Obscured (The Obscured Series Book 1) (17 page)

We
talked about what the new semester was going to bring on the way to school. I
even disclosed that I was considering getting back out in the dating pool;
“considering” being the key word. Eli didn’t seem too pleased with the idea,
but he didn’t openly say so. I couldn’t quite put my finger on why I thought so
either. 

It
was comforting having Eli by my side as we walked into our first class of the
day. I was relieved to see Bailey sitting down next to two open seats. What
luck that we would be able to sit next to each other! But my excitement was
dashed a moment later when Pete sauntered into the room with a sneer on his
face, directed right at me. He took the last empty seat that turned out to be
directly behind me. Ugh! I glanced over at Eli, who looked at me
sympathetically and shrugged. Things had been quiet for the past few months, so
maybe he was over everything and I had nothing to worry about. After all, the
seat behind me
was
the only one left in the room.

Throughout
the day I grew more and more suspicious of Pete. It seemed he was in every one
of my classes. The first two classes Eli was in as well, so it didn’t bother me
as much. But when third hour rolled around, Pete was there again. I tried to
ignore the sinking feeling that I wouldn’t be rid of him ever, but I just
couldn’t.

I
was relieved when the bell rang, snapping me out of my thoughts. I grabbed my
things and headed for the door to head to lunch with Eli and Bailey. We were
still sitting at the original table where Pete and his friends had welcomed us
earlier in the year, since we had stayed friends with a lot of those
people.  Pete had graciously moved to another table before the break.

Just
as I rounded the door out of the classroom I was caught by the elbow—hard. I
whipped my head around to see who was manhandling me, and wasn’t so shocked to
find Pete at the end of the outstretched arm. My heart started racing and my
mind went blank.

“What
do you think you’re doing?” was all I could manage to say.

“Oh
you know, keeping my word,” he said with such nonchalance it was sickening. He
didn’t even seem angry. I think seeing him so calm was more unnerving than when
he was furious.

“Stop—let
me go!” He was dragging me down the hallway, and he didn’t even seem to care
about all of the people who were staring at us. I couldn’t imagine what he
hoped to gain from the charade. “Where are you taking me?”

I
tried to shake him off without success. I’d never wanted to be at that end of
his strength. I sure had gotten myself in just about the worst position I could
ever have imagined with Pete. 

“You’ll
see.”

He
dragged me into the men’s bathroom.
The men’s bathroom?
Why in the world
would he bring me there?

“W-what
do you want?” I stammered. I looked around the bathroom, hoping there would be
someone there to help. It was empty.
Shoot!

He
whipped me around to face him, backing me against the wall. My heart was
racing. My mind was racing. We were alone. I looked up at him, only to find
rage in his eyes. Rage that was not there only moments before. I had to get
away—I had to get out, but how?

“Oh
don’t think that knight in shining armor is going to save the day this time. He
has no idea where you are right now. I told you that you’d be sorry. I waited.
I knew you would think you had nothing to worry about. You got comfortable, as
I knew you would. I always get what I want, you hear me?”

I
nodded shakily. He sounded like a spoiled child throwing a tantrum after being
told no.

“And
I want my girlfriend back, without her little ‘friend’. Got it?”

“N-no,
I won’t be your girlfriend. I will never be with you again. You need help.” I
tried even harder to pull out of his grasp. One hand broke free and slammed
into the tiled wall behind me. Pain engulfed the entire hand, and it seemed to
triple when Pete regained control over it.

“I
need help?
I
need help? I’m not the one pinned to the bathroom wall!” he
shouted.

The
door burst open and Eli rushed in. Pete was taken by surprise and turned to
look at him, right as Eli’s fist slammed into his nose. Pete stumbled back a
couple steps, then regained his composure and charged ahead straight for Eli.
Pete body slammed Eli into the wall and I could hear the thud from across the
room. Eli’s breath was knocked out of him in one swift movement. Pete stood up
straight to look at him, and I saw a smile slowly spread across his face. Eli
didn’t waste any time before he gave him a right hook, sending Pete crashing to
the floor.

I
just stood there, too dumbfounded to move. “Eli… how?”

“Later,”
he huffed breathlessly as he pushed me out into the hall.

We
practically jogged the whole way to lunch. I was dazed and confused. I ordered my
food as though I was in a trance, and hoped that I would be able to carry the
dauntingly heavy tray to the table. The tray was no heavier than any other day,
but it felt as though I was carrying a ton of bricks.

I
spoke to no one and Eli just kept staring at me with a worried look, although
he pretended like nothing was amiss. Bailey kept asking me what was wrong, but
I just couldn’t tell her so I said nothing. I had never filled her in on the
previous confrontations with Pete, so I didn’t want her to worry now. Plus, I
had never really thought there was anything to actually worry about, at least
not before that day. Now I wasn’t sure about anything anymore.

In
a blink of an eye, I was leaving sixth hour. It was amazing how quickly time
could pass when you were in a daze. It was as if I was a ghost floating in and
out of my classes, and it didn’t help that Pete was in all six of my classes.
Although, he didn’t show up to the last three, I knew he was on the roster
because attendance was called and the teachers marked him absent. I felt
completely drained. Why would he be in every single one of my classes? It took
planning, thought, and pure motivation. But motivation for what?  What
could he possibly gain from being in every one of my classes?

My
mind was elsewhere as I stepped out into the crowd, so it took me completely by
surprise when I was grabbed from behind and pushed out the closest door and
straight into a car. Pete’s car. He locked the doors before I could get out and
sped out of the parking lot.

I
couldn’t even fathom what his plans were. It seemed that everywhere I turned I
was getting into a bind with him. What was I going to do now? How was I
supposed to get away? Eli would not always be around to bail me out—not that I
wanted him to be, he shouldn’t have to—but I sure wished he was there now.

Pete
used my lack of attention to his advantage. I felt so stupid to have not been
on alert this whole time. I should have known he might come back to retaliate.

He
ran right through the next red light. Now it was getting truly scary, and he
changing lanes at an alarming rate. He could get us into a terrible accident at
the speed he was going.

“Pete.
Please. Calm down,” I pleaded, hoping to slow him down.

“Calm
down? Calm down? Your little lap dog comes along and kicks me to the ground,
you go running away and you expect me to just calm down?
Ha
!”

As
I looked at him, I could see bruising around one of his eyes and what looked
like a fat lip. It made me wonder what Eli’s ribs were going to look like after
the body slam into the wall. I hadn’t even thought about Eli being wounded; I
was such an awful friend. All I could think of was myself. He came to my rescue
and was probably in a lot of pain from it.

“Where
are we going?” I asked, trying to distract him.

“Somewhere
your little friend won’t find us.”

We
were on the freeway by that time. I looked around frantically, trying to think
of something to do. Somehow I had to signal to someone I was in trouble or… or…
or what? I didn’t know.  Why hadn’t I paid better attention when they
spoke at school about getting away from predators?

I
looked out the window and tried to spot someone that I could signal, but then
out of the corner of my eye I saw it. Eli’s car, speeding towards us like a
bullet. I had never been happier to see him. He must have been going immensely
faster than us. He was gaining on us at an alarming rate. I was scared that
something might happen to him, and my heart began to race all over again. Pete
must have seen him too, because he stepped on the gas and started swerving
between cars in what appeared to be an attempt to lose Eli. The speedometer was
lurching forward—80, 85, 90—when would it end? I felt nauseatingly dizzy.
Great. I felt like I was going to pass out. What a girl thing to do. I
chastised myself for being so dramatic. I needed to stop flipping out, or I’d
never get my head clear enough to devise a plan of escape.

“Please
Pete. Stop. I’ll do whatever you want me to.”

“It’s
too late for that now,” he said laughing to himself. “I tried to give you that
chance earlier today, but you chose wrong!”

He
was getting off the freeway and heading straight for the desert. I glanced at
the clock on his dashboard. It was 4:50. Already? How had we already been driving
for an hour? I wasn’t sure exactly where we were. I was still very
inexperienced with my new surroundings. I knew the basic two-mile area around
my house and my school, but after that, I didn’t have a clue. For all I knew we
could be in another state.

“Where
are we?” I asked, hoping that he would finally reveal a glimmer of his plan.

No
such luck.

“You’ll
see.”

He
pulled onto a dirt road. Eli was still far behind us, but he didn’t skip a beat
when the time came for him to turn. Pete immediately pulled over when he saw
Eli whip around the corner, and was out of the car in a flash. Whatever he was
planning to do he seemed to want as few spectators as possible, so it made
sense that we were in the middle of the desert. However, that did nothing to comfort
me.

The
sun was on the horizon, starting its slow descent into night. I watched,
waiting to see what would happen. I was fearful for Eli and myself. Pete walked
towards him, his fists clenching and unclenching, as Eli stepped out of his
car. I could see their mouths moving, but I couldn’t hear what they were
saying.

What
could I do?
I
thought quickly. I looked to see if Pete had taken the keys; he had. I hastily
grabbed my things, and took a deep breath to gather my courage before opening
the door. I jumped out in one swift move, squaring my shoulders, and shouted at
the two angry figures in front of me. “Stop!”

Pete
whirled around to look at me and it was just long enough to distract him from
Eli, who took the opportunity to knock Pete down.

“Run
Abby!” Eli yelled.

I
turned and ran. I didn’t think—just ran. I tripped going up the embankment and
scraped my arms on shrubs. My breathing was getting harder and more strained.
Behind me I heard scrambling, but I couldn’t tell if it was someone in pursuit
or if a fight had broken out. I didn’t, couldn’t,
wouldn’t
turn to find
out. I didn’t stop for a second. My side was aching, I struggled to breathe,
and it was almost completely dark now. I couldn’t help but think how quickly
the daylight had faded into darkness.

Suddenly,
I stopped dead in my tracks as a wave of déjà vu overtook me. My dream. This
was my dream. Running… running terrified from something… someone. It was my
dream. The scenery, the desert, the very clearing, all of it—it was exactly as
it looked and felt in my dream. I was running from Pete. All those nights I
woke up so scared, all that time… I had been running from something I had
gotten myself into. I had chosen it. I pinched myself once, just to be sure
that it wasn’t a dream, but sure enough I was wide awake. How could I have been
so naive?

I’d
heard of people that would endure dreams that came to life, but I never thought
much of it. I can’t say that I would have instantly believed someone had they
told me it happened to them before, nor could I have ever imagined it would
ever be that vividly exact. Did that make me supernatural or something? I
didn’t have time to dwell on it.

How
could I continue running? I had to help Eli. What had I been thinking letting
him handle Pete alone? I was the one who had gotten him into this whole mess in
the first place. I should be the one getting us out of it, not him. It was
about time that I faced the nightmare head on instead of always running away.

I
turned around ready to march myself back to the cars, only to find myself
staring right up at Pete who was glaring down at me. His chest was inches from
my face. I could feel the heat radiating from his body. I instinctively took a
step back.

“Where
did you think you were going?” he asked through gritted teeth.

“Getting
away from you,” I spat. “How could you do this to me?”

“Oh
honey, I’m not doing anything to you that you didn’t ask for.”

With
that he grabbed me by the arm and started marching me out further into the
desert. I pulled, trying to break free of his grasp. I couldn’t seem too pry
his strong hold off of me. Where was Eli? He had come to help me and I had
failed him. Guilt hit me hard. If anything happened to him I didn’t know what
I’d do. He was my best friend.