Protecting Her Lost Soul

Chapter 4

We get to Duke and I walk to my first class. I sit through my morning classes and I sit on the fountain wall again. I'm glad it's not raining. I watch the alleyway where I first saw him. I don't see anything. If he sees me waiting he will come right? Now he knows I'm here waiting for him. I clutch my knees to my chest and look at the ground. 
     I don't have to wait long and a hand touches my arm. I look over to the hooded figure and smile. He doesn't reveal his face but I know it's him. I slide my hand in his and he keeps scanning the courtyard. "Riley, you can't just summon me like this," he says annoyed. 
    "Summon? I just want to see you. I missed you," he looks at me and smiles. He reaches up and strokes my face. 
    "You look so hot with makeup. You never used to wear it, it suits you." Flynn always prefered me without. He leans in and kisses my lips briefly. I notice his eyes keep checking our surroundings. 
     "I like this," I say and slide my hand under his hood and fist his shaggy hair. He grabs my wrist and moves my hand away from his hair. Ow. 
     "I haven't had chance to cut it," he defends himself but I like it. He releases my wrist, "Am I coming over later?" 
     "I'm working until 10 pm. You can come over after," I shrug. 
     "Oh yeah, I forgot. Why don't I visit you at work and then I can walk you home." I smile and nod. "Good." 
     "Roo?!" I hear Nathan call and I turn my head to look at him. Nathan frowns but I stand up and he hugs me. When he releases me I look back at James and he's gone, literally vanished into thin air. "You grabbing lunch?" 
    "Yeah, sure," he takes my hand and we walk to our favourite eating place. "Are you feeling better?" 
   "Oh right, yeah. Thanks for looking out for me, I didn't realise how cold I was. As soon as I was in the bath I felt better," he nods at me. I cringe think about how he undressed me, thank god Tyler stopped him and got Flynn to do it.
    "You scared me you know," I frown. 
   "Sorry," I whisper. We walk into the pub and Nathan walks to the table where Tyler and Flynn are sat with Ariel. "I can't sit here." 
    "Why not?" he says to me. 
    "Because Flynn is here." 
    "Just don't talk to him, Roo," he pulls me to the table anyway. He pulls a chair out for me and grudgingly sit down. I'm hit instantly with burning eyes. 
     "I've got a date tomorrow night with the hot chick," Tyler says. 
     Flynn laughs, "That didn't take long, what you doing about Britney?" 
     "She was a good fuck but I'm over her." Love em' and dump em' my brother. I roll my eyes and Nathan sits down next to me and takes my hand again. 
     "How hot is this chick?" Nathan asks. "You going to introduce us?" 
    "I only met her this morning. She is fucking priceless man, but I claimed her first. Don't get any ideas buddy."
    "Hey, I've already got my eyes on someone else," Nathan uses his hand to tuck my hair behind my ear and I sense him watching me. 
    "Gross, man," Tyler groans. "Sis, are you ordering food?" 
   "I'll just have a salad," he frowns but gets his phone out. 
   "Tyler!" Barbie shouts and I roll my eyes. Tyler looks up at her and rolls his eyes. "You didn't invite me to lunch yet here you are!" 
    "Maybe he just doesn't want to listen to your annoying voice anymore," I mutter and she glares at me. Tyler gets up and drags her out of the pub. I've never like Barbie, she's too fake and my brother should have someone with a bit of substance. I'd probably like Ariel if she were with my brother and not stealing the love of my life. 
    Our drinks arrive and I sip on my 7 up. They go over board on this no caffeine shit at least it doesn't taste too bad. Our food arrives shortly after and Tyler comes back from outside minus a Barbie. I pick a sliced tomato up with my fingers an shove it in my mouth. "I'm going to kill you Tyler! You used me!" Barbie shouts as she walks towards us and I roll my eyes. "I love you!"
    She grabs an empty beer bottle off the bar and smashes it against the bar. She holds it up threatening my brother. She's fucking psycho. "How could you do this to me?" she cries. I stand up and put myself between Tyler and Barbie. 
    "Riley," Flynn and Tyler say in unison. I can take this bitch. I grab her wrist with the bottle in her hand and grab her neck slamming her against the bar. She doesn't even put up a fight.
    "Threaten my brother again and I will kill you," I growl. 
    "You never liked me, you must have something to do with this," I laugh. 
    "No I didn't but that doesn't mean I had something to do with it. You're crazy! My brother just wised up," I grab the bottle from her hand and I throw it behind the bar causing it to smash further. "If I see you within ten feet of my brother I'll kill you." 
    I step away from her and she stands up startled. I look at Tyler and he looks relieved. Barbie screams and launches for me. Her nails slice across my face as she slaps me. I punch her and she topples to the floor. Tyler and Flynn are already at my side. Tyler helps barbie off the floor and pulls her outside. "Can I have a towel?" Flynn asks the barman. 
    The barman nods and passes him a towel and Flynn comes towards me and daps my cheek with the towel. "Are you crazy? She could have killed you." 
    "Oh come on, she's harmless. I'm not having her threaten my brother like that. You guys wouldn't hit a girl, I sure as hell have nothing against it. I've wanted to do that since I met her." 
    Tyler returns to my side, "Are you okay Lee? I'm sorry she did that. I didn't know she was capable." 
     "It's fine, Bro. Honestly, I fight dirty. Slaps won't get you anywhere." Flynn leads me back to my chair and continues to dab my cheek. Tyler starts eating his food. Nathan takes my hand and Flynn frowns. Flynn grabs my chin when I pull away and I wince. 
     "Does it hurt?" 
     "No," I lie. Well the cut doesn't hurt but his fingers on my bruised chin hurts. 
     "Good, now can you eat please?" I nod and he returns to Ariel. I pick at the salad not feeling much like food. 
     A hand places on my shoulder and I flinch, "You okay Honey? Shall I call the police?" the barman says. 
    "I'm fine, I don't need the police. I can handle her," I reassure them all and he smiles. 
    "You have a good punch little lady," he compliments me and heads back to the bar. I've had to with all the scraps I've got into over the summer. My phone rings and I get my phone out. 
     "Hey Honey." 
     "Angel," she cries. My heart stops. 
     "What's wrong baby?" I stand up and start walking to the door. 
     "I miss you, I don't like it here. I'd rather die." Fuck! A little kid shouldn't be saying that. 
     "Honey, don't say that. You know you have to be patient for me baby. What happened?" I hate her crying like this and I can't hold her. I stop walking when I'm outside the building. 
      "Well Katie was mean to me. And Miss Tammy told me off." 
      Flynn is now at my side wiping my own tears away, "She said that no one wants me and I'm going to stay here like a freak because nobody is going to adopt me. I punched her, I know you said violence isn't the answer but I'm scared that I will be left in here." I'm glad she punches the rude kids. 
      "Honey, it won't be forever. Flynn and I are coming to see you tomorrow okay? And you'll be soon coming home for the weekend. Please don't talk like that because you are worth a thousand Katie's." I sniff and Flynn hugs me. 
       "I can't wait anymore! It's not fair! I hate you for not saving me. I'll be all alone at Christmas!" Tears stream down my face. She hates me? 
       "Baby, please. I'm doing everything I can. I love you so much. If I could take you home right now, I would." 
      "Well it's not quick enough! If you loved me more, I'd be living with you right now." The line goes dead and the sobs come in full flow. 
      "Shh, Ri. What's going on?" he rocks me gently as I cling to him. 
      "She hates me!" I cry. 
      "No, she doesn't. She's just upset, baby. She loves you so much, why is she so upset?" 
      "I think she's getting anxious about christmas coming up. She's going to be alone. She hates me for not saving her yet. She said she'd rather die than stay there any longer." 
      "Fuck, Ri. She's just lashing out. She's a troubled kid, it's not the first time she's used that card. There's nothing you can do about it, Ri. She will be fine. We will see her tomorrow, it will cheer her up." 
     "Yeah," I whisper. I pull away from him and wipe my tears with the back of my hand. "I'd better call Dr Faye. You go back inside, I'll be in shortly," he nods. He kisses my forehead and goes back inside. 
    I dial and put the phone to my ear, "Princess?" Dad says.
   "Daddy, I need you to do something! She's withdrawing from me. She told me she hates me! I can't tell her and give her false hope. I need to get her out of there." 
    "Princess calm down, I told you, I'm doing everything I can. It takes time, my friend is hopeful. You just need to be patient." 
    "She said she'd rather die than be in there! What if she does something stupid? I will never forgive myself." 
    "Lee, settle down. This will help towards your process. Look, you have to trust I know what I'm doing. I promise I'm doing it as quick as I can." 
    "I know Daddy but she needs me. She needs me now."
    "I understand baby, I'm doing everything in my power to do what you want. I told you it will be a long process. It's not easy to do and this isn't my forte." 
    "I trust you Daddy, just please hurry." 
    "I will, I love you Lee. I've got to go." 
    "Bye Daddy, I love you." I hang up the phone and ring Dr Faye. 
    "Dr Faye?" 
    "Hi, it's Riley Blake, I need to speak to you about Miley." 
    "Oh hey, she's having a bad day. It's normal for her to have bad days. How was your phonecall?" 
    "Not good, she's upset. She's never spoken to me like that. She said she hated me and she'd rather die than stay in the home." 
    "I'd like to say it was the first time she's wanted to die but it's not. She's been hopeful since she met you but I guess with Christmas coming up she's lashing out." 
    "What more can I do?" 
    "Unless you're planning to adopt her sooner than later there is nothing you can do." 
    "I am, I just haven't told anyone. My Dad is a lawyer, he's been working on it since I had her that weekend." 
     "Does Flynn know?" 
     "Kind of, I didn't say it in exact words but he's on board. He doesn't want her in there either." 
     "Okay, I'll see what I can do my end to speed this up. I'll call her into a meeting to see how she is for you." 
     "Thank you," I say and hang up. I put my phone back into my pocket and someone grabs my wrist tightly. I'm pulled into a side alley by the hooded figure. "JJ?" I wrap my arms around his neck. 
     "What the hell happened to your face?" he holds me whilst he waits for my answer. 
     "Tyler's ex threatened my brother with a beer bottle. I took her out and then she clawed me. It's nothing," he pushes me away from him. 
     "You took her out?" he slams his palms on the brick wall by my head and I flinch. "She damaged my face and you say it's nothing?" I reach up and touch his face to calm him down but he grabs my wrist tightly again. "You can't be so reckless, Riley." 
    He slides his hand up my jumper and his hand grips my hip. He squeezes me too hard causing pain and I groan, his lips claim mine muffling my pain. His teeth bite my lower lip painfully. "Lee?" Tyler calls and James pulls away from me. He grabs my jaw tightly and I screw my eyes shut. 
    "Go, I'll see you later. Tell them you have a boyfriend so they back off. Say my name is Jacob or something. You need to warn them off Riley, I swear to god." I nod and he releases me. 
     I leave him in the alleyway and find Tyler looking at me with confusion. "Where were you?" 
     "I needed some air." I shrug and I walk into the building. I take my seat and and Nathan takes my hand but I pull away. I don't need James freaking out anymore. 
     "I need to tell you something," I say and they all look at me. "I have a boyfriend." They all looked stunned. 
     "Bullshit!" Flynn growls. Tyler frowns but doesn't say anything. Nathan stands up and leaves without a word. 
     "Who is it?" Tyler asks. 
     "His name is Jacob." 
     "Jacob who?" 
     "Jacob Warren," I shrug. "You don't know him." 
     "Are we going to meet him at some point? I'm glad you are moving on, Sis." Tyler says and glances at Flynn. Flynn looks pissed as hell. 
     "It's early days, I don't want you to meet him and you break us up as aswell." He wouldn't be able to see him anyway, he's not real. 
     "I'd only do that if he's bad for you," he frowns. "Is he good to you?" 
     "He cares about me," I shrug. 
     Flynn stands up, "Outside, now Ri!" I roll my eyes and get up. I follow him outside and he grabs my wrist and I wince. "What the hell?" 
    "What?" I shrug. 
    "You said I would be your only and last! What is this?" he's angry. 
    "Jake didn't want me to keep it secret anymore. We can't be together Flynn. He wants to be around me. He's not scared to have me close." 
     "Are you punishing me for protecting you? You said you don't do the whole boyfriend thing what changed?" 
     "I'm not punishing you but I resent you for it. Nothing really changed, it's hard to explain." 
     "Do you love him? Have you had sex with him?" 
     "Flynn," I sigh. "You don't understand. It's complicated."
     He cups my face and I shut my eyes. "You love me Ri, you only want me. You are mine, why are you doing this? If I kissed you right here right now you'd kiss me back. I know you would so why are you tormenting me like this?" 
     "You wouldn't understand. Do you expecting me to die single? I need to move on from you and Jake is helping me with that. He knows everything. . . " 
     "I'd understand if you just told me what's going on in your head." 
     "I can't," I whisper. He sighs and walks back inside. I take a deep breath and head to my next lecture. I block out the rest of my lectures and walk to the Ice Rink. I head to the staff room and open my locker. I reapply my make up as the bruises start to show. I place my beanie hat on and my fingerless gloves. 
    It gets cold out there. I head to the boot room, "Hey Riley," Jax says. He's a small build with black hair and green eyes. He always wears a beany hat too as it's cold in here.  
   "Hey, Jax. Is it busy?" 
   "Not yet but I've just seen a load of people arrive." I nod and sit on the counter waiting for people to get their skates. It's funny how I always get on better with guys although Jax has already told me he's gay but we get on really well. I guess it's nice knowing Jax likes me for me and not because he's attracted to me. He hands me his strawberry laces packet and I take one. 
    He's obsessed with these but I like them too. I take a bite. The people flood in like he said and we have been busy for the last hour or so. I pass the next person their shoes back and then Tyler and Flynn appear. I roll my eyes. "Babe, do you want me to serve them whilst you go on a break?" Jax asks. 
    "Nah, I'm good Bug," I call him bug because we were having a laugh last week and it literally looked like he had bug eyes. "It's nearly my shift to go on the ice anyway." He passes a kid their shoes back and nods at me. "What are you doing here?" I say to Flynn and Tyler. 
    "Can't I visit my sister at work?" 
    "Sister?" Jax gasps. He offers me the last strawberry lace and I snap it in half and offer it to him and he takes it with his mouth. 
    "Is this him? Is he your boyfriend?" Tyler says and Jax laughs. Jax wraps his arm around my shoulder and Flynn glares at us. 
    I bite my strawberry lace, "No, this is Jax my friend from work." 
    Jax practically touches my ear with his lips as he grins, "Jealous ex? Do you need to pretend I am?" I laugh and Flynn scowls more. 
    "Thanks for the offer, but no. I think he might murder you." I say loud enough for Flynn to hear. "Shoes," I say to them and they pass me their shoes. I go and grab them the good skates in their size not the crappy plastic ones. I hand them over and Jax is helping the next people. "I'll go on the ice and take over from Maya." Jax nods and I go to my locker and get my skates out. I slide them on and walk to the ice. 
   I glide onto the ice and skate to Maya, "Aww man, Riley. Thank god, I need a wee." She smiles and glides off the ice. I survey the area. I love ice skating, I feel free as a bird. A little kid falls over and I skate to them. I help them up but they don't cry. 
    I hold them up while they wobble on their feet, "You okay honey?" 
    She nods, "Shall I help you to the edge?" She nods and I slowly skate with her to the edge holding her hand and her Dad is waiting for her. 
     "Thank you," he says to me and I smile. I turn my attention back to the crowd on the ice. I notice some rowdy guys on the ice. One of them skate really fast behind and quickly swerves causing the innocent skater to wobble and fall over. He gets to his feet and another guy purposely knocks someone else over. 
    I skate towards them, "Guys, enough of that. If you carry on I will ask you to leave." They laugh at me. 
    "Oh yeah, what's a little girl like you going to do?" 
    "Carry on and you'll find out," I warn and they laugh hysterically. They skate off and cause more trouble. I skate towards them again and they spin and face me and I'm going too fast to stop. They bend down to try trip me over but I jump spreading my legs over the top of them and land behind them. 
    I spin and they stand speechless. I grab one of their arms and I spin them around and they fly towards the gap in the wall. The other guy I glare at and he hastily skates towards the other guy. The first guy is a heap on the floor outside the rink. I skate after them, "Leave now, I gave you a warning and you didn't listen." 
    "Alright, jeez, you're pretty badass." The guy says on the floor and gets up. "Can I have your number?"  
    "No, now get lost." I hold my ground and they grin and walk off. I head back out on the ice and I slide into Flynn. He holds my hips and spins me around. "Flynn," I gasp. 
    "You knocked into me," he grins and we stand nose to nose on the ice. "I was coming to your rescue but it looks like you didn't need it." 
     "I can handle myself, you'll do well to remember that," he throws his head back and laughs. I slap his chest and he grabs my wrist and I wince. 
      He frowns and slides my sleeve up and reveals bruising. "What the fuck is that?" My heart stops. Can he see the bruising? He's pretty pissed so I can imagine that he can. "Riley," he warns. What do I say? I just don't understand how he can see the bruising when James is in my head. Well, that's my theory blown. He continues to send dagger my way.