His Girl

Chapter 4

F***!

As I stalk out of the building, I reread the text that I received from Dolly while I was fighting.

I'm scared, they're looking for me. What should I do?

Quickly, I text her back, anxiousness making my fingers shake.

Stay hidden, Dolly. I'll be there soon.

I throw myself into a dead sprint. After I won the first match, I should have just been done. As it was, I lost one out of three.

My feet pound loudly against the cement walkway, startling a small tabby cat. Quickly, it darts out of sight,  which is actually what I would prefer for myself most of the time.

As I run through the cool night, I feel my lungs gradually expand, to the point that I can barely breathe at all.

I run back and forth between the ring and the foster house every day. I haven't struggled with the distance in close to a year.

And yet, my heart is about to beat out of my chest.

Instead of the road before me, I can only see that precious little woman, broken and bruised.

S***!

Pushing myself to move faster, I finally round the block, the Kolfer House coming into view.

The first thing I hear when I enter is the hard, cold voice of Mrs. Kolfer coming from the kitchen. Sounds like she's lecturing some lucky kid.

Swiftly, I make my way upstairs, to mine and Jason's bedroom. But when I try the knob, I find it to be locked.

Worried, I pound on the door loudly. "Open up!"

Upon hearing a distinctly feminine whimper from inside, I make the decision to commit murder today.

"No! Please, I don't want to--"

From outside the room, I can hear the loud slap. The girl begins to sob.

My girl.

Without much fuss, I break down the door. Taking long, purposeful strides, I cross the small room.

Jason, my motherf***ing roommate, is hunched over Cassandra on the floor. Helplessly, she struggles against his hands on her wrists and his knee on her thighs. He doesn't seem to notice me; must be baked.

Roughly, I grab him by the neck, forcing him to release my Cassie.

He releases a string of garbled curse words and weakly grabs at me, trying to get out of my grip. "Whah the f***, man?!"

"Shut up, you little f***er," I snarl, dropping him on the floor a few yards away. Straddling him, I lay a solid punch on his nose.

He roars in pain. But I'm not even done.

Not even close.

Again and again, I pound my bloody fists into his disgusting face. I have every intention of killing him, until I hear dolly whimper behind me.

Dropping my hands, I watch Jason's head fall limply to the side, where he bleeds all over the hardwood.

With a small grunt, I stand up and turn to face the little, trembling ball in the corner.

"Dolly..."

Hesitantly, I walk towards her, wiping my hands on my jeans.

Meek and afraid, she peeks up at me over her folded arms and whispers thickly, "Grayson--"

And I have her in my arms.

The odd, tight feeling of desperation expands in my chest as I gather her little body into my arms. In the otherwise quiet room, her sobs echo, squeezing my heart painfully.

"It's gonna be okay," I whisper into her soft bold hair.

Her tiny, trembling hands clutch my t-shirt like a life-line and her shoulders heave as she cries into my chest. "H--he...he tr--ried to touch--ch m--me," she whimpers, terrified.

Repressed rage fights to break free, but I keep I firm hold on it.

I'll finish the job later.

Now, I only tighten my grip on Cassandra and brush my fingers through her hair. "I'm so sorry, little one."

You have no idea how sorry I am. This is all my fault, I shouldn't have left you.

"I'm s -sorry, Gray -Grayson," she mumbles into my chest. "I -I wasn't quiet..." she resumes her weeping, wetting my shirt with her tears.

Seconds from losing it again, I press a soft kiss to her forehead, "Baby, you don't need to say sorry. It's not your fault."

It's mine.

"...I sneezed," she continues, ignoring me entirely. "He took me out and -and he -I h -hurt, Grayson."

Gently caressing the back of her head, I locate a bump and my anger level rises to uncharted hights. "I know, Dolly. Will you tell me what he did?"

Wrapping her arms tightly around my neck, she holds me as close as she can. Then, she buries her face in the crook of my neck before recounting the earlier events.

"I was sitting in the air duct, like you told me. But after a while, I heard them yelling, they were looking for me. I texted you, but you didn't text back for a long time.

"A boy came in here, and he was looking around. I tried to be really quiet, but I accidentally sneezed." As if on cue, she releases another adorable sneeze, making her body jerk. "He took me out and he laughed. He said that I was a bad word, but then he threw me on the ground, hard. I hit my head and he kicked me. Then, he told me to take off my clothes, I told him no. Then he slapped me and you came in and saved me."

With clenched fists and my urge to kill reaching new heights, I hold her tighter and kiss the top of her head. "You're safe now, I won't let him touch you."

Gradually, she calms down, only hiccupping every now and again. "Thank you," she whispers softly.

"Any time, sweetheart," I say, rocking her slowly.

I will kill that motherf***er.

Kissing her shoulder, I stand up, keeping her in my tight grip.

However, before I can take more than two steps, four children run into the room, talking loudly amongst eachother.

Dolly finches into my chest, peering at them anxiously over my shoulder.

Annoyed that they are disturbing us, I whirl around and narrow my eyes, making them all quiet down. "What do you want," I hiss calmly.

They shuffle their feet and look around nervously, saying nothing for a long moment. Eventually, one girl speaks up.

"Mrs. Kolfer says to bring that girl to her," she points at Dolly obnoxiously.

I scowl deeply, "Well, you kids tell Mrs. Kolfer to leave her alone. Or else..."

Dolly mutters incoherent words as the children shuffle out of the room, a couple if them helping the unconscious boy out as well.

Once they leave, I carry Dolly to my bed and sit down, cradling her in my lap. "Now," I interrupt her mumbles, "What are you trying to say?"

"It's my fault, I shouldn't have done it," she chants, looking disappointed with herself. "She hates me now."

"Who hates you?"

"Mrs. Kolfer," she whimpers, leaning into my hand as I caress her soft, slightly bruised, cheek. "When I first met her. She hit me in the tummy, but I said something rude to her so she hit me again and sent me to the closet. She told me that that is were I have to sleep. Now she hates me!"

Furrowing my brows, I pull her close again and tuck her head under my chin. "Alright, baby, I'll take care of it. Don't you worry your pretty little head."

I'm about to light some motherf***ing fires.