Take me away

Chapter Twenty One: A promise kept

This book, my first book, is almost finished with and I can't believe it! 
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Kat tilted her head slightly to the side in confusion as he said this, she searched over his face wondering what he had meant by that, "Jake..." She started, but he held up a finger pressing it to her lips with a shake of his head silencing her, "I mean it." He said in all seriousness as his eyebrows knitted together looking in her eyes with great concern. His body had taken a protective stance and his hands were balled into tight fists, he grabbed both her hands giving them a reassuring squeeze, "I'm not going to let him treat you like this anymore! Just give me a day and this will all be over." He promised. Kat pursed her lips to a fine line as she turned her face away from him, "This is my dad we're talking about." She insisted letting her hands slip out of his and fall limply at her sides, "Don't make promises you can't keep." Kat wished so much  that she could believe the things he was promising to her, but she couldn't allow herself to feel the hope of the possibility that someone could actually take her away from the torture she had suffered for so many years because to accept the hope he was offering meant that she would be devastated if he couldn't keep these promises and Kat knew that sort of disappointment would be the straw that broke the camel's back. 

"I've never made a promise I haven't followed through on." He reached out cupping her chin in his gentle hand and guided her face to look at his, but Kat stepped away. "Kat-" His eyes looked hurt, but she cut him off by holding up a hand. "This is not your fight and there's nothing you can do to win it. This battle is mine and I've accepted it's a lost cause." She paused, "And so should you." His eyes hardened as she finished speaking, "I can protect you if you let me!" He insisted through gritted teeth obviously not understanding what she was trying to convey. "You're not hearing me! No one can protect me. There's nothing you can do." She looked in his eyes searching for some sign that he understood, but this only seemed to make him even more infuriated. "I can and I will." He said with a stern voice before he turned on his heel and exited the cafeteria swiftly. Kat watched him stride out of the room with an exasperated sigh, she flopped down in a chair dropping her head into her hands feeling utterly alone despite being surrounded by people, but the only person she actually needed in that moment was the one person that wasn't there with her. Her eyes scanned the cafeteria observing everyone eating their lunch and messing around with one another, she had never experienced that sort of mindless carefree ability to relax and have fun. The closest experience she had to that was the times she shared with Jake and if what he had said was true, and he could somehow manage to save her then she would finally be able to let go...Something she had never been able to do and would never be able to do unless she was free from her father's abuse and manipulation.

Nobody could save her, life wasn't a fairytale and Jake couldn't be her knight in shining armor. She wouldn't allow him to put himself in a position of danger solely for her sake, if anyone was going to save her-it would be herself. She wasn't quite sure how she would be able to do that and if she had known then she'd have done it a long time ago. To form a plan and figure out the details, Kat decided she'd take the lengthy route home and until then she spent all her time in class writing down her ideas though she trashed most of them fairly quickly. She didn't come up with a realistic plan until she was walking home and from the depths of her heart she hoped it would work though she'd have to wait until her father was asleep before actually doing anything. The tricky part would be acting normal as if she wasn't anxiously anticipating anything, but she desperately needed this plan to work without a glitch and so she plastered on the greatest poker face she had ever pulled as she entered what she hoped to be her last night in that God forsaken house with her miserable father. Kat stepped through the front door peering around for her dad who was nowhere in sight and she had almost dropped her poker face when she heard the clanging sound of a glass beer bottle in the back of the house causing her to flinched startled at the sudden sound. She crept to her room without making any noise and closed the door as always before letting her backpack fall to the floor with a soft thud. All that was left do now was wait, but that was a much more tedious ask than she had originally expected since her father decided to stay up late drinking. Kat lied in her bed with so many different thoughts running through her head and she wondered if it would be a bad idea to take a nap considering her father didn't sound like he would be going to bed anytime soon. What could a short nap hurt? That was the last thing she thought before drifting off to sleep.

The knock on her window was loud and woke her up immediately, she looked around with her heart racing then stumbled out of bed to see Jake outside. She opened the window a little, "What are you doing here?!" She hissed under her breath staring at him with wide eyes, "If my dad sees you-" Jake shook his head as a smirked played at the corners of his mouth, "He won't. He's passed out on the couch. I checked." She breathed deeply in relief smiling to herself, "What are you doing here?" She questioned again.

"Doing what I promised I would do." He answered smoothly stuffing his hands in his pockets, sirens could be heard in the distance and sounded as if they were coming closer. Kat opened her window slightly more and raised her eyebrow at him, "What do you mean?" Her question was soon answered as police cars pulled up outside her house and parked with their lights flashing.

"Jake...?" Kat was holding her trembling hand out to his which he took squeezing reassuringly, "Kat." He gently grabbed her arms pulling her out the window and she simply allowed him to feeling frozen in her confusion and fear. "What's going on?!" She looked at him wide eyed when she found her voice.

"I went home and told my parents what your dad has been doing! They called the cops." He explained taking her face in his hands, "You're okay...Everything is going to be okay." He pulled her close and she realized she was crying. She wasn't sure how long they had stood where with him holding her as she cried into his shirt feeling slightly ashamed she was getting it all wet with her snot and tears.

Kat pulled away at the sound of her father's protesting screams as the police forcibly removed him from there home and she could hear his words slurring as he yelled meaning he was drunk which wasn't surprising. She watched the police push him towards their cars that were still wailing the awful high pitched siren on a continual loop. "Dad!" Kat opened her mouth calling out to him and despite his drunkenness he had the brain capacity to understand who was calling him and he looked over in response.

"KAT!" He screamed stumbling around in the most wasted condition she had ever seen him in. Breaking away from Jake's arms, she ran across the lawn and towards her dad right before the police shoved him into the back of the car. "Wait...What's going to happen to him?" Tears streamed down her face and she tried to wipe them away.

One of the cops turned to face her, "Miss? Are you the victim?" This took her aback a bit, she had never been called a victim and never wanted to be. She wasn't a victim...it made her feel weak and vulnerable to be called that, but that's all people would see her as now. Word would spread and people would see her only as the abused girl. "Um...where are you taking my dad?" Her voice cracked.

"To the station where he'll be kept until his trial which you will have to be present for. It will take a few weeks to get all the details figured out and you'll need a lawyer though we plan to press forward with this case as soon as possible." He answered her running a finger over his mustache, "We'll need you to come down to the station as well and answer a few questions." Kat blinked taking a deep shaky breath nodding, "O-okay..." She whispered trying to process how her entire life had been turned upside down in just a few seconds.

She felt two arms wrap around her from behind, the only arms that had the power to calm her. "Jake." She whispered leaning back into his chest then kissed his hand before explaining that she needed to go with the police so she could be questioned. "I'll hold your hand throughout it all." He said in her ear then kissed her hair.

They climbed into a separate car from her dad and drove down to the station where she was taken into a bland brightly lit room. Being questioned took longer than she had expected and consisted of many awkward moments, tears shed, and confessions she hadn't even opened up to Jake about like the first time her dad molested her.

When they were finally released, they were given a ride to Jake's house. The sky was just starting to change as the first light of dawn began to break across the horizon, she was exhausted and drained emotionally as well as physically. The cop pulled up into the driveway as Kat had just started to drift off while laying her head in Jake's lap. He rubbed her back when the car was parked, "We're home." She smiled slightly hearing him refer to his home like it was their home.

"Mmkay..." Kat mumbled keeping her eyes closed and the last thing she remembered was hearing Jake thank the officer before picking her up in a cradle and carrying her inside.

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