A Condemned Haven

Chapter 45

Clarke was still five minutes out. She had kept calling Jack, but it just went straight to voicemail. He had to be okay, he had to be. Why hadn't she seen this earlier? She suspected Sammy of all people who was also close friends with Jack, so why not James? He had always been so nice to her. It didn't make sense that he was so nice to her considering he was the one who framed her for Brandon's murder. There had to be a reason he did it. They had never even spoken to each other before she met Jack, so it wasn't like he could have had anything against her. Things just didn't add up. All of this time he was right in front of their faces and they had never even suspected him.

When she turned on her street, felt a rush of adrenaline. She had no weapon, nothing to defend herself or Jack if he was in danger. She needed to call detective Vale, but what if she was wrong? No, there was no way she was wrong about this. All of the evidence pointed to James. His sister dying must have sent him off the rails. She pulled into the driveway and shut her door quietly. She wanted to at least get some clue of what she was walking into.

She snuck over to the window that she remembered was the living room. There was no one in there. Maybe the kitchen? Jack and Ethan had to be in there somewhere. She approached the window for the kitchen against the wall of the house. She needed to make sure that James didn't see her. If he did, she would lose the element of surprise. She peeked her face over the end of the window to get a look inside and saw two people strapped to chairs. Clarke could tell by the back of his head that it was Jack. His head was slumped over as if he were unconscious.

She dialed Vale's number before listening to it softly ring in her ear.

"Vale."

"I'm at James Keystone house. I think he was the one killing people and I think I found Ethan. Jack is in there too," she whispered.

"Okay kid whatever you do, don't go in there. It will only make things worse."

She hung up before walking to the back door. She prayed that it was unlocked so she could sneak inside. Tugging on it softly, it unlatched and opened. Trying to keep her feet as quiet as possible, she walked into the house. She was in the office, which was next to the dining room, across from the living room, and diagonal from the kitchen. She creeped along the wall through the living room, avoiding the doorway to the kitchen. She stopped at the edge. She could hear James shuffling around. What was he doing? She heard him smacking someone.

"Wake up Jack." Jack just groaned in pain. Clarke peeked around the corner to see Jack with his head still hung low. "Come on buddy. Clarke, I know you're here, so you might as well just come out. I know you won't let Jack sit here and get hurt." James delivered a blow to Jack's stomach and his face squeezed in pain.

"Okay, okay stop." Clarke walked around the corner with her hands up. "I'm here."

"Well there you are." He moved Jack's chair to face Ethan's. He then walked around behind Ethan's chair and stood there with the knife to Ethan's throat. "Now stand behind Jack."

Clarke moved behind Jack. He still had his head hanging and was breathing with extreme effort. She lifted her hand to his face from behind and he leaned into it.

"Clarke."

"I'm here now okay." He nodded his head in her hand and it nearly broke her heart how weak it was.

"What exactly is your plan here James?" Clarke was pissed now. James was supposed to be Jacks best friend and he was beating the shit out of him.

"My plan is to finish this once and for all. Believe me, if you're thinking about talking me out of it, that would be colossally stupid. I mean just look at Jack here." James laughed as if he were the funniest guy in the world. As if he wasn't about to kill another person right before her.