ALANA

36

ARES

I hear a knock on the door and I call for whoever it is to enter. I look up and the wind gets knocked out of me at the sight of the small girl.

She's still wearing the same dress, her body shaking like a leaf out of fear. She is looking at the floor with tears falling down her cheeks. But what is most noticeable and sickening is the dark, gut twisting bruises all over her neck. The bruises are maroon to purple and spread in the shape of a hand.

My hand. I feel my knees tremble when I stand up. I have never felt like this. I have never felt weak standing infront of someone. But this is a woman that tries hard everyday for my approval.

This woman does everything I tell her without asking a single question. This is a woman that I gave my word too. I said I don't hit women. And I breached my word so cruelly.

I do not walk closer, not wanting to scare her. Her body is shaking more now, small sounds of sobs leaving her.

"Alana I," I pause. What the fuck can I say to her right now.

"I am sorry." She croaks. Her voice sounds heavy and distorted. As if she has a sore throat. I wince at the thought that I did that to her. Fuck. Sorry? Why the fuck is she sorry? She sniffles, gasping for air before she says more. "I'm sorry I made you mad" she whispers, as loud as her ruined throat allows.

Fuck me. She's apologizing to me? Me? The man who choked her and didn't listen to a word she said?

"Why are you apologizing?" her head snaps up and she looks at me with wide eyes filled with tears. Her lip trembles.

"I- I can do whatever you want, Im sorry I didn't wait for instructions" She croaks out with difficulty. What?

"Shh, stop trying to talk, I-" I am sweating. Im actually fucking sweating at this injustice I have performed. "Alana I know you will not believe me, I have given you no reason to believe a word I say, but I had not meant to hurt you, it was not my intention."

She nods. "I know, but you had to teach me a lesson.". My eyebrows furrow. What?

"No no I didn't know what I was doing I was angry at someone else and I took it out on you which was completely unacceptable and wrong. You had done nothing wrong." She's looking at me with a a look so innocent it makes me want to shoot myself in the head. Fuck.

"I, I made you angry." she croaks, wincing at the discomfort her throat is causing making me grimace. God.

"No, you did nothing wrong okay? Just dont try to speak it will make your pain worse. Does it hurt?" I ask her. She looks at me with her eyes that look dimmer than her usual bright ones. She seems to be contemplating something, as if thinking about what to answer. She then shakes her head in negative. I frown. She's obviously in pain.

She sways in her spot, looking down at the floor again letting out a soft cry. Then in a desperate movement, she grabs the door frame as if loosing her balance. I quickly run over to her, catching her limp form just before it hits the floor.

Motherfucker.

"Alana! Alana open your eyes." I pat her cheek but she is completely unconscious. I quickly pick her up in my arms, carrying her out and down the hall to our room.

I put her down on the bed, patting her cheek again. She is completely non responsive. Looking at her closer, the bruising looks worse and I feel like punching myself in the fucking face. I'm a monster.

I pull out my phone and dial Dr. Dray's number. He tells me he can be here in 5 minutes.

After I am done talking to him, I dial Damon.

"Xander?"

"How quickly can you come over?"

~

"She will be fine, she is just very weak Ares, she looks so fragile as is. I am very disappointed in you brother. It is not like you to do this." Dray sighs making my gut feel heavy. "Anyway I have given her the shot, make sure she eats something easy to swallow when she wakes up. And hot tea for her throat. I suggest you get her a full check up, she's not in her prime health." He nods with a sigh, then walks out.

Damon pats my shoulder as I look at her small body laying almost lifeless on the bed. Her bruise looks brutal and seems to be getting darker.

I run a hand down my face, pinching the bridge of my nose.

"I swear Damon, I wasn't aware of what I was doing I couldn't even see anything beyond my anger. I-"

"Xander, it's fine. Theres nothing that can be done now. Just focus on getting her better." he says making me nod.

I get a phone call so I step out of the room to answer it, leaving Damon in there in case she wakes up. After about 10 minutes, I walk back into the room to see Alana awake and standing up, trying to wear her shoes with Damon right behind her making sure he can catch her if she falls.

When she looks up from her feet to walk forward her body freezes when she sees me. I soften my face trying to not pose a threat but it does nothing to ease her.

I take a step forward making her instinctively push herself into Damon out of fear. I feel a sharp sting in my ribcage at her actions, confusing me. Damon puts a hand around her and grips her arm to steady her so they both dont fall.

I feel my eyes burn holes into his hand touching her. It's utterly confusing why I am feeling this way. She does not even notice, her eyes remain on me, darting between my feet to see if I move.

She's scared of me. She's scared out of her mind.

"Uh, Alana, it's okay go ahead to the bathroom sí?" Damon asks her making her jump at his sudden deep voice. She looks at him with a desperate look. "Alright here," he leads her to the bathroom with him. As they pass by me, I see her body jerk a little in terror. "Sh, it's okay he's not coming here see?" he leads her over to the door and she quickly walks in and we hear the lock click.

I look at him to see him giving me a guilty look.

"I'm sorry man" he says running a hand through his hair.