The Letter

The Letter |Ch. 27

"Get away from her!," Jake yelled at them.

The three men, unintimidated, didn't move an inch.

"Or what, kid?," Derek slurred.

"I'll call the police, that's what," he took his phone out of his pocket.

Merely a second later, Jake was dialing 911. "You take one step closer and I press call," he warned them.

Jonah and Richard immediately backed away from my injured body on the floor. Richard even lifted his hands up in surrender.

"Pussy," Derek glared at him.

"Hey man, I can't go to jail again. Let the girl go," he tried to convince Derek.

My step father gave me a furious look which lasted a few seconds, as if he was hesitating. I shut my eyes and prayed he would let me go. Although I knew if he wouldn't, Jake would put up a fight for me. Never would he leave me alone with these men.

"Fine," he growled. "Get outta here."

I let out a breath I didn't know I was holding.

As I tried to stand up, Jake ran to me and helped me to my feet, wrapping his arm around my waist to support my body while I limped to the front door.

"If you tell anyone about this, I'll fucking kill you both," Derek warned before we left.

"Is that a threat?," Jake retorted.

"It's a promise."

At a loss for words, Jake didn't answer and we continued outside where he loudly shut the door behind us. I began sobbing and he took me into his arms, stroking my hair to calm me.

"Shhh, it's okay. You're safe now. I'm here. I'm here for you," he whispered into my ear.

"I-I... he... they were going to kill m-me!," I cried.

Without saying anything, we both shared the need to get away from Derek.

I didn't know what would happen next. I didn't know what I was supposed to do. Or where to go. But Jake seemed to know what he was doing. So I followed him to the end of the street, where we waited in silence for the next bus. And I was still crying.

Once our ride arrived and we climbed in, and Jake told me we were getting off at the first stop.

A few minutes later, the bus slowed down at a corner store.

I gave Jake a questioning look but he stood up without saying anything and took my hand in his, leading me to the door. Neither of us spoke before we entered the store.

I broke the silence, "What are we doing here?"

"Getting you cleaned up."

He led me towards the bathrooms and as he was about to step past the door, I put my hand on his chest to stop him.

"This is the girls' bathroom."

"If you think I'm going to let you go in there alone, you're wrong. I'm staying with you."

My heart fluttered at his words. He's so protective... but I'd be lying if I said I didn't like it.

So I nodded and we walked in together.

I almost gasped at my reflection in the mirror.

I had a long (but not very deep) cut that began on the left side of my forehead all the way to my scalp and it was still bleeding.

My nose was red and slightly swollen. But not broken. Also, I had a small cut on my upper lip.

Bruises were visible on my wrists and legs. I lifted my shirt up to reveal my stomach, where Jonah had kicked me. A purple bruise was already forming where I felt the pain.