Stand With Me

Chapter One

Melanie's POV

I look at the house I've lived in my entire life, take a deep breath, and walk in. My parents are in the kitchen so I can get up the stairs and into my room without human contact if I don't make a single sound. I walk quietly over to the stairs, I'm almost there when I hear the dreaded sound. A loud squeak from under my sneaker (stupid dog toys!!). So close.
"Melanie sweetie is that you?"
My mother asks from the kitchen.
"Yeah mom, I just got home!" I yell, slowly walking up the stairs.
"Well can you come in here for a second, your father and I need to talk to you,"
Again. So close. I trudge down the few stairs I had managed to walk up before getting stopped and walk into the kitchen, dragging my feet along the way.
"Sweetheart please pick your feet up when you walk," my father says, he's always nagging me about that. I walk over to the table (not dragging my feet this time) and sit down between my mother and father. "So what is it?" I ask them, not really actually caring.
"Well honey, we were thinking that maybe since it's getting close to summer that you might like to get away from home for a little while," my mother says, looking to my father.
"And well, your grandmother in Tennessee invited you to stay over there for a few weeks with her," my father finishes, glancing at the wall and then back at me.
"So you guys are asking me if I want to stay in a dusty old house with a million cats with a sassy old woman. Thanks but no thanks." I say, it sounds mean but at the moment I don't really care. I just want to go to my room, and I DEFINITELY don't want to go all the way to Tennessee just to stay with my grandma!!! I stormed off to my room and decided to get ready for bed early. It was only seven but I figured that by the time I had taken a shower and gotten ready for bed it would be a decent hour for me to go to sleep. I locked the bedroom door and led myself to the bathroom. Looking in the mirror I was nothing special. Ratty brown hair tied up in a five second ponytail, magenta hoodie, crap green eyes, and jeans. I take down my unbrushed hair and stated to get undressed, I get in the shower and just forget about everything. Afterwards I find my pajamas, a black shirt and grey shorts, and head to bed. I was just about to get under the covers when I heard a faint knock on my window. I figured it was just rain or a bird or something like that so I ignore it and get into bed. I had just closed my eyes when I heard the knock again, only a bit louder this time. I ignore it and try to sleep. The silence lasted about two minutes, then I heard the knock again, it became louder and more urgent and it was at that moment I came to the realization that somebody was looking into my window. I was scared but I was even more freaked out with the knowledge that I live on the second floor of my house. I walked closer to the window so I could get a better look at the stranger, when I heard their voice, it was a male voice. Even better, a man was outside my window trying to talk to me. "Hey, could you please let me in?" They pleaded. Hmmm, was I going to let them in? Uh, no. I cautiously took another step forward so I could see their face. I was about a foot away from the window when I could actually get a good look at them. They were probably male, with dark skin and blonde hair that faded to teal. They had strange marking on their face and seemed to be struggling to stay on the ledge. "Please? I don't really want to fall," They pleaded yet again, sounding more desperate than last time. Trust me, I wasn't going to let him in, but then he looked at me with pure fear sweeping across his face as he started slipping, so I opened the window and helped pull him in. He sat on the windowsill for a moment before falling through the open window onto my bedroom floor, laying there in defeat for a few seconds. He got up and I realized that he was a lot taller than I thought. He looked like he could be at least 6'5. Which is over a foot taller than me at a staggering 5'3. He looked at me and finally stated "Listen, I know this is going to sound way worse than it actually is and you're probably going to think that I'm like a creepy stalker or something and hate me, but this is at least worth a shot. I've been watching you for a while, and you seems to be pretty miserable and I feel bad that somebody like you is so miserable and I was wondering if I could... save you, in a way?" He said it so quickly I had to do a double take and make sure I had heard him correctly. He had been watching me, and now he wants to take me somewhere, yeah, thanks but no thanks. "I know what you're thinking, just, please. Trust me," He begs, holding out his hand. I Look at his hand, and then back at the door. If I wanted, I could run for it and go tell my parents. But then I look back at him and I know that I can't say no to this. I reluctantly take his hand and state bluntly "Listen here mister, if you try anything just know that I will not hesitate to kick your butt." He smiles and replies "Wouldn't have it any other way. By the way, I'm Darren, Darren Ellison." He then leads me back to the window. "Are you ready?" He questioned, hanging halfway out the window, his fingers between mine. "Yeah," I say, stepping onto the windowsill with him. He smiles, grips my hand tighter and jumps out the window, and of course I have no choice but to follow. He says one thing on the way down "close your eyes, Melanie,"