Midnight's Promise

Chapter 2

I lower my gaze to my feet, the adrenaline has worn off and the situation is now becoming awkward.

"Umm..." I begin, trying to think of something to break the silence with when Hunter bursts out laughing.

"Oh my... haha, I knew you were shy, but this is like torture for you, just trying to think of a subject too talk about sends you into a cold sweat," Hunter says, snorting of laughter, It looks like he's about to fall out of the tree.

"Oh give it up Hunter, I'm not shy, it's just a bit awkward because there's an actual boy in the tree beside my house," I growl at him, "and what do you mean you knew I was shy?" I ask as I raise my eyebrows at him.

Hunter sighs, "It was just a slip of the tongue, think nothing of it," He replies shifting in his spot; I can tell the conversation is making him uncomfortable.

"Is Hunter you real name?" I ask changing the subject, as I lean against the window sill, resting my head against the wooden pane with white paint flaking off, 'It needs a new coat of paint,' I think to myself, 'But that's never gonna happen,'

"No, my real name's not Hunter," he replies, "but then what fun would it be if you learnt my name before we even got the chance to get to know each other? Huh?"

"Hmm..." I close my eyes, "but, is it fair that you probably know everything about me, yet I know nothing about you," I respond and I lull my head to the side to face him. Hunter's features are covered by the shadows and a small part of me wants to see what he looks like, to see if I can connect him to Aaron.

"Ok then, ask me a question and as long as it doesn't reveal my identity, I'll answer," Hunter replies with a Dracula accent. I laugh, my brain is thinking of all the different questions I could possibly ask him, from 'What's your favourite colour?' to 'What's the mass of the sun?' when one suddenly pops into my head.

"Ok, I've thought of one, Are...." I begin when suddenly a loud bang comes from downstairs, and I automatically think 'My father's home,'

"Adelaide! Get your sorry excuse for a life down here this instant!" my father, Paul, yells from the bottom of the stairs. I know if I go down there I'm going to be wearing long sleeve t-shirts for the next week, yet there's a small voice in my head telling me if I don't go down there, then he's gonna come up here. Meaning he could come face to face with Hunter, and I don't know how both of them would react.

"Ahhh, I gotta go," I mumble to Hunter as I slowly stand up. He shakes his head and grabs for my wrist, which so happens to be the same one my father had previously grabbed the night before.

"Ouch!" I cry out as Hunter readjusts his hand, placing it just above my bruises.

"Addie, you know you don't have to go down there, he's not the boss of you," he says, his voice laced with genuine concern for my wellbeing.

My eyes lower, and I gently shrug my arm out of his hold, "Hunter, you can either stay here waiting for me to come back up, or just go home, because until I turn eighteen, he is still the boss of me," I turn and head for my bedroom door, when I hear Hunter mumble,

"I will be here when you come back, just know I will always be here if you need me,"

I sigh as I climb down the stairs, all I'm thinking about is the way Hunter called me Addie, I've never had a nickname before that I've liked. Trust me; I've had nicknames before, such as vomit hair, gross and smelly and my least favourite is damaged goods, all because it's true.

My father's sitting on the lounge chair watching re-runs of Seinfeld. Both he and my mother chose how the house was built; the study and two kids bedrooms upstairs, the master bedroom downstairs and the layout of lounge room directly in front of the kitchen was chosen especially so that my mother, Suzie, could keep an eye on me while she cooked dinner, sadly she never really got the time to watch after me, since she died during childbirth and sometimes the thought occurs to me that maybe that's the reason my father becomes abusive when he's drunk, because people always say that human's are the most truthful when we're drunk.

"Ahem, You wanted to, umm, see me?" I ask, my voice is just above a whisper, I've learned to be as submissive as possible when Paul's drunk.

He grunts as he stands up to face me and I subconsciously take a step back. I can tell he noticed because he suddenly bursts out laughing.

"Oh you stupid girl, now, did you do the laundry and the dishes? Hey?" He asks through the laughter and I grind my teeth together holding back the string of curse words running through my mind, he treats me like his own personal maid and I have to take it because of the fear of repercussions.

"Ummm, yeah, I mean, yes I did," I stutter, I can already imagine the outcome of this little 'talk' and even the good scenarios aren't turning out good.

"And the windows, did you wash them?" He asks, and he smiles, he knows he didn't even mention washing the windows to me this morning.

I'm dreading my response, while he's enjoying my suffering.

"Umm, no, I didn't wash the windows," I mumble, I've given up trying to reason with him by telling him he didn't even ask me to wash them, it only makes it worse.

A cruel smile overtakes his face and he takes a step forward. It happens all too fast, the slap connects with my face before I can even think about retreating. I gasp as he advances on me, his arm extends as he grabs for my hair. The yank of my hair brings tears to my eyes and my legs betray me by giving out. Once I'm on the floor it makes it so much easier for Paul to beat me, the repetitive kicks to my ribs go on for a while till he finally gives up, leaving me with the usual sentence, "You're worthless. I wish it was you instead of your mother."

A while later when I finally get the strength to crawl up the stairs I'm met with a dark room and a closed window. I notice a note taped to my mirror and I sigh as I hobble over towards it. I softly whisper the sentence scrawled on it under my breath, as well as the number written at the bottom.

"I'm sorry, I do have a curfew you know and my mother thinks I'm studying at the library every night. I hope you're alright and if you ever need to talk to me when it's daytime go ahead,

I just met you, and this is crazy, but here's my number, so call me maybe..."

'Great,' I think to myself, 'that songs gonna be stuck in my head all week now,'

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*Turns around in swivl chair*

Hi!!! :)

How are you all? I hope you enjoy the new chapter, Hehe.

Is "Call me maybe" stuck in you head now? haha it was for me.

Also don't forget to vote, comment and share :)

ByeBye!!! :)

*And all that was heard was the sound of crazy laughter in the distance...*