Set Fire to the Rain

I got off the train and made my way to the parking lot where my car was parked at the far corner. Taking a look at my watch, I saw it was right around 12:30am. I had stayed at the show longer than I had intended, but couldn’t help it once I got there. My heart wouldn’t let me leave. I grabbed my keys out from my bag holding them tightly in my hand as I approached my car and beeped open the lock. Opening the driver’s side door, I slipped gently inside and locked the doors once I was settled inside. Taking my phone and hooking it up to the charger in the center console, so It could charge and also play my music, I wanted it set up before I got on my way. Putting the key into the ignition and turning the car on, I selected the playlist I wanted to listen to on the drive home. Then I checked for any new messages before I started my drive, and of course there was nothing. I put my phone back into the cup holder and looked in the rear and side mirrors before backing out. I thought I caught a glimpse of something familiar, but when I looked closer, there was nothing there and ignored it. There were only people from the train going about their business like me, nothing else. So I backed my car out of the space I was in, and put it into drive taking off towards home.

The entire trip home should take only about 35 minutes, and since it was so late, there will be virtually no one on the roads. A nice easy drive, is just what I needed right now. Playing on my radio right now was a great mix of all kinds of music, a bit of Avenged Sevenfold, Seether, Nine Inch Nails, Bullet for My Valentine, & The Used. A little something to keep me energized on the way home. The back country roads at night could be a little misleading sometimes if you didn’t pay attention. There were no street lights on most of them, and that didn’t help with visibility when it came to the twists and turns if you weren’t familiar with the area. It was only about 10 minutes into my drive when a set of headlights came up behind me, at a very fast rate of speed, and his/her bright lights were on. I had to squint my eyes in response, and flipped my drivers mirror to try and avoid the obvious glare they were causing. Whoever this was behind me was making me nervous. I slowed down and moved my car over to the right slightly to allow them the opportunity to pass by me, but they only proceeded to slow down with their high beams still engaged. After 10 minutes of this, I was beginning to get that uneasy feeling in the pit of my stomach and it was really beginning to piss me off. I reached over for my phone and turned off the music. I wanted all my concentration on what this asshole was up too. I didn't like it. Maybe it was David. But why would he do this. He had never gone to this extreme before. Alright, we all know that wasn't true, but would he really do something like this? I didn't have the chance to even think about the answer before the person started to make their next move.

Suddenly the car was speeding up again. The lights were getting closer and closer until I couldn't see them at all. They were that close to...

“Bump!” I was thrown forward in my seat against my seat-belt and my car lurched forward. The bastard had bumped into my car! They actually tapped my car! What the fuck!

Ok, game change here, I started to put my foot on the gas and speed up. I needed to get away from this guy and fast. This was turning into a bad situation. A thought crossed my mind, I needed to call Jack. He would know what to do. I looked at my phone and pressed 1 and speaker phone. The line rang 3 times, but went to voice mail. Shit, shit, shit! I looked up into my rear view again and saw that the lights had fallen back again and were at a much further distance behind me. What the hell was this asshole up to!

“You have reached Det. Jack Cahrter. Please leave a message and I will return your call as soon as I possibly can. Thank you.” Beep…

“Jack, its Eliza. Listen, I am driving on Dartmoor Road, I’m on my way home from the train station. There is this fucking lunatic following me with his brights on. He’s been tailing me, then he rammed into the back of my fucking car! I’m scared Jack. I don’t know what to do. Call me back.” I rambled out in one long shaky breath. I pressed end and focused on what the asshole behind me was up to again. I was really fucking scared. And the one time I needed my brother he didn't answer his phone. I didn't know what I was going to do.

I hadn't realized it, but my hands were shaking. The car behind me started to get closer again, then all of a sudden the lights were gone, and I couldn't see the car at all. They had just disappeared. I couldn't tell where he was anymore. He could be right behind me, or he could have stopped and pulled off the side of the road for all I know. From where I sat right now, as I continued to drive, they were just gone. So I kept driving along the dark country road absolutely terrified.

Maybe 3 minutes passed by, when I started to get that sick sinking feeling I get when David is around. I had an urge to turn my head and look to my left, and when I did, I saw a car driving next to mine, going in the same direction, with David behind the wheel. A smug look was on his face as he held up his right hand in the shape of a gun pulling the ‘trigger’ in my direction. He slowed down pulling back behind me. I couldn’t breathe. God I had been so stupid. That’s when I felt the first hit into the driver’s side of my car. David had rammed his car into mine. He wanted me off the road. I tried to hold my car steady and keep it from fishtailing and going off the road. When he hit me the second time at the rate of speed we were going there was nothing I could do to keep from careening off into the ditch and trees in my spinning car. Everything went black.

There was a man’s voice, and I very briefly was able to open my eyes. I saw slight movement outside my car then it was gone. I tried with difficulty to open my eyes once again, this time making a grab for my phone, but I felt pain everywhere. Knowing that my brother hadn’t answered his phone before, I pulled up Jared’s number on speed dial, pressed send and waited.

“Helllloooo there?” Someone asked.

I wasn’t sure who had answered the phone. My brain wasn’t processing anything right now. In all honesty, I begin to remember who it was I had called in the first place. Only one person came to mind right now, and that was Shannon. Not surprisingly, his was the one name I tried to speak. Well, at least something that was supposed to be Shannon. Right at that moment, he was all I wanted.

“Unnggg.” I groaned when I tried to move, unsuccessfully. “ Shanmmn. Hellp me.” I realized I had glass in my mouth and throat and that was part of the problem. So I tried to spit out as much as I could without cutting my mouth up any more than it was already. My chest was killing me also, and with every breath I took and every word I spoke, I was in absolute agony. God, everything hurt. And with that my eyes closed again.

Jared’s POV

“Eliza! Are you there? Hello!” He waiting for nearly 2 minutes for a response and went to find his brother. He needed to let Shannon know that Eliza was on the phone. There was something very off with how Eliza sounded and he could still hear her groaning and coughing in the background. Jared soon found him outside signing autographs for some of the fans and walked up beside him, placing his hand on Shannon’s shoulder.

“Hey Shannon, I need to talk to you for a second. Sorry for the interruption, but I promise to bring him back and finish with the signing.” Jared said with a smile that didn’t quite reach his eyes. He grabbed his brother’s arm and dragged him to one of the back rooms of the church and told him that he had just received a very strange phone call.

“Ok, would you like to elaborate on that?”

“I’m on the phone with El and she sounded, well, there is something wrong. She called my number first of all, and groaned like she was in agony then said your name and help me. Dude she could barely pronounce your name.” Jared put his phone to his ear and could still hear the occasional noise.

“Are you still on with her?”

“Technically, yes, but she isn’t answering.”

“Give me the fucking phone Jay. Please…” He pleaded.

Shannon took the phone and listened for a minute and looked up at Jared in shocked silence. He could hear her groan in pain and he heard her whisper his name and that twisted his gut into knots knowing that she needed him and he didn’t know where she was or what was wrong. It killed him.

“Holy shit… El! Can you hear me? Baby, please answer me! Say something anything at all. Where are you? What’s wrong?” There was absolutely no response to any thing he asked, but he couldn’t stop the questions as they popped into his head. All he could hear was the occasional moan and the whisper of his name again. He continued to hold the phone to his ear and looked at Jared.

“Call Jack, right now and tell him what you told me. Maybe he knows something, anything. It’s worth a shot. I can’t go back in there and finish this signing. I need to find El and get her help Jay. She’s everything to me.” Shannon said hanging his head, running his hand through his hair and dragging it down slowly over his face.

“Listen to me man, I will have Emma make the necessary calls and the second she finds out anything, you know she will come and find us with what she has. Then depending on what that is, we will split making our excuses. The people will understand. But right now we need to do what we can as long as we can and make the best out of a shitty situation. Both you and I know that Eliza would be pissed as hell if you didn’t finish this evening off the right way. Right??” Jared said with a small smile.

“Jared, I don’t know.”

“Listen, I know that all you want to do right now is take off and go find her and take care of her, but the best thing for El right now is to call Jack and get him started on what he needs to do. For all we know, he might be with her already. That’s what we need to find out. Listen, I’m worried about her too man. I promise, we will find her and she will be ok.”

“Fine, let’s go, but make sure that Emma knows the second she finds out anything, to let me know. And we will get the fuck out of this place.”

“She will. Now let’s go take care of business. I am going to hand up the phone now, in case Jack is trying to get a hold of El.” And with that Jared took the call from Shannon and pressed ‘End Call’, much to Shannon’s dismay and basically cutting their only tie to Eliza. Shannon went back to the signing and Jared went to find Emma and explained what it was he needed for her to do, and she got right to work calling Jack the second she had his number in hand.

Emma’s POV

“This is Detective Jack Cahrter speaking.”

“Jack, this is Emma Ludbrook, I am an associate of Jared Leto’s, we met briefly at one of the shows, I don’t know if you remember me, but I believe I have information on your sister, from a very strange phone call Jared received tonight. Do you know anything about that?”

“Oh, thank god! I have been trying to get through to her with no luck. All I have been getting is her fucking voice mail. Tell me what you know.”