Descending into the Deep

Chapter Three

Alexander's POV

The minute I see Kadence, I know that something terrible must have happened to her. She has a large, grey sweatshirt on and sweats. She saunters towards her back-row seat and carefully places her tiny body into the chair. Her face wrinkles up in pain and she quickly tries to get the look off of her face but does not succeed. I sigh and grab my bag from the floor and stand, moving to the empty seat next to Kadence. She looks at me with questioning glance but says nothing. I drop myself in the chair and put my bag against the leg of the desk. I then look over at Kadence and see her face flushing a light pink. She slides deeper into her chair, attempting to hide her face. I am about to say something to her but the bell rings and Mr. Smith enters the classroom. This is going to have to wait until after class.

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The minute the bell sounds, I throw my bag onto my shoulders and stand in front of Kadence's desk. She continues to pack up her items, not acknowledging my existence. She stands up and tries to pass me and I stop her by putting my arm around her waist. She screeches in pain and that's when I know something is up. I let go of her waist and grab her wrist and drag her after me. I lead her to the nearest janitors closet and enter the room, closing and locking the door and turning on the door. I turn back to her and see her face has lost all color and her eyes are wide with fear.

"Pull up your shirt," I say, and she takes a step back. Sh*t, that sounded dirtier than intended. She continued to stare at me in horror, putting me in an awkward position. I really didn't think this through.

I make my way over to her shaking body, and she takes a couple of steps back.

"P-please d-don't h-h-hurt me..." she pleads, her whole tiny body shaking.

"Why on earth would I do that?" I ask her, continuing to walk towards her. Her back hits the wall and she winces. I then put my hand onto the bottom of her sweatshirt and pull up the side of it. I feel my eyes widen and I gasp. Dark blue and purple cover the left side of her body that I manage to see and little of the normal color of skin actually shows. I move my eyes back up to meet hers.  Her face turns bright red and tears start to fall down her cheeks. I shuffle backwards to give her more room and she brings her hands to her face. I then move back over to her small body and lightly place my arms around her. She moves her hands from her face and wraps her arms around me tightly and sobs into my shirt.

We stay like that for a while until she pulls away from me. She gives me a sad look and sighs quietly.

"I bet you would like to know what is going on, " she sniffles, taking a few steps back giving us more room to talk. I nod.

"I would, but only if you are comfortable with telling me," I say, giving her an option. She sits down on the cement floor of the janitors closet and motions for me to sit next to her. I place myself down and prepare myself for what she has to say.

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Kadence's Point of View

I sigh, getting ready to tell some one that I hardly knew, but for some reason trusted, my story.

"A couple of years ago, my mother got diagnosed with breast cancer. My mom, being the strong lady that she was, took the cancer on as a challenge and fought for her life everyday. She was truly amazing at everything that she did, and this proved it. She was perfectly fine for a while, until after a couple of months later a great amount of stress caused her to have a heart attack, which ended up killing her. My father for a while took her death fairly well, but then about two months after, his attitude completely changed. He began to come home late and drunk. He was then fired from his job after he attacked one of the workers there. It only became worse from there. I tried to help him as best as I could, but I only seemed to make his attitude worse. I ended up having to find a job at a small convenience store to pay for some of the bills.

"After a few months of late nights and hard work, my father decided to move us here. He still went out almost everyday and came home drunk and angry. We rented out the house that I live in now and I tried my best to pay for it since my father basically gave up on working. My father would yell at me and beat me every once in a while, but once we moved, it got worse. If I seemed like I was slacking off to him, he would call me names and beat me until he got tired of it." I take a breath and choke back tears that are threatening to fall out.

"I then met Maggie, who instantly became my best friend. We shared each others deepest secrets and she was the first person I told about my dad being and alcoholic. I never told her about the rest of the things that he did because frankly, I wasn't comfortable with telling anyone. But then Maggie started to spread this information to others and she told lies with it. I was devastated when Maggie told me that she was too embarrassed to be around me anymore. I was heartbroken because I though I knew her. She then became Ms. Popularity and she became my foe. She would pick on me as I passed through the hallways. She is the person who made me lose trust from all people. I haven't told anyone until now and frankly, I don't even know why I am telling you these things because I-I am af-fraid that you w-will h-hurt me too..."

I end by sobbing hysterically in Alexander's arms. He holds me tight, causing my stomach to fill with butterflies. I hold him closer as well, never wanting to leave the position we were currently in. After what seems like ages, he finally loosens our hold a little, but still remaining in our embrace.

"Listen, I promise to protect you and I will always be here for you, if you will allow me too," he says into my ear softly. I slow my tears and nod slightly.

I really hoped that I have made the right decision in trusting him.