"I'm scared," she whispers tearfully, clutching my shirtsleave in both of her tiny, trembling hands. She looks up at me with those big, terrified brown eyes and I nearly come undone.
Desperately needing to see her bright, happy smile once more, I send her a warm, reassuring smile. "Don't worry, Princess. You'll be perfectly safe with me."
With her lower lip trembling, she nods and worriedly glances behind her where we entered the alley. "But what if they find us?"
My heart clenches at the thought of her going back to that hell hole and my fist clenches at the thought of them laying a finger on her. "They won't, I won't let them." I will die before they touch her.
Silence falls like a blanket over us, the only sounds around us are the dripping of water in the pipes and our own breaths.
Suddenly, men's voices break the silence and my heart starts beating ten times faster. My gaze slides to her panicked expression and I grit my teeth as a sudden wave of anger washes over me.
This is all their fault.
Pressing a calloused finger to her soft trembling lips, I quickly usher her into an abandoned shack and softly close the door behind me.
■■■
Grayson Steel had been in and out of foster homes for as long as he could remember, occasionally in the random orphanage. He suffered from Abandonment and depression, his only releif was boxing.
Until one day.
She had to be the tiniest sixteen - year-old he had ever seen, and by far the most adorable. Immediately, he was drawn to her, taking the skittish little thing under his wing.
Soon, his attachment strengthened into something different, his protectiveness expanding into uncharted territories. They became inseparable, depending on no one but themselves.
But his eighteenth birthday was drawing nearer.
What used to be the day he looked forward to became dreaded in his mind.
He would have to leave her.
However, after a horrific occurance, leaving her there without him was not an option.
She was coming with him
"Stop, please just fucking leave us alone!!" Harley called out at the top of her lungs.
It had been a quiet night until they left the cabin in search of help. They couldn't run, they couldn't escape.
Harley was shoved to the ground, hard. He slammed his fist down on her chest with so much force the air in her lungs escaped. Harley gasped for air. The sounds of fabric ripping pierced her ears and more tears fell fast.
Max laid sprawled out a few feet away. His motionless body sent chills down Harley's spine. She wasn't sure if he was still alive. "Please be okay," she whispered to herself. She could feel the blood flowing down her face and pooling to the back of her throat. She coughed out, "Please stop, why are you doing this?"
"Because of you." He growled.
The pain was too much to bare.
Then, everything went dark.
--
About six months later Harley and her family moved to Florida. After the incident, her parents felt she needed some time away from Ohio and the cold. So it worked out when her father's company had an opening in Florida.
As she starts almost a quarter of the year in, Harley struggles to find her footing and live like a normal teenager. Would her new friends get her through it? Or does her past come back to haunt her?
Warning: Graphic content, sexual, and physical abuse.