Sincerely Adeline

Journal Entry #6: Lies, Knives, and Bullets

Journal...

I...I...

I, I shot him.

I shot him. I, what have I done? What have done? I'm in a frenzy of hyperventilating and tears and shudders. He was... Oh my... what have I done? Thank goodness Joey's still asleep. I couldn't let him see me like this. And Grant's not here either. Still at school. Still doesn't know anything.

I keep trying to justify it. What else could I have done? He was... He lied. I can't believe how... gullible and... and...trusting I was. He lied and now Joey's suffering in the hospital for it! He's in the hospital! All because of that horrid lie.

My mind continues to flash back to the sound of the gun firing, the force rattling up my arm, and the... image of Slade on the ground holding his head and his fingers turning... red...

Red.

Just gotta breathe. Just gotta breathe... I don't even know if I should go home or not if Slade's still alive. And I hate to say this, but right now, I hope he's not.

I'm sorry. Yes, I did. I did love him. I just hope that I wasn't crazy, too. It started a we..week ago. Slade, he was in Africa, or I think he was, I don't know what was a lie or truth anymore... But it's what he told me. I was home and Joey was asleep. Asleep. I had tucked him into bed and had told him a story to get him to sleep. I was just cleaning up. And then the glass broke and these outrageously dressed men in black and red came storming into the house with guns in their hands.

I had no idea what was going on, but I grabbed a dish and threw it at one of them. Somehow, I got one of their guns and started firing at them since they had already attacked me. I thought that most had left, but not all of them. I started to choke and only heard 'we got the kid, now Deathstro...' before I passed out.

You'll never know a nightmare. Never.

Not unless you wake up and run up to see if your kid is still asleep and find the bed sheets messy and they're empty. I called through out the whole house. Joey was gone. I stumbled and found myself on the ground. Just sobbing. Finally, I regained my senses and got up to call Slade.

He answered, "Hello?"

And I couldn't answer back, I just choked and started to sob again as I heard him continue, "Addie? Addie? What's wrong? Are you alright?"

I coughed and whipped away my tears with my sleeve answering, "Joey, Slade, Joey's... Joey's gone."

The receiver seemed dead on the other line as though Slade had just been hit and was shocked at it, "He's gone? What do you mean he's gone?"

Suddenly fury erupted in me and I yelled, "He's gone! They took him! Some crazy men in black and red burst into the house, knocked me out, and took him!"

"They took him, Slade, he's gone." That's all I remember clearly.

Slade was home within ten hours. And, somehow, he remained so calm. I didn't understand anything. We got a ransom about fifteen minutes after he got home. They kept yelling over the phone things I didn't understand. They wanted to see some terminator named 'Deathstroke'. Kept yelling about money, information, a man named 'The Jackel'. Slade sounded furious and continued to answer them, but threatening to kill them if they hurt Joey.

I was still frantic. We hadn't called Grant yet, but there didn't seem to be time. Slade started to pace around in the family room. I got angry, saying he wasn't doing anything, but he cut me off, telling me that it was a delicate matter. I said that I didn't care and that I just wanted Joey back. My ranting continued.