Cold Hearts in The Rain

Chapter 25

My legs were tangled in Caleb's while I leaned my head onto his chest. It was warm. I wanted to memorize and remember the feelings. But I also just wanted to melt.

It was quite early in the morning. I was lost on what to do but knew what needed to be done. After my last stunt, however, there wouldn't be room for error. I'd have to get away from Caleb and my grandparents.

But they weren't so keen on letting that happen.

My grandparents went out to go shopping with a few escorts and when they did, Caleb was all over me. I'd try to get away from him in every way possible, but he'd always find a way to pull me back to him.

As he held me to him while I stared up at the ceiling, a thought that had been gnawing at me in the back of my brain made itself present.

Who's to say that the man won't kill Caleb anyway?

And the moment that thought entered my mind, I suddenly could think clearer.

"Caleb," I said, a new energy brewing within me. He turned.

"That man... he said he hinted to having someone on the inside. He said if I didn't go to him that he would kill you."

Which is how we found out that officer didn't die.

He was the inside man. 

***

It was shift changing time, which I don't think the cop knew--the one that was supposedly dead. It had to be pure luck. 

Just like him escaped death. But no... he wasn't anywhere near dead.

He knocked on the door to our room. I went to it, opening the door, expecting to see my grandparents and was shocked to see him there instead.

"Hello, beautiful," he said and shoved me to the floor. A surprised yelp escaped me, causing Caleb to come flying towards us.

"What are you--" Before Caleb could finish the sentence, the "dead" officer pulled out a knife.

There's not enough time. The police won't be up here soon enough to stop this man.

Caleb is going to die! 

Caleb was backing up slowly, his eyes concentrating on the knife in the man's hands. The man stepped over me and followed.

"Help!" I screamed. "Help us!" The officer turned his attention to me, giving Caleb the window of opportunity to attack the him.

It wasn't the right choice. The officer shoved Caleb off of him and turned, thrusting the knife towards him.

Caleb narrowly escaped his own death.

He fell backward onto the bed and then rolled away from the officer. I jumped on the officer and started using my fists to bang on the back of his head, hoping to perhaps momentarily blind him in the best case scenario. It didn't do much. He stumbled and then flipped me off of him, no matter how hard I held on.

His focus was back on Caleb, and Caleb's was on me.

Don't do that again, his eyes read. I shook my head and decided, To hell with that, I'm protecting him no matter what.

The officer lunged for Caleb, but I beat him to him. I ran into Caleb, knocking him over, as the knife tore open my back.

It's funny... you'd think that for an organ that's so good at keeping in other organs, it'd be good at keeping things out as well. But that's not how skin works.