Hazard
Chris woke slowly, in his exhausted state not really knowing where he was and the memories of the last week slow to filter through. He sat up in the bed fast as soon as they did though; cursing a storm when he glanced at his watch and saw he had slept for six hours. Damnit! He hadn’t meant to sleep that long, he didn’t want to leave Jared alone at the station for too long. He hated to say it, but, he no longer trusted Jim Beaver, not in the state he was in. He was a damn good Sheriff, always had been, but he was not acting rationally now, and until he could get him to do so, he was sticking by Jared.
He had been so exhausted, the events of the week, coupled with the emotionally exhausting realisation he had almost beaten an innocent man to death and he had been ready to collapse. Jared had noticed, and when he had checked in on Jared for the umpteenth time, Jared had smiled softly and told him to go sleep. He would be fine he said, not like he was going anywhere anyways.
Dragging himself out of bed and into a fast shower, Chris thought again of the man in the jail cell across town. What saddened him the most was that it had taken Jensen’s death for Chris to finally understand why Jensen loved Jared so much. It had taken Jensen to die, for Chris to attempt to understand why, why he couldn’t love him, when he had a man like Jared. Now he was well aware that the circumstances under which he was getting to know Jared were not ideal, in fact they were the worst possible. But even though the hell Jared was going through was crippling the man, he saw a gentleness that defied his size, he saw a beautiful smile that was capable of lighting up his whole face, that is if the soft smile he had shot Chris last night was anything to go by, and he saw that Jared loved Jensen with a devotion that he could only dream of. Now he understood, now when Jensen was gone, and that broke his heart.
Ten minutes later Chris was leaving his house and driving the short distance to the police station. It was evening now, and it was cold, and lord it was quiet. Why was it so quiet around town? Where were the kids that hung on the corner? Why was the local grocery store closed so early? Hell even the bar was locked up tight.
Horror slammed into Chris’s stomach like a fist as the last thought ripped through his mind. The bar, Michaels bar, it was closed. It was never closed, not ever. Michaels was too much of an asshole and a money grabber to ever close that bar for anything, anything except when he was up to no good. He pressed his foot on the gas and didn’t even bother parking the truck properly, pulling in haphazardly and barely taking the time to take the key out of the ignition, before he was running into the station.
Inside he found Welling lounging behind the desk, feet propped up as he munched lazily on an apple. He got hastily to his feet when he saw the look on Chris’s face as he hurried up to the desk. What now?!
“Look whatever it is you think I’ve done this time....”
To his surprise Chris completely ignored him, instead snagging the keys to the cells and rushing past in their direction, followed by a loud “Goddamnit!”
Not two seconds later, Chris stormed out of the cell area again, white as a sheet and eyes wild with obvious panic; “Where’s Jared?”
“Huh?”
“Goddamnit to hell Welling! Where is Jared?! He isn’t in his cell, so where the fuck is he?”
“He was bailed, like two hours ago now...I thought you knew?”
Chris swore, loudly, and running his hands through his hair turned on the spot in a full circle as he tried to think straight for one minute. He took a deep breath and let is out slow and turned to face Welling again.
“Okay, where is Jim? He gone with him at least? Tell me Jim is gone with him?”
Chris’s eyes widened in disbelief as Welling shook his head, obviously getting nervous now that he could see how agitated Chris was getting;
“No, he gave Jared his stuff ordered him to check in once a day and let him go. He is in his office now, but, he is gonna be no use to you, he passed out a half hour ago, drunk on Whiskey.”
“Fuck fuck Fuck!”
Without a backward glance at the stunned Welling, Chris tore out of the station, stopping only to grab a rifle from the stand, making sure it was loaded and running for his abandoned truck, Welling’s protests falling on deaf ears.
The sun was setting now as Chris revved the truck and took off in the direction of Jared’s house, cursing a streak when he realised he had no idea what Jared’s home number even was. Damnit! Throwing his cell phone to the side he concentrated on getting to Jared’s place as fast as he possibly could, praying the whole time he wasn’t too late. Bail! Who the fuck got Jared out on bail?
Jeff!
Son of a bitch! Bastard was running scared and had gotten Jared out with the purpose of setting Michaels on him. Shit shit shit.....he should never have gone home, should never have listened to Jared and gone. He knew Jim wasn’t stable, he fucking knew Welling was a weasel who didn’t give a crap about his job and he still let Jared there with them. Damnit he was letting Jensen down again!
He stopped the truck dead when he turned onto Jared’s street and looked in horror, his stomach clenching with nausea as he was faced with nothing but burning rubble. No fire truck was in sight, no one had bothered to try and help as Jared’s house had burnt to the ground. Chris moved the truck and pulled up across the street, getting out he stumbled from the truck and watched as curtains twitched in the houses surrounding Jared’s. Cowards, fucking Cowards!
He had never in his whole life felt so alone and terrified as he did right this minute, it was plainly obvious now that he was fighting the whole town. A town of bigots and cowards, he needed help and he had no idea where to go or what to do to get it. He felt panic rising fast as he stood where Jared’s house should have been, but now nothing but embers under his feet and closed his eyes and tried so hard to breathe through it.
Okay, okay....think.....
Decision made Chris ran for the truck again and dialled the station, told Welling in a voice that was taking no argument to call the next town over or the one next to that, he didn’t give a fuck and ask for help. He told him to grab what firearms he could and follow him out to the river, the section where it met the wood, where Jensen’s body was discovered.
No way would Michaels have burnt Jared in that house. That would have been too easy, and judging by the smoking rubble the house had been burning for quite some time. He would bet before Jared was even let go. Which probably meant that Jared would have been snatched almost as soon as he had left the jail. They would have given him time to get here, time to see what they had done to his home, to his mom’s memories. Then they would have taken him, and he was pretty sure, knowing Michaels and his past antics the way he did, that they would have taken him down to where they thought he had murdered Jensen to dish out their form of punishment. Fuck....
Turning the key he turned his truck in the direction of the river and the surrounding woods, praying to whatever god was listening, for once in Jared’s life, that someone would cut the kid a break and get Chris there on time.
******************
Jared tried to get a sound out of his throat, a moan, a gasp, anything to relieve the pressure, to ease the pain, like an air bubble, but nothing came and he doubled over, silently screaming in agony. God please let them stop, please just let all this end, the voices and noise round him all now seemed to come from very far away, blessed darkness was hovering just out of reach, but every time he felt the beauty of unconsciousness approach, he was dragged back cruelly when the men shoved his head once again in the river till he thought his lungs would burst.
He was once again on the banks of the river, having been dragged from the water when they had finished with the latest round of underwater torture. He lay where he was thrown, too weak from the beating to even attempt to move. His right arm was broken from when he had raised it to fend off the iron bar aimed at his face, instead hitting his forearm squarely and snapping the bone. He was also sure he didn’t have on rib left intact thanks to the kicks he had received when he had first attempted to run. Oh how they had enjoyed that little chase and he hadn’t stood a chance but he had known he had to try, had to try and get away. So he had struggled to his feet and clutched his broken arm to him and stumbled no more than a few hundred feet before they had caught up with him.
They had taken out his kneecap after that, didn’t want to be bother with the chase anymore. The beating he had endured after that had insured he wouldn’t be running anywhere, not again, not ever. His chest hurt to breathe and he struggled to take in some air into his deprived lungs. He was shaking from the cold of the water, his clothes clinging wetly to his skin, the shirt he had been wearing, now ripped and covered with his own blood. His face he knew would no longer be recognisable, one eye already swollen shut and an ugly welt across his cheek where a horse whip had been used.
He knew that was next, Michaels had pulled his head back out of the water the last time, his fist digging cruelly into his scalp where he had Jared in a tight grip. He had spoken right into Jareds ear, the one that wasn’t bleeding, and told him they were gonna whip him like an animal, cause that’s all he deserved. He wanted to close his good eye and let the darkness take him, but he knew what would happen if he did, and he didn’t think his lungs would survive another bout of the raging river. Before another thought formed he found himself dragged by his arms, causing his throat to clog with the scream that couldn’t form, when his broken arm was pulled like it was nothing.
A groan finally escaped his pain wracked body and he felt himself stretched, a rope securing him to a solid branch several feet off the ground and he turned slowely, helpless and broken as what was left of his shirt was ripped from his body and Michaels once again stood before him, the whip in his hand holding Jared still as he grinned up at him.
“Know what we are gonna do to you when we are done here? Huh freak? We are gonna hang you from this tree like the dog that you are, but first....”
He grinned as he stepped back and raised the arm holding the whip and Jared could do nothing to protect himself, too tired to even beg, and the whip made a horrible whooshing sound as it flew and landed with a sound ‘Thwack’ wrapping itself around Jared’s torso causing his body to flinch involuntarily and a whimper he didn’t even know he was capable of at this point escaped his bruised mouth. The whip hit him at least five more times and Jared’s mind raced toward oblivion when a sudden shot rang out stopping everything in its tracks. His body still turning helplessly where it hung, suspended by his arms, revolved slowly and he caught a glimpse of a figure standing on the edge of the clearing, which led to the bank of the river and the trees that surrounded it.
Chris.
The relief that flowed through his body at the sight of the other man, was too much for his already battered body and mind and with the knowledge that Chris was here, and Chris would help him, Jared’s head fell forwards and he lost consciousness.
Chapter 10