Mia Carter The Dare

CHAPTER FOUR – THE RETURN

May’s mother walked over to the pool and got the girls attention, waving and smiling at them.

“May honey, there’s a phone call for you on the land line.” May’s mother held a towel for her daughter as she exited the pool. Mrs. Jenkins walked in with her daughter and returned a short minute later with more snacks and drinks.

“Thanks Mrs. J!” Jordan called. She smiled and waved and headed back into the house. The guys were back to rough housing when May came back out not too long after and sat on the edge of the pool.

“Hey girl, who calls a land line now-a-days?” Christy joked.

“Oh, it was just my grandpa wishing me a happy birthday, he’s old school, still uses land lines. He refuses to conform to the binding contracts of cell phones. He’s been in Europe for the last few weeks and wasn’t able to get a hold of me on my actual birthday.” May smiled. “My parents are also wandering over to the neighbor’s house for card games and some drinks. We have the place to ourselves for a while.” She added, trying to lighten the mood, but the dark cloud was covering their bright afternoon again. Taylor noticed it and so did the rest of the girls. Judy and Cristy moved closer to Taylor, Kala and May on the edge of the pool.

“Hey, I didn’t want to really talk about it, not today of all days. But I know we are all thinking about it, so let’s get it out now and then move on. I’m assuming you all got the same letter I did about who’s been released from prison?” Taylor said very quietly. She looked over at the guys who were throwing around a football at the other end of the pool.

“John Miller.” Christy’s voice shook. They all knew it was coming. They had received official looking letters from the attorney handling Taylor’s case, notifying them all that he had been release for good behavior and was also going to file an appeal to have all charges dropped. Disgusted with the way the judicial system handled his case, the girls tried hard not to let the poisonous letters ruin the day, but it was the way the conversation had flowed. There was no point in burying their heads in the sand about it.

“What if he comes back for revenge on us? I mean our testimonies put him behind those bars. He’s not letting that go, he’s not letting us go. He’s not letting you go especially Tay.” Kala nervous now, looked over her shoulder, half expecting to see John standing there.

“I cannot believe how fast he got out!” Judy raged, “I mean he smacked you two around in the beginning,” motioning to May and Cristy, “Then escalated his behavior and he almost killed Kala and Tay. Does he actually have to kill someone before this will be taken seriously? The man cannot be out in society. But his idiotic parents bail him out of everything!” Judy’s voice was a harsh whisper, her face was red with anger and her breathing was sharp.

“Maybe he won’t bother us. Maybe he will just move on with his life like we have. I thought the letter even said something about him having to go live with a relative other than his parent’s, or half-way house or something like that. He still has to check in and be monitored you know? He can’t just roam freely.” Taylor was trying to put a silver lining into the dark cloud. Goosebumps were plaguing her skin at the thought of John returning. The pool water lapping at her skin was adding to the chill coursing through her body. Even the hot sun did nothing to warm her. She had a horrible sinking feeling that John would come after them as soon as he could. The girls were huddled together tightly, they didn’t notice the guys had stopped playing their game.

“Hey, no telling secrets remember?!” The girls were so wrapped up in their conversation and John’s return, they nearly jumped out of their skin when a man’s voice suddenly boomed from behind them. Ken was grinning like a fool, proud of himself for managing to scare the girls. His grin vanished when he received the look of death from May. He realized, with some guilt, his prank was not received well. He tried to lighten their darkened looks, “Come on girls, come back to the party!” He motioned. Ken knew where their conversation had taken them. He knew about the letters the girls all received from the court. He hated that John had that effect on them still. He smiled and kept motioning to the girls and took May’s hands. They decided to push away the dark clouds and remember they were together to have a good time. It was time to celebrate, not to worry themselves sick over John Miller’s release. They could talk about it later. Plastering forced smiles, they all swam over to where the guys were.

“Oh crap, Kala, I forgot the towels in the car, wanna come with me to grab them?” Taylor asked, quickly exiting from the pool. She wanted a minute away to get her thoughts collected. Out of all of them she was harboring the worst fear about the letter stating John’s release. She told none of them she had spent the whole night in a cold sweat and her panic attacks induced spells of horrible dry heaving. Even her anti-anxiety medicine couldn’t stop the attacks. She knew each of her friends were dealing with it their own way, but she did not want to tell them how she was handling it or... wasn’t handling it. She was terrified, she was pissed. She was angry with herself for letting that man have so much power over her. Never again, she thought, never again. Kala agreed to go with her and was about to follow Taylor out of the pool, when Jordan grabbed Kala by the waist and shoved Joey forward.

“Why don’t you take this guy with you instead Tay?” Jordan laughed as his grip tightened around a very stunned Kala. Joey jumped at the chance and got out of the pool and casually walked over to Taylor.

“That alright with you?” He asked smoothly. Taylor was entranced by that scarred smile of his. Her sudden fears and anxieties disappeared just by looking into his eyes. She resisted the urge to kiss him and bite his lower lip.

“Of course it is.” She winked and started walking to the side yard and out to the front where the cars were parked. She felt safe enough not to lock the doors since May’s family had moved to a more secure place, or so she thought.

“I really do like your car Tay. Your dad is awesome when it comes to fixing up cars.”

“He really does do an excellent job.” She replied softly, looking at the beautiful car and its flawless paint. Her eyes misted thinking that her dad had worked so hard getting it ready for her. “He loves to play mechanic.” She laughed, changing her thoughts. She walked to the car with Joey, “Maybe we’ll go for a ride later huh?” She turned and smiled, he took her hand and pulled her close. She eased herself into his arms, they stood there for a moment just the two of them, embracing in a way that felt solid and rich with emotions. She sighed, he kissed the top of her head. Taylor pulled back and opened the door of her car. She wrestled out the big fluffy towels she’d thrown in before picking up Kala. Joey laughed and helped her grab them.

“Why so many towels?” He teased.

“Always be prepared, as my dad says! One can never have too many towels, right?” She said loudly, laughing as they started turning back towards the side yard.

“Well I hope you brought one for me!” A heart stopping voice came from behind them. It had Taylor whipping around in fury and panic. Joey dropped the towels and in a lightning fast movement stood in front of her, shielding her from anything John had coming.

“What the hell are you doing here!?” Joey shouted in pure rage. His muscles tensed, ready for a fight. After the night he watched John beat Taylor within an inch of her life, he swore he would never let anyone get that far again. He had trained with the best self-defense coaches he could find. He trained hard in martial arts and was the top of his division in competitions. He would never lose a fight to John again. He held Taylor behind him with one hand, the other fisted at his side and ready to plunge into John’s sneering face. The anguish in Taylor’s eyes when Joey looked at her was almost his undoing. He glared back at John, who had moved closer towards them.

“John.” Taylor whispered.

“Yep sweetheart, here in the flesh.” He opened his arms and did a slow circle. His handsome, dangerous smile distracted Taylor. She was disgusted with herself for even thinking about it.

“Why are you here? How did you find out about the party?” Joey growled. John was feeding off of Joey’s rage. He wanted to laugh in his face and then beat him to the ground. Though, John noted, Joey was just as tall as he was, he’d bulked up too since he’d last fought him. No matter, John would give Joey the beating he deserved one day soon. Then he would be free to go after Taylor, Kala and the rest of them. He owed them big for what they had done to him.

“Ohhhhh, aren’t we Mr. Tough Guy now?” John was delighted with the fear, anger and aggression he was receiving. His smile broadened, he softened his tone and kept looking right through Joey to Taylor. “I have, people, shall we say? I couldn’t pass up the opportunity to see my girls! How lucky I am to see my favorite girl right as I got here.” He bit his lower lip, narrowing his eyes on Taylor’s.

“I am not your girl John! None of us are!” Taylor shouted at him. She was filling with red-hot anger. She was shaking, she couldn’t tell if it was out of fear or her adrenaline kicking in.

“Come on Tay,” John’s velvet smooth voice washed over her, “You know you still have feelings for me. I know you do. You know I have feelings for you still too. Even though your sad, sobbing testimony put me in a cell for months, I still love you. You still belong to me.” He stepped closer. Joey stood firm, he wasn’t going to let John win this time. “Come on sweetheart, don’t be afraid. I’m not gonna bite.” He continued to bait them. He leaned against her car and looked it up and down the way he had looked Taylor up and down, standing there in her bathing suit. He had to fight the physical reaction he had when he saw her walking to her car. There she was, teasing him again. She was still his, she had just forgotten that. They were all still his. Even Judy, he hadn’t forgotten her. “Nice car Tay.” He caressed the car in a similar way a man would touch a woman in seduction.

Joey was over this conversation and it was time for John to leave. As he was about to force him out, Kala came racing around the side yard with the rest of the group. She was expecting to crash a romantic scene for fun and instead froze dead in her tracks, the rest of the group bumping into her as she ground to a halt. Jordan’s shout of outrage echoed through the yard, he bulldozed his way over to where Joey and Taylor stood. Joey gently pushed Taylor further backwards towards the rest of the group as Jordan drew near. They were ready for a fight. Kala grabbed Taylor and yanked her back, never once looking away from John.

“Get the hell out of here John!” Jordan shouted, standing next to Joey. The two of them made a solid wall between John and the rest of the group. Marc, Jack and Ken soon joined them.

“Leave John and we won’t have trouble.” Ken was trying to keep the tension under wraps. He looked from John to his friends. They were like the Spartans ready to take on Xerxes’ army. Ken knew if it came to blows, John would not walk away from it. Ken knew John was not worth the trouble killing him would bring either. Ken also knew Joey and Jordan wouldn’t be able to stop themselves from ending John’s life. He knew, just as they did, if John’s life was snuffed out, that was the only way the girls would ever truly be safe. John’s death would end the fear May talked about all the time, for good. John surprisingly put his hands up in a gesture of mocking surrender.

“Chill out guys.” He calmly said, still gliding his hands over Taylor’s Chevelle. “Like I was telling Tay and this douche here, I just came to say hi to my girls. See if maybe any of them wanted to hook up, you know, for old times’ sake.” His baiting was relentless and hitting its mark with every word. “Kala, wow honey, you sure filled out real nice. Damn. I bet the three of us,” he gestured towards Taylor and her, “would have a really good time back at my place.” He laughed hard and Jordan just about came unhinged at that last remark.

“GET OUT OF HERE. NOW.” Marc was the one speaking up now. He was clenching his teeth as he spoke his words. He was protecting Judy as her lover and the rest of the girls like a brother, he would bloody John up if he took one more step closer. Once again tensions mounted, the outcome of this scene balanced on a knife’s edge. John stepped backwards, he hooked his thumbs in the belt loops of his jeans and just sneered. A truck could suddenly be heard roaring loudly up the driveway, Johns “boys” were coming. The repulsive beat up truck screeched to a halt, Chris, Jeff and Luke all cat-called at the girls, made kissing sounds at them and at the same time, flipping the guys off.

“Yooooooooow May, look at you!” Chris shouted, “Come over here let me take you for a ride honey!”

“Hey ladies, looking smokin’ hot! Come ride with us!” Jeff shouted, a beer in his hand while the other held the steering wheel. “We’ll really get the party started!” They all jumped out of the truck and walked towards John. They made their own wall next to him. John turned his attention once more to Taylor. Who now, to his surprise looked like she wanted to rip his head from his shoulders. That made him hot for her even more. She was his favorite, no doubt about that. He dreamed of her every night he was in that stinking cell she had put him in. He dreamed of seducing her again, making her want him like he had in the past. He dreamed of taking his time with her, making her want more of him, he’d give it to her, he’d give her all of him. Then, once they had both found satisfaction, he would take his time in killing her. He relished in the thought of the light slowly leaving her eyes. She would die being his and only his. No man would ever touch her again. He came back to the scene at hand, shaking off his fantasy of having Taylor once more. His boys were jeering and trying to incite a fight. He calmed them down with a hand in the air. He looked away from Taylor and back at the other five men ready to do battle and chuckled softly. He moved his eyes back to the girls hiding behind their men. He hated the thought that Joey was touching his Taylor. He tried to calm himself.

“I just want to talk to Taylor. Let. Me. Talk.” John was done playing this game.

“You can say what you need to from there John. You don’t need to come any closer. It doesn’t matter what you say, I don’t give a shit.” Taylor, her voice strong, stood with her friends. Her words hit him like a punch to the gut, she couldn’t talk to him like that. She would ’give a shit’ about what he had to say and she would listen. He snapped his fingers and in an instant his goons managed to subdue Jack and Ken, knocking them to the ground. Then the three of them took on Joey, Jordan and Marc. While the distraction of the brawl began, John, like a deadly viper in the grass, slid passed them all and was closing in on Taylor and her friends. May yanked on Cristy’s arm and the two of them ran. They fled as fast as they could, not looking back. Shocked that they took off like that, Taylor, Kala and Judy were now alone facing John. He was upon them in an instant, looming over them like an angry bear. The guys frantically trying to break free of the fight. Jeff was now holding a gun at Ken, Luke had a knife at Jack’s throat. Chris was using his long, razor sharp machete to hold Jordan, Joey and Marc at bay. The threat of one of them getting their throats cut open or shot was now very real, they had no choice but to stand down. It now became an even more dangerous situation. Joey tried to fight forward and ended up with Chris’ blade’s point his throat. Joey could feel the cold edge of the tip of the blade biting his skin. He could feel the blood seeping out. He was willing to take a hit if it meant stopping John. Taylor looked at him and shook her head. Joey stopped struggling, it killed him to stop the fight. Taylor couldn’t stand seeing the sight of Joey and her friends being held at gun and knife point. She had to stop this, even if it meant letting John get close and talk to her.

“Relax girls, I wouldn’t hurt you.” His voice was quiet and smooth. He stepped up to Taylor, he put his face within inches of hers. He reached his hand up slowly and touched her face. She shuddered when his skin met hers. “I just wanted to stop by, say hi and give you a kiss. It’s been so long since I’ve felt your lips on mine.” His black, soulless eyes once again burning into Taylor’s, he was towering over her, his lips brushing over hers. His hand slid behind her neck to hold her where she stood. She felt bewitched, she couldn’t move out of his grip. She was terrified if she did try to move, he’d motion for his boys to hurt them all. She stood motionless as John leaned in. Joey’s shouts hitting her ears.

“If you touch her I will kill you!” Joey again pressing his way forward meeting the knife’s edge, another cut appearing on his neck. Taylor was desperate to stop this, she begged Joey to stand down.

“Oh, he’s found his courage. You two officially dating now?” John asked, his lips still barely touching hers as he spoke. It was distracting and upsetting.

“That’s none of your business John. Stop this, let them go. Please, just leave!” She said as quiet and calmly as she could, a single tear building in her eye and dropping onto her cheek. She hated the fact that she was showing fear. John rubbed the spilled tear off her face with his other thumb. He moved in fast, taking Joey’s screams as a challenge and kissed her hard. Kala was yanking his arm and punching him to get him off her, with one shove Kala was on the ground. Judy tried next, she too was shoved to the ground. Jordan lost it when John touched Kala and punched his way through John’s boys, taking a slice to his forearm racing towards Kala. She hadn’t been hurt and was back on her feet ready to attack again.

Taylor had floods of emotions all racing through the kiss with him. His lips were still as soft as she remembered, she thought it so odd that a man so horrible could have such a soft kiss. He used his tongue to play with hers and bit at her lip, deepening the kiss. Taylor, waking the hell up, was furious now. She raised her knee without another moment of hesitation and jammed it into his groin. He doubled over, she took the heel of her hand and slammed it hard against his nose and shoved him away. Afraid she didn’t do enough damage she backed away in a hurry to avoid his wrath, grabbing Judy who froze where she was on the ground. To her surprise she saw John doubled over in pain, pressing his hand where her knee had met a very sensitive area and his other hand was holdin his nose to stop the flow of gushing blood. She let out a victorious laugh, giddy that she’d drawn his blood this time. Marc managed to knock the gun out of Jeff’s hand and knocked him to the ground. He kicked the gun under one of the cars out of reach and rounded on Luke. Battling him for the knife. In the moment of distraction and chaos, Joey was at Taylor’s side, between her and John again. He was impressed Taylor had taken a shot at John and smiled at her. John’s boys were picking him up to his feet. John ripped off part of his shirt and held it to his nose. They picked up their weapons, ready to draw them again, but John told them to get back to the truck. John was now laughing a wicked high-pitched laugh as he looked at the blood-soaked cloth, chilling them to the core. The guy was psychotic, how did she ever find him attractive, Taylor thought.

“That was good Taylor. Looks like you’re taking a page out of my book sweetheart.” John was insanely delighted when Joey, out of nowhere and like a flash, landed his large fist into John’s already damaged face. Jordan grabbed Joey and held him back. John spat the blood, now pooling in his mouth, out on the ground. His bloody smile even more wicked looking was still on his face as they were climbing into the truck.

“This isn’t over by a long shot Joey, I’ll fix you good! Taylor, my love, excellent shot, but it’ll cost you! I swear next time, it’ll just be us! I promise! You still belong to me, don’t forget that!” Still insane with delight, he chugged one of the beers Jeff handed to him and hung onto the side of the truck as Chris revved it up to a furious decibel. Jamming the old truck into gear, it sped off leaving a trail of smoke and rubber down the driveway. Jordan and Marc helped Ken and Jack back up to their feet. They all grouped together to survey the damage that had been done. Judy was in tears at the sight of the blood dripping from Jordan and Joey. She held onto Marc as he comforted her. Taylor was looking at the knife wounds on her two friends, the bleeding wasn’t as bad as she had thought, nor were the cuts.

“These aren’t too deep, we can get some first aid items from the house and get this cleaned up. Right Jordan? You get Joey’s wounds under control and then you can walk me or Kala through patching you up too.” Her voice was quiet, deadly quiet. Jordan nodded, his EMT skills would come in handy here. Taylor was still in a rage, she wanted to curl into a ball and cry, she wanted to chase after those idiots, she wanted to beat John senseless. Most of all, she wanted Joey to take her away from this nightmare. She was going to have a full-blown panic attack if she didn’t get it together. Joey softly took her face into his hands, reading her expressions.

“Are you okay?” The softly whispered question undid her. He took her into his arms as she cried out her emotions. Kala put her hand on Taylor’s shoulder.

“That was an amazing shot you took at John.” Kala smiled as Taylor turned to look at her. She just smiled at Kala and wiped her tears.

“We need to go to the backyard and get ourselves cleaned up.” Jordan took Kala’s hand. “We will get them back for this. But they don’t get to win today, we will put this on the back burner until tomorrow. We won’t let John ruin today for us. He’s damaged too many good nights already.” The rest of them nodded in agreement. Ken and Jack walked quickly to the backyard to see where May and Cristy had gone.

Remembering how the other girls had just deserted them, Taylor’s panic turned into anger. She wasn’t going to let them off the hook for taking off like that. They picked up the towels and made their way back to the pool side. May, Cristy, Jack and Ken were sitting on the lounge chairs, talking. Taylor’s fury broke free, she walked a brisk pace towards them as they stood. May and Cristy braced for what was coming.

Next Chapter: The Alley