Transformation

I'll Kill You, Mate

Wednesday and Thursday passed similarly. I hung around with my friends as I had the previous week, but I kept Emily close whenever I possibly could. Jake still hadn't returned to school, and I longed to do to him what he did to her, to make him feel what she was feeling. I wanted to make him rue the very day he was born, and to actually kill him.

Friday morning, I walked to Emily's house early morning again, and waited for her to walk to school together. I noticed a dramatic change in her when she walked downstairs. I was a little later than I had been, so I missed her usually silent breakfast routine. When she did come down, she looked so much better I could leap for joy.

Although her face was still plastered in make-up, and her clothes were still baggy and ill-fitting, the purple bruising under her eyes had begun to recede slightly, and she had definitely brushed her hair, which was swept into a neat pony-tail. Her cheeks a slight flush of natural colour under her make-up, and her eyes were brighter. She actually smiled at me when she walked into the kitchen, and there was nothing I could do to keep the idiotic grin off my face.

"Morning, Matthew, I wondered when you'd turn up," she said, still smiling.

I was speechless, so I turned to Clara open-mouthed. Clara merely nodded, looking happier than I'd seen her since, well ever. I turned back to Emily, and struggled to get something coherent out of my mouth. I failed miserably.

"Mouth?" Emily asked.

I locked my eyes on her, as though she'd disappear if I didn't watch her. She walked up to me and used her thumb to close my mouth. I blushed, and realised I probably looked like a fish for the last two minutes - a fish or a freak that is. I cleared my throat, and tried to clear my head at the same time. I held my hand out, and Emily took it, waving to her mum. The second we were out the door, I couldn't help the stream of rude questions that poured from my mouth.

"What happened? I mean, yesterday you were-" I began, but she cut me off.

"You," she answered simply.

I stared at her in shock, before registering what she said, and smiling. I squeezed her hand and she blushed, looking down. I hated it when she did that, so I tilted her head up by putting two fingers under her chin gently. I tucked a stray lock of blond hair behind her ear, and then something occurred to me.

"Days ago, did you say you dyed your hair?" I asked, astounded.

"Yeah. I've dyed it brown for the last two years," she mumbled.

"Why?" I asked, more sharply than I intended to.

She blushed and shrugged, finding a sudden interest in the railings of the school. As we turned into the school gates, I apologised.

"I'm sorry, Emily, I didn't mean to sound rude. I just don't understand why you did it. Your hair's beautiful," I said honestly.

"That's ok, Matthew. I think I-" she stopped speaking suddenly, and froze, "Oh my god," she whispered, her voice strangled and barely audible.

She began to shake violently, and she clutched my hand tighter. She swayed where she was standing, and silent tears streamed down her face. I began to freak. I always freaked when the waterworks started, particularly when I didn't know why. I looked to where her gaze was fixated on, and I swear I would have committed a murder if Emily wasn't depending on me.

Jake.

The nerve of the boy! How dare he come here after what he'd done? Then again, there wasn't actually a law that said he couldn't be here. It was at that moment that I wondered. Why was Emily so scared of him? Physically, she hadn't been harmed by what he did, and she hadn't seemed particularly scared about it when she spoke to me. What was it?

"Emily?" I murmured, stroking down her arm gently.

Her head snapped to mine, and I saw the deep, unending fear in her eyes. I wrapped my arms around her and drew her into me. I felt her tears seep through my shirt, but I didn't care. I saw Luke watching us from a bench, so I walked over to him, taking Emily with me. I pulled her down, and attempted to move away to talk to her, but she wouldn't let go of me. Carefully, I prised her fingers away from my back, and held her hands in her lap.

"Why are you so scared of him Emily?" I asked quietly, for her ears only.

"I think my imagination makes it worse than it was. I don't know. I had dreams about him. Bad dreams," she looked up at me, "and he hates me. Everything he said..." she trailed off, and tears seeped back down her cheeks.

I took her in my arms again, not really sure what to do. I stroked her hair comfortingly, and whispered soothingly to her. Someone tapped my shoulder, and I turned round. I froze, and I heard Luke hiss in the back of his throat.

Jake stood before us, watching Emily cry with a self-satisfied smirk. I wanted nothing more than to punch the living daylights out of him, but Emily couldn't come between two guys in a fight. I pulled Emily away from me, and kissed the top of her head once, before standing in a slightly protective stance in front of her.

"You've got some nerve coming here," I hissed.

"What've you done to my girlfriend?" he smirked.

I ground my teeth together and clenched my hands into fists.

"You raped her," I spat, "and she is not your girlfriend anymore."

He pretended to contemplate something for a while, chin in his hand, before smirking again.

"I did quite well didn't I? Better than I could have imagined. Look at her, helpless. Scared. Tired. Sick. Abused," he said jeeringly. "And there's nothing you can do about it."

That did it. In less than a second, I saw red, and lunged for him, my fist making satisfying contact with his jaw. He rubbed his jaw, and took a swing at me. I ducked, but in doing so left him in direct line of Emily. I watched, frozen in horror as he grabbed he waist forcefully and kissed her roughly.

Luke stood up, yanking Jake off her and restraining him. I got right in his face, and punched his nose. Hard. As it cracked under the force of my knuckles making contact, I smirked at him. It was the least I could do.

"If I wouldn't be thrown in prison for it, I'd kill you, mate," I hissed.

Luke kicked the back of his leg as he wriggled, and told me he was taking Jake to the headmaster. I turned to Emily, who was watching me with large, frightened eyes. I held my hands up in the surrender position.

"I'm sorry Emily, I promise I won't hurt you," I murmured over and over, staying away from her.

I knelt down before her, and she didn't recoil, so I reached out to her hands. She flinched away from my touch, then gasped.

"I'm sorry," she whispered.

"Don't apologise Emily, You don't need to," I said, shaking my head.

She took a shakey breath, and then threw her arms around my neck. I was slightly surprised, but held her anyway.

"C'mon, let's get you home," I said, helping her up.

I knew she wasn't up to school, and I certainly wouldn't have the strength to leave her like this, or let her walk home by herself, so I went with her. I lifted her up bridal style, as she was shakey as she walked, and she kept her arms around my neck, and buried her head in my neck. As we went home, I repeated the words I had spoken earlier.

I'll kill you mate.