Break Away

chapter 12

He pulled the car back onto the road and I couldn't figure out where we were, "Ryan, where are we?"

The trees and hills were so unreal to me, considering that I only ever saw trees in parks. The trees were tall, very tall compared to all the trees I had ever seen. Everything was just so serene and perfect; it was so unrealistically beautiful.

He smiled knowing that I loved it, "Virginia."

I took everything in, making sure I didn't forget any of it, it was just so beautiful, "I love it."

I heard Lindsey's voice from the backseat, "Yeah, I used to live here."

I wrinkled my eyebrows in confusion, "Why are we here?"

Ryan opened his mouth to talk but Lindsey quickly answered, "My parents have a vacation house here and they said we could stay here for a while if we wanted to."

"What exactly is our plan?" I asked.

Ryan answered, "Right now, it's just to hide until everything calms down. Then we need to find Alex and make sure he can't do anything again."

My heart dropped to my stomach, "What do you mean by that?"

I saw him clench his fist, "Raine, I think you know what I meant by that."

Lindsey started to talk, "I think Alex pretty much deserves it by now."

"I don't think anyone deserves death. Everyone deserves a second chance." I said, then realizing it was a stupid thing to say because we all know that there is no possible way Alex would change.

"Raine," he started, "I understand that no one deserves that, but he can't just do this to you for the rest of your life. We all know he won't stop until he gets what he wants. Look, he even cheated on you because he wanted to and then he still got you back."

I saw Lindsey nod in agreement from the mirror. I couldn't let them kill Alex, it just didn't feel like the right thing to do at all. I know it seems crazy that I feel this way, but I just don't know if I can let go of him yet. He could get help, his life was worth living. I can't just let them kill him, I couldn't give up on helping him.

"Raine, I know that you think you can help him," it was like he was reading my mind, "but I honestly think he is one of those people that can't be helped. I would honestly try if I could, but I think one of us would end up hurt."

I silently agreed, but didn't tell him so. I knew that one of us would end up hurt if we all tried to fix him, but that wasn't what I had planned. I wanted, just myself, to fix him alone. I knew he wouldn't kill me and if my plan actually worked, no one would die.

I tried to get my mind off of things so I just looked out the window, into the perfect view of the trees and rolling hills. It was just all so beautiful, I really would give anything at this point to just start over here. A completely new start sounded amazing at this moment. But I knew I couldn't start over just yet, everything had to be fixed first. I could tell that now was definitely not the right time to run away from it all. Lindsey was starting to give directions so I was guessing we were almost there; we turned into a driveway that looked like it lasted for miles. The house was amazing; it was three stories and it was pretty much all glass.

"This place is amazing," I muttered.

Lindsey heard me, "I know."

We walked in and it took my breath away, it was just so simple, but yet so perfect. It took all my worries away somehow, the view and the simple house. I wasn't worrying about anything until I heard Ryan come up behind me.