Fear and Aggression



  Fear and Aggression

  Dane Bagley

  Copyright © 2012 by Dane Bagley

  All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, or stored in a database or retrieval system, without the prior written permission from the author. For information send request to [email protected]

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  All of the characters and events in this book are fictitious. Any resemblance or similarity to real persons, living or dead, is coincidental.

  ISBN 978-0-615-64122-5 (eBook)

  ISBN 978-1-478-23960-4 (paperback)

  Edited By Kayti Mayfield

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  Cover Design by Ronnell Porter

  https://www.wix.com/ronnelldporter/design

  Author Photo by Kim Greenfield

  https://agreenfieldphotography.com

  For Karen,

  my sweetheart, best friend, and eternal companion

  Prologue

  Oh, how beautiful, she thought to herself, as they rounded the bend and looked out over the lake with the sunset reflecting off of the water. Jenna’s husband, Chip, was be-bopping to the oldies music that had been playing on the satellite radio for the past couple of hours. She glanced at him and he gave her a quick glance and a smile.

  That glance brought back her train of thought. Why was that? Oh, that’s right, it’s his silly beard, she thought to herself. He hadn’t sported a beard since they were dating over twenty-five years ago. He really couldn’t grow a beard, with his light blond hair, but he decided to give it a whirl again anyway.

  Jenna had been thinking about her name, and how much she hated it. She still hated it after all of these years; and seeing his attempt at a beard brought it to the forefront of her thoughts. Jenna Jenners, it just sounds sick—it’s a sick name. Why did the man I love have to have that horrible last name of Jenners, she thought. She really didn’t hate the name Jenners—it was the combination that she hated. Jenna Jenners, that just sounds awful.

  Chip had thought of plenty of ways to fix the problem. He was happy with her keeping her maiden name, Rickson. But Jenna was a traditionalist; she didn’t even want a hyphenated last name, nor did she think that it would help. Chip loved her sandy blond hair, and had called her, ‘Sandy,’ just for fun. “Since you are changing your last name to Jenners, anyway, why don’t you just change your first name to Sandy?” he suggested. She liked the name Sandy—she even liked him calling her Sandy—but she was Jenna. She had always been Jenna, and always would be Jenna. There was no way around it: she was going to be Jenna Jenners. It made her cry at the time. Now, she could smile about it, but she still hated—really hated—her name.

  The setting sun brought a brilliance of color to both the sky and the lake. She felt happy inside. If the worst thing about Chip is his last name, then I’m a pretty lucky woman. She really did love him, and that was the only thing about him that she really didn’t like. Sandy Jenners was no longer her pet name. Sandy was actually her nineteen-year-old daughter, with long, sandy blond hair, just like hers. That worked out perfectly, she thought. Her younger, fifteen-year-old daughter had a lighter shade of blond, more like Chip’s hair.

  The girls were both sitting in the back seat, with Sandy sitting directly behind her mother; Megan was sitting behind Chip, who was driving. The girls had not said a word in hours. They must both be playing on their phones, she thought. Her daughters never had much to say or do with each other. They could be together in the same room—or car—for hours and have no interaction. It had always been that way. She couldn’t think of a time when they had fought with each other. They didn’t act angry or frustrated; they just never had much to do with each other. It’s funny, I love them both so much, she thought, why don’t they get along better? It really had always been this way, ever since they were little children.

  Jenna turned around to look at her daughters. Megan looked up with a classic fifteen-year-old, ‘what?’ expression. She had headphones on, and didn’t look like she wanted to remove them. Reluctantly she pressed pause and looked back at her mother.

  “Check out the sunset; it’s gorgeous!” said Jenna. Megan looked up briefly, nodded quickly, and then dropped her eyes back to her phone. “Tell Sandy,” said her mother. Jenna didn’t want to have to lean over to get Sandy’s attention.

  Megan reached over and gave Sandy a gentle slap with the back of her hand on Sandy’s thigh. Sandy turned her head and gave Megan a dirty look. Megan bobbed her head towards her mother with a similar expression, as if to say, “I don’t want to talk with you, Mom made me do it.”

  Once Sandy began to look out her passenger side window towards the lake and the setting sun, she lost interest in her phone. The beauty captivated her, and she just looked out and gazed—something was clearly on her mind.

  Such beautiful, wonderful girls, who couldn’t care less about each other, Jenna thought as she turned back around to admire the view herself. They were riding alongside the lake now. It was just a few feet away from Jenna on the passenger’s side. With her boys it was entirely different. Even though they were fourteen years apart in age, they had been inseparable since her youngest was born. They both absolutely adored each other, and would be happy to spend all of their time together. That is why they were not with them right now. They were home hanging out together,—probably having the time of their lives, she thought pleasantly. I think I’ll text them and let them know when we’ll be home.

  Jenna turned around to borrow Megan’s phone rather than fiddle in her purse for her own. As she turned around, she shrieked, “WATCH OUT!” But there was nothing that Chip could do. A car racing at over seventy miles per hour, along a side road, slammed into them squarely on the driver’s side, crushing and killing Chip and Megan instantly. Sandy and Jenna blacked out as both cars flew over the embankment and into the lake.

  Jenna partially regained consciousness as the vehicles made impact with the water. She was aware of her husband and daughter’s deaths—it was obvious—but wondered about Sandy. She wanted to call her name, but could not as she blacked out again. Both cars sank quickly into the lake. The next time that Jenna regained consciousness was when she felt the cold water on her thighs. Again, she thought of Sandy, and again, she blacked out.

  She briefly regained consciousness when she inhaled cold water, instead of air. She sputtered momentarily, but could not stay awake. Jenna Jenners had taken her final breath.

  Chapter 1