitting in the tub while she washed him off.

“He just jumped right in the tub when I turned the water on.  I’ve never seen a better dog, he’s pretty cool, for a dog.” She said and then frowned when he shook and soaked her with water.

“He defiantly knows how to make friends.” I said as I chuckled. 

He jumped out of the tub and I towel dried him off, he’s got so much hair it will take a while for it to dry.  Now I have to clean up, the blood probably won’t come out of these pants, not that I would ever want to wear these again. 

“I guess I’m going to have to go shopping with you Sully, my hooker pants are thrashed.” I said as the dog licked my face.

“Yeah, and maybe even get you a stun gun.” Sully said.

“I need to take a shower, so the blow up mattress is in my closet and the pump is next to it, I’ll be done shortly.” I said as I started to undress.

“What about Saska?” Sully said she was about to shut the door.

“What’s Saska?” I asked.

“A name for the dog, I just thought of it.” Sully said.

I thought about it for a moment, and I liked it.

“That’s a great name for him, Saska it is.  It’s nice to have a name for him.” I smiled as Sully shut the door.

The shower felt so good, I just stood there and let the water pound on my shoulders, I could tell that I was going to be sore tomorrow and the next day.  But at least I’m still alive, this whole night could have turned out way different.

I started wondering about that guy that showed up and helped me, who was he and why did he help me?  My head was starting to hurt again with questions. The thought that kept coming back to me was Logan, and how much I missed him.  The way he would smile at me as soon as I opened my door in the morning when leaving for school.  He had that smile that would make you feel like whatever was going on in my life was going to be ok.  Even though we spent so much time together, I never grew tired of him, I always wanted him around.  He always seemed to know exactly how I was feeling and what I needed to make me feel better. 

I wonder if I would have been at the lake, could I have saved Logan they way it seems that I saved the dog.  I’m still not sure that I saved that dog, but how else would that bullet have ended up in my hand, and where did all that blood come from?  I need to rest my mind for the night, but not before I read my mothers letter. 

I got dressed in my nightgown and went downstairs to retrieve the letter, I was so nervous I stopped in front of the credenza and just stood there staring at it like it was a rare piece of jewelry that was to never be disturbed.  Would the letter tell me about my mother’s death and how much she missed me.  I won’t know until I open it, but can I open it.  I think I stood there for almost an hour, until I felt something wet on my hand.  Saska had come downstairs and was sitting next to me.  When I looked down at him, I could have sworn that he was smiling at me.  I felt a smile creep from my mouth.

“Ok, ok, I’ll open it and stop procrastinating.” I told the Saska.  He rubbed his head on my hand. 

I took the letter and headed up stairs.  I crawled into bed and Saska jumped up and curled up next to me.  I didn’t mind that he was sleeping next to me, but he was still a little damp, but he didn’t smell like wet dog, his smell was something familiar but I couldn’t put my finger on it. I sat in bed for a few minutes, shaking, not sure how I was going to actually open the letter.  Sully was already passed out on the floor, snoring loudly.  I’m so glad she’s here with me, I felt much safer.

 

 

Reviews

[tayzer--]

I'm curious to see what the letter will read. And I like how things are starting to connect. Really intriguing as well.
Keep posting more chapters!