JADED

HAUNTING

★ One year ago ★

The cold evening breeze made her hair flutter as Jade sat on the beach, watching the ocean with Shawn. She placed her head on his shoulders, allowing the peaceful roaring of the ocean and the beating of his heart to soothe her fears.

Her parents had divorced when she was nine and her father had remarried immediately. Now, seven years later, her mom wanted to get remarried too. She knew how her father's remarriage had made her feel - like she didn't belong to the family. So, she always looked forward to her week with her mother because, at least, she didn't have to share her mother's love with anyone.

But, now that her family had broken completely, she felt there was no place for her anymore. That was why she ran away from home. But, Shawn had come to her and he had convinced her to go back home, explaining to her how he would always be there for her even if no one else was.

She smiled as she thought of how fortunate she was to be best friends with Shawn. They had known each other since they were babies as both their mothers were good friends. They had practically grown up together and they knew each other inside out and even though they had their bad days, it was days like this that made their friendship feel special.

So, as she waited for her mother to come take her home, she prayed in her heart that nothing should ever separate them.

“Jade.” She heard her name and lifted her head off Shawn's shoulder. She turned her head around to see her mother. Marie stood smiling with her arms stretched out for a hug and her golden hair fluttering in the wind. She looked like an older version of Jade with only the hair color being the difference between them.

Jade gave Shawn a light smile as she stood up and ran to Marie, her mother. She wrapped her in a warm hug, patting her back with one hand and caressing her hair with the other. After planting uncountable kisses on Jade's face, Marie released her and as they walked to the car, she turned back and mouthed a thank you to Shawn.

They reached the car and Marie opened the passenger door for Jade before going to the other side. As soon as she settled into the car, she turned it on and it began moving. Feeling uneasy about the quietness in the car, Jade turned on the radio. Her favorite song was being played so she increased the volume and adjusted her chair so she could lay on it.

With the coolness of the air conditioner just right and the song calming her nerves, Jade's eyes began to blink heavily. She had almost drifted completely to sleep when she jolted up due to a loud bang.

Looking up to see the broken windscreen and then Marie's startled face, Jade knew there was trouble. They were no longer on the highway but an unknown and dark street. Jade tried to remain calm but when she noticed the man standing by the window, holding a gun to her mother's head, she panicked.

“Run!” She heard her mother say and almost immediately, she pulled the door handle. The door opened and she dashed out of the car. But, she wasn't fast enough. A hand held her by the waist and pulled her closer.

She struggled to fight off the person as he covered her nose with a handkerchief. But, she was too weak and as she inhaled, she could feel her mind going blank. Before she finally fell unconscious, she saw silhouettes of two men.

★. ★. ★. ★. ★.

Jade jerked out of her sleep as she felt the cold water hit her skin. She opened her eyes but all she saw was darkness. The air smelt of tobacco and the place was as silent as a graveyard. She tried to stand up but she couldn't move her body. She wriggled and she noticed that she was tied to something - a chair. Fear gripped her as she began to remember what had happened some minutes - or hours ago. She had been kidn*pped.

The first thing that came to her mind was to scream. She tried to scream but it was impossible. She had been gagged. Wiggling and shaking the chair violently, she tried to untie her hands and free herself.

“Loosen her up.” She heard a cold voice from behind her and almost immediately, she felt someone untie her. The person removed her blindfold and the first thing she saw was her mother lying on the floor in her own pool of blood. She sprang up from the seat but fell to the floor with the chair on top of her as her legs were still tied to it.

Tears streaming down her bright blue eyes, she dragged herself across the broken stone floor, bruising her knees along the way. She reached where Marie lay writhing and knelt beside her, watching as blood streamed out of all the deep cuts at different parts of her body.

Jade felt her world spinning as she tried to stop the bleeding on her stomach. But, she knew it was useless. There was no way Marie could survive that. Her mother had never - and could never - hurt anyone. So, why would someone do this to her?

She shushed her as Marie opened her mouth to say something. Her blue eyes filled with tears as she raised her bloody hand up to touch her daughter's face one last time. Jade held her mother's hand to her cheek as she cried, assuring her that she would be fine, but deep down she knew it wasn't and would never be anymore. She cried harder when her mother's hand went stiff and cold and her eyes shut close.

Jade screamed as she raised her mother's head to her chest. Her heart was in so much pain that she felt it might explode. She couldn't understand why her mother had to die.

She was still crying when two men approached her and dragged her mother's body away despite her struggles. Raising her head, she looked around the structure, which looked like a warehouse, that she were trapped in. There were seven of them. The people who ruined her life.

She glared at them as she noted down their faces, height, build and everything. There were six men and one woman. They all had tattoos of a cat in their left arm except from the last one. He sat majestically on a chair behind her, smoking a cigar. He was wearing dark glasses and a face cap, successfully covering most of his face.

Jade could guess that he was the mastermind. The others were just working for him. When she would take her revenge, he'd be the one to suffer most.

“Blindfold her.” The man said coldly and the two men that had taken her mother away walked to her. She didn't struggle as they tied a piece of clothing around her eyes.

“What do we do about her, boss?” One of the men spoke, bringing Jade back to the present. She hadn't escaped yet and she was thinking of taking revenge.

“She'll eventually cause trouble.” Jade heard the man say, causing cold shivers to run down her spine. She could hear the sound of his footsteps as he walked toward her. “Get rid of her.” He uttered coldly as he held her face, puffing smoke on her face and making Jade cringe. “Or not. She's pretty and innocent. I want her.”

Jade frowned in disgust at the man's words and smell. How did he want her? What did he mean by innocent? She was still trying to figure it out when she felt his hand on her breast and she slapped him instinctively.

He slapped her back, making her head swirl. He slapped her again, causing her to bite the insides of her cheek and therefore making her bleed. Then he tried to place his hand again and she hit it away. Fear raced through every nerve in her body as he gave a cold, chilling laughter.

Then before she knew it, she lay on the floor with her hands were over her head while he sat on top of her. He reached for the zip of her jeans pants while she struggled to get him off her. But, she was like an ant trying to fight of an elephant. As he succeeded in unzipping her pants and taking them off, Jade closed her eyes, waiting and hoping for death to take her away. Forever.

★ Present day ★

Shawn sighed as he replied a text from another of his classmate, asking why he had missed classes. He typed that he had something very urgent to do and once he was done, he would return to school. Then he tossed his phone on the bed and went out to answer his mother's calls.

As he walked into the kitchen, he saw her by the sink doing some dishes. She looked so fragile. Her gold and gray hair was tied into a neat bun and she wore an apron around her waist. Her petite figure made her look younger and if not for the wrinkles on her face and the striking resemblance between them, no one would believe she birthed him.

He walked toward her and wrapped his arms around her in a warm embrace, cuddling his head toward her neck. She gave a light chuckle as she wiped her hands and caressed his hair with one hand.

“What trouble did you cause this time?” Rachel asked sarcastically as she began doing the dishes again.

Shawn pouted as he released her shoulders. “This time? Mom, I never cause trouble.” He sulked, folding his arms across his chest.

Rachel nodded. “Yeah, right. Then, why were you suspended? Principal Dolan said you talked back at him.” She continued, ignoring Shawn's pout.

Shawn scoffed. “He exaggerated. I'm sharing a friend's punishment. She was supposed to be expelled.”

Rachel sighed and placed another plate in the rack. “Jade caused trouble again? What did she do this time?”

Shawn muttered. “I never said it was Jade.”

Rachel turned to face him, her green eyes sparkling with certainty. “She's your only friend.” She remarked and Shawn gave a light smile. She pulled off her gloves and washed her hands. Then, she opened the fridge and brought out a food flask which she handed over to him. “Here, I made your favorite.”

Shawn sighed as he took it from her. “Thanks. Mom, I'm sorry.” He said, apologetically.

“For what? Helping out a friend? You shouldn't be.” Rachel replied as she filled up a glass with orange juice for him.

“But this affects everything. My perfect GPA will be ruined and I might even lose my scholarships. If that happens, all your hardwork..” Shawn said, feeling remorseful.

Rachel gave a light chuckle and placed the glass of juice on the table before replying. “You knew that yet you went ahead with it. You can't go back now. Besides, there's more to life than highschool and college. I'm pretty sure that Jade, before she was broken, would do the same.”

“Thanks, Mom. What will I do without you?” Shawn said gratefully and Rachel smiled. He sat down on a dining chair to eat. He opened the box and saw the one meal that he had felt was the easiest to make and had claimed it as his favorite so that he mother wouldn't have to stress herself -sandwich.

He raised the sandwich to his mouth and was about to take a bite when he heard his father scream his name. His heartbeat increased rapidly as he dropped the sandwich and left the kitchen to the sitting room, where the sound had come from.

As he walked into the sitting room, he saw his father standing by the door. His face was red with anger and his brown irises glinted with rage. He walked angrily toward him, removing his belt in the process.

Shawn knew his anger could only mean one thing - he had been informed of his suspension. He sighed and knelt down as it always ended up better for him when he didn't try to struggle. He closed his eyes as his father, Sergio, stood in front of him. He could smell the nasty odour of tobacco and vodka coming from Sergio and he could hear his heavy breathing from where he knelt.

He tried to remember the good times, when his father still had his job and treated his mother like a queen. The times when his father showed by his words and actions how much he loved him. The time when they were a one big family.

He wished he could go back to those times. And, he hoped it wasn't just lies his mother fed him with so he wouldn't hate his father. Because, he had begun to doubt if the monster he's known all his life was ever a man.

“Do not push me to the wall, Rachel. I'm trying to discipline this wayward boy of yours.” He heard his father say and he opened his eyes. His mother was standing between them, holding an end of the belt.

“Over my dead body will you touch my son.” She said, looking up to him defiantly. Her small frame compared to his huge stature made her feel like an ant challenging an elephant. But, she didn't care. Sergio could hurt her all he wanted but she would never let him touch her son.

“Fine.” Sergio said as he threw his belt away and grabbed Rachel by her neck. This was the third time she was challenging and since the other two experiences didn't teach, this was surely going to get her senses straight.

Shawn bolted up at the sight of this and reached for Sergio's arm, trying to release his grip on Rachel's neck but Sergio pushed him away. He stood up and ran to Sergio again and Sergio pushed him away again, causing him to bang his head on the wall.

Shawn blinked his eyes as his head spun. Fortunately for him, it didn't bleed but it hurt a lot. He could only see silhouettes of his parents but he could hear the whimpers of his mother. She was getting weaker with each second. He reached his hand toward the door and grabbed the fire extinguisher by it. Dragging himself up, he hit Sergio's head with it. Sergio muttered some curse words as he released Rachel and turned slowly to face Shawn.

Seeing the blood trickling down his forehead, Shawn dropped the extinguisher. His knees went weak as he watched his father fall flat on the floor. Tears rolled down his eyes as he knelt beside him. He was slowly becoming his worst fear.

His mother placed a hand on his shoulder, probably to reassure him, but he shrugged it off. Then he stood up and walked out of the house ignoring his mother's cries.

As he stepped into the darkness outside, sorrow surged through him and he struggled to hold back the tears in his eyes. He walked further away from his house, hoping and praying that nothing bad would happen to his father and that he would never be like him.

Reaching the highway, he realized that he had nowhere to go. It wasn't that he had no place to go as he had classmates who would willingly open up their houses to him, but it was that there was no place he could go to with the assurance that his father wouldn't be able to make trouble.

There was actually one place he could go to - one person his father dare not offend. But he doubted that Jade would let him into her home. Even though there was a big chance that she wouldn't let him in, he decided to go to her anyway.