Salvation

23

Harvey frowned and slid the plate in Adelaide's direction. "Eat."

Pouting she picked up the fork and gave the food a suspicious poke. "I'm not hungry," she shrugged and put the fork down. She flinched when Harvey's hands slammed down on the table.

"You promised us!" He exclaimed annoyed. "I don't want you to get ill." He said in a quieter tone. Adelaide sighed and picked up the fork again. She'd now gone nearly twenty-four hours without food. Needless to say Harvey was close to shoving the food down her throat, or at least one side of him was. He stood up and walked off leaving her alone to eat. Adelaide frowned and ate slowly. She couldn't even pin down the reason for her hunger strike. She thought the main reason, or the most obvious one, was that her body had gone into a state of shock.

"Finished?" Looking up she nodded at Matthew. Standing up she walked away. She didn't trust him. It was either him or Toby who tried to get into her room last night. She was putting him down to being the culprit. Toby was too innocent and nice. Looking over her shoulder, she frowned. Matthew was following her towards the stairs. When she picked up her pace, so did he. Letting out a yelp when he eventually caught up with her and slammed her against the wall, she squinted up at him. The impact against the wall had thrown her vision off. Her eye didn't want to focus. "Ya know, it is a shame for you to just stay locked away in that room all day. Don't you get lonely? You must do." Matthew smirked and pressed himself more against her. "A pretty thing like you...it's an actual crime to-"

"Let me go." Adelaide cut off his preaching sarcastic words. Matthew tutted and pressed his arm against her throat. Adelaide's airways got blocked in seconds and light headedness was starting to kick in. Her head drooped just as a gunshot went off and Matthew's body thudded to the floor. She would have joined him if she hadn't been scooped up. There was another gun shot, at this point Adelaide coughed to try and get air back into her lungs. The cold night air made her shiver and she looked around confused. Looking up at Harvey she sighed. "Harvey?"

He looked down at her. "What?"

"Where are we going?" She asked in a croaky voice. She ignored his snappy tone. In all honesty she was too busy trying to stop feeling light headed to care about his tone.

"Somewhere safe." He answered and gave her a look that if she continued to talk, she would most likely regret it.

The building which she got carried into was like a warehouse conversion. It seemed like someone had converted a warehouse to a living space and then left. Not that Adelaide was shocked. This neighbourhood was rough. Being put down in a room, she looked around. It was a simply furnished bedroom. She got jolted back to reality when a finger trailed along her neck. No doubt she had a bruise forming from Matthew's arm.

"Sorry," Harvey said quietly. "I shouldn't have left you alone."

"It's all right," she smiled thinly and put a hand on his arm. She didn't want him feeling guilty for something he had no power to prevent.

Harvey continued to run a finger over the bruise. It looked so painful so soon. Leaning down he gently pressed his lips against it. He just didn't expect her to gently cup his face in her hands and bring him closer to herself. Wrapping his arms around her waist he effortlessly picked her up. Adelaide in return placed her arms around his neck. Harvey looked at her, he was trying to think of something to say, but all words had seemingly failed him. Leaning his forehead against hers, he sighed. Content, he felt content for the first time in a while. He felt relieved as well that he had easily dispatched the twins who seemed to have it in mind to harm Adelaide. This thought angered him and his grip tightened. She coughed out a breath and squirmed in his grasp. Harvey gave her an apologetic look, which she returned with a small smile. He was confused, how could she still be so normal towards him? It took him a day or so to get used to how things had turned out for him, and even then he despised it.