The Secret About Christmas

by Amanda Bennett

  My brows pulled together in confusion. I may have been joking about the whole Norman Bates reference earlier, but that’s exactly what this was. He was literally talking to himself as though I wasn’t even there. “Jude, are you okay?”

  “Of course I’m okay. Back off.”

  I held my hands up in mock surrender as the car started to progressively go faster. I tugged at my seatbelt, making sure it was securely fastened just in case he decided to run us off the road, and I took in a deep breath. I wasn’t sure how all of this was going to end, but I could only hope that I would make it home in one piece. Just then a pair of headlights appeared over the small dip in the road, and I was praying that it was Nora coming to save me.

  “Who the hell is this?” Jude slammed his foot on the gas pedal, and swerved into the opposite lane with the car coming straight at us.

  “JUDE! GET BACK IN OUR LANE.” I gripped onto the steering wheel, trying to pull it hard enough to get us back in our lane, and out of the way of the oncoming car, but Jude was a big guy. “Why are you doing this?”

  I could feel the tears starting to stream down my heated cheeks, and knew in that very moment that this was it. This was how my short life would end, and I didn’t even know why. Why he chose me. How did I get myself in this situation, and why wasn’t I strong enough to get myself out? I glanced at the shiny metal handle that was my only ticket to freedom, and I contemplated my options. Die in this tin can with a guy I didn’t know, or jump and possibly survive. I was running out of time to make a decision, but which one do I choose?

  Ten

  Hayden

  I wasn’t exactly sure what I was watching, but it was like a bad movie. I had my uncle do some digging on this guy Noel was on a date with, and what came back was disturbing, to say the least. Not only was he no longer a cop on the police force, he was also diagnosed as paranoid schizophrenic, and voluntarily checked out of the local loony bin just a few days ago. Obviously this guy was nuttier than a squirrel turd, because now he was driving straight for us.

  I tried to swerve into the other lane, but this guy was damn determined to run us off the road. Nora was holding onto anything she could in the cab of her truck, preparing for the inevitable impact that was about to occur. I let my foot off the gas pedal, hoping that if I slowed down enough that it would cause less physical damage to her truck, and to us.

  The needle on the speedometer fell just below the twenty, but I could tell that there was no way he was slowing down. Without a second to think, I waited for the other guy’s car to get as close as possible, and then quickly jerked the wheel as hard as I could to the right. The corner of the bed of the truck to clipped the front end of the other car, sending us spinning around in circles before eventually stopping right in front of an old wooden fence.

  I immediately reached out for Nora, and started checking her for any signs of physical damage. She was a bit shaken up, but there were no signs of bruising, cuts, or anything life threatening. “Are you okay?” I could feel her body shaking in my hands, and I would’ve tended to her, but just then a loud crash came from the other side of the road, and I instantly knew that Noel was in trouble. I glanced up at Nora with a pleading look in my eye.

  “Go! Hurry, go see if she is okay.” I nodded, and kicked open the truck door.

  “NOEL?” I shouted as loud as I could as I ran in the direction of the car that was practically wrapped around the tree. “NOEL?”

  “HAYDEN?” Her voice was weak, and I could tell that it was hard for her to scream out for me.

  I made my way to the passenger side, and found Noel sitting in the seat, blood flowing down the side of her face. I ripped off my jacket and threw it to the ground, then pulled off my flannel shirt I had on underneath. I wadded it up, and pressed it firmly against her temple where the bleeding originated. As I reached across her to unlatch her seatbelt, I noticed Officer Huge passed out in the driver seat. I pressed my fingers against his neck, but couldn’t feel a pulse. I pulled back, and tried to unlatch the seatbelt again, but it seemed to be stuck.

  “Do you have your phone on you?” Noel was physically shaken up with a blank stare on her face. “Noel? Noel, I need you to listen to me.” I held her soft cheeks in my hands and stared deep into her glossed over blue eyes. “I need you to dial 911, do you think you can do that?” She nodded swiftly, and then I quickly ran to the other side of the car.

  The door was jammed shut, making it hard for me to get to Jude or whoever this guy was, but I managed to pull the door enough to get him out and onto the ground. I checked for a pulse again, and began CPR until the paramedics or somebody could get here. I glanced back at Noel who still hadn’t moved from where I left her, noticing that she wasn’t even holding her cell phone anymore.

  “NOEL, DID YOU CALL?” When she didn’t respond, I went for the next best thing. “NORA, NORA I NEED YOU.” Before I knew it, she was almost immediately at my side. “Do you have a signal on your phone?” She glanced down, and shook her head. “FUUUUUCK!” I yelled into the cool night air. The wind had picked up, and that on top of the already snowy, cold as all hell night, I was starting to freeze right where I stood.

  “Let me walk out a little ways into the street and see if I can get anything.” I nodded in agreement as I continued to try and save this asshole’s life who as far as I was concerned, didn’t deserve it.

  “Nora?”

  She looked back over her shoulder at me, and I could see the fear in her eyes. “Yeah?”

  “Can you please check on Noel? She has a pretty decent sized gash on her temple. Make sure the bleeding has let up a bit, please?”

  She nodded, and then disappeared around the other side of the car. After a few more chest compressions, I checked for a pulse again, and was caught completely off guard when I could finally feel one. I turned his head to the side waiting for him to cough, or show any sign of life, but he just lay there completely unmoving. I looked up trying to see where Nora had run off to, but I couldn’t see her or Noel from where I was. I was about to stand up and check on the both of them, but suddenly there was no need. Nora appeared around the backend of the car, and she looked far more relived than she had before.

  “What’s going on?” I muttered, not to alert her to the fact that the guy lying on the ground below me was still unconscious.

  “I had a signal long enough to make the call. They said someone should be on their way shortly. Apparently someone was in the area already.”

  “How is that even possible? We are literally in the middle of nowhere. Not that it is any different from where we live, but hey. How’s Noel? Is she still awake?”

  Nora inched her way closer to me, and slowly leaned into me so she could whisper into my ear. “I don’t think she’s doing okay, Hayden. She doesn’t look good at all. She needs medical attention sooner rather than later, if you catch my drift.”

  Shit! How had my life gone from being Santa at the goddamn department store, to trying to save two different people’s lives in a matter of hours? The situation was completely surreal. “Okay, I don’t want to leave this asshat by himself in case he decides to wake up and be a complete and utter psycho. Is she awake at least?”

  “Yeah, but barely.” I could hear the concern in her voice, and it was practically breaking my heart that she thought she could be losing her friend.

  “Okay, you go stay with her. Try and keep her awake as best as you can. And holler if you need me at all. Got it?”

  “Yes.” She stood, and gently caught her wrist in my hand.

  “Thank you Nora, for calling me.”

  “Of course.”

  I looked down at Jude’s lifeless body below me, and it literally took everything in me not to finish him off right this very second. I mean, it’s not like anybody would know it was me. “You’re lucky.” I whispered, and just then I heard the faint sound of sirens in the not too far off distance.

  I could hear the first responders speaking with Noel and Nora, and Nora tellin
g them that I was on the other side of the car with the driver. Just as I turned in the direction of the voices coming closer, I caught sight of a guy who looked an awful lot like the guy that way lying half dead below me. I opened my mouth to speak, but he beat me to it.

  “Hi, I’m Jude Miller. The actual Jude Miller.” He held out his hand for me to shake it, but I was far too confused to do so. “I know this must be extremely confusing, but trust me when I say, I will give you all the answers you seek. But first, let’s see if we can save my brother’s worthless life.”

  “You’re brother?” I was far beyond confused, and then I remembered that Noel was still hurt. “The girl, Noel, is she okay?”

  “Oh the blonde girl? Yeah, she’s going to be fine. She’s getting stitched up as we speak. I’m going to have to ask you to back away from him though.” He pointed at the guy beneath me.

  I put my hands up in a surrendering motion and slowly stood to back away from him. “Can I go see her now?”

  “Sure, but stay close. We’re going to want to get you checked out as well.”

  I nodded in acknowledgement, and started making my way up onto the street. When Noel and Nora caught sight of me, a relieved smile covered both of their faces, and mine. This night had seriously turned into one majorly messed up situation, and I had the distinct feeling that it was about to get even messier once we made it back into town.

  Eleven

  Noel

  He saved me. The one person that I thought would turn out to be one of the most insensitive, inconsiderate people I had ever met, turned out to be the one guy who was actually there when I needed him, no questions asked. Nora had just finished telling me how she called him to help her when she got my text, and he immediately said yes with absolutely no hesitation as to what the situation was that he would be getting himself into.

  He looked rugged and hot as hell in nothing but a tank top and jeans in what could only be about twenty-six degree weather. He had to be freezing to death, but he had put my needs above his own and literally gave me the shirt off his back. It was a gesture I wouldn’t soon forget. As he inched closer to us, I wanted to run to him and wrap my bruised arms tightly around his neck to thank him. Of course there were a few other ways I could think of to show my appreciation, but that probably wouldn’t be too appropriate given all the emergency personnel around us.

  The paramedic was still stitching up the gnarly gash on the side of my head when Hayden finally reached us, a wide smile plastered on his gorgeous face. I wasn’t sure if it was the drugs they had given me, or just his bulging biceps, but I was about ten seconds away from running into his arms and ripping every shred of clothing he had left on him. When he smiled directly at me, I wondered if he was feeling the same way I was, but part of me knew that it was most likely just me in my drug-induced state.

  “How are you doing?” His voice was just above a whisper and it hit that inner most needful part of me, causing me to jump a little bit.

  “I’m okay. Just a few more stitches and I’m good to go. How are you? Aren’t you cold?” Not that I minded the view one damn bit, but I didn’t need him getting hypothermia on top of already saving my life.

  “I’m okay. I just need to find my jacket, and then I’ll be better than okay.” He smiled, and my heart practically melted right out of my chest.

  “I think it’s over there.” I pointed in the direction of the mangled car behind him. “Hayden?”

  “Yes, small fry?”

  I smiled at the ridiculously annoying nickname he had bestowed upon me. “Why?”

  “Why what?”

  I could tell he was playing coy with me. “Why did you come help me?”

  He pushed his long fingers back through his hair, and I watched his every movement as he fidgeted in nervousness. “Just trying to make sure my elves make it back to the North Pole in one piece.” He laughed.

  “You can’t ever be serious, can you?”

  “What do you mean? I am being serious. If you’ll excuse me for one second, I’m going to go get my jacket.” Without another word, he stood and started making his way over to where his jacket lay on the ground.

  “I just don’t get him.” I whispered in Nora’s direction.

  “He’s a guy. I don’t think you ever will.”

  “All done, Miss. Now make sure you keep these covered for the next twenty-four hours, and then come into the hospital in about two weeks and get the stitches removed. K?”

  I nodded in the paramedic’s direction, and then looked back in Nora’s direction. I was just about to ask her about Hayden when an extremely good-looking carbon copy of Jude came walking in my direction. “What the-“ Before I could finish my sentence, he was standing in front of me introducing himself.

  “Hi, Ms. Christmas?” I could hear a low chuckle in his voice as he spoke my last name.

  “Yes, it’s my real last name.” I responded in an agitated tone.

  “I’m Officer Jude Miller.” He held out his hand to shake mine, but I refused until I had more answers. “Alright then. I think we have a bit to talk about.”

  “So it would appear.” I was beyond annoyed now, and I wanted him to have no doubt about it. “Is the other Jude Miller alive?”

  “He is. They are taking him to the hospital now. He is breathing, but still unconscious. Can you tell me what happened tonight, Ms. Christmas?”

  “I could, but I have a few questions for you first. Like, how is it that the both of you look exactly alike, and even have the same name?” I looked at him with a look that showed him that I wasn’t in the mood to play any games.

  “Well, his name is actually Jason Miller, not Jude Miller, and he is my twin brother.”

  “Does your twin brother always impersonate you, and kidnap innocent young women?” I knew I was being a bit harsh, but after what I had been through tonight I’m pretty sure I had the right to be.

  “Let me start off by saying that I am real sorry for what my brother has put you through. My brother and I haven’t spoken in the last three years. He has been locked up in Pineville Sanitarium up on the hill. He was diagnosed as paranoid schizophrenia on our eighteenth birthday when he tried to kill himself. He was admitted involuntarily, and has been there ever since. I used to go visit him everyday, until he stopped taking his medication, and he refused to see me. That was three years ago.”

  I sat back in disbelief. His story was one that you usually heard about in a movie, or read about in the papers. It was completely insane, and extremely hard to believe. “So…he just comes back and pretends to be you?”

  “No…I mean, yes, but not like this. The hospital called me a few days ago to tell me that he snuck out during the night, but they swore to me that he was harmless.”

  “Obviously they were wrong.”

  “He must’ve gone by my place and picked up some of my work stuff. How did you even meet him?” His inquisitive eyes stayed focused on me as I stood next to him, trying to remember what I could. Given the current state of my brain after hitting it on whatever I hit it on, things weren’t coming to me as easily as they normally would.

  “He pulled me over a few days ago, or was it yesterday? Maybe it was yesterday, no, I swear it was the other day. Either way, he pulled me over, wrote me a ticket and everything. I remember getting mad at him for making me late on my first day of my new job, and he didn’t seem fazed by it one bit. Anywho, he later showed up at Darrington’s, the store I work at. He caused a huge scene in front of all the waiting kids and parents, and then he pressured me to go on a date with him.” I instantly felt embarrassed about the entire situation.

  “Is that what this was?” He sounded smug, and I really wasn’t in the mood for his shit.

  “Yes…that’s what this was supposed to be. I felt bad saying no to him, and honestly, he seemed like a really nice guy. How was I supposed to know he is crazy?”

  “I wasn’t implying that at all. He used my badge to his advantage. Again…I’m so sorry for all of this
.”

  I could hear the sincerity in his voice, and when I looked up into his amazingly hypnotic hazel eyes, I began to cave. Although him and his brother were identical twins, I was starting to see a different side of this Jude, a side I liked. What the hell was wrong with me? “I appreciate the apology.” We stood there staring at one another, not a single word being spoken, when Hayden came walking up, clearing his throat to get our attention.

  “Officer Miller, they’re ready to take your brother and they were wondering if you were wanting to follow them to the hospital?”

  “Oh, yeah. I suppose I should. Well…” He started patting his pockets, and finally pulled out a square white business card and handed it to me. “If you need anything at all or remember anything specific you may have forgotten right now, please don’t hesitate to call me…anytime. It was a pleasure meeting you Ms. Christmas.”

  “Noel.”

  “Excuse me?”

  “My name, its Noel.” I stood there, waiting for the laughing to ensue, but it never did.

  “Noel…very pretty. The name and the girl.” He turned and made his way back to his cruiser, and I stood there in awe.

  “Hey, you ready to go?” I barely heard Hayden’s voice next to me, but then he spoke up and I heard him loud and clear. “Come on, I’ll get the two of you home.”

  I wanted to thank him. I wanted to find a way to show him how truly grateful I was for what he and Nora did for me tonight, but nothing seemed good enough. I had been completely wrong about him. I thought I had him pegged as your typical “player”, but turns out, he’s just a really nice guy who would ditch whatever he was doing tonight to come to the aid of a stupid, stupid girl who didn’t know she was going out with the real life version of Norman Bates.

  I kept glancing at him out of the corner of my eye the entire ride back into town, and I was finding myself becoming more and more attracted to him. I was pretty certain that he was feeling the same way towards me, but after watching me interact with Officer Jude, I was pretty certain that his interest was starting to fell below the normal amount. Leave it up to me to get myself involved in a dramatic love triangle twenty-four hours after starting my new life in my old town. Wow, my life was made for TV.