Remembering the Hornets

11~Trouble

It had been about 10 minutes since I'd taken off in a run. I dared not call out anyones name, in case Alex had fought off his attacker and was coming after me again. I did find Jay, though, and rather quickly too. "Ali, where were you?" he asked, shining a flashlight at me.

I covered my eyes because the light hurt them. "Jay, why are you out here?" I asked, ignoring his question as I squinted to see him. He looked at me, not saying anything, and I gave him a concerned look. "Jay, you ok...?"

"All that blood..." Jay said, looking at me. I could now see that my clothes were torn and there was a mixture of -my guess was- my blood and someone else's on me. The red patches covered from my jeans to my hair. "W-what happened to you?"

I didn't want to tell him that I didn't know, but honestly, I didn't. I didn't even know how long I had been out here, or even how I got out here. How could I tell him something I didn't know? "J-Jay... I don't know." I admitted quietly, looking at him with wide eyes. That's when I realized- he was alone. "Where's Tim?" I asked suddenly.

Jay rubbed the back of his head. "He ran out of the hotel room saying he was going to go look for you."

I looked at him with wide eyes. My hands trembled as I looked back the way I came. "Well, if I were you, I'd start running." I said, looking back at Jay, who gave me a very concerned look. "I don't know about you, but I don't feel like being caught by Alex today."

Jay's hand gripped tighter around his camera as he heard me say Alex's name. "I can drive you back to the hotel, Ali." He said quickly, turning to leave. "But first, we have to get out of here and away from Alex."

I don't know if how Jay spoke or his actions worried me more. I understood if he didn't trust me, but it seemed like he just wanted me away. Maybe it's because he had been looking for Alex and had no sign of him until I came here. Maybe I'm a bad lu-' My mind wandered and I snapped out of my thoughts, hearing "Ali, come on."

I looked at Jay and followed him quickly, him walking in front of me so he couldn't notice my slight limp. Soon, both of us were out of the woods and in his car. His camera was in the passenger seat and I was laying down in the back. My ankle was killing me, though it was only a sprain. "Ali, promise me you will stay safe. I moved your stuff into my room once we got the door opened." Jay said, watching the road. I nodded, laying my head against the seat . I closed my eyes, holding onto my leg.

"I can try" I murmured and tried moving my foot. A large pain shot up my body, and I grimaced slightly. "Trouble seems to be my middle name, though."

Jay gave a sound that sounded like a small laugh. "Your's, mine, and Tim's, too."