Your Guardian Angel
Chapter 27: Fear Can Get The Best of Us
Ms. Howard had no more questions for Jon, so Mr. Crowl asked him a few questions, trying to disprove what he had just said. Jesse pulled me close to him. So many thoughts went through my head at that moment: how could I not have known? Why didn’t Josh ever warn me about Matt after that? Did he continue taking pictures of me after Josh died? Who else saw the pictures? How “invasive” was invasive? Did this guy break into my house and take pictures of me without me knowing it? If he did that, he must have been one sick, obsessed person. Suddenly, I didn’t feel so safe anymore and I started shaking slightly.
A few minutes later, Jon stepped down and Josh’s mom was called to the stand and then his dad. They also called a police officer that investigated the murder and he presented the tire evidence that traced back to Matt’s truck to the jury. After that, the court was adjourned until 10:00 the next morning when the jury would give the verdict.
There was complete silence as everyone left the courtroom; no one knew what to think.
“Riley, are you ok?” Jesse asked as the three of us got into the car.
“No, not really. It’s pretty damn scary to think that I had a stalker for a long time and I didn’t even know about it. God only knows what kind of pictures he has of me. For all I know, he could have continued to take them after Josh died; he could have pictures of me as recent as 2 weeks ago. I never thought that any person could be that obsessive, but I guess I was wrong. Now I feel like Josh’s death was completely my fault.”
“What? No it wasn’t! Why would you even say that?” asked Amanda.
“Because, according to Jon, Matt was in love with me. That fight broke out because Josh was trying to protect me and he didn’t want Matt anywhere near me anymore. Matt got so upset that Josh would not let him have me, so he killed him. Josh died because of me.”
“You know that’s not true,” said Jesse. “Josh died because someone wanted to kill him. You had no idea how Matt was and there is nothing you could have done to stop him. Besides, it won’t do you much good blaming yourself now. It’s over. Josh is dead now and unfortunately, there’s nothing you or I or anybody else can do to change it.”
“I just feel like I should have known somehow or seen someone following me. I feel like I need to see the pictures he took of me to know how close he got, but at the same time, I don’t want to know either because it scares the living daylights out of me, especially when I think about all the times I was alone and how he could have easily done something to me. I wonder why he didn’t.”
“Maybe he wanted to try to get you to like him instead of forcing you into a relationship that you didn’t want,” suggested Amanda. “When he realized he couldn’t have you, he just couldn’t seem to stay away.”
Amanda dropped Jesse off and then we got back to her house a few minutes afterwards. Even though it was around 7:00PM, I went up to my room and stayed there; I had a lot to think about. For the first time in my life, I was really and truly afraid. I went around the room looking in every hiding place I could find. I constantly felt like I was being watched and became more and more paranoid. I decided to call Jesse to see if he could make me feel better.
“Hello?”
“Jesse, I’m so scared!”
“Riley? What’s wrong?”
“What Jon said about Matt today freaked me out even more than I thought,” I said and I started to cry. “Wh-when I came back to the house and was alone in the guest room, I just went crazy and ripped the room apart looking in every possible hiding place. How could I not have known that I was being followed? Now that I do know, I feel like there’s someone here in the room with me. I’m so scared, Jesse. I’m so sc-scared! I don’t think I can sleep.”
“Hang in there for a few more minutes. I’m coming over and I’m going to spend the night. I’ll text you when I get there and you can unlock the window so that I can get in, but don’t unlock it before then.” With that, he hung up.
Ten minutes later, I got the text saying that he was here, so I unlocked the window and he climbed up the tree right outside it and entered the room. As soon as he came in, I ran up and hugged him, crying on his shoulders and he held me.
“You’re trembling,” he said.
I nodded.
“I’m here now, Riles, and I promise that I’m not going to let anything happen to you.”
We went over to the bed and I laid in his arms and closed my eyes. It was a few hours before I finally fell asleep.
The next morning, Jesse and I woke up and quickly got ready for the trial. When Amanda walked into the room to make sure I was awake, she was surprised to see Jesse, but then I explained the situation and she understood. When we were done getting ready, I said, “Hey Jess?”
“Yeah?”
“Thanks for coming over last night and spending the night. I didn’t feel like I could have been alone.”
“Ever since we first got together, we promised each other that we would always be there for each other. Last night, I was just trying to come through on that promise.”
“I love you so much, Jesse.”
“I love you too, Riley,” he said as he leaned in to kiss me.”
Thirty minutes later, everyone was assembled back in the courtroom awaiting the verdict.
A few minutes later, Jon stepped down and Josh’s mom was called to the stand and then his dad. They also called a police officer that investigated the murder and he presented the tire evidence that traced back to Matt’s truck to the jury. After that, the court was adjourned until 10:00 the next morning when the jury would give the verdict.
There was complete silence as everyone left the courtroom; no one knew what to think.
“Riley, are you ok?” Jesse asked as the three of us got into the car.
“No, not really. It’s pretty damn scary to think that I had a stalker for a long time and I didn’t even know about it. God only knows what kind of pictures he has of me. For all I know, he could have continued to take them after Josh died; he could have pictures of me as recent as 2 weeks ago. I never thought that any person could be that obsessive, but I guess I was wrong. Now I feel like Josh’s death was completely my fault.”
“What? No it wasn’t! Why would you even say that?” asked Amanda.
“Because, according to Jon, Matt was in love with me. That fight broke out because Josh was trying to protect me and he didn’t want Matt anywhere near me anymore. Matt got so upset that Josh would not let him have me, so he killed him. Josh died because of me.”
“You know that’s not true,” said Jesse. “Josh died because someone wanted to kill him. You had no idea how Matt was and there is nothing you could have done to stop him. Besides, it won’t do you much good blaming yourself now. It’s over. Josh is dead now and unfortunately, there’s nothing you or I or anybody else can do to change it.”
“I just feel like I should have known somehow or seen someone following me. I feel like I need to see the pictures he took of me to know how close he got, but at the same time, I don’t want to know either because it scares the living daylights out of me, especially when I think about all the times I was alone and how he could have easily done something to me. I wonder why he didn’t.”
“Maybe he wanted to try to get you to like him instead of forcing you into a relationship that you didn’t want,” suggested Amanda. “When he realized he couldn’t have you, he just couldn’t seem to stay away.”
Amanda dropped Jesse off and then we got back to her house a few minutes afterwards. Even though it was around 7:00PM, I went up to my room and stayed there; I had a lot to think about. For the first time in my life, I was really and truly afraid. I went around the room looking in every hiding place I could find. I constantly felt like I was being watched and became more and more paranoid. I decided to call Jesse to see if he could make me feel better.
“Hello?”
“Jesse, I’m so scared!”
“Riley? What’s wrong?”
“What Jon said about Matt today freaked me out even more than I thought,” I said and I started to cry. “Wh-when I came back to the house and was alone in the guest room, I just went crazy and ripped the room apart looking in every possible hiding place. How could I not have known that I was being followed? Now that I do know, I feel like there’s someone here in the room with me. I’m so scared, Jesse. I’m so sc-scared! I don’t think I can sleep.”
“Hang in there for a few more minutes. I’m coming over and I’m going to spend the night. I’ll text you when I get there and you can unlock the window so that I can get in, but don’t unlock it before then.” With that, he hung up.
Ten minutes later, I got the text saying that he was here, so I unlocked the window and he climbed up the tree right outside it and entered the room. As soon as he came in, I ran up and hugged him, crying on his shoulders and he held me.
“You’re trembling,” he said.
I nodded.
“I’m here now, Riles, and I promise that I’m not going to let anything happen to you.”
We went over to the bed and I laid in his arms and closed my eyes. It was a few hours before I finally fell asleep.
The next morning, Jesse and I woke up and quickly got ready for the trial. When Amanda walked into the room to make sure I was awake, she was surprised to see Jesse, but then I explained the situation and she understood. When we were done getting ready, I said, “Hey Jess?”
“Yeah?”
“Thanks for coming over last night and spending the night. I didn’t feel like I could have been alone.”
“Ever since we first got together, we promised each other that we would always be there for each other. Last night, I was just trying to come through on that promise.”
“I love you so much, Jesse.”
“I love you too, Riley,” he said as he leaned in to kiss me.”
Thirty minutes later, everyone was assembled back in the courtroom awaiting the verdict.