The Shadow Girl ||✔

Chapter 10

I woke up the next morning feeling refreshed. I think that was the best I slept ever since we left my dad. I heard a faint knock on my door, and looked over to see who was walking in. Thinking it was James, I sat up in my bed to greet him, although it wasn't. It was... my dad? "Hey, Em" "What the hell are you doing here! And you're not allowed to call me Em anymore! How did you find out where we moved to when we left you!" He slowly started walking towards my bed with his hands in defense. "Em, i'm sorry for what I did to you and your mother. You need to know that." "I don't want your apology, I want you gone!" Tears started pouring down my face, as I started crying. My dad came even closer. He started walking fast hesitating. He held my head in his hands wiping away the tears pouring down my eyes. "I don't want you touching me!" I started kicking, and shouting. He wouldn't get off me. Suddenly I heard another knock, but I wasn't sure who came in my room. My vision was all blurred from the tears rushing down my cheeks.

I continued to scream and kick. My dad hadn't changed one bit. He got tired of my struggling and started to pound my gut, and my face. I don't know how he found me or what he was doing here, but he was not going to get away with this! Screaming for help, I heard James coming closer. Hoping he would help me, he came over to my bed. He started to shake me. "Emily, EmILY, EMILY!" He started shouting at me, and shaking me. Was he on my dad's side! I started crying even harder. "EMILY!"

I shot my eyes open to see James standing beside me with a worried look in his eyes. His hands were around my shoulders. Immediately he wrapped me up in a hug, allowing me to bury my head in his shoulder and cry. We sat there for a while, until I realized no more tears would escape my eyes. I slowly pulled back. "Sorry" I whispered, as I sat up in my bed, looking down at my fidgeting hands. James took his hand and seperated mine, placing one of his hands on top. He looked at me with worried, and sad eyes. "What's wrong?" I looked over at the clock. 3 am. "Nightmare." I tried to calm my breathing down, from what just played in my head. "You know, sometimes it helps to talk about it?" He said taking his free hand and raising up my chin so I would look at him.

Sighing, I started. "Did I ever tell you about why we came here? Why we ran from home?" He shook his head. I guess Heather never did either. "Well, my dad first became abusive when I was about eight. He would pound at us, until we couldn't breathe. It was mainly when he came home late, or had a stressful day at work. One day he would be a loving, caring father giving us ice cream, and the next  he would be surrounded in a pool of our blood." I looked up at James, to see his worried expression, as he brought his hand to my arm. He started rubbing it, but before he could say anything, I continued. "My mom and I always had our bags packed to leave, and your mom was really generous and said that if we do, we could come live here with you guys until we found a place to live. I loved my dad like no other. We would always go on fishing trips, get ice cream and go on bike rides. One day, I came home from school, and he was beating my mom. She had a huge gash on her forehead, and he was covered in her blood. We didn't have any other option, so we came here."

Tears started trailing down my cheeks as the thought of my father came back. "He wasn't always like this. We were a normal family, loving and caring for each other, but no one knows why he became like this. The dream I just had, the nightmare. He found us. He came in here, yelling at me, then saying sorry and trying to make things right. Then he started pounding on me, and beating me. I started screaming and kicking him, but it was no use. You came in, and you woke me, but that night, where I was first beaten will always be in my mind. Him beating against my tiny body. This is why i've also stopped singing, stay in the background, and i've only ever told Cloe and my mom about this." I looked up, with the tears coming faster. "Please don't tell anyone." James pulled my head to his chest. "I won't ever do anything to hurt you, and I will protect you. If your father ever returns, he will have to deal with me first." "Thank you"

"Now, do you feel better?" "A little bit, I guess." "You should go back to sleep, we have a big day today, and you need some beauty sleep. Not that you'll really need it." He started towards the door. "Wait." He turned around. At this point I was now lying down on my back, but I didn't want him to leave. "Stay with me?" He smirked, but it soon went away. He looked really tired, and I soon felt bad about asking him of this. "At least till I fall asleep?" James walked over to my bed once again, and climbed in on the other side. I curled up against his chest, and let myself drift asleep to the feel of his chest rising and dropping with every breath.