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Chapter or Story 
Chapter or Story
Disclaimer: See chapter one
~~~~~~~~~
Turn Evil Into Good
Part 6
Home is where the heart is
Parker was sleeping on the couch. She had waited in the living room together with Jay and Ethan and eventually she had drifted of into a restless sleep.
Ethan had covered her with a quilt and then the brothers left the room, leaving her alone.
‘Precious,’ her mother’s voice whispered in her head.
‘Mom…’
‘Shhh, I’m here,’ she soothed her daughter. Parker could nearly feel her mother’s hand running through her hair in an effort to calm her.
‘I’m so afraid,’ Parker replied.
‘I know’
“Where is he? Where is Jarod?” Parker murmured out loud, a tear escaping her closed eyes.
‘He is home,’ her mother’s voice hushed her.
‘Home? I don’t understand,’ Parker tossed in her sleep.
‘He is home. Home is where the heart is,’ Catherine’s voice faced away.
The words still ringing in her ear, Parker sat up and gasped for air.
She removed the quilt from her body and got up. Silently stepping over to the window, she repeated the ‘conversation’ in her head.
‘Home is where the heart is,’ she mused quietly, looking out of the window over the still dark city of Dover.
“Home is where the heart is,” she mumbled again. “Damn, that doesn’t make any sense.”
Parker sat down in the chair next to the window and continued to look outside. The stars were blinking brightly in the sky. She sighed, letting her mind wander and yet again repeating her mother’s message over and over in her head.
They were so close to Blue Cove, to the Centre.
‘Home is where the heart is.’
Jarod had once lead them on a wild goose chase, ending it with a note, saying that there was no place like home and why they didn’t leave him alone so that he could find his.
‘Home is where the heart is.’
Parker shook her head. Blue Cove was hardly a place Jarod would call ‘home’.
There was no place like that here that held that kind of a position in his heart, at least not as far as she knew; the area around Blue Cove had always meant danger and hurt for Jarod and not home.
‘Home is where the heart is.’
Yet he had stayed at her house during the early stages of their adventure.
Parker’s head snapped up.
Her house, the summer house.
She swallowed. Jarod had told her, after he came back from his first trip to Europe with the Scrolls that he was glad to be ‘home’ again. Home in the context of being back in her house and together with her.
In her house…
Parker’s thoughts reeled. Could he really be there?
She got up from the window seat and strode over to the hotel room door, grabbing the car keys and a jacket on her way. She just had to take her chances. Maybe he was at her house.
Maybe… hopefully.
~~~~~~~
Ethan and Jay both shot up in their beds when they heard the room door close. Racing through the adjoining door, they burst into Parker’s and Jarod’s hotel room.
They had hoped that Jarod had come home but instead, Parker was gone.
“Damn. What is it with people vanishing today?” Jay swore under his breath.
Ethan strode back into their room and retrieved his cell phone. Walking back over to where Jay was, he dialled Parker’s number. Only seconds later, her cell rang loudly… it was lying on the table where she had put it after coming back from the Centre this evening.
“Goodness, how can everything possibly go so wrong on just one day?” now it was Ethan who swore.
“What do we do?” Jay looked at his half-brother.
“We wait,” Ethan grumbled and looked over to the table where his sister’s cell phone lay. “We can’t do anything else. The car keys are gone with her,” he informed his brother.
“Great,” Jay muttered.
~~~~~~~
Parker speed down the road towards her house; only a few more minutes to go.
She had broken all tempo limits on her way. Normally she needed about forty to forty-five minutes from Dover to Blue Cove. She had made the distance in a little less than thirty minutes today.
The car skidded to a halt in front of her house and Parker jumped out without grabbing the keys out of the ignition.
She ran up the stair and quickly fumbled with the lock on her front door.
“Jarod? Jarod, are you there?” she called pleadingly while poking her head into the living room.
There was no light in the house. Everything was dark. She continued on her way through her house.
Nothing; not in her bedroom, not in the guest room where Jarod had been staying, just… nothing.
Dejectedly she walked back down to the living room. It was then that she realized that she hadn’t searched every room. One was still missing… her mother’s studio. She turned towards it.
The door was slightly ajar. Quickly crossing the room, she pushed it open further and there he was, huddled in the farthest corner of the room.
Jarod was sitting on the floor, his knees drawn up to his chest and his arms securing them in that position; his forehead rested on his knees. He rocked back and forth in an unconscious motion.
Parker closed her eyes briefly in gratitude that she had found him and sent a silent ‘thank you’ to her mother.
Drawing in a deep breath, she took a step towards Jarod. There was no reaction.
“Jarod,” she addressed to him in a soft and soothing voice.
Nothing
She crept one more step and called his name again, then another one and another one until she was standing directly in front of him.
Still, he didn’t even acknowledge her presence.
Parker crouched down so that she was at eyelevel with him. “Jarod,” she called once more and hesitantly reached out.
She braced herself for a frightened reaction but when she touched him, there was none at all.
She could feel him shivering under her touch but the rocking motion continued.
Parker swallowed. “Jar,” she murmured.
Working up the courage to do so, she gently drew his head up.
His face was clenched in sweat and his brow was wrinkled in a frown. His eyes were clenched shut tightly. The sight nearly broke her heart and she had a hard time staying calm.
“Jar,” she called again and softly brushed the sweat from his brow.
He drew in a shaky breath and shivered yet again.
Parker decided to take this as a good sign and continued to murmur soft words and stroke his face. Finally there was the smallest reaction when Jarod leaned into her touch so softly she nearly missed it.
“Shhh, I’m here Jar. No one can hurt you here. You are safe. I will protect you,” she whispered.
Parker moved so that she was sitting besides him, all the while talking to him.
“You are ok, Jar. You are safe,” she caressed his cheek.
‘Home is where the heart is,’ her mother’s voice spoke up in her head.
“Jarod, you are home; home where no one can harm you. I’m here,” she said, using her mother’s words.
There was a soft moan and then Jarod leaned towards her. Parker quickly steadied him and slowly let his head down so it was resting in her lap. Jarod was now lying on his side and she gently stroked his cheek while still talking nonsense to him.
Parker leaned her head against the wall behind her and sighed.
Once more thanking her mother and the odds that lead her to Jarod, she tried to relieve some of the tension that held her body captured. She was still worried about Jarod’s condition but at least she knew now that he was not harmed and she knew where he was and that he was not alone.
The last few hours had been pure torture. They had all been so worried.
She pushed her head away from the wall again. Jay and Ethan…
Grimacing, she scolded herself for completely forgetting about them. They were certainly worried that now not only Jarod was missing but she as well.
Parker withdrew one arm from Jarod’s still shaking form to grab her cell phone from where she usually kept it in her jacket pocket.
It wasn’t there.
“Great,” she muttered and then remembered leaving it at the table in the hotel room. The telephone in her house was in the living room and she didn’t want to leave Jarod alone. He needed her.
Parker gently ran her hands down his torso searching the pockets of his leather jacket. She breathed a silent sigh when she finally found the item.
She slowly removed it from his pocket. Jay’s number was the first on speed dial and so she didn’t search further for Ethan’s.
“Jarod?” Jay’s voice came over the line after the second ring.
“Jay, it’s me,” Parker replied.
“Parker,” Jay breathed.
“I’ve got him, Jay,” she informed Jarod’s brother quickly.
“Thank God,” Jay said and then forwarded her information to Ethan. “Where are you, Parker?”
“I’m at my old place. Jarod obviously felt secure here,” she answered.
“How is he?” Ethan asked out of the background.
“He is not harmed physically,” she responded, looking down at the shivering form.
“But?” Jay asked.
“He’s not in a good shape, Jay. He is nearly completely unresponsive,” she told him.
“Damn. You want us to come?” Jay questioned.
“No, don’t think that it would help,” she shook her head though Jay couldn’t see it.
“Maybe I could help?” Jay suggested.
“No, I don’t think so. I think he needs time. I will stay with him. I just wanted to let you know that he is ok so far and that I’m with him now. Stay where you are. I’ll call you once there are any changes,” she directed firmly.
“Ok,” Jay relented.
They both disconnected the call.
To be continued…
~~~~~~~~~
Part 6
Home is where the heart is
Parker was sleeping on the couch. She had waited in the living room together with Jay and Ethan and eventually she had drifted of into a restless sleep.
Ethan had covered her with a quilt and then the brothers left the room, leaving her alone.
‘Precious,’ her mother’s voice whispered in her head.
‘Mom…’
‘Shhh, I’m here,’ she soothed her daughter. Parker could nearly feel her mother’s hand running through her hair in an effort to calm her.
‘I’m so afraid,’ Parker replied.
‘I know’
“Where is he? Where is Jarod?” Parker murmured out loud, a tear escaping her closed eyes.
‘He is home,’ her mother’s voice hushed her.
‘Home? I don’t understand,’ Parker tossed in her sleep.
‘He is home. Home is where the heart is,’ Catherine’s voice faced away.
The words still ringing in her ear, Parker sat up and gasped for air.
She removed the quilt from her body and got up. Silently stepping over to the window, she repeated the ‘conversation’ in her head.
‘Home is where the heart is,’ she mused quietly, looking out of the window over the still dark city of Dover.
“Home is where the heart is,” she mumbled again. “Damn, that doesn’t make any sense.”
Parker sat down in the chair next to the window and continued to look outside. The stars were blinking brightly in the sky. She sighed, letting her mind wander and yet again repeating her mother’s message over and over in her head.
They were so close to Blue Cove, to the Centre.
‘Home is where the heart is.’
Jarod had once lead them on a wild goose chase, ending it with a note, saying that there was no place like home and why they didn’t leave him alone so that he could find his.
‘Home is where the heart is.’
Parker shook her head. Blue Cove was hardly a place Jarod would call ‘home’.
There was no place like that here that held that kind of a position in his heart, at least not as far as she knew; the area around Blue Cove had always meant danger and hurt for Jarod and not home.
‘Home is where the heart is.’
Yet he had stayed at her house during the early stages of their adventure.
Parker’s head snapped up.
Her house, the summer house.
She swallowed. Jarod had told her, after he came back from his first trip to Europe with the Scrolls that he was glad to be ‘home’ again. Home in the context of being back in her house and together with her.
In her house…
Parker’s thoughts reeled. Could he really be there?
She got up from the window seat and strode over to the hotel room door, grabbing the car keys and a jacket on her way. She just had to take her chances. Maybe he was at her house.
Maybe… hopefully.
~~~~~~~
Ethan and Jay both shot up in their beds when they heard the room door close. Racing through the adjoining door, they burst into Parker’s and Jarod’s hotel room.
They had hoped that Jarod had come home but instead, Parker was gone.
“Damn. What is it with people vanishing today?” Jay swore under his breath.
Ethan strode back into their room and retrieved his cell phone. Walking back over to where Jay was, he dialled Parker’s number. Only seconds later, her cell rang loudly… it was lying on the table where she had put it after coming back from the Centre this evening.
“Goodness, how can everything possibly go so wrong on just one day?” now it was Ethan who swore.
“What do we do?” Jay looked at his half-brother.
“We wait,” Ethan grumbled and looked over to the table where his sister’s cell phone lay. “We can’t do anything else. The car keys are gone with her,” he informed his brother.
“Great,” Jay muttered.
~~~~~~~
Parker speed down the road towards her house; only a few more minutes to go.
She had broken all tempo limits on her way. Normally she needed about forty to forty-five minutes from Dover to Blue Cove. She had made the distance in a little less than thirty minutes today.
The car skidded to a halt in front of her house and Parker jumped out without grabbing the keys out of the ignition.
She ran up the stair and quickly fumbled with the lock on her front door.
“Jarod? Jarod, are you there?” she called pleadingly while poking her head into the living room.
There was no light in the house. Everything was dark. She continued on her way through her house.
Nothing; not in her bedroom, not in the guest room where Jarod had been staying, just… nothing.
Dejectedly she walked back down to the living room. It was then that she realized that she hadn’t searched every room. One was still missing… her mother’s studio. She turned towards it.
The door was slightly ajar. Quickly crossing the room, she pushed it open further and there he was, huddled in the farthest corner of the room.
Jarod was sitting on the floor, his knees drawn up to his chest and his arms securing them in that position; his forehead rested on his knees. He rocked back and forth in an unconscious motion.
Parker closed her eyes briefly in gratitude that she had found him and sent a silent ‘thank you’ to her mother.
Drawing in a deep breath, she took a step towards Jarod. There was no reaction.
“Jarod,” she addressed to him in a soft and soothing voice.
Nothing
She crept one more step and called his name again, then another one and another one until she was standing directly in front of him.
Still, he didn’t even acknowledge her presence.
Parker crouched down so that she was at eyelevel with him. “Jarod,” she called once more and hesitantly reached out.
She braced herself for a frightened reaction but when she touched him, there was none at all.
She could feel him shivering under her touch but the rocking motion continued.
Parker swallowed. “Jar,” she murmured.
Working up the courage to do so, she gently drew his head up.
His face was clenched in sweat and his brow was wrinkled in a frown. His eyes were clenched shut tightly. The sight nearly broke her heart and she had a hard time staying calm.
“Jar,” she called again and softly brushed the sweat from his brow.
He drew in a shaky breath and shivered yet again.
Parker decided to take this as a good sign and continued to murmur soft words and stroke his face. Finally there was the smallest reaction when Jarod leaned into her touch so softly she nearly missed it.
“Shhh, I’m here Jar. No one can hurt you here. You are safe. I will protect you,” she whispered.
Parker moved so that she was sitting besides him, all the while talking to him.
“You are ok, Jar. You are safe,” she caressed his cheek.
‘Home is where the heart is,’ her mother’s voice spoke up in her head.
“Jarod, you are home; home where no one can harm you. I’m here,” she said, using her mother’s words.
There was a soft moan and then Jarod leaned towards her. Parker quickly steadied him and slowly let his head down so it was resting in her lap. Jarod was now lying on his side and she gently stroked his cheek while still talking nonsense to him.
Parker leaned her head against the wall behind her and sighed.
Once more thanking her mother and the odds that lead her to Jarod, she tried to relieve some of the tension that held her body captured. She was still worried about Jarod’s condition but at least she knew now that he was not harmed and she knew where he was and that he was not alone.
The last few hours had been pure torture. They had all been so worried.
She pushed her head away from the wall again. Jay and Ethan…
Grimacing, she scolded herself for completely forgetting about them. They were certainly worried that now not only Jarod was missing but she as well.
Parker withdrew one arm from Jarod’s still shaking form to grab her cell phone from where she usually kept it in her jacket pocket.
It wasn’t there.
“Great,” she muttered and then remembered leaving it at the table in the hotel room. The telephone in her house was in the living room and she didn’t want to leave Jarod alone. He needed her.
Parker gently ran her hands down his torso searching the pockets of his leather jacket. She breathed a silent sigh when she finally found the item.
She slowly removed it from his pocket. Jay’s number was the first on speed dial and so she didn’t search further for Ethan’s.
“Jarod?” Jay’s voice came over the line after the second ring.
“Jay, it’s me,” Parker replied.
“Parker,” Jay breathed.
“I’ve got him, Jay,” she informed Jarod’s brother quickly.
“Thank God,” Jay said and then forwarded her information to Ethan. “Where are you, Parker?”
“I’m at my old place. Jarod obviously felt secure here,” she answered.
“How is he?” Ethan asked out of the background.
“He is not harmed physically,” she responded, looking down at the shivering form.
“But?” Jay asked.
“He’s not in a good shape, Jay. He is nearly completely unresponsive,” she told him.
“Damn. You want us to come?” Jay questioned.
“No, don’t think that it would help,” she shook her head though Jay couldn’t see it.
“Maybe I could help?” Jay suggested.
“No, I don’t think so. I think he needs time. I will stay with him. I just wanted to let you know that he is ok so far and that I’m with him now. Stay where you are. I’ll call you once there are any changes,” she directed firmly.
“Ok,” Jay relented.
They both disconnected the call.
To be continued…
