I let our a small cry, but not from the glass that sliced into my skin. He's out. He's coming here.
I can hear someone saying something, but everything feels hazy as I begin to lose my balance. I close my eyes. Why can't this be a dream?
"Serenity," someone shakes me awake. "Kay?" I croak out, the face blurry as I squint from the light. "No its me Shawn. Are you okay? Do you want me to take you to the hospital?"
"Huh, what, no I'm fine," I say. "You're right leg has some glass pieces in it Serenity. You aren't fine. What happened?" He asks in all seriousness as he stands next to me. I try to sit up but let out a moan as the pain jolts through my body.
"Shit, lie down," he directs and I listen tiredly. "So you don't want to go to a hospital?" Shawn says and I nod. He has track of all my medical records..
"Okay. I have an idea," he says and he helps me sit up. He holds tweezers, his hand shaking nervously. "Don't move. This is going to hurt a lot." I gulp anxiously as I watch him. As the glass shard is pulled out, I cry out of pain and he grasps my hand tightly.
"I'm sorry, I'm so sorry," he rushes repeatedly as he cleanses the bloody area. Each time he takes out a shard, the pain decreases until it becomes almost numb. I bite my lip as the last piece comes out.
"Thank you Shawn. You have no idea how thankful I am for you," I say as I hug him, trying my best to ignore the pain that shoots up my leg. "So Dr. Mendes huh?" I tease and he laughs.
"You are welcome. You owe me though," Shawn jokes as he throws away the tissue filled with broken glass. "Guess I'm going to need a new phone huh," I say, half-smiling at him.
"What happened?" Shawn asks, getting right to the point. I look away momentarily, staring at a rose in a vase on his table. "He escaped and he's coming for me," I whisper, shuddering at the thought of those icy blue eyes.
His eyes darkened a deep color of brown I've never seen before. He tucks a loose brown strand of hair behind my ear. "I won't let him."
The determined, dark meaning and tone of his voice reassured me slightly. "He knows I'm here. It's only a matter of time." He knows. He always does.
Shawn walks away and I look away, disappointed. However, I feel the bed shift with his weight and I slowly turned my body to face him. "I'll be ready."
I shake my head. "No Shawn, you don't understand. He took everything from me." I try to hint to Shawn but he doesn't understand what I mean. "He took my virginity..on my birthday. When I was 12!! It ruined me Shawn," I say, my voice breaking as I spoke, remembering. The thought of it made my stomach churn, it’s absolutely sick.
I saw anger and rage rush through Shawn, as his eyes glistened dangerously, plotting something. "What the fuck?! That bastard?! I'm going to fucking kill him! I'm going to bash his face-" Shawn shouts angrily, pulling his hair.
"Shawn," I plead, and he nods, hugging me. I close my eyes, inhaling his scent, trying to find peace in my mind. A lone tear dripped down my face and created a wet spot on his shirt.
"Nothing will happen to you, I promise," Shawn swears. It's the one time I don't believe him.
"Thank you," I thank softly, snuggling closer to him and closing my eyes. He kisses my forehead tenderly, his soft, cold lips press onto my skin and I shiver at his touch. "How long do you think it will take?” Shawn asks, his hands resting on my waist securely.
"Victorville is a 2 hour drive from here. He's unpredictable, he could be here in less than an hour if he got his hands on a jet.. And when he finds out house- Oh my god. My mother. I need to call her right now," I say, the last few words panicky as Shawn hands me his phone.
"M- mom," I cry out. "Honey..where are you? I've been trying to call you and I was so worried. I thought he.." My heart broke after hearing the desperation and exhaustion in her voice. "I'm sorry, I'm at Shawn's right now," I say, making eye contact with Shawn.
He smiles warmly at me and I smiled back with as much strength as I could muster at the moment.
"Can I..speak to him?" She asks hesitantly. I pull the phone away slightly, "my mom wants to talk to you, is that okay?" He nods and smiles faintly as he grabbed his phone. They exchanged a few words but I couldn't even focus on that.
My mind was reliving each and every horrible situation that happened because of him. He's not a father. No father would do this to their child. He is a monster. A monster by the name of Richard. Richard Falls. I can't believe I have the same last name as him.
He hurt mom too. Mom couldn't get a divorce because she knew he would never sign the papers. He would punish her if she even did as much as talk back to him.
"Serenity?" Shawn shook me gently, and I realized what was going on. "Sorry," I tell him, "What'd she say?"
"We have to go right now," Shawn says softly, and I get up, pain spreading the moment my foot touches the hardwood floor. "Are you okay? Do you need help?" Shawn asks and I shake my head, not trusting my voice.
I wince at each step, goddamn Shawn has so many stairs. He helped me get into his SUV. "Shawn? What's going on?" I ask him timidly, and he starts the engine."We're going to get your mother and get the hell out of here."
I smile at him, the first genuine smile all day. "But why are you helping us?" I couldn't help but ask. He breathes heavily, "I promised to protect you."
This is why I love this man in front of me. The man who wears sunglasses when it's cloudy outside, the one who smiles at the most simple of things, the man who cares for me in ways that I could never imagine.
Shawn stops the car at the front of my mom's office. My mom is standing outside with her work papers in her hand. I open the door and flung myself into her arms, ignoring the pain in my leg.
She hugged me tightly and we stayed there for a short time before she pulled away. "Let's go," She says, and I let her sit in the front while I walked over to the back.
"You have found a wonderful young man here Serenity. Since when did you start dating?" My mother questioned me.
I turned as red as a tomato. Leave it to my mom to embarrass me in every situation. "Uh we aren't dating mom. Just friends," I tell her, my gaze flickering to the rear mirror where Shawn's hazel brown eyes met my gaze. I tore them away from the mirror and stared at the leather seats.
"Can I borrow your phone mom?" I ask and she hands me her phone. "Whatever happened to yours?" She asked me. Oh god. "It's a long story," I laughed lightly.
I dial Kayden's number. Come on...pick up.. "Hello?" His voice echoes through the phone-god I haven't his voice in a while. "Kay, listen..Richard escaped. Mom and I are leaving. I just wanted to tell you...I.." I tell him softly. "Oh my God..where are you going?" Kayden asks.
"I don't know, we are just going." Kayden chuckles halfheartedly at me, "Okay..Please stay safe..call me when you reach."
Shawn drove for what seemed like hours, until he turned and parked the car to some 5 star hotel. "Shawn..we can't pay for this, I-" my mother says, amazed by its beauty.
"Im paying," Shawn concludes. "Oh hell no-," I shove him playfully and grab the suitcase from my mom. "Please please pleaaaasee Serenity?" I shake my head, im not giving into those adorable puppy eyes.
"No way, you literally paid for the plane to the concert!! Im paying Shawn" Shawn sighs, I have won!!! He looks at me and smirks slyly, "Not if I already paid for it." Arghhhhh. This man infuriates me so much.
"Oh come onnn Shawnnn," I whine. "Come on, let's go, he says, handing me a keycard. "Wait we are staying in one room right?"
Shawn shook his head, "No, one room for me and one room for you and your mom." I felt a little disappointed that me and Shawn weren't in a room.
"See you in a bit," I waved.