{BOOK 1} I Thought We Would Be Safe - Paulkins/TGWDLM fanfic

Chapter 16 - *Flashback*

Thirteen-year-old Emma unlocked the door of the apartment. She inhaled the smell of alcohol. Her mom was currently in the hospital after a heart attack, her father was an alcoholic.

Luckily, he'd go under supervision tomorrow, to help him with his addiction. Jane, her four-year older sister, would stay with a friend. Emma didn't have a lot of friends, definitely not close ones. But she once had a substitute at her school, a professor from the college in Hatchetfield.

Emma was always silent in class, but this guy immediately noticed something was wrong. She didn't know how, he just knew. He spoke to their normal teacher about it, and when the teacher told him about the situation she was in, he immediately offered to help. She would go to him while her father was in the clinic. They had met a few times, to get to know each other. He was a nice and caring guy.

Jane ran towards her, causing her to snap out of her thoughts. "Emma! Leave! Dad is drunk again, and he was looking for you, and you know that's never good, especially when he's drunk." Jane pulled Emma into a hug. "I'll text you when it's safe, okay?" Emma nodded and walked back outside.

Before she could close the door, she heard her father scream, "Jane! Who was at the door?" He walked into the hall. Emma tried to close the door before he saw her, but it was too late.

Emma tried to run away, but the door opened and after a few seconds she felt someone grab the back of her shirt. She was dragged into the house and her father pushed her against the wall, "Where were you?" he shouted.

"Dad, please, no!" Jane screamed.

"Go to your room, Jane!" he shouted at her, pushing Emma's shoulders even harder against the wall. Her dad would never hurt Jane, she was his little princess. Emma, however, was not. His face came closer to hers. "Answer me. Where were you?"

Emma was too scared to talk. "I went grocery shopping. Just like you asked." she finally managed to say, holding up the bag in her hand.

Her father let her go, her shoulders were definitely going to bruise. He snatched the bag out of her hands. "Go make dinner." He gestured to the kitchen.

Emma walked to the kitchen, she let out a relieved sigh. She made some mac and cheese, but before she was finished, her dad ran into the kitchen.

"Emma!" he shouted.

"Yes, father?" she replied, hiding that she was terrified of the man.

"What is this?" he said, while holding up a bottle of beer Emma just bought.

"That's beer."

"Exactly! But it's not the good brand you should buy. And you know that." The man walked towards her.

"Yes father, but you didn't give me enough money to buy the brand we normally have, so I thought-"

Her father grabbed her arm, "That sounds like a good reason to use that money you're saving."

"But father, that's for-"

"Help your dad out next time!" He let go of her arm.

"But fath-" She could see her dad getting more and more angry every second.

He grabbed a knife from the table and threw it at Emma. She ducked aside to avoid it, but could still feel something cut the back of her arm. "Go to your room! I don't want to see you ever again!" She ran to her room, crying.

Jane came running towards her, "Emma?" Emma ignored her. "Emma, please. What happened?" Jane asked, while grabbing her arm and looking at the cut.

Emma pulled her arm away, "Leave me alone. I'm leaving."

"But Emma, plea-" Emma entered her own room and smashed the door closed. She locked her door, she only used the lock for emergencies, because her parents weren't supposed to know that she had it. She grabbed her phone and a few other things. Her arm was bleeding a lot, so she put on a jacket to hide it.

Emma grabbed the piece of paper with the address of the professor from her desk and climbed out of the window. When she ran a few blocks, she finally felt safe enough to sit down for a minute. She typed the address into Google Maps. Only a few minutes away from where she was. Great.

She walked away, biting her lip while trying to ignore the increasing pain in her arm and following the instructions on Google Maps. The instructions led her to a huge house, with the name H. Hidgens engraved above the doorbell.

Emma pressed the doorbell and almost immediately got a response, "Who is it?"

"Uh, professor, it's me, Emma Perkins." The door buzzed, she pushed him open and walked inside. The professor walked towards her and pulled her into a hug, Emma flinched because of the pain, but it didn't seem like he had noticed.

"Emma! I thought you'd come tomorrow!"

Emma was silent for a second, thinking of a response, "Yeah, they gave us some false information, it's actually today."

"That's alright! I'll make you some tea. Come, give me your jacket."

"No! I mean That's not necessary, I'm cold."

Professor Hidgens laughed, "Don't be silly, it's hot in here." He unzipped her jacket, despite several protests of Emma. He gasped, "Emma! What happened?!" Emma looked down; her arm was covered in blood. She collapsed against the wall. The professor helped her up.

"It's nothing" she said, but she knew that he wouldn't take that answer. He led her to the dining room and gently pushed her into a chair.

"Emma, please. What happened?" Emma burst into tears, and told him the whole story. Hidgens listened silently.

When she was done, he grabbed her hand, "Emma, this is not your fault. Thank you for trusting me. I will help you. We have to call the police. Do you want that right now or do you want to do that tomorrow, so you can calm down now?"

"Later." she muttered.

The professor smiled at her, "Can you please let me take a look at the cut?"

Emma nodded. She flinched when the professor touched her, but she finally felt like someone genuinely cared about her.