Her Dirty Little Secret [R 18+]

4 | Our Silent Knight

A warm breath fanned the side of my face, "sleep, Vaela."

I released a shuddered as his hand tightened around my throat. His touch washed a calmness over me. My body relaxed and his hold did too. But sleep wouldn't come. Not when the little green monster in me was infuriated by the idea of my mother's claws being in him.

My confidence grew. There was no way I was imagining the man in my bed. This thing was real, and that drove me completely mad. 

My mind ran through all the disturbing images before I finally said, "did you... with her?"

He did not reply at first, as if I should already know the answer. It was like he expected me to read his mind, but this was something I needed to hear him say, so I sighed, "answer me, please."

Alaric tightened his grip once more, "no," he exhaled. 

"Promise." 

"Never. Now sleep."

And even though he wasn't mine, in that moment it felt like he was. 

* * 

It continued like that. 

Morning after morning, Alaric would pick me up and drop me off at school. In the afternoon I would remain back and study until the school emptied. We would spend the majority of that time watching each other. 

Then when it was clear, Alaric would drive me home. 

Each night he would come inside. Sometimes my mother cooked, and other times I would. He would drop bag after bag on the island counter. We would eat dinner, quietly. My mother and Alaric would disappear into her bedroom. 

Then he would come for me. 

It was never more than an embrace. Alaric was consistent if nothing else, he'd wrap a comforting hand around my neck, the other curled around my body as he tucked me into his. "Sleep." He'd say into the night. 

I would close my eyes and selfishly allow his warmth to carry me into a nightmare-free sleep. 

Somehow Alaric found a way to always be there. Those quiet moments in the evening that I feared, no longer remained. The abuse stopped. My mother's creepy boyfriends no longer visited. I was wrapped in an untouchable bubble, one only a certain dark-eyed devil could cross.

How beautiful life could be...

The winter was ending and spring was starting to show itself. It was still bitterly cold. But the sun warmed the days, and the trees were slowly beginning to bud. I pulled my hair up into a high ponytail and finished buttoning my blouse. Walking into the living space, I find my mother passed out on the sofa and Alaric leaning against the island with a coffee in his hand.

"Ready?" he asked.

It never failed to surprise me, his lack of care or interest in my mother. For three weeks now, I'd find my mother passed out in her drug-induced state. Alaric did not appear to care. His eyes did not linger on her form; it was like he simply did not see her. His words fluttered through my mind.