The Good Girls Secret

Chapter 20- The Dream

"Okay, I guess you can turn around." I blatantly tell him. Well, at least I wore cute underwear.

He slowly turns to face me, but I cover my face with my hands. I don't want to see his reaction when he notices all the other scars on my thighs from my dad.

"Hey," he says, pulling my hands from my face, "don't do that."

I swallow the lump in my throat and drop my hands down.

Braiden wordlessly cleans my wound, being so careful not to hurt me that my heart literally melts.

"Um, Ryan, I think I'm going to need to stitch this up." He says, the frown on his face clearly visible.

I press my lips tightly together and nod for him to do it. 

The sharp tip of the needle pierces through my skin, causing me so bite down on my fist and try to stop the whimpers escaping my throat. Five stitches later I'm all done. He lightly wraps gauze around my leg, brushing it with his fingers and I swear my heart is going to burst out of my chest at any second.

"Alright, you're all good now." He says, flashing me a smile.

"Thanks." I try and return it, but a yawn takes over.

"Okay, let's get you up to bed."

I nod my head, eyes already fluttering closed. He picks me up for the second time tonight and carries me upstairs. I'm carefully placed under my soft covers which are warm and inviting. Sleep tugs at my eyes and I welcome it with open arms.

"Goodnight Ryan." Braiden whispers.

I feel the softness of his lips meet my cheek, until sleep finally overtakes me.

"Sweetheart, wake up!" My mothers voice jolted me awake.

"Mom?" I asked through squinted eyes trying to see through the darkness.

Her eyes are wide and full of pure terror as she frantically watches the door which is closed and locked. A loud bang comes from downstairs and right away a know that my father was up to something, and I have no intention of finding out what it is.

"Ryan, I need you to listen to me." She grabs onto my shoulders then shakes me wide awake. "Your father just came home from the bar and is in a mood like I've never seen before. He's looking for you, saying that you're the reason his life is a mess."

When she tells me his words I remain completely unfazed. I could care less what my father thinks of me. He's beaten me for the past fifteen years, I'm the one who should be full of hatred. Which be the way, I completely am.

"I'm sure it's nothing new mom, I'll probably just get the usual beating." I reassure her, even though alarm bells are going off in my brain.

This is pretty unusual because it's the middle of the night. My dad usually waits until the next day and then looks for me.

"Ryan Della Hunter, look at me." She grabs my chin so I'm looking directly into her molten honey, brown eyes. "This is serious, he's talking about wanting to kill you and there's nothing I could say to stop him."

My eyes form to the size of golf balls as soon as I hear the word kill. Sure, he's done some horrible things to me, but kill?

"W-what are we going to do?" My voice trembles as I speak in a hushed voice.

She shakes her head back and fourth rapidly, willing the tears forming in her eyes to not fall.

"I don't know baby girl. I don't know." Her voice cracks, causing the reality of the situation to set in. My father wants to kill me, we have to escape.