Run

:5: AԼƜAƳS SAƑЄ

:5: Always Safe

Gradually, he walks on over, taking slow and long, suspenseful strides; making me retract back carefully in the closet. I no longer can see him; no longer can tell when he'll leave or not, since now I'm completely covered up by the hanging clothes and out of sight from anyone, except for Belle on my side.

I hear the doors to the closet creaking slowly ajar until they are fully open. My heart beats faster with each swiping motion my father does into the closet; hitting me lightly a few times, but never realizing anything.

After about a minute of him examining the closet and never realizing people are inside, he finally leaves the room; his boots stomping on his way out. Belle and I still stay put, listening to all the voices until they actually leave and reside with silence once again. I sigh, happy that we actually got away with this and climb out of the closet with, Belle. Her legs bleed horribly, so I sit her down on the bed; ignoring how it might stain the white bed sheets.

"Why were they here?" She asks, clutching her right leg tightly, for that was the one which got cut the most. If only she wasn't wearing a dress...I think to myself, as I help collect some of the glass shards out of her skin.

"They wanted me." I simply say, before standing up fast and sitting beside Belle on the bed. "Luckily, they didn't find us- but who knows when they'll be back," I say, causing silence to echo throughout the room; until, of course, someone has to break it.

"Carnate!" Camic frets, coming in through my bedroom door with a slam and coming to my aid immediately. "I saw your father; he was coming out of this house, what happened?" he asks, holding onto my shoulders.

"Nothing, nothing happened. Really." I tell him, losing eye contact with him and looking at Belle who watches carefully.

"Belle's hurt." I say, making Camic look over right as Jess comes pounding into the room as well.

"Why do we not have a front door?" Jess asks, immediately coming to silence as he sees Belle.

"Can I help, Camic? Mother showed me how to help with this kind of thing," Jess requests, coming over to his side.

"Bring her into the kitchen; help her wash the blood off and then take it from there. Make sure to ask me if you need help." Camic says, as Jess helps Belle up off the bed and slowly brings her into the kitchen. I don't object ,this time, for someone else to stay with me instead of Camic, for I know Belle needs to be patched up immediately and I need to lie back down.

"Let's get you into bed." Camic says, coming over to help pull the covers aside for me to get into them. I crawl on in painfully, lying down on my injured side- away from Camic.

"How did Belle get hurt?" Camic asks, coming over to the other side of the bed, but immediately stopping at where the glass and blood coat the floor. "Oh...that's how..." he whispers, looking over to me quick, before starting to pick up the glass carefully.

While he does so, all I can think about is how nice he has been to me over the past couple days. He helped me escape from my father's, he helped with my fracture, and he's worried so much about my well being ever since he first laid eyes on me. The only thing I can't understand is why I'm still in fear of him in general when I know he's here to help me?

"Carnate," Camic says, looking up to me. "Yesterday...why were you so afraid of me?"

"Camic, let's drop this all together. It's nothing."

"It sure was something and I'm going to find out, even if it takes me all day." he says, standing up from picking up the glass on the ground and sitting down beside me. "Please tell me, you know you can trust me, right?"

"Trust really isn't my thing," I tell him honestly, looking anywhere but at him.

"Why not? I've known you all my life...why all of the sudden are you acting like this?" he asks, making me look up at him slowly. His deep green eyes remind me of my mothers and immediately a flash of that day comes back to me...

'Mom?' I asked, tears streaming down my face; successfully blurring my vision. 'Mom!' I shouted now, angry that she wasn't responding to me. I screamed once more, pounding my fist onto the ground and looking back down to her. That loving face that always smiled when I came into the room; those deep green eyes that reminded me so much of the tall pine trees that covered the radius outside our house...those deep green eyes that I will never be able to see...ever...again...

"Carnate?" I hear Camic sharply ask, snapping me out of my past. "Carnate, what's wrong? Why are you crying?" he asks, making me realize what I had begun to do...cry. Oh, God. I think to myself, as I try wiping away the warm tears coating my face.

"I'm sorry..." I shudder, hiding my face in my hands as I cry harder. I remember thinking that I would never see my mother's eyes again- yet when I looked into Camic's, I saw hers...

"Scoot over." Camic kindly tells me, as he scoots under the covers beside me and wraps me up in his arms. Strangely, I don't fight back this time, but instead, let him comfort me...liking the feeling of him so close.

"Carnate, you're okay," he hushes, making me slowly stop crying and relax, as he runs his fingers through my hair slowly. "You're okay..."