Saved By You

Chapter 4

And so I followed quietly as we walked down my route home and I suddenly got more scared by the second. Could he be the one that moved in a few doors down with his family? Does fate hate me that much or something?

I cower behind him and shuddered as I followed close behind him but of course he stops talking as soon as he notices and turns to face me confused, ‘what's wrong?’ he asks frowning as I kept my head lowered and stared at the interesting white-grey snow on the sidewalk.

I looked up, but not at him; I looked past him and stared further down the street, staring five houses down at my trashy, weedy, forgotten front yard – like me – and cowering away even more to the side as if standing behind this unknown person would help everything.

‘Are you… scared of someone in that house? I live near there, but we don't have to go if you don't want to…’ his brow furrows, concerned and confused.

I look up and shake my head before staring back at my house and expecting a stumbling, raging man to come out of it and just the thought feared me even more. I fist my hands as I still clutched onto the collar of the jacket, the zipper cutting into my skin and making it sting as blood soon starts to trickle down slowly. I let it go when I remember the jacket wasn’t mine before taking it off and handing it to him, avoiding eye contact and checking my wound before grabbing some snow and holding it in my hand to numb the pain, the snow melting in my palms and becoming red like the blood before I turn my hand over for it to fall.

As I thought the guy stares at me confused, worried and wide-eyed, but I breathe evenly and just blink away before starting toward the house I knew was his and wanting to get away from the open as fast as I could.

‘Hey, wait up!’ he calls out, following close on my heel as I walked across the road. ‘Wait, you know where I live?’ he asks surprised but also confused. I looked back at him and nodded toward my house and he frowns as we stop in front of his gate.

‘You live there?’ he asks widening his eyes as he opens the gate, looking at me as if I were joking and he couldn’t believe it. I stared at him, knowing that was exactly what he would say then realising I no longer wanted to go into his house. What if I open my mouth and just let everything out? What if he looks at me differently? He’s normal. He’s one of them. He’s no different to those kids at my school. He's no different to anyone else I’ve had to put up with. So with my hand still in mid-air as he said it I dropped it to my side again and a second later I walked off hugging myself to stop the biting, numbing cold and only just noticing my toes and feet were numb just like the rest of my body, like the rest of my brain.

I feel someone grab my arm gently, so softly, but I yank it away roughly twisting my body and flailing my arms like I used to when my father would to grab me like this, but when he finally let’s go from my fear and craziness I find myself almost face-planting but not before someone catches me smoothly, arms going around my waist then steadying me, turning me so I was looking up into those familiar concerned green eyes. ‘I-I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to offend or scare you. I was just… surprised that’s all.’

I held his unwavering, trusting gaze before blinking. He wasn’t lying. But I knew he wasn’t just surprised. So I stood there, staring, not shaking my head, not nodding, not shrugging and definitely not saying a word. He took this as a good sign and turned a little so his body faced his house, ‘c'mon? Just for dinner? Just for a moment?’ he asks. I looked toward his house which I only got two meters away from before thinking of bad things. Of what my father used to tell me what men wanted. Of what they’d do to girls that go into their houses. I shuddered and shook my head violently, scared, before stepping away from him only to bang into someone's body. Someone big and strong. Their hand clasping around my bruised wrist as if they knew I was hurt there, and I knew exactly who it was just by the smell on his clothes that only I could smell from the closeness and from the look in the strangers eyes.

I freeze and swallow, heart banging hard into my chest but this time by fear. I looked at the stranger in front of me, still not knowing his name, before looking away as I could see the question and worry in his eyes. I go to step away from my father but only feel him tighten his hold. I grit my teeth and dug my nails into my palms yet again on the hand where he wasn’t holding my wrist so he couldn’t tell.

‘C’mon sweetie,’ he says as if I were handy-capped or stupid, ‘fun’s over,’ my father’s deep voice cuts through like ice and I was surprised to how close to sober he sounded, his voice barely slurred and almost totally clear, or the clearest I’ve heard it in months. But still, I wouldn’t count him as stable or sober and I'm sure the stranger in front of us could see it too. He looked at me and I knew he could sense my fear, smell it or even see it in my eyes even as I looked away.

He frowns and from the corner of my eye I could see him staring at my farther as he tightens his hold on my wrists, tears pricking my eyes as the throbbing pain came back as well as memories.

‘Go on Hun, go inside and I’ll talk to you later. Let me talk to your friend for a moment okay?’ he asks voice light, but I could hear the threat in his tone as he let me go with a slight unnoticeable shove and watches me stumble away.

I glared at him but he just smiles, it only made me want to puke from how fake and charming he can be in front of people. No doubt he’ll say something about me to scare off the stranger forever. Saying I have mental issues or something. But I don't. He knows it.

I snarl at him but he drops his face, no longer smiling, and just that was enough for me to get moving, head hung low and not looking the stranger in the eyes, his gaze burning into the back of my head as I walked off.

‘Hey, wait!’ he calls but I kept on walking and I could hear my father’s hush whispers as I could practically see him towering over the stranger with green eyes, blocking both his view and way toward me.

I straightened and squared my shoulders before turning into my house after opening the shitty barred gate and going through the front door.

When my dad came home I knew there was nowhere to hide, nowhere to lock myself into and curl into a ball, and just by waiting and knowing exactly what he had planned for me made me freeze, made my whole body just sit at my desk, books spread out in front of me and wait. Knowing there was nothing I could do.

And then he came. His heavy footsteps stomping slowly down the hall, making my heart and breathing stop on purpose, loving the suspense he knew he could put me through.

I hated him.

And then he was at the door. Jaw set and eyes glaring, looking like a lion that finally cornered its prey yet again.

I stared, waited, blinked.

And then I couldn’t feel anything anymore.

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Teaser: Mack catches her...