Trepidation || j. g ||

| s a v e m e |

JAKE DANCED along to AC/DC's ever so iconic "Highway To Hell" as he wiped away at the kitchen table, nodding his head to the beat as he glided a wash cloth along the dark mahogany wood.

The music was all too loud, the melody dragging outside of the house as Jake idly cleaned. He had wiped the table for a record of twenty times in the last few minutes, leveling his eye sight to make sure not a crumb or streak spread across the dark surface.

Jake's playlist continued to play, Queen's "Another One Bites The Dust" boomed through the stereo now as he rinsed the wash cloth in the kitchen sink. He had not noticed Athena's extended absence, as he had been so adamant on cleaning.

It was as if the music synchronized perfectly to the scene outside their cozy home with Athena shouting as she continuously bashed a stone into the face of man who had tried and ultimately failed, in apprehending her. He wasn't just an ordinary man, of course not. His shining gold badge on his waist meant all the difference.

Blood splattered her face in an almost symmetrical manner, her eyes wild as her chest heaved from the adrenalin coursing through her veins. Blood had managed to settle into her diamond ring and all around her wedding band, giving the white diamond a pink tint. Her hands shook ferociously as she fell backwards. She didn't take another look at the nearly unrecognizable face in front of her before she began running back to her house.

She could see Jake practically strutting along to the beat through their kitchen window, which overlooked their backyard and into the woods. She called out his name, but it only came out in a hoarse whisper. Her forearms were coated in that sickly crimson substance, her breathing shallow as she felt like she wouldn't make it up to her house.

She could hear the bass of the music, the consistent thump thump thump ringing and practically shaking the wood paneling of their house as Athena managed to make it to their back door. She banged on the glass, her hands leaving a quite morbid stain of dark red blood in the form of handprints-sliding down the once pristine glass to her now collapsed body.

The song had stopped, Jake hearing a small banging resounding from their back door. He grabs a kitchen towel, drying his hands as he walked toward his stereo. Turning it down cautiously, he looked around and called out for Athena. With no answer, he then proceeded with caution towards the back door. He looks out of the kitchen window first. Seeing the yard empty, he continues.

He turns his body, looking out one of the side panel windows beside the back door to see no one standing outside. Thinking the sound to be from an animal, Jake opened the door to have all the color leave his face. The glass door had frantic, bloodied handprints leading downward to a nearly unconscious Athena. He pushed on the glass, trying to get Athena to move but she was so drained. She was mortified. After a while of pushing, Jake had managed to shimmy his way out of the house and onto their small patio area.

"Athena, look at me, hey-" he began quickly, assessing her pale features and bloodied state. He looked to see where the blood was coming from, but upon seeing no wounds on her skin-his face turned to stone. His breathes came out in white puffs, the cold washing over Minnesota rather quickly this time of year. Athena began shivering, Jake pulling her up and into their warm home

"What happened?" He began, his eyes seeming to turn to ice as he stared at his wife once they were in the safety of their kitchen.

Jake held onto Athena tightly as they swayed slightly on the floor, Athena's nimble digits reaching outwards to claim Jake's forearms wrapped around her.

"He tried to kill me-that man tried to take me-" She croaked, her wild eyes closing tightly as she let out a shaky breath. Her bones felt like they were shaking inside her body...

"Who? Who tried taking you?" Jake sputtered as he couldn't believe someone would know this location other than Dawson.

"He was...he was wearing a suit. I-I only remember the color of his shirt it was blue. He was...he was holding something in his hand I can't remember what it was! But he was screaming at me to stay still and then he grabbed me and he-" Athena began to cry, her head shaking as she gripped onto Jake's naked forearms.

"They're coming for us. I know it. I knew they'd find us. They're coming for us."

-

Jake stared down at the pale corpse in front of him, his shallow breaths all that could be heard in the eerie woods of Minneola. Jake's cheeks and nose were red from the cold, his eyes blue steel as he suddenly tilted his head back and looked up into the darkening sky. The color reminiscent of cornflower blue, with a border of tall pine trees that seemed to barely touch its surface. Jake suddenly began to laugh.

His body shook from laughter, his eyes seeming to twinkle. The man put his hands up in the air for a second and dropped them back to his sides in a mocking manner. It wasn't long until Jake's chilling laughter shifted to unnerving sobs that wracked through his body. He got on his knees, placing his hands out in front of him as they clutched at the dirt and moss covered floor of the woods. His fingers dug into the earth with such malice, such disappointment.

Everything was fine for so long. How? How could he have been so careless...

Then it hit him. A sudden strike of realization hit Jake so hard that he immediately stood up from his crouched position. He looked down at the body, sniffling once before blinking a few times in rapid succession. He then reached down, gripping the pants leg of the corpse and began to drag it downstream.

It only took Jake about an half hour before he was jogging back to his home where his frantic wife awaited. He suddenly realized how this happened and that they had to leave. He threw open the back door, letting a burst of cold air enter the warm home before kicking the door closed with his booted foot. A light dusting of snow just began to coat the ground outside. Jake's eyes seemed to analyze this fact as he stared out of the elongated kitchen window which overlooked their backyard.

Fast paced footsteps made Jake snap out of his trance, his glimmering blue eyes meeting the seemingly ordinary umber ones of his frazzled wife. Athena's curls framed her face in a frizzy mess, her cheeks tinged the perfect petal pink as her lips parted slowly at Jake's appearance. She released the two duffle bags from her grasp, allowing them to crash onto the clean wood on either side of her body with an alarming thud.

She looked at Jake with a stern expression, pulling up his flannel from her shoulder as she pushed forward into the kitchen.

"We're leaving. Now." She spoke strongly, grabbing as many bottles of water she could and proceeding to stuff them into one of the duffle bags.

"We're all packed. I have the emergency file that Dawson gave us. If we're good on time, we should be halfway to the gulf by sunset."

Jake's brows tugged together, his fingers immediately pinching the bridge of his nose as he stood in the path of his frantic wife. His wedding band gleamed just right in the white light of the space, Athena doing a double take as she noticed this. She stopped upon seeing his reaction, causing her to walk over to him and carefully grab his wrist.

"I'm sorry, but I'm scared for us. We've got to get moving. We don't have any other option."

Jake's hand went to push Athena's curls behind her ear, his fingers dancing along her freckled cheekbone as he nodded with a trying smile on his gruff features.

"I know, baby. I'm ready."