The Haunting

Chapter Twelve Part I

I stared at the graceful arch of Chloe's neck. The way her breathing steadily thrummed in the car. She was in the perfect pose for me to draw her. But I won't. She was asleep in the seat, turned to the side, her eyes shifting around under her lids, having some sort of dream.

I looked down at the blank page in my sketchbook. It returned my dejected stare with a glare of its own. I looked back into the previous pages of our little adventure. I was at the point where Chloe killed Dr. Davidoff. All in black and white. I went back and pulled out my colored pencils. I started to shade, and then stopped.

I couldn't focus. I sighed and rubbed my eyes. The sun was just peeking over the plains, and we had already crossed two states. I really needed to get some sleep. Derek was sitting next to Chloe, and I nearly snarled in jealousy.

She was supposed to be mine! I wanted to shout at him. But you took her away from me. I loved Chloe, there was no denying that. I needed her back. But how?

Derek had her in his grasp, and I don't know how to break her free. She obviously didn't want to be there with him. She was being forced! That was the only answer. Chloe would never willingly date a monster, not that Derek was a monster or anything, so she was being forced.

Things came into perfect clarity after that. She was being forced to like Derek, so the plan was to figure out a way to lure Chloe to him without Derek knowing what I was doing! It was the perfect idea; all I needed to do was figure all the miniscule points of the plan. It was only the beginning of the trip, too. I would figure something out by the time they got to the safehouse.

Once they were there, I would put that plan to work. Just then Lauren burst out in a sing-song voice.

"Who wants breakfast?" She chirped, perkily. "We have a gourmet choice of Burger King, Mickey D's, and IHOP. Who wants what?"

I watched Derek nudge Chloe awake with his elbow, she opened her eyes and smiled at him. She was a good actress; I couldn't even tell she was forcing herself to do that. But I knew, deep down, that she was being forced to like him. She probably hated him for what he was doing to her.

We ended up just going through McDonalds drive through. I swear the people that man those don't know how to talk human. The entire time I watched Chloe. She was so pretty.

I made excuses to talk to her by showing her the comic of our adventures. We talked about it for a solid ten minuets and twelve seconds.

This isn't over Derek. I will get her back. Just you wait.