Under Lock and Key #Wattys2016

Chapter 5

The same trigger warnings as before, and again, a mature chapter below.

He raised his hand up and quickly swung it back down, causing the belt in his hand to whip through the air before the cracking sound was heard. She screamed in pain as he growled in anger.

"You are going to do what I say, when I say!" He yelled as he swung the belt two more times. With the amount of force he has already used, he has broken her skin and blood was dripping down her back and arms. "Do you understand?"

She nodded. Tears streaming down her face. "Yes, Walsh! I understand."

He dropped the belt. "Good. Now go clean yourself up. Our guest will be here shortly."

Emma nodded as she stood up and walked to the bathroom to clean and sooth her stinging and overheated welts. She wet a washcloth with cold water and placed it on a cut and wiped up the blood. She bit her lip to keep herself from crying out in pain. She watched herself in the mirror as she moved to each cut. Her pale skin broken and red. Her cheeks covered in tears, and one thought going around in her mind. 'When will this stop?'

Emma sat straight up and looked around. She was laying in the same bed as the previous morning. She looked down and Killian was laying next to her. She noticed her sweat slicked forehead and wiped it off on the back of her hand, but she felt uneasy. It was dark in the room. She glanced at the clock that read 3:45 a.m.

"Hey, love. What are you doing up?" Killian asked groggily.

"I just had a bad dream. It's nothing to worry about. Just go back to sleep."

He pulled on her arm and tugged her into a laying position again. He wrapped his arm around her and stroked her hair with the other hand. "Tell me about it?"

"Well, it was more of a memory. Walsh was hitting me with his belt because I disobeyed him." She expected to hear a snore in response, but instead she felt his grip on her tighten.

"Just relax, darling. He won't hurt you."

"Thank you."

He kissed the top of her head, wishing he could kiss her lips, cheeks, and neck too. 'No. What the hell am I thinking?' He asked himself. "It's okay. I'm right here."

Emma let herself drift off to sleep again. Killian however didn't find sleep to come easy this time. He was wondering and questioning himself if he was starting to have feelings for Emma. He had only known her for a day and he was starting to have an attraction for her. He had a strange feeling in his chest, like he had to protect her. He wanted to take her pain away and replace the bad memories with good ones. He looked down at the beautiful girl in his arms. He could easily say that she was beautiful, but would that make him feel something else with her?

They both woke up again around the same time. They made breakfast and Killian decided that he was going to get Emma some clothes of her own. He wanted to make her feel comfortable, and as much as he enjoyed seeing her in his clothes, he knew that she couldn't stay in them forever. He grabbed his keys and slipped into his leather jacket.

"I'm trusting you to stay here, Swan." He said.

She nodded. "I know. I'll be fine and I won't run."

He smiled. "Good. I'll be back soon." He left the house and got into his black sports car. He didn't have a bad feeling about leaving her alone. He could always run again if things got out of hand. He could start over. Emma was the only person who was alive that knew about both of his identities.

He pulled up to the store and walked in and over to the women's section. Emma had already told him her sizes, but he didn't know what kind of style she wore. He shrugged as he started piling stuff that he thought she would like. He moved over to the checkout counter and payed for all of the clothes. He bought her a whole closet stuff full of clothes.

"Who is all of this stuff for?" The lady asked.

"My girlfriend." He said without a thought.

"She must mean a lot to you."

He sighed. "You have no idea."

Killian payed and walked to the doors when something caught his eye. It was a bracelet with the letter 'E' engraved on it. He picked the silver bangle up off the rack before walking back to the checkout counter.

"She's going to love it." The woman said as she scanned it.

"I hope so." He whispered as he looked at the dainty silver bracelet. He really wasn't lying because the piece of jewelry was pretty expensive, but couldn't seem to feel upset about buying it.

He was walking across the parking lot to his car when a man stopped him. He held a stack of papers in his hands. "Sir, have you seen this woman?" He asked.

Killian grabbed the paper and saw a familiar face on it. It was Emma. His Emma. He looked at the brown haired man and wanted to punch him in the face. The guy was Walsh. Emma's now ex-boyfriend. "Sorry, but I haven't."

Walsh furrowed his eyebrows in fake disappointment. "If you do, contact the police. I have to find her."

Killian crossed his arms over his chest. "What is she to you? If you don't mind me asking."

"She's my girlfriend. I wanted to propose to her but then she went missing."

"Well, I give you the best of luck finding her." Killian said before getting into his car. He made sure to use a fake accent so he wouldn't be recognized.

Emma paced the house. She didn't know what she was going to do if someone came to the door. She knew she couldn't let anyone in though. She didn't want to know what would happen if Killian would get stopped by the police. If he actually was considered a suspect and was being watched for suspicious activity, but she knew she was just over thinking. She laid down on the couch and turned the television on to try to distract herself, but soon found that she was being too easily distracted. She looked up at the ceiling and let her thoughts wander until Killian got home.