Arsonist's Lullaby

Chapter 2 - Jesse

Oh my God. Was she dead? I thought with dread, thinking that I was too late while I ran up to them.

She groaned while she clutched her head in pain, barely able to move as the man rolled her on her back and started to unzip his pants, climbing back on top of her.

I huffed and forced my legs to go faster as I ran up to them, and just as the man hiked her skirt up and was pulling her underwear down, I pulled the guy off of her by his collar, sending him flying.

"What the hell is wrong with you huh?" I roared, grabbing him by the throat. I threw him against the wall and punched him square in the nose over and over again until his eyes bulged and blood gushed down his face as he desperately started gasping for air. I brought my fist back and almost landed the finishing blow when something told me to stop.

I had to stop. I couldn't do this again. I glared at him and grabbed at his broken face with one hand.

"Trying to rape an innocent girl!" I spat, shoving him harder into the dirty brick wall. He seemed to have blacked out because as soon as i let go of him he crumpled to the floor and wasn't moving except for the raggedy rise and fall of his chest. My knuckles burned and i felt a short wave of relief knowing I hadn't killed him. I turned around to check on the girl only to find her barely breathing.

"Oh my God." I murmured and knelt down beside her trying to pick up her surprisingly light body.

"No!" She suddenly screeched and shoved my arms away, stumbling back to the ground.

She screamed in pain and I covered my ears at the horrific, almost animal like sound while she managed to scurry off towards the corner opposite of me and pressed herself harder against the wall, as if hoping she could go through it and disappear.

"Hey shh shh. I'm not going to hurt you. You're safe now, it's okay." I said gently as I tried to calm her down. She just stared wide eyed at me, gasping in fear and grabbed at what was left of her torn up clothes to her chest.

Jesus. I thought and shrugged off my denim jacket, slowly draping it onto her legs so she could cover up when she started to cry.

"What's your name?" I asked trying to distract her.

Silence.

Her yellow eyes didn't move away from mine and I started to get freaked out by how she was watching my every move without even blinking once.

"Hey, don't be scared." I frowned disturbed by how afraid she was of me.
She finally blinked, her eyes opening briefly before slowly falling shut again when she suddenly stopped moving for a couple of seconds.

"Oh no you don't. You can't fall asleep, not now." I gently shook her awake in alarm. She gasped in pain and clutched her head making a strangled groaning sound but managed to keep her eyes open and cautiously watched me in pain.

"My name's Jesse." i softly smiled, trying to make her feel more at ease. She watched me silently, the pain in her eyes fading as her grip on her busted up head eased.

"Sam." She croaked.

"Sam, is that short for Samantha?" I asked and she slowly nodded her head before wincing.

"Well it's nice to meet you Sam." I said and stuck out my hand for her to shake.

She jumped at my sudden movement and the panic returned to her scared, golden eyes.

"I swear i'm not going to hurt you." I brought my hands up to show that I meant no harm.

"That's what the other guy said before he tried to rape me." She snapped bitterly before her bottom lip started to quiver.