Body of Roses - l.h.

.09

"Again." He repeated for the seventh time. Just before Tyse could bring the knife down into my thigh the sound of sirens from outside filled the cellar's walls. Jai turned to his men.

"You three," He pointed to the three men who he wanted. "Go outside and distract the police, run around the block if you have to. Just do everything you can to keep them from coming down here."

The three men left without a single objection as Jai turned his attention back to me and nodded at Tyse to continue. A scream lifted from the back of my throat louder than the others finding it harder each time to contain the noise. I lost track by now of how many times that knife had gone into my thigh before a loud bang came from the direction of the cellar door.

"Get down!" I heard someone yell praying and hoping that help was finally here.

"Well don't just stand there," Jai hissed at Tyse and Rowan. "Go stop the cops from getting in here."

The two nodded racing towards the entrance of the cellar. Jai watched me with suspicion before getting up from his chair and walking past me. "Just so you know, Hemmings, this isn't over yet."

I heard his footsteps get quieter behind me then the sound of a door opening and closing sent me into thought. There was another way out.

I studied the ropes that had me tied down knowing I wouldn't be able to break free of them by jiggling my arms around. With all of Jai's men focused on fighting off the officers, I got to my feet with the chair still attached to me and limped my way into the wall trying to break the chair. It took me at least five tries before it broke and my restraints fell off.

I quickly made my way over to where I heard Jai walk to in attempts to find the door. The cuts on my thigh made me wince every time I put pressure on my leg making it frustrating to walk.

Finally finding the old rotten door that camouflaged into the dirt walls of the cellar, I let myself squeeze through as I began my walk down the tight passage way. It was a 10 minute walk before I surfaced back above ground popping up near the malls entrance which wasn't too far from Ella's house.

I looked around the parking lot hoping to catch any clue that might lead me to Jai. But there was nothing. He was gone.

-

Ella's P.O.V

My mom made us all hot chocolate that night as my entire family sat around the fireplace. None of us spoke a word not knowing what to say or do.

You can't prepare yourself for a situation like this and I could tell by my mom's face that the sense of not knowing how to fix this was killing her.

"I think I'm gonna go to bed." I told them starting to get to my feet.

"You've hardly touched your hot chocolate." My father commented but I only shrugged.

"Guess I'm not that hungry." I didn't give them my regular good night kiss, instead I went straight to my room and curled up on my bed. I didn't realize I was even crying until I felt a tear dampen my pillow case.

Everything that's happened since Luke came into my life has been a complete mess.

From getting a concision, to remembering how to feel again, to today in the cellar. And looking back at everything now I think I finally understand why theses tears are coming.

They're not because of the messed up life I'm living or because I have no idea if Luke's safe. I'm crying because I realize that there's nothing in the world that I would have traded for the moments I spent with Luke.

And that's beautiful.

They weren't sad tears, they were happy ones. And maybe the reason why I was crying tears of joy in the saddest moment of my life was because my feelings are so fucked up right now that I don't know how to function anymore.

Just then, I felt the bed dip beside me causing me to jump and turn to see who it was. A wave of relief and pure bliss washed over me as I brought Luke into my arms.

"What are you doing here?" I asked him pulling away.

"I had to make sure you were okay." He told me. "By the way, you should move your room downstairs so I don't have to climb up the side of the house to get into your window, especially when I'm injured."

My eyes traveled down his body stopping at the darkened spot on the material of his jeans over his thigh. I ran to turn on my bedroom light before making my way back over to Luke to asses his injury. Opening my top drawer of my desk, I grabbed a pair of scissors and began cutting his jeans back to where the injury was.

"Oh my God," I breathed out as I looked at the gashes feeling a bit queasy. "We need to get you to a hospital now."

Before I could even take one step towards my door I felt Luke's hand tug me back down on my bed. "I'll go later," He told me. "Right now I need to know that you're okay."

"I'm fine, Luke." I rushed trying to get to the point. "Now lets go, you need stitches."

"Ella please," He took my hand in his intertwining our fingers. "Just put a cloth around it for now."

I felt my jaw clench in argument but decided against forcing Luke to the hospital.

As I went through my closet, I found an old t-shirt that I probably last wore in grade 5 before sitting back on my bed with Luke. I grabbed the rubbing alcohol that sat on my nightstand in for in case I cut myself too deep from the razor and rubbed some on the shirt and Luke's wounds.

He hissed out in pain while I apologized the entire time before securing the shirt around his thigh and tying it in a double knot.

"That'll have to do." I told him. Turning off the lights again and lifting the covers up for both Luke and I to get under. "Will you stay the night with me?"

"Of course." He mumbled kissing the top of my head.

"And when I wake up, will you still be here?"

He looked me in the eyes before nodding his head. "Yes."

I smiled up at him, lying my head on his chest careful not to hurt him. "Luke?" He hmmed in response letting me know I had to share his attention with tiredness. "Thank you, for everything you've done for me.

I felt his arms tighten around me. "I love you, Ella."

My heart fluttered at the words that left his mouth. "I love you too."

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