Jessie's Nightmare by Catherine Holland (each kindness read aloud TXT) 📕

hidden underneath made Jessie shiver, after a few moments the Captains face relaxed and he nodded.
“Very well Miss Werner, Detective Bridal shall accompany you and these officers to the safe house.” Jessie relaxed and sensed James do the same, but she still didn’t trust the Captain, something about him was decidedly off. The Captain was still looking at Jessie, it was a curious look which immediately made her tense.
“Miss Werner, these notes that the killer leaves, they seem very personalised to yourself, for instance can you explain what this person meant he or she wrote ‘Some scars come back to haunt you, you know what I mean’.” Jessie flinched, then tensed and closed down her emotions facing the Captain she replied calmly “I think this killer is referring to the scars on my back, and they run partially across my chest, but that is something I’m not comfortable with sharing or re-living.”
The Captain looked at her suspiciously but let it pass, Jessie didn’t doubt that he’d try and dig into her past, but she knew without a doubt that he wouldn’t find anything. The plain clothes officers were watching the conversation with curious glances from the Captain to Jessie. Detective Bridal cleared his throat, Jessie, the Captain and the two plain clothed officers looked at him.
“We have a few of the finer details to attend to before we move you.” Detective Bridal said, and then motioned to the office door. Jessie was only too happy to follow him, well aware of the Captain watching as they left his office. When they were one floor lower James said “The Captain will run a search into your background to find out how you got those scars.”
“He won’t find anything.” Jessie replied matter-of-factly. James gave her a sharp look but didn’t say anything; he knew that pressing the issue would get him nowhere. James led Jessie into a small room with a few mismatched chairs and an old coffee table; he gestured for Jessie to sit in one of the chairs and waited until she’d done so, closing the door behind him.
James took a seat next to her and said “Jessie, when we leave this room you won’t be allowed to take anything with personal with you. That includes any bank cards and everything else with your name on it, so I strongly suggest you empty your bag and now before we go any further.”
Jessie nodded and undid her bag, she put her fags and lighter on the table first, then took out her MP3 with additional batteries, her empty bottle of energy drink, her phone, purse and then her keys. Jessie pushed her phone and keys towards the Detective, then reached for her fags and lighter and put them in her jeans pocket. She took off the bag and reached for her purse.
As Jessie opened her purse she took out all of her loose change and the notes, also taking out a small photograph of her mum and two brothers. She looked at James and said “I still have money in the bank, am I allowed to withdraw it?” The Detective thought for a moment then nodded “I’ll escort you to the nearest cash point and back.” “Thanks,” she replied.
Jessie took out her bank card and then reached for her MP3 and the batteries, putting the loose change into her pockets she stood up and followed James out of the room and out of the building, as they approached a cash machine Jessie grew nervous. She stopped and looked around as she had done on the playing field. James noticed her hesitation and saw her look around; he walked back to her and asked.
“What’s wrong?” “I don’t know I feel as though someone’s watching me.” She replied, James looked around but didn’t see anyone suspicious, the afternoon traffic around them was normal and there were a few tourists walking in groups eager to go into a shop. Jessie shook the feeling off and walked the few remaining feet to the cash point, she withdrew her limit for the day and added it to what she already had.
On the way back to the station the feeling of unease increased, she kept looking around and spotted something, or rather someone darting into a shop, she grabbed James’ arm and pulled him to a stop. “What is it?” He whispered, Jessie replied “Someone’s following us; he just darted into that store behind us.” Jessie’s eyes widened as James tugged at her hand and pulled her towards the store “Relax.” He whispered into her ear.
Jessie tried to relax and walked into the store with James; she walked up to the counter and purchased some cigarettes. While waiting for her change she looked into the security mirror above the counter and saw the man who’d been following her, she repressed a gasp, collected her change and purchase, and then walked over to where James was.
She intertwined her fingers with his and squeezed lightly then added “Ready to go hun?” “Sure thing babe.” He replied then led her from the store, once round the corner from the shop she breathed one word “Run.” They started running towards the station; once safely inside Jessie let out a shaky breath, James looked at her “You saw who it was?” Jessie nodded “I know the face as well.” The scars on her back starting to tingle.
As Jessie and James entered the room, he looked at the officers “We’ll move her tonight, she was spotted, and it will be easier to move after dark.” Jessie slumped in the chair and shakily reached for her fags, James waited until she’d lighted one before kneeling in front of her and said one word “Explain.”
Jessie let out her breath and nodded, she was about to reveal the most dangerous secret she’d ever held. Her recently deceased family didn’t even know about the scars, or the reason behind them.


Chapter Six


Jessie finished her fag and stubbed it out in the ashtray then stood up and said “For you to understand how and why I have these scars, I need something from my purse.” James nodded and handed the purse over; she opened it and drew out a folded piece of paper.
She opened it and lay it flat on the table; James picked the paper up and examined it, then placed it once again on the table. “That bit of paper as you’ve just seen was of an ultrasound taken when I was sixteen weeks pregnant. My partner at the time appeared to be ecstatic, but then as the weeks progressed he grew moody.
“I tried everything to make him snap out of it but it never made any difference, I went out one afternoon for lunch with an old friend, someone I hadn’t seen for years. My partner caught us having lunch but assumed it was something more. My friend and I spoke to him together and then separately, and we finally had him convinced that nothing was going on.
“A few days later he surprised me by saying that we were going camping in the woods, for a few hours that night everything seemed perfect, then he got a dark look in his eyes. He stood up and walked over to our tent; he was rummaging around for a few minutes then came out with his hands behind his back. He stood behind me and helped me stand up, the next thing I knew; he’d dug something in the flesh above my heart.
“He kept digging and raking whatever it was over my back and down to my spine. He turned me around roughly, swearing to kill me for cheating on him, for getting pregnant with another man’s baby, and refused to believe me when I swore it was his. I saw something flash in front of my face before his hand cam down, my only thought was for my baby, and before it all went dark.
“I remember waking up in a strange room, it wasn’t a hospital. Someone was doing something to my back, I screamed and tried to sit up, I tried to tell whoever I was with that I was pregnant, but was pushed back down onto my stomach and injected with something, and then I fell into darkness once more.
“I don’t know how long I was out for, but I remember waking up in the woods where we went camping, all of my stuff had gone. I walked to the train station and jumped the train home, I told my family that we’d had an argument and had broken up, but when I looked in the mirror a few days later while trying on some clothes, that was when I saw the scars. I’d lost my baby at some point during the attack and told my family it had been a false alarm, but I knew it wasn’t.”
Jessie took a deep calming breath then lit another cigarette; she looked at James and said “You remember the bits of the scars you saw?” James nodded, so Jessie continued. “That was only a part of it, they go much deeper than you realise.” James took a deep breath then asked “Can I see the scars?”
Jessie nodded and finished her cigarette; the two plain clothed officers looked at each other then stepped out of the room. Jessie waited until the door was shut then took off her t-shirt and un-did her bra strap, she took the left side of her bra off and watched as James stared in disgust.
There were three large pink scars going from her left nipple up and over her shoulder, when Jessie turned around he saw that they continued down to the bottom of her spine. James took a step closer and ran his fingers across the scars, he felt Jessie tense up and said “Sorry, I didn’t mean to make you nervous, but these scars look like a bear has attacked you.”
Jessie set herself right then nodded to James so he could open the door and let the officers in, Jessie sat back down in the chair and James sat next to her, “While we wait, do you want anything to eat or drink?” Jessie declined and they sat in a thoughtful silence while they waited for the sun to go down. James looked as though he was about to say something several times, but just as he was about to speak he’d close his mouth and shake his head.
Jessie could slowly feel the tension in the room begin to rise considerably. As the sun began to set, Jessie stood up and walked over to the window to watch. When the sky was finally dark James said “You may want to have a final cigarette before we leave, as you won’t be able to smoke in the vehicle.”
Jessie nodded and lit her cigarette, she offered one to James and he accepted. Once they’d finished their cigarettes James said “OK, here we go.” And together they left the room, Jessie left behind everything that made her who she was, and continued on down the dark path before her.


Chapter Seven


They left the station via the back entrance and bundled Jessie into a black SUV, as Jessie buckled up, the car lurched forwards and they drove off into the darkness.
Jessie had her head resting on the darkly tinted windows and felt her eyelids droop, she resisted for as long as possible but stress and lack of sleep persisted, and