T E N
His fingers tightened around the strands of my growing hair, pulling my head back while I tried my best not to yell out in pain as tears welled up in my eyes. I couldn't show him I was terrified.
His free hand hit me before I could see it moving, making contact with my cheek along with the corner of my mouth. I knew I was bleeding from one of my lips when I started tasting the metallic taste of blood on my tongue.
Panic and fear thread through my body. My head went to terrifying dark places as I watched the person standing before me go from being the only person I loved to a complete monster.
He pinned me against the cold tiles after dragging me by the hair. His fingers curled around my neck, tightening with every movement I tried to make, making it difficult for me to breathe as I kept gagging desperately, trying to catch my breath.
My only thought at that moment was that I was going to die.
"Hey, are you okay?"
"Huh?" I managed to say, looking away from the window.
"I asked if you are okay. You've been in another world since yesterday and have been slapping that elastic band on your wrist for almost twenty minutes now." Hen motioned to my hands resting on my lap. "What did Buck do to you during that call?"
Following her gaze, I noticed the bright red mark the hair tie left behind around my pale skin. Gently letting go of the band, I tucked my hand between Evan and me on the seat while putting on a fake smile for Hen, who was sitting across from me, expecting an answer. "Nothing."
It wasn't a lie. Evan didn't do anything to me this time aside from saving my ass from getting charged by that lunatic from yesterday's call and getting written up by our Captain.
Instead of going straight to uncle Bobby to report what had happened during the call like he should've had, Evan kept quiet and pretended that everything went fine.
He also had to convince the police officers that showed up at the apartment we were responding to the call that I had no intentions of hurting Samantha's husband with the knife, that I was simply protecting myself and the victim from her husband, who grew more aggressive and agitated with every minute that we spent there taking care of his wife.
The truth is that I wasn't so sure if I wouldn't have hurt the guy. Something told me that if Evan hadn't shown up when he did, I would've done the unthinkable. All I could see in that man's eyes was the monster Ian turned into.
That situation yesterday has caused an incredible fear in me. A fear of Ian, which by the looks of it, I was still dealing with right now after all this time.
"That's right. Mufasa was at the Greek Theater." Chimney jested.
We were currently on our way to downtown Los Angeles after getting a call about some animals that escaped from the zoo and attacked civilians thanks to the ransomware. Something that clearly has Evan all shaken up because he hasn't gotten rid of the worried look he had permanently on his face. Neither has he stopped questioning our Captain about the whole situation since we left the station.
"No, I don't think you guys are hearing me. Okay, this is not me and Eddie bagging a Turkey in South Pasadena. What-what gear do we even bring? You know, they have serious predators at the L. A. Zoo. A snow leopard. A Sumatran tiger." Evan restated for the millionth time, making everyone roll their eyes at him.
"He takes Christopher and Maia there all the time. Got the place memorized." Eddie explained. By the tone of his voice, I could tell that he was mocking his best friend.
"I bet you were so much fun in school, Buck. East Coast, how did you manage to fall in love with this individual? Dear Lord." Chimney shook his head, giving Evan an annoyed look.
The whole thing made me want to laugh and join in the teasing, but my head was too preoccupied with the idea of Ian being back.
Those anonymous flowers I got on my birthday kept haunting my thoughts, figuring out who they were from. And after dad explained to me that the court must always inform Ian of any new address I have due to the restraining order, I was starting to grow more sure that those flowers were from him.
He was back and ready to cause more unwanted chaos in my life.
I felt something tap on my left thigh. As I looked down at it, I saw it was Evan's fingers. Following his hand, I looked up at his face noticing him taking his headset off before leaning towards me.
Before I had time to remove my own, he pulled the left side of my headset and leaned closer. "You okay?" He whispered loud enough for only me to hear. His breath caused my skin to react with tiny goosebumps.
I nodded in response, giving him a thumbs-up before I continued to look out the window.
There was no need to admit to him that I was torturing myself with the idea of my abuser being back in my life. Whether I liked it or not, Evan knew me too well, so if he were smart enough, he would put two and two together.
Unluckily for me, if he did put together what was going on with me, he would not drop it just like he hasn't dropped the fact that Eddie had to go to the hospital after his panic attack.
I felt Evan resting his hand between us where mine was. Slowly, his fingers traced delicate patterns on the inside of my wrist where the mark of my band throbbed. I felt an urge to pull my hand away, but I couldn't deny that the gesture calmed my intrusive thoughts.
Sensing my tensed hand, Evan started to pull away, but I quickly turned my hand around and gripped his, linking our fingers together.
This was another stupid move from me, but right now, he was the only person that understood what I was going through.
- - - -
"I don't know who called you guys. No official passes these barricades. We don't need you." The leader of whatever anarchy group this was snapped at us. "We have volunteers to take care of injuries."
"Well, someone in your camp called 911. That's who we are. We are 911." Chimney, who, for some unknown reason, my uncle insists on putting on as acting Captain when he's not around, informed the lady, putting his hand on his hip as if that would intimidate anyone.
If it weren't because of my sour mood, I would've laughed, but this whole situation was making me more annoyed than I already was feeling. We have been trying to get past these people for almost twenty minutes now, and no matter what Chimney tells them, the answer is no.
"You have your rules, and we have ours." The lady stated, striking my last nerve.
"Get out of my way," I pushed the wanna-be Captain to the side, standing right in front of the barricade that separated me from the woman.
Look, lady, like my Captain stated someone called 911. That is why we are here, not because we want to spend quality time in this awesomeness you call camp at this time of the night. We haven't had a good night's sleep in days. No matter how many showers I've taken, I feel dirtier than a pig in mud. I haven't seen my daughter in days, and if I eat another plate of powdered food, I will soon start a riot myself. Either you move out of the damn way and let us do our job, or I will make you move!"
The big lady raised her eyebrows at me as if my words amused her just as she tightened her grip around her riffle. "Oh, the little one is feisty.
Simultaneously, Evan and Eddie pulled me back by my shoulders after the lady wouldn't let go of her gun. Not being intimidated by the woman, I shrugged off their grips.
"You think your stupid gun scares me? I've had a gun to my head before by a crazy lunatic. I've survived a shootout and other bullshit you don't want to know about." I shouted at them, noticing how some of the others in the camp started walking towards us. "My patience is running thin tonight, and I swear if I have to tell you to move again, I will use that riffle on all of you myself."
"She doesn't mean that," Chimney added, chuckling nervously.
"Oh yes, I do."
Before I had the chance to do anything, uncle Bobby appeared out of nowhere and took the halligan out of Eddie's hands, and pushed down the barricade making all of us, including the idiots in front of us, jump back.
No one from the team moved as we watched our Captain in astonishment marching into the camp as if he was now in charge.
And here I thought I had this aggressive attitude from my father's side.
The victim had a bullet wound that, luckily for him, went through without it getting stuck inside. We quickly took care of him without any other members of this stupid camp intervening with our job, not that my pissed-off uncle would allow it.
He stood in a corner with his arms crossed against his chest, watching everyone with a look that could kill anyone if that was possible. I wondered what the hell was wrong with him to be acting like an almighty Alfa out of a sudden.
"What in the world is up with you two tonight? The last time I checked is not a full moon." Eddie inquired, following my gaze as I stared at my uncle.
"She's just tired and hangry." Buck nodded towards me before also looking at Bobby. "Cap? I don't know. I haven't seen him this all riled up since the last time I did something stupid."
"I'm not hangry," I said. In return, the guys gave me a look making me roll my eyes at them.
"You are not having it tonight, Cap." Evan pointed out as uncle Bobby walked over to us.
"Harry has been kidnapped." He spoke before walking away. We all stood there, not knowing what to say or do.
Who the hell would want to hurt Harry?
- - - -
"I still can't believe that bastard is out there still trying to hurt Athena." Dad shook his head, still not believing that Athena's abuser and serial rapist is on the loose with Harry.
Uncle Bobby has been hiding in the locker room, not wanting to talk to any of us. Now that I was a mother, I can imagine what this situation must be doing to his head.
In fact, I believe he was too calm because if I were in his shoes, I would be causing chaos until I found Maia but then again, that's where my uncle and I were different.
"That's the justice system for you, General Miller." I rested my legs against the wall in front of me as I laid in this uncomfortable folding cot they brought out since the house was overflowing with firefighters.
A small grunt escaped my father's mouth as a little monster with pigtails jumped on him on the sofa. "Appa!"
Adjusting the phone in my hand, I looked at my little girl poking her grandfather's cheek. "Excuse me, what is my little monster doing up at this hour?"
At the sound of my voice, Maia looked at the phone, and a smile spread on her adorable face. "Hi, mama!"
"Hi, baby. What are you doing?"
The little troublemaker tried to take the phone out of dad's hands, but he held it higher, preventing her from getting it. "Appa, stop."
"No, you stop. Remember when I told you, this is grandpa's phone?"
I held back a laugh as I watched Maia cross her little arms against her chest, imitating the many times she's seen me doing just that when I'm mad.
"Hey bug, we don't get mad at grandpa, okay? You have your own toys to play with. How about you blow me a kiss and head to bed? It's really late."
Now that Maia was becoming more independent, she was having difficulty understanding that she couldn't have everything she wanted.
It was something I had been trying to teach her, but her little attitude was getting in the way. It's pretty ridiculous how she didn't have my blood but behaved precisely as I do. Imagining her as a teenager is a terrifying thing to do considering she is already showing that little attitude.
"Mama ish you," she said with a pouty face, leaning against dad, groggily rubbing her eyes.
Her upset tone wrenched my heart. This is the first time we have been apart for more than one day, and it clearly was affecting both of us.
"I miss you too, sweetheart."
"I should get her to bed. She's been running around nonstop since she took her nap." Dad said, rubbing my daughter's back.
I nodded at him. "Sounds like a good idea. She shouldn't be up at this hour. I love you, bug."
"Woveh you, momma." A smile spread on my lips as I watched her blow a kiss at the phone. I pretended to catch it and pressed my palm against my cheek, making her giggle. "Bye!"
I waved goodbye before ending the video call. With a sigh, I covered my eyes with my arms feeling the exhaustion I've been carrying on for days start to creep in slowly.
"Has the monster in you been tamed?" I heard Evan ask cautiously from somewhere around me.
"What do you want, Buckley?" Not bothering to take my arm off my face, I lowered my legs from the wall and stretched them out on the cot, making myself more comfortable.
I felt him move around before the cot next to mine squeaked. "Back to last names, I see."
Moving my arm away from my face, I turned around to face him. He was sitting on the folding bed with his back resting against the wall, watching me. "Seriously, what do you want? I'm tired."
"I wanted to check on you. I know the call that day with the guy left you pretty shaken up. Believe it or not, I still care about you a lot."
I bit my tongue, resisting the urge to say something sarcastic back at that last part. Someone that cares about someone else wouldn't be sleeping around with other women that they claimed to be friends with, but that might just be me.
"I'm fine."
Silenced followed quickly between us, but just when I started to think that he would get up and leave, Evan swung his legs out of the cot until he was fully facing me.
"You think he is actually back, don't you?"
I tensed at his question. I knew Evan would figure out what was wrong with me, but I did not expect him to be this blunt about it. Usually, he beats around the bush until the person breaks and tells him everything.
"If a bastard like Jeffrey Hudson is running free, causing chaos again, what is stopping Ian from doing the same?"
"Guys, let's go. Cap needs our help!" Chimney exclaimed, waving at us to follow him.
Evan held my gaze for a couple of seconds before he stood up and stretched his hand towards me. I stared at it before I gave him and let him help me get up from my laying position just in time to save an innocent kid.