Property of the Quileute Wolf Pack (1)

Chapter 23

* Kathleen * 

I'd been home about 3 weeks. 3 weeks . Fortunately , my dad had been flying more hours this month  . If he'd been home, things would've only been worse for me . My mom was still working hard , never stopping to take a break or do anything with her only daugher .I really hadn't wanted to talk to anyone for awhile . I wanted a break from human interaction and I wanted to find my center again . But tonight was one night I was going to make enjoyable for myself by walking a few blocks to go see the only father figure I had besides my godfather . I was going to see my grandfather that'd just been diagnosed with cancer . I grabbed my bag and my jacket , pulling my hood up as I walked out into the misty twilight heading toward's my grandfather's house . I got there and he was happy to see me as always . I was the youngest grand daughter and we'd always had a specail bond after my grandmother died . I sat down on the couch and we talked about school and my mother's work . Just talking . I spent about 2 hours with him and by the time I was ready to leave , it was dark outside . I'd walked the route plenty of times , but everything was different now . I felt like something didn't want me to walk home tht night , but I didn't have a car and therefore , I didn't have a choice either .We said our goodbyes and I set out into the now rainy night . I followed the deserted sidewalk with hastened steps , wanting to get home quickly before I became the next face on a milk carton . I started to calm down a little . 
" Nothing to be nervous about , Kathleen . You've walked this route plenty of times . " I whispered , trying to sooth myself , but it was far from working .

I heard a loud bang behind me and jumped , not looking back as I took of running , not paying attention to where I was going as I cut through the cemetery . I sighed , looking around in the darkness , seeing nobody . That was close . Close to what , I'm not sure . I saw a church with an over hanging and made my way over so I could at least catch my breath before I finished my walk home . I was leaning against the wall under the over hanging when a hand shot out of the pitch darkness and grabbed me ,causing me to scream . A man stepped into my view as he flipped open a pocket knife , putting a hand to his lips to shut me up .I gulped , my heartbeat accelerating  . He looked down at my bag and snatched it , sticking his hand into it , pulling out the contents of my bag  . Chapstick ,  my  sunglasses , my portable umbrella and lastly , he found what he was looking for when he grabbed my wallett. Where was Romeo and Juliet ? He slid it into his back pocket and then looked at me again . He looked to be about 23 or 24 . Not bad looking , but deffinately not good looking . It then occured to me . He was going to kill me . He was going to kill me and nobody would know . I was over 500 miles away from Forks, Washington and there was nobody here to save me . Nobody would come to my rescue . Nobody would hear me scream . Nobody would care . He looked me over . 

" It's a shame to only take your wallett when you could obviously offer SO much more . " he said with a wink .

I gulped, nearly choking on my spit . He smirked and pressed me against the wall , sliding off my jacket and then started to work on the top buttons of my plaid shirt .I shook my head , but he still had the pocket knife . He only got to the third button when something ripped him off of me . Gasping for air as I could finally breathe without having to worry about a knife cuting into me , I fell back against the wall, coughing . When I looked up , I couldn't see the face of my rescuer , but he beat up the man , muttering curse words and other scoldings . I scooted back against the wall , fumbling for what had spilled out of my bag , only wanting to get out of there .As I was picking up my stuff , I heard a creak and looked up just in time for the over hanging of the church to start to give way . There was no way I'd be able to make it out of there . As it started to fall , someone grabbed me and my bag , pulling me out of the way as the over hanging fell to the ground just inches from my feet . By now , I was about ready to have a panic attack . I was having trouble breathing and started wheezing . A hand reached from behind me , handing me my inhaler from the side pocket of my bag .I quickly took it and used it , feeling imediate improvement in my breathing . It was a good thing I'd used my inhaler BEFORE looking at my rescuer because he truely took my breath away . Deep dark blonde hair with dark brown eyes .He was very handsome and he made my heart want to leap from it's chest .