12. alessia

12

ALESSIA

The events of tonight gave me a whiplash.

The only thing that made me smile weirdly was the mention of the happy birthday. Daegan showed me that I'm not numb like I thought I was. He protected me, although he did take that to the next level when he pulled out his knife, and even more so when it sank into Frankie's skin.

I close my front door softly, not wanting to wake Jack up. I lock the door, pulling on my hair tie. I take it off, freeing my curls. It falls down my back, onto my behind.

I have long, thick, black, curly hair, and I probably should have cut off an inch or two before the deployment to trim off the ends, but I haven't found the time.

I massage my scalp as I bend over to take off my boots, but a loud feminine moan shrieks into the quietness of my apartment.

I feel as though I was hit in the chest hard by a baseball bat. My heart pounds, and a cold sweat takes over my body. I stop breathing, forcing my body to be still and frozen while I listen. My whole world comes into slow motion, and I wait. I'm hoping and praying to God that this is all in my head…it has to be.

I'm desperately praying for more silence, but no. More moans follow, and my skin cripples with shivers. I grit my teeth and no longer know what I'm doing. I have no control over my actions; I begin to black out as I follow the cringe-worthy sounds that I wish would stop.

Please stop.

They're coming from my fucking bedroom.

Please be a movie. Please let it be that I'm catching Jack with porn on our bedroom television and that the volume is too loud…but no.

With my luck, it's one of my worst nightmares coming to life when I push open the door hard and fast. It hits the wall with a loud thud, marking it and probably drilling a hole into it. My eyes widen with disgust. I find Bailey riding my boyfriend. Her hands are in her own blue waves of hair, and her head is tilted forward. He has a hold on her waist as she continues to move.

Fucking sick.

I'm going to be sick.

Jack immediately sees me. He lets go of biting his lip, and his sensual expression quickly forms into a mixture of shock and guilt. He pats her thighs to stop, looking straight at me. He swallows, and she halts her movements, watching his gaze on me. She turns over her shoulder and gasps, grabbing the blanket to cover up, but doesn't get off him.

She's still on him.

Betrayal.

Betrayal is written on both of their cowardly faces. There's no masking that.

"I always had my suspicions. But I was the crazy one, right?" I cry out, my heart breaking. Two people who are major components of my support system. Two people I used to trust in my life.

"I was the crazy one for thinking that one of my best friends would sleep with my boyfriend. I was the crazy one to think that you guys could be so fucking cliche and do this. Every time I asked you, Jack…you made me feel crazy."

He doesn't say anything but pats Bailey's thigh again. She doesn't move; she's in shock, and her eyes turn glassy.

"Bailey?" I ask her. I want to throw questions at her and insults, but this hurts more coming from her.

One of my best fucking friends. This is another level of pain I never thought I'd go through. A breakup with a friend you saw as a sister is more heart-wrenching than you'd think.

Bailey cowers at my words. She doesn't try to defend her actions. Neither does he.

She looks around the room, anywhere but my eyes. Of course, she can't face me.

She's too much of a selfish coward.

"You guys are perfect for each other. You can have him. Happy fucking birthday to me."

I storm out of the bedroom without another word. I turn my head one more time before walking away from the snakes that finally shed their skin and got caught.

"Alessia. Wait, please. You weren't supposed to be here for another hour!" Jack pushes Bailey off of him. She flops on the side of the bed, taking the blankets with her. My blankets. She can have my fucking blankets, too, at this point. There's no way in hell I want anything from this apartment anymore.

I don't stop. I keep walking, grabbing my bag off the kitchen counter, ready to hop into my car and head to an unknown destination.

I can't go to Winter's place. She's probably dead asleep. I don't want to worry her. And I definitely don't want to wake up my mother or Ravenmore.

What is my luck lately?

"Babe, stop!" Jack pleads again.

"Fuck you!" I spit.

"Alessia!" He trips over the couch, falling on the floor.

Serves him right.

He gets on his feet again. He managed to pull on his white underwear from the bedroom, too.

I grab the lock on the doorknob and turn it but then stop. The door slams again with a loud thud.

"Damn it. Stop it, now!" He yells, grabbing my arm tight and pulling me back. I inhale sharply, hissing from his forceful yank.

"Let me go!" I snap, trying to get away.

"What do you expect, huh?" His brown eyes are shades of manipulation. "You've been a shitty girlfriend. You're never home." He tightens his grip on my arm, and I wince in pain. "And now you're going to deploy?"

"Asshole!" I break free from his grasp. "You know what's going on! I can't do anything about falling on orders, you insensitive jerk. I've given everything to this relationship, and you've only taken. I've taken care of you! Even when you're out of a job, I'm the one taking care of everything, making sure you're always okay. That my friends are okay, my mother is okay, my sister is okay. Everyone before me!" My throat tightens, and my eyes start to water. I refuse to cry in front of him. I won't let him win. "We're over, Jack. Don't ever come near me again. Get your shit out of my apartment by the time I come back home in the morning."

He grabs my arm again, holding it so tight I feel another sharp sting.

"I'm not leaving this place. Bailey and I are happy. I'm sorry you had to find out this way, but then again, I'm not. This makes us even. You have a man buying you flowers. I don't think any guy would just do that if he's not getting pussy in return. Bailey rides me good. She lets me fuck every part of her body, and she blows me better than you ever fucking could. Good job on paying the bills, but I'm tired of your insecurity issues." He's emotionless—a full-on narcissist. Nothing is ever his fault.

Jack claws his hand harder into my skin like he's the one mad at me for busting the affair open. One tear falls out of my eye, and I scrunch my nose full of rage.

He's hurting me. I'm tired of men thinking they can touch me without consent and there won't be consequences.

The next thing I know, my leg swings forward, full of wrath, and I kick him in the balls. Hard. He finally lets go of me as his eyes widen full of pain, and he immediately stops breathing. Holding his breath, he falls to the floor in agony, turning red as a tomato.

"I warned you. Don't ever touch me again. Both of you need to leave my home, and all of your stuff better be gone by the time I come back in the morning." I repeat myself, making sure he gets it through his head. "Goodbye, Jack." I slam the door on a teary-eyed Jack cradling himself on the floor.

I don't know where I'm going. It's been two hours, and I don't have a destination in sight. All I know is I just need to keep driving until the ache in my chest is gone, but the more I speed, the more miles down, and my path to nowhere gets clearer, the more tears fall down my cheeks.

I clutch the steering wheel so hard that my blood circulation halts, and my skin rubs against the leather harshly until it burns.

I haven't blinked, and I'm holding the storm inside me at bay. The chaotic storm of betrayal and the unknown brew, and I haven't been able to let it out. I refuse to let it escape.

I guess I'm stubborn that way.

Even though I'm alone, I refuse to let myself fall apart over them.

Bailey and Jack are happy…while I'm crying?

Each second that passes, I look at the amount of gas, and it's all the way down to E, but my Sedan keeps pushing forward. I was so distracted by catching my boyfriend in the act that I didn't notice I'm almost out of gas.

Come on, just a couple of more miles, and we'll be at the next gas station.

Rain hits my windshield hard, lightning lights up the sky, and my eyes are so tired that I swear I'm starting to see things.

Every time I blink, the swelling around my eyes greets me with pain.

Then my car starts to slow.

Oh, no.

This can't be my life right now. I'm going to get stranded. It's dark, with no street lights around. The windshield wipers go to a standstill. I pull to the side of the road, and I barely make it on the flooded grass.

I safely managed to park it before it stopped running.

I'm surrounded by tall trees and forests on both sides of the road. The storm is just getting stronger. The wind thrashes against my car, howling through the windows.

I sit there in silence as my car sways to the left and right from the strong winds. The rain hits the window and the hood of my car, and I'm just sitting there…with frustration, sadness, stress, and betrayal simmering in my veins.

Finally, I let my emotions wreak havoc on me. I rest my forehead on the steering wheel and let it all out.

I'm crying hard, gasping for air, as my whimpers join the natural sounds of rain. My mouth gapes wide open as I bawl the last bit of energy I have out. Shutting my eyes tight, I feel like everything is coming down on my shoulders hard.

A part of my support system feels obliterated, and the world becomes quiet and lonely. All the good memories of my relationship with Jack flash in my brain while my eyes are closed tight, and I let my panic attack run wild.

All of the good times of us falling asleep in each other's arms, every holiday, our college graduation, and how he was there when my baby sister got in a car accident that left her with permanent damage to her arm.

How could Bailey do this to me? How could she hurt me like this? How could I be so stupid to trust people?

At this exact moment, I would call my best friend Bailey. Or Jack.

But that's dead and gone, taken away by their selfish needs and cliche betrayal.

I refuse to worry anyone. I won't do it. I don't care how bad the situation is; I won't have anyone get out of their beds at three in the morning for me.

I decide to call my mom. I hate asking her for anything, but I have no choice.

Screw it. I need someone.

My heart drops when I see my phone battery life.

Shit, I'm at one percent, and I don't have a car charger on me.

Of course.

My mom doesn't answer, unsurprisingly. She's probably asleep.

I can call an Uber. But I don't feel like going back and forth right now, waiting on an app.

Opening the car door, I take one last breath of air before I face the storm outside.

I'm immediately drenched by thick water drops. Fast and harsh winds hit me, making my hair slap around. They patter my skin roughly as I started my long walk to the gas station.

It's five miles up the road. I'm going to get soaked, but at least I can get to another phone in case mine dies or to a charger.

As soon as I open my Uber app, shielding it with my hand, I get a text.

It's a photo.

Of the person who's stalking me.

There's a picture of a gloved hand holding a piece of my hair on his palm over a sleeping body.

My sleeping body.

I'm on my side wearing my Jack Skellington pajamas.

Unknown: Where's the birthday girl tonight?

He's been watching me sleep, too?

What in the actual hell?

Is that my hair? Did he cut off my hair?!

I stop walking for a second, and I panic. Blood rushes to my ears, and I lose my balance when a rush of strong winds hits me.

My phone is about to die.

He's stalking me.

I act quickly, typing in three numbers, and hold the phone to my ear.

"911, what's your emergency?" a female operator asks me, but the voice sounds choppy with static.

"Ma'am, someone has been texting me weird things. I think I'm being sta-"

"Hello? Ma'am, I can't hear you. The line is weak."

"I said, someone is watchi-"

The line goes dead.

Shit!

Damn it. I should have called the police when I had the chance earlier.

I panic at the realization that every second is precious. I look around again, but all I see are trees swaying.

Think Alessia.

Think.

I call the first person that pops into my head. It's the only one that makes me feel safe recently yet scared at the same time. I don't know why I do. I should be dialing 911 again, but instead, it's Daegan's number that is reflected on the screen. It rings once before he answers, and I'm met with a deep, chiseled voice that's been seared into my brain. His voice sends chills all over my body.

"Valentine." He says my name like he's surprised. I'm sure he is. I can only assume what he's thinking.

The Admiral's daughter is a mess.

Why is she calling me so late at night?

Doesn't she have a boyfriend to bother?

I would be lying if I said I hate it when he calls me Valentine, but I don't.

"Mr. Hannibal. My phone is about to die any second, so I'm going to make this short." I rush out with a shaky tone. "I uh…I'm stranded. I'm on Lockdown Road, near the Fast and Speed gas station. I'm around five miles away from it. I need help. I know we don't know each other well, and I'm sorry to bother you, I really am, but?—"

My phone dies.

"Shit," I curse to myself. I stop shielding my dead phone and hold it tight in my hand. I look around to see if I can see anything out of the ordinary, but nothing.

What a hell of a start to my birthday.