Game of Sinners

Chapter Five - Fairy Tales

"When I was a little girl I used to read fairy tales. In fairy tales you meet Prince Charming and he's everything you ever wanted. In fairy tales the bad guy is very easy to spot. The bad guy is always wearing a black cape so you always know who he is.

Then you grow up and you realize that Prince Charming is not as easy to find as you thought. You realize the bad guy is not wearing a black cape and he's not easy to spot; he's really funny, and he makes you laugh, and he has perfect hair."
― Taylor Swift

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Taylor came around later that evening.

He wouldn't stop apologising for how he should have accompanied me to the bathroom and for buying alcoholic drinks. I didn't blame him one bit for what happened that night, only my actions were responsible for giving my attacker the chance to get to me.

I smiled weakly and hugged him the best that I could with my arm, forgiving him instantly.

Taylor's eyes were still burning with guilt so I put a hand on his arm and told him how I was genuinely enjoying myself up until the end. It seemed to cheer him up a bit which I was thankful for.

The police asked me a few questions but I couldn't help much. My memory still hadn't returned so they didn't have a lot to go on, not to mention that there was no one around to witness the attack. When they returned to the scene, they only found a lot of blood and no attacker.

"...and that's it for today's class, remember I want two pages on the history of the Spanish Civil war by next lesson!" The teacher shrilled. Everyone groaned and started flowing out of the class room to their next lesson.

Sighing, I packed up my things as fast as I could with my arm in a sling and ran to the door. I only made it only a few steps before I heard his voice.

"Hey Alex, where dya think you're going?"

I turned around slowly, plastering on a smile.

Annoyingly, Taylor had agreed to not let me out of his sight during school. It seemed like he would do whatever it took to keep his word, even if he had to tie a leash to me. This had been only going on for three days but I was already suffocating with all the chaperoning.

"To class, where else?" I said but it came out sharper than I had meant it. Taylor's head whipped around to stare at me.

"Alex, you know why I'm doing this," His voice tight with emotion. "The bastard that hurt you is still around to walk free. We don't know why he did it but I will make sure that he will not have the opportunity to finish what he started."

I bit down a reply, trying to clear my head and think straight without saying something stupid. It took a few moments for my sanity to come back to me but I opened my mouth to say something, he cut me off.

"What lesson do you have now?" His voice flat an impassive.

I sighed, closing my eyes for a moment in defeat. "English up on the second floor."

He started off down the corridor, not giving me another glance as his muscular form parted the students like a motorboat in water. I could only trail after him. We were silent all the way up to class and Taylor only nodded to me when I entered the room.

I sank down into my seat and put my head on the table.

I appreciated where Taylor was coming from and understood his concerns but I felt like he was being a little dramatic. I mean honestly, who would attack me in school?

A small voice in my head piped up, you thought nothing could go wrong at the party and look what happened there. Pain jolted up my body as someone's bag knocked into my injured arm as they passed my desk. I scowled and brought my sling closer to me in an effort to protect myself.