Awakened

2. Big trouble

Warnings: Some rough manhandling by the police, some sexual references

*

You weren't quite sure how you'd gotten to this point. And that seemed to be a common theme of your life lately.

As you stood tied to the doors of the town library, you found the rage simmering within you was on the brink of boiling over, and you couldn't do a damn thing to stop it. Sheriff Bodecker took a forceful step towards you, clearly at the end of his tether.

"Alright honey, show's over. You're gonna come with me and we're gonna let these nice people get back to their business". His tone was pleasant, but you could hear the edge within it.

Your eyes darted from him to the small crowd of people who had come to gawp at the spectacle. A mixture of amusement, annoyance and pity spread across their faces. It was the pity that you couldn't stand. The anger within you continued to rise.

The Sheriff took another step towards you. He had a penknife in his hand and was clearly going to cut the ropes that were binding you to the doors. You were really angry now. How dare he? Who does he think he is? Doesn't he know how important this is?

Without thinking, acting purely on impulse, you kicked a leg out at the Sheriff. You weren't even sure how it happened because you weren't athletic in the slightest, but you managed to knock the penknife from his hands and it bounced off the pavement below.

You looked to the knife, then back to his face. Your anger now replaced by pure panic as you could see he was now furious. His blue eyes were blazing, his jaw tense. The crowd tittered behind him, which seemed to make it worse. Now you'd embarrassed him.

"I'm going to give you one more chance to fix this, little lady" he warned as he stared back at you. If looks could kill, you'd be worm food already.

You knew you needed to back down, be humble and apologise - grovel if you needed to - this was the Sheriff for Christ sakes! You could end up in jail! You thought of Arthur and how horrified he'd be by this. You could practically see the disapproval and concern on his face.

And yet...

You were fully aware of how ridiculous this whole situation was. But you couldn't back down now, after all this. You couldn't lose face in front of the town. They already thought you were a nut but at least they couldn't accuse you of abandoning your principles.

And there was something in the way the Sheriff was looking at you. You were terrified, but he was also...doing something to you. Something you couldn't rationalise or understand. You thought of yourself in bed the other night, frantically bucking against your fingers as you thought about his face. His touch.

You were normally a goody two shoes in all areas of your life. You'd never been in trouble with the police, never even at school. You followed the rules to the letter and respected all forms of authority. And even aside from that, the Sheriff had been good to you. There was no need for this.

Staring back into his cyan eyes defiantly, you couldn't believe you were doing this but the insolence bubbled up inside of you and it happened before you even realised what you were going to do.

You spat at him.

It missed him, luckily, sailing down to the ground near to where he stood. He looked back at you in horror for a split second, before the rage was back on his face even more intense than before. He was absolutely white hot. You gulped as your throat seemed to dry up in seconds, the spell suddenly broken. Now you were really scared.

The crowd gasped and began to chatter furiously, a couple of people began to laugh incredulously. You felt your face go crimson with shame. The Sheriff calmly leaned forward, clamping a firm hand around your shoulder so tightly that it stung. He whispered in your ear as he began to cut through your ropes.