Chapter 25: Crash and Burn
“I
don’t wanna talk to you, McCarty!” Sara yelled back as Jake stepped into the
warehouse. When he looked at Sara, a quick moment of shock passed through him as
his eyes widened to stare at her in disbelief, but soon became serious once
more.
“What
have you done?” Jake nearly cried. “Is this all because of what happened?”
“No, you
jackass. I did it because I had to go undercover to get Gallo,” Sara spit
back. “Why the hell are you here? What do you want from me?”
“I just
want you to hear me out!” he yelled back, grabbing her shoulders.
Sara
violently shoved him away as Van quickly appeared at her side to back her up.
She quickly turned to him and said, “Van, stay out of this.” He shook his
head, his eyes telling her there was no way he’d stay out of this. “Van,
please,” Sara was nearly begging as she glared at him, her deep green eyes on
fire. “I can handle it.” He backed away, but only slightly. He wanted to be
there just in case something happened.
Sara
turned to Jake and yelled, “Hear you out? You want me to hear you out after
you got me drunk and had sex with me?”
“Oh,
don’t go twisting the story around to make yourself look like the little
angel,” Jake hissed. “You remember what we were doing that night, don’t
you? We were at the pool hall, and you were betting drinks on every game. You
were the one who got yourself drunk.”
“But you
were the one who took me up to my apartment then proceeded to have sex with me,
remember that? I was too drunk to know what I was doing! You took advantage of
me!” Sara was nearly crying as she screamed. “You should have had the
decency to say no! For god’s sake, you were my partner! I trusted you.”
“I did
say no! Then you kissed me and everything went to pieces! I don’t know what
happened! It felt like something had taken over my mind. I couldn’t stop. I
tried, believe me, I tried my hardest to stop, but you were absolutely
beautiful, and… and…” Jake stopped trying to look for words and simply
stared at Sara to see what her reaction was.
“You son
of a bitch,” Sara muttered as she wiped her teary eyes with her fingertips.
“How dare you come here looking for me just so you could humiliate me in front
of a whole new set of people? Everybody in
“I never
told anyone in
“I know
you’re not sorry, nor will you ever be!” Sara yelled back. “I know
you’ve had a crush on me ever since you found out I’d be training you. And I
know you’ve wanted to screw me for the longest time. If you had a chance to go
back, I don’t think you would change a thing, because you’re Jake McCarty
and you get any woman you want. Am I right?” He simply stared at her in
amazement and disbelief. “Am I right?” she screamed, focusing his attention
back on her.
“Do you
really think I’m that shallow?” Jake replied. “Because if you do, you’re
wrong. You’re the shallow one! You’re the one that thinks she’s all that!
You know what, you’re not all that! You’re nothing but a whiney little
bitch!”
Sara was
unable to hold her anger back any longer. She wound her arm and slammed it into
the side of his face. Jake went down, but not for long. He quickly stumbled back
to his feet, making sure she hadn’t broken his jaw. “You say one more thing
about me and I swear, you’ll be down for more than just a second the next
time,” Sara warned as she walked straight into Van’s waiting arms.
Jake
glared at them as he said, “Let me guess, your new fuck buddy?”
“Now
I’m part of this,” Van told Sara as he pulled away from her. He headed
straight for Jake, his fist raised and ready to strike the already incapacitated
man. “You wanna say that to my face, McCarty?”
“Well,
if it isn’t the biggest loser in surfing history, Donovan Ray,” Jake
sneered. “Let me tell you a little something about your new girlfriend.
She’s nothing by a lying little bitch. She’ll play you for a little while
then dump you like a sack of shit when she gets bored with you.”
Without
hesitating, Van took a swing at him and knocked Jake back down to the floor
where he stayed for a much longer time before getting up. “If I ever see you
again or even hear that you’ve been bad mouthing Sara, I won’t hesitate to
rip you to pieces,” Van vehemently hissed as he glared down at Jake. He
returned to Sara’s side and wrapped his arms around her shaking body as she
sobbed against his chest.
“It’s
alright, Sara,” Van softly whispered in her ear as he rocked her back and
forth. From behind him, he could hear the door open and shut again and the sound
of heavy footsteps coming towards them.
“What is
he doing here?” Ian asked as he glared down at Jake looking like he could kill
him by just staring at him. He saw Sara crying and quickly added, “Is she
alright?”
“I
don’t think so,” Van replied as he gathered Sara in his arms and began to
carry her to the lounge. “You take care of him and I’ll take care of her,”
he said over his shoulder.
“Gladly,”
Ian answered, mainly to himself. He picked Jake up by his shirt collar and
carried him outside.
Van gently
placed Sara on the couch in the lounge and kneeled beside her, his hand resting
on her cheek as his thumb stroked away her tears. She continued to cry, her face
reddening with each teardrop that fell from her eyes.
“It’s
okay, baby. It’s okay,” Van tried to comfort her as he continued to wipe the
tears away.
“How can
it be okay after what you heard? Aren’t you going to question me whether or
not all that is true?” Sara shot back as she sat up and looked at him.
“I was
hoping to save that for another time and let you calm down before I even dared
to tread in that territory,” Van replied, continuing to stay calm as he saw
her become even more upset.
“I want
you to ask me right now because I don’t want our relationship falling apart
because of all the shit Jake said,” Sara said.
Van looked
at her strangely, wondering why she was being so straightforward all of a
sudden, but realized she needed to get something off her chest. “Alright, were
any of those things he said true?” Van finally asked, his eyes never leaving
hers.
“Yes,”
Sara answered.
“What
was true?”
“We were
at the pool hall betting drinks that night, and I was winning. By the time I had
played my last game against Jake, I was drunk off my ass. This next part I
remember bits and pieces of. He took me home that night and carried me to my
bed. I think I got a little lusty and asked him to stay the night. I don’t
remember anything afterwards because by that time, the Witchblade had taken over
my mind. My body wasn’t mine anymore. I was trapped,” Sara explained as the
tears continued to stream down her face.
“I
believe you,” Van quietly replied as he took her hands and gently squeezed
them. Sara smiled and bent down to kiss him. As their lips parted, they noticed
a new presence in the room.
“What
the hell happened?” Deaq asked as he stood at the farthest edge of the couch
from them. “I was in the bathroom when I heard yelling… What’s wrong with
Sara?”
Van shook
his head, hoping Deaq would get the hint to stay away from the question, which
he did. Both of them sat down beside her as she cradled her right hand. Van
gently pried it away from her and took a look at the huge black and blue welt
that had appeared on it.
“Are you
okay?” he asked after getting up and going through the fridge to find an ice
pack.
“No,”
Sara whimpered as he slipped it over the bruise. She flinched, but soon felt
much better. “Look at me. I’m an emotional train wreck. Why the hell are you
still around?”
“Because
I want to be and because I love you,” Van whispered into her ear.
“Hey, if
you two are just gonna get mushy on me, I’m leaving,” Deaq warned when he
saw the way his partners were looking at each other.
“Sorry,”
Van mumbled as he pulled away from Sara.
“Can you
guys at least tell me what happened?” Deaq asked, still trying to gather
information about that day’s fight. “Why did you two get pissed off at each
other in the first place?”
“This
wasn’t between us,” Sara finally said as she held the ice to her hand and
looked down at it. “It was between me and someone else.”
“
“No, a
former partner of mine who finally found out where I was,” she replied softly,
still unable to gather up enough courage to handle the situation. Van put his
arms around her, but she pushed him away. “Could you please leave me alone for
a little while? I need some time to think.”
“Yeah,
sure, take all the time you want. If you need me, I’ll be right here,” Van
replied as he stood up and left the room, but not before placing a reassuring
kiss on her forehead.
Once he
and Deaq were gone, Sara pulled out her cell phone and dialed Danny’s number
hoping that he would answer quickly. After the first ring, he picked up and
said, “Sara, what happened? Are you okay?”
“No,”
she replied, breaking down again. “He humiliated me in front of my partner. He
told him everything that happened, and all I could do was stand there and try to
defend myself. It was horrible, so horrible! I know he’s gonna tell someone at
the precinct when he gets back. Oh, God! I don’t think I’ll ever be able to
go home!”
“Sara,”
Danny softly said as he tried to calm his friend. “Don’t say that. He
won’t tell anyone. I’ll make sure of that. I’ll kick his ass or
something.”
“I wish
you were here right now,” Sara whimpered as she wiped her tears away with her
swollen hand. She winced, then realized she had vocalized her pain.
“Sara,
are you okay?” he asked.
“I think
I broke a couple of bones in my hand when it came into contact with Jake’s
face,” she answered.
“Knock
him out?”
“No, but
I think Van did.”
“Van?
You mean what Gabriel said about you two hooking up is true?” Danny questioned
in disbelief.
“Yeah.
He turned from a frog to a prince,” Sara replied as a smile graced her tear
laden face.
“I hope
the fairy tale doesn’t prove you wrong,” he said. “Oh, shit… Dante’s
glaring at me. I should get going.”
“Alright,
Danny. Thanks for taking time to talk to me. I really needed it,” she thanked.
“Anytime,
Pez, anytime. Later.”
“Later.”
Sara put her phone back into her pocket and realized that someone was making
their way towards her. She looked around the room until her eyes settled upon
the tall figure that had just entered. “Hey, Ian,” she barely expressed as
she slumped into the couch.
“Sara…”
he began, but she held up her hand to stop him.
“Come
here, sit down, then tell me what you did to Jake,” Sara said as she patted
the unoccupied seat beside her. Ian did what he was told, knowing that Sara
would continue to vent her anger towards him if he didn’t listen. She wrapped
her arm around him and rested her head on his chest. “Social lesson number
one: I’m not leading you on, I just want someone to hold me, okay?”
“Okay,”
Ian softly replied.
“So,
what did you do to McCarty?” Sara questioned, closing her eyes and snuggling a
little closer.
“Do you
really want to know?”
“Give me
a watered down version.”
“I
knocked the ‘shit’ out of him, as you would put it,” Ian said, hoping his
impression of her language would put Sara in a better mood.
She
laughed lightly, a smile crossing her lips as she replied, “I hope you
didn’t kill him.”
“Not
unless you told me to, and even then I’d make it look like someone else kill
him,” he answered.
“Good,” Sara said with a yawn. Her eyes proved to be heavier than lead as she sighed and drifted off into oblivion. Ian gently pulled his way out of her grasp and laid her out on the couch, took off his black trench coat, and covered her with it. With a delicate kiss on her forehead, he was off.