Best-Friends With Benefits (Under Reconstruction)

Chapter 43- Fear Factor

I was an idiot.

You know that one girl in every horror movie? The one who will walk around the house saying "Hello? Who's there?", as if the serial killer will respond with "Hey! I'm in your kitchen making a sandwhich!"

That character who will wander around outside alone, with a flashlight as their only choice of weapon, whenever they hear something suspicious. And every single time you can't help but yell at the screen "Stay inside you idiot! He's going to stab you, dumbass!"

Well, right now that character was me.

My hands gripped tighter at the steering wheel, as I tried to get them to stop shaking.

The sinking pit in my stomach grew heavier with guilt, when I realized that this was the second time today that I had stolen Conner's car. And at the mere thought of Conner, probably still fast asleep in his bed, the shaking in my hands spread up to my arms. I knew that if he had any idea what was going on he would be furious.

But honestly, I didn't really have many other options.

Now I know what you're thinking. Why don't I just call the cops? Or even bring Conner along? It was more than obvious that this was some sort of setup, and if I wasn't in the middle of this circumstance I would have thought the same thing.

But having someone I cared about in danger really put things into perspective.

If I called the cops, I had no doubt in my mind that whoever was with her would take her down with him. And there was no way I could even consider causing that.

And then there was Conner, the boy I was so helplessly in love with. If anything ever happened to him on my account, I already knew that I wouldn't be able to live with myself.

~

"Hey Con?" I asked him softly, hearing the grass rustle beneath us as he shifted into a more comfortable position.

My head was resting on his chest, listening once more to the steady beating of his heart.

The sun had already gone down hours ago, but we were content watching the subtle glimmering of stars and enjoying the silence of each others company.

He was occupying himself playing with my fingers again, a distracted habit of his. I shivered every time his thumb lingered over the soft skin of my palm, caressing my hand ever so gently.

"Yeah?" He responded softly, his warm breath tickling my ear.

"I totally won."

He chuckled, and I let out a small mewl of protest as he sat up to look around. The sprinklers had gone off a while back, but the grass, along with our clothes, was still soaking wet. Conners soccer ball was still laying abandoned a few meters away.

I sat up as well to remain cuddled against his bare chest, and his arm willingly snaked around to secure me to him.

Finally, he shook his head and snorted. "As if, you completely cheated."

"Did not." I grumbled rather childishly.

I didn't have to look up to know that he was rolling his eyes. "You picked up the ball and ran away." He pointed out.

"What, is that not allowed?" My heart soared when he laughed in response.

We fell back into a short, comfortable silence for a few moments, merely taking each other in. He was wearing only a pair of sweat pants to cover him, and his jet black hair was dripping wet, but I couldn't help but think that he had never looked handsomer.

"I know you've heard me say this far too often, but I love you. More than I thought possible." He said softly in my ear, and I took note of his increase in heart rate.

I smiled and shook my head. "As if I could ever get tired of hearing that." And it was true, even after all this time I still felt like a giddy school girl. "I love you more."

"Impossible." He teased, and I looked up to see him grinning down at me, green eyes alight like the stars above us.

He craned his neck to kiss the junction where my neck met my shoulder, and I had to suppress a tremble.

"And I gotta say," He went on. "I've always liked the sight of you in my shirts."

This time, it was me who snorted. "Trust me, I know."

"And it doesn't hurt that you're soaking wet and- Yowch!" He yelped when I whacked the side of his head. He brought a hand to rub at his skull grumpily. "Jesus, I was just kidding."

"Sure you were." I was more than used to his perverted comments by now.

"You know," he said after a while. "I'm surprised no on has called the cops by now."

"Huh." I responded, realizing it was true. The neighbors would have usually called the police by now. "Maybe they gave up trying."

And right on queue, the distant sound of a siren has us scrambling to out feet.

He grabbed my hand and sprinted for my house, and I giggled the whole way back.

~

I was jolted out of my remembering as a car honked at me. I then remembered that I was driving.

I could practically hear Conner complaining about my wretched driving skills, and demanding me to pull over and allow him to live.

I blinked back tears. Yeah, I could definitely not bring him into this.

It may not be the smartest decision, but for now it was my best bet at getting Alex out of there in one piece.

Alex, my mood dropped even further. My bubbly, ever-confident redhead of a friend, was in trouble. Probably in more trouble than I knew of. And if I had the chance to save her, I was sure as hell going to try.

I pulled up into the address the mystery man had given me, not even caring that I had been driving around 20 miles over the speed limit. It was a mansion, and a rather big one at that. The gate had been left open, and the path was conveniently lit up with old fashioned street lights.

After double checking the address, I jogged up the long driveway to the large white house, currently near black in shadows. It vaguely reminded me of Tom and Jerry's house from back when they had a party. That ended in disaster.

So I didn't exactly have high expectations for how this would turn out.

I was surprised to see that the front door was also wide open, and I grimly realized that he was already expecting me. That certainly didn't calm my churning stomach.

Unlike the outside of the house, everything inside the house was bathed in shadows, only remnants of wood flooring and smooth walls visible under the light leaking in from the open door.

Another feeling of uncertainty made my gut clench when I took the first step inside. I half wished I had brought Conner along, to hold my hand in the dark and whisper soothingly in my ear whenever I got nervous. Like now.

But then Alex flashed across my mind, crying and probably terrified right now, and my determination and generally stubborn conscience forced my feet back into action.

Gulping loudly and swallowing my fear, I traced a hand along the wall to my right so I didn't run into anything. My heart was thudding so loudly that I wouldn't be surprised if everyone in the house could hear it.

I made it to a set of stairs, and ascended them as quietly as I could, wincing with each step that creaked and silently cursing my notoriously rotten luck.

When I made it to the top, I suddenly realized that I could see the floor in front of me. My head whipped up and sure enough, there was light coming out from a doorway across the hall.

I stopped, but everything was silent. I tried not to notice that my hands were shaking again as I slowly made for the door.

This is it, I thought to myself. This is the moment that could very well get me or Alex severely injured, or worse.

And I was willingly walking right into it. Maybe Conner was right, I was too headstrong.

I hesitantly stepped into the room, ignoring the voice in my head yelling at me to run like hell.

The first thing I saw was Alex, facedown on the floor and chillingly silent. Though she had always been on the paler side (much to her dismay), at the moment she looked as still and white as a ghost. But that wasn't the scariest part, no, what horrified me the most was the scarlet liquid leaking out onto the floor.

The sight of blood on the floor beneath her had me rushing to her side.

Big mistake.

"Alex? Alex!" I shook her lightly, feeling panicked when she didn't respond.

The sound of the door shutting brought me out of my terrified state, and my eyes widened to the size of saucers at what- or rather who- I saw standing there.

My heart sank. I should have known that this was a set up.

"Well, hello there Selena. I was hoping you would make an appearance tonight."

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Salutations!

Again, sorry bout the wait, I am still computerless and my iPod is ridiculously slow.

A little cute one here! :)

Sorry bout the typos! They really bug me :/ thanks for pointing them out guys!

Anyways, just tell me what ya think? ;)