Bleeding Heart

Jeremy wrapped the gun in paper towels and put it in one of the front pockets of his jeans, he then led Anna by the hand down the hall and out to his old 1977 Dodge Power Wagon. He unlocked the car, opened the passenger door, helped her in, and then got in himself. He shuffled around behind his seat for a moment, then pulled out a jacket and handed it to her, she gratefully accepted it, relieved to have something more covering her than her shirt which was torn down the front and not doing her much good anymore as far as covering anything up. Then Jeremy just sat for a moment, thinking. Finally he turned to Anna and said "Anna," she looked dully at him, still in shock over what had happened to her, "we need to talk about something." Seeing the look of fear that crossed her face he quickly said, "No, we don't have to talk about that, I mean we can if you want to, but we don't have to, I know that maybe, I mean..." Jeremy stopped and looked at her a bit sheepishly, then took a deep breath. "Anna, what I'm trying to say is that we need to talk about what you want to do about this and about what you want me to do about this. I'm no huge fan of the police, but I think that we should probably take this to them. I can't really think of any other way."

He sat and looked at her, waiting, watching her for some kind of reaction. She sat unmoving, as Jeremy studied her he saw no sign of the hard ice queen that he was used to, instead there was a timid girl and she seemed... broken.

Anna could feel him looking at her, waiting for a response but she didn't know what to do. She desperately did not want to bring this to the police, they would ask her about it and ask her to explain every horrible detail over and over. She would probably have to go to court and sit up in front of a roomful of people and explain that she had been raped, beaten, and degraded, all for a fucking bastard's pleasure. As she thought of how her friends and family would react she cringed, she did not want them to know. Some of them would want her to talk to them about it, others would probably feel awkward around her and treat her differently, some might even stop talking to her. She hated to think about what her parents would say. At the same time though, what if she didn't report it and he did the same thing to some other girl, ruined some other girl's life. She couldn't let that happen, while she would rather just go home, curl up in a ball under her blankets, and not have anything more to do with him or what had happened to her ever again, Anna knew that if something happened to someone else because she hadn't reported him that she would never be able to forgive herself.

Just when Jeremy was beginning to think that Anna was not going to say anything she spoke. She spoke quickly, all in one breath, as if if she did not say it now, she would not be able to muster the nerve to say it later. "Okay, but please, would you stay with me while the police are talking to me and until I get home?" She looked up at him beseechingly and Jeremy's breath caught in his throat, even with tear stains and mascara running down her face and bruising beginning to show on her cheeks, she was beautiful. Jeremy's heart felt like it was racing and for a moment he could not say anything. Anna mistook his silence for reluctance. She looked down at her lap, "I know that it's asking a lot from you when you and your friend have already done so much for me, but please I don't think that I can do it alone. Also, I... well, I'm still kind of scared that he's going to come back for me."

Jeremy wanted to pull her to him and hold her but he wasn't sure if this was the right time. And fuck he was beginning to get a hard on. 'Perfect timing Jeremy the girl has just been attacked and now you're getting a hard on as she sits crying in your car, what the fuck is wrong with you?' he thought angrily to himself.

"Of course I'll stay with you, I'll stay as long as you want." Jeremy finally managed to choke out.

"Thank you," she said, sighing and looking up at him, "I can't tell you how much better that makes me feel."

Jeremy turned when he saw Mike running across the parking lot towards the car with Anna's purse in his hand. He motioned for Jeremy to roll down his window and came to a stop outside of the car. He looked over at Anna nervously, he didn't want to alarm her but he had to tell them. "Drace," Mike said, using Jeremy's last name, "whatever we're going to do about Principal Ashworth we better do it quickly, I went up there to make sure that he hadn't woken up yet and he was starting to move a little. I think that we've probably still got a couple of minutes but that's not very long. As soon as he's fully conscious he's probably going to either split and run off somewhere or come looking for us."

Jeremy nodded, "We better call the police right now then." He looked at Anna, "Do you want me to call or do you want to do it?"

"I'd really rather not if that's okay."

"That's fine."

Jeremy took his phone from his pocket, flipped it open, and dialed 911. He waited until someone picked up on the other end, briefly explained what had happened, and told the police where they were. The lady on the other end told him that they were sending people over right away and that they should be there shortly. Jeremy thanked her and hung up the phone. He leaned his head back and closed his eyes and breathed out deeply and slowly. Then he opened his eyes and looked at both of his companions as he said, "Well, good news is that they are sending people over right now. Bad news is that I have a strong feeling that our long night is about to get a lot longer."

"Tell me about it. I hope that he's still here when they get here." Mike went around to the other side of the car, opened the door and handed Anna her purse. She took it gratefully, thankful to have something of her own, something familiar, to hold onto. She scooted over into the middle seat so that Mike could climb into the car and take the seat next to her.

They waited in silence for a few moments, each of them thinking their own thoughts before Mike broke the silence. "Hey Anna you look familiar, where would I have met you?"

Anna opened her mouth to speak but before she could even say anything Jeremy said, "She's the new office secretary, that's why her purse was up there."

"Oh that explains it, I uh, well I occasionally stop by the office for a friendly chat."

"He means that he gets in trouble and gets called up there."

"Yeah, most of the time it's because of something that YOU talked me into doing in the first place."

Anna patted Mike's shoulder and smiled for the first time that night, "It's okay, Jeremy is in the office practically every day. So at least you can say that you aren't as bad as he is."

Mike laughed, "Thank god for that, if I was up there as often as he is then I think that my parents probably would have kicked me out of the house by now. Not that Jeremy has to worry about getting kicked out."

"You guys do realize that I'm still here right?"

"Did you hear something Anna?" Mike asked mischievously. She smiled and then said "Nope."

Jeremy growled something and turned away from them, pretending to be angry, but how the hell could he be angry at something that was making her smile, he couldn't. He was surprised to find that he was a little bit jealous that it was not him that was making her smile, but after going through what she had gone through that night, he thought that a smile at anything was an amazing thing.

Sirens blared in the distance. "About time." Jeremy and Mike said together. The three of them got out of the car and waited for the police to come over to them.

A tall officer with a gruff voice walked over to them. "Are ya'll the people that called in the report?" He asked them.

"I was the one who called officer." Jeremy volunteered.

"And is this the young lady who was attacked?"

Jeremy nodded, wanting to ask the officer if he saw any other battered young women around, but he restrained himself, no use in getting in anymore trouble. The police would undoubtedly ask what he and Mike were doing in the school after hours and there was really no answer that would not be breaking some law.

The officer asked if they were all right, Jeremy and Mike replied that they were fine, just a couple or scratches and a bruise or two. Everyone looked at Anna who quickly said that she was fine also, that she just had a split lip and a few bruises. Jeremy frowned but didn't say anything. He gave the officer the gun that he had collected from the science room, the officer put it in an evidence bag and put it in his car.

"Okay well right now we are sending people in to search the building, where was the man the last time that you saw him?"

"In one of the science classrooms upstairs, the front left corner of the building." Mike piped up.

The officer radioed in that the perp. had last been seen upstairs in one of the classrooms in the front left corner of the building. "Okay, well, while they are searching the building I'm going to need to go ahead and get everyone's information."

The officer had just finished getting all of their information and their accounts of what had happened when his radio beeped, he answered it, listened attentively for a moment, and then put the radio back and turned to Jeremy, Anna, and Mike. "They said that it is all clear inside. No one is in there."

Jeremy cursed, Mike started running his fingers fretfully through his hair, and Anna paled and slid down the car. Mike took the officer off to the side slightly to talk with him further.

"Are you sure?" Mike asked the officer.

"They are very thorough so yes, I can say fairly certainly that I am sure." The officer spoke up. "Boys, since I've got all of your information ya'll can head home for the night. When there are any substantial developments we will contact you and ya'll will probably need to come down to the station. Ms. Shields, if you don't mind I'd like to speak to you a little bit more, alone."

Jeremy spoke up, "Thanks but I'm actually going to stay here and take Anna home after you're done."

"I am too," as explanation Mike said "he's my ride."

Jeremy knelt down next to Anna and put his hands on her shoulders. "Anna look at me." When she did he stared into her eyes trying to reassure her as much as possible. "Anna, the bastard probably split, he's probably getting as far away from here as he can right now. Anyways Mike and I are here for now, nothing is going to happen to you, after the officer is done talking with you I'll drop Mike off, then drive you home myself, I'll even check your house for you, just in case, that is if you would like me too. Don't worry about getting your car tonight, tomorrow I or one of your friends or family can drop you off here to pick it up. Okay?"

Anna nodded her head but she was still shaking. Her mind was reeling. 'He's still out there. I don't know where he is. No one knows where he is. He could come for me. What if he's waiting for me somewhere? What if he comes when no one is around? What if he hurts someone else? What if he hurts me again?' Anna realized that Jeremy was still talking to her, trying to get her attention.

Jeremy saw the look on Anna's face, as if her thoughts were going through her head at a million miles a minute and none of them good ones. "Anna, Anna, snap out of it, it's going to be okay." Jeremy could tell when she finally realized that he was talking to her again, he stood up and reached a hand down to her. "Here, I'll help you up, grab my hand." Anna took hold of Jeremy's hand, and let him help her up, just now realizing that he really was tall, well built, and overall a very good looking young man. She shook her head, those were not the type of things that she should be noticing about someone who was not even out of high school yet and could possibly be a minor. He didn't look like he was only 17 or 18 though, he looked a little older than that. 'Still,' she told herself, 'that's not the point, he's only in high school and you're 22 and should definitely not be noticing him in this way, especially after what happened tonight, what's wrong with you Anna?'

Jeremy held out his hand, "Give me your cell phone Anna, I'll put my number in it in case you want a ride tomorrow or anything else."

Anna handed him it to him and watched as he went into her contacts and added his number before handing her cell phone back to her. "There, now you can contact me if you ever need anything. Why don't you go talk to the officer now, I'll be right here waiting when you're done." Anna nodded and walked off with the police officer, they walked far enough that they were out of hearing range, but Jeremy was relieved that they did not go far enough to be out of sight. Despite what he had told Anna he had his reservations about whether or not Ashworth had really high tailed it.

The officer seemed to talk to Anna for a long time, there seemed to be a lot more head shaking and nodding than actually talking on Anna's part. Finally, after giving her a look that he thought that there was more than she had told him but that he would let it be for now, the officer with Anna back over to the boys and said that they could go now as long as they remembered to be careful and keep an eye out for Ashworth.

Mike stretched, "I, for one, would really like to get out of there and go home." Jeremy and Anna quickly agreed. Anna shivered as she turned and looked back at the school. Before it had just been a boring work place with an annoying boss that was constantly hitting on her, now the place invoked a feeling of terror within her. She didn't think that she wanted to tell anyone what else had happened to her before Jeremy and Mike had shown up, she didn't even tell the cop, she had just given him vague answers that she could tell had left him unsatisfied. She decided that it would probably be best if she let them think that what Jeremy had seen had been the worst of it.

The three of them got into Jeremy's pick-up truck and left the school, Anna sitting in between Jeremy and Mike again. No one said anything else until they reached Mike's house and even then it was just the usual, see you later, bye, with the exception of some worried looks exchanged between the two young men.

After they had dropped Mike off Jeremy turned the radio on to break the silence and hopefully help both he and his remaining passenger calm down. Anna directed him to her house which was a relatively small, but nice looking, one story house with flower beds on either side of the path that lead up to her front door. The house and the plants were well maintained and the house looked like it had been freshly painted.

Jeremy turned to Anna. "Would you still like me to come in with you and look around, just to be safe?" Anna nodded and they got out of the car and walked slowly to the front door. Anna handed him her keys and waited anxiously, half expecting someone to jump out at them when they opened the door. It took Jeremy a couple of tries to get the door open and when he did they both unconsciously held their breaths, waiting for something to happen. After a few seconds of waiting just to make sure that no one was going to jump out at them or anything they both let out the breaths that they had not realized they were holding in.

"The light switch is on the left." Anna informed Jeremy.

Jeremy felt on the wall to his left until he found the light switch and flipped it on. It must have been her living room because there were a couple of comfortable looking couches and a TV that was set up in a corner of the room. Jeremy went through all of the rooms in the house, flipping on the light switches and checking each room for any nasty surprises that might be hiding in them as he went. The whole time that he was checking the rooms Anna hovered close behind him waiting anxiously for him to proclaim that there was no one hidden anywhere in her house.

When Jeremy was finished checking all of the rooms he asked Anna if there was anything else that she wanted him to do before he left. She told him no, thanked him for checking her house, and started to turn away to show him to the front door, but it was too late. Jeremy had seen her chin start to tremble as she tried unsuccessfully to hold back tears. He pulled her to him and rubbed her back while she cried.

"What's wrong Anna? I checked your house, no one is here, just make sure that your doors are locked and keep a phone close by and you'll be fine."

"I know, but I can't seem to help it, I'm scared, I don't know what I'm going to do after you leave. I'll be here all by myself and..." Jeremy couldn't understand the rest of what she said because she was now sobbing into his shoulder. He continued to comfort her, rubbing her back and shoulders. Eventually she began to relax slightly against him and her sobbing turned into sniffles.

Jeremy considered his options and there was only one that he liked but he wasn't sure that she would feel comfortable with it. Jeremy decided to ask anyways though.

"Would you like me to spend the night with you Anna?"

She looked up at him and he, realizing how that had probably sounded, hurried to make it clear that he wasn't trying to get anything from her or hit on her or anything like that.

"That didn't come out quite right, I only meant, umm... well, would you feel more comfortable if someone was here with you? It doesn't even have to be me, do you have a boyfriend or a friend that you would like to come over, I could stay here with you until they got here." Jeremy had no idea what it was about her that had him constantly stumbling all over himself, especially when she looked up at him with those crystal blue eyes of hers. He was never this awkward with any other girl, in fact he had a reputation for being very smooth.

Anna actually felt herself smile a little bit as she watched him so obviously stumbling over his words. When he caught her looking at him, obviously finding his predicament entertaining, he blushed. Jeremy Drace was stumbling over himself and blushing because of her, even though she had only been working at the school for two weeks she had heard all about the infamous Jeremy Drace. She had heard about his quick tongue, about how much of a player he was, and about how nothing any teacher said ever fazed him, which annoyed the teachers to no end. The boy was practically the epitome of a smooth operator and he was blushing in front of her. Anna thought it was adorable and couldn't help herself, she hugged him.

"I don't have a boyfriend, none of my girlfriends live close by, and I knew how you meant it so don't worry. I think that it actually would make me feel a lot better if you did spend the night. I didn't want to ask because, well I hardly knew you at all before tonight, I still don't know that much about you, and I felt like I would have been committing some huge sin asking a boy that goes to the high school that I work at to spend the night with me.

Anna stepped back, thinking about something. "Won't your parents be worried if you don't come home tonight? They are probably wondering why you're not home right now."

Jeremy laughed, "I've lived on my own since I turned 18. So no, I won't have any worried parents if I don't come home tonight."

"18? How old are you Jeremy?"

"I'm 19, and I'm still a senior because, well, promise you won't tell anyone?"

"Okay?"

"I'm a grade behind because in tenth grade I got mono and missed so much school that they made me repeat the year." Jeremy admitted.

Anna frowned. "What's so bad about that?"

Jeremy gave her a sheepish look, "Well somehow the entire school thinks that I smoked it up on the football field or vandalized a teacher's car or something and got sent to a correctional school. I've never bothered to point out to anyone that if I had been at correctional school that I wouldn't have been held back a year."