Authors Note:

Normally I don't really do this Author's Note thing, however this one is slightly important! I'm so sorry for not updating for a few days but I had to update Mircrosoft Word for some reason, which is where I write and keep my stories. ANYWAYS I promise I will try to post one more chapter today! I am SO sorry!

Also, this chapter is a bit different so beware! I hope you like it! :)

It’s been exactly one week since Emery Hastings remembered me. The time since then has been the best in my entire life. I expected him to be angry with me, hate me and hurt me all over again. However no such thing has happened yet. Instead, he treats me with love and respect. What more could I ask for?

“What are you doing?” I ask with a smirk, ducking under the fence into the horse’s field. Emery lies a few feet in front of me, staring up at the sky. “You’re going to catch hypothermia.”

Emery laughs. “That sounds familiar.”

I plop down in the snow beside him and instantly he snuggles into me. “It’s calming, isn’t it?” I ask, watching the fluffy white clouds float by. Winter’s just about over and we haven’t had any more snow in a while.

“Yes, but that’s not why I’m here,” he murmurs. “I was waiting for you to find me.”

“Oh really?” I whisper, as I kiss his cheek. “And why is that?”

“I want to talk to you.”

For a minute my heart begins to pound and I feel lightheaded. I hated those words because they never bring good news. Then, I calm myself and take a deep breath.

“About what?” Emery avoids my eyes and stares up into the sky. I follow his gaze and try to focus on the shapes of the clouds instead of the worry and dread swirling inside of me.

“About what happened when I went to live with my aunt.” He exhales noisily and I know it’s hard for him to talk about it. I grab his gloved hand in mine and give it a comforting squeeze. “The first thing you should know,” he says sternly. “Is that there never was an aunt.”

My eyes grow wide but I know not to freak out or I would ruin my chance at finding out what happened. Instead of jerking straight up and yelling, I do my best to stay calm.

“What are you talking about, Emery?” I whisper, feeling his hand tighten against mine.

“It was just one of my father’s friend’s wives who called your dad. She pretended to be my mother’s sister when really she was leading me into a trap.”

“Now that we have the chance, we’re going to make you suffer,” the woman snaps, grabbing me by my hair and throwing me down the basement stairs. I had just gotten off the phone with Mr. Snow to tell him I got here safely, even if it was a huge lie. By the time I hit the bottom I feel like hell, as my limbs and head smashes onto every single step. I hear her laugh as footsteps head down towards me, however they’re too loud to be hers.

Two men appear above me and stare down with evil grins. One nudges me hard in the side with his foot and the other spits on me.

“So this is the little Hastings bastard,” one of them laughs, as I try to pick myself up off the ground. As soon as my hands are pushing me up, I’m kicked hard in my side, causing me to whimper. I collapse on the ground and decide to stay there. With a pounding head and blurry vision, getting up isn’t an option. “Not much fight left in him. Let’s change that.”

Partly unconscious from hitting my head, I don’t struggle as they drag me across the cold concrete. I’m lifted into a chair as my vision swirls, blurring the images in front of me together. I feel my hands being tied by rope and soon two faces, barely able to tell them apart, are in my line of vision.

“One rule,” laughs one of the men darkly, pulling out a knife. “Don’t scream.”

I sit limp in the chair, every single one of my senses greatly impaired. Beaten, cut and wounded, I know there is no way to get out of this. Even if I did, where would I go? I can’t go back to River, not after I left to give her a better life.

“Hold still.” I flinch in the ropes as the voice calls from directly in front of me. I hadn’t even heard the woman come downstairs or saw her approach me. I can’t see what she looks like but I know it’s not the woman who threw me down the stairs.

I feel the ropes loosen as she cuts them from my wrists and ankles, however I don’t move an inch. If I did, I would just be making more pain for myself.

“If you’re thinking of escaping, I have a gun,” she mumbles, moving my face left and right. “I’m not going to hurt you and frankly, I don’t approve of the other guys hurting you either,” she snaps, putting some kind of liquid on my wounds. “I’m going to clean you up.”

I don’t speak as she bandages my wounds and stitches my cuts. After a whole lot of disinfectant and silence later, she moves back and asses her works.

“You can’t see very well, can you?” I slowly shake my head no which only causes the room to spin. I want to ask her why she’s helping me, but I already have a feeling of why. The men can’t torture me if I’m dying. The woman may not approve, however she’s just building me up so they can break me apart yet again. “I’ll go into town and get you some medication,” she sighs, standing up. She turns to leave, but moves back again to look at me with sad eyes. She’s only a blur of blonde hair and a purple shirt to me, but the tone of her voice says everything I need to know. “I’m going to help you get out of this,” she whispers, brushing my cheek with her hand. “I promise.”

About an hour after she’s gone, I decide to search the cold basement for something useful. There are boxes everywhere so it’s worth a try to look for something useful to defend myself with. It’s a painful, horrible experience. Almost as horrifying as getting beaten itself. However I have to keep quiet and not pay attention to the pain as I search. If I’m caught, it would just mean more bruises.

It’s in the third box that I find a phone, still in the package. I don’t even think about what I’m doing as I search the wall for a plug. It takes me a few minutes of mental searching to remember the number, but as soon as it starts ringing I hold my breath. Surely people will hear me if I speak, so what am I doing here?

“Hello?” I can’t respond so instead I allow myself to breath into the phone. Hearing River’s voice lights up every single part of me regardless of the situation I’m in. “Emery, I know you’re there. I can hear you breathing.”

As soon as she’s done speaking, I hear noise upstairs. Its footsteps getting louder and louder, closer and closer. On impulse, I slam down the phone and throw it inside a box. As the basement door opens, I bite my tongue and think of thoughts of River. As long as she’s in my mind, the pain will go away.

I’m speechless as I stare at Emery. We’re both in sitting positions and instantly I throw my arms gently around him. I hug him as tight as I can without hurting him. Sobbing, I feel his arms hold onto me as I search for the words that are caught in my throat. I have no idea what to say. What can I say to him? But as soon as I open my mouth again, the question I ask is one I probably shouldn’t after what he just revealed.

“What did Vince say?” I whisper, pulling back to meet his eyes. Mine are red, swollen and glassy while his are distant. He pulls me back into him and squeezes tightly.

The phone rings and rings as I wait for River to pick up. I’ve just about given up when someone else answers who I don’t recognize.

“Hello?” When I don’t respond, they continue. “Listen here, Emery. Stop fucking calling this house.” My eyes grow wide and anger flares; however I clench my teeth together to stop myself from speaking. “River is over you and moved on to me. The things I’m going to do to her-“

Emery stops suddenly and I pull back to look at him. He avoids my eyes and stares down at the snow, fists clenching and unclenching.

“Emery?” I mumble, touching his cheek softly. “What did he say?”

Emery shrugs my hand away from him and shakes his head. When he meets my eyes, his are fully of hatred and fury. “I can’t tell you anymore, River,” he snaps, but not exactly at me. He’s not angry with me, but with Vince.

“Stop protecting me,” I tell him sternly. “I can handle whatever it is that-“

“No,” he shouts, struggling to his feet. He starts to walk away and I jump to my feet and chase after him. When I catch up, he turns to me, looking helpless. “You should never have to hear the things he said.”

I know it’s pointless to continue this fight with Emery so instead I wrap him in a hug. We stand there for a long time, not saying anything. So many questions have been answered however so many more are floating around in my head.

“Can we go inside?” Emery murmurs into my hair, still in our embrace. I tell him sure and we walk together towards the farmhouse, hand in hand. After all we’ve been through and everything we’ve said to each other, somehow we turned out better together than the way we we’re at the start. We’re just walking through the front door when I feel his breath on my ear. “You know you’re really pretty.”

My cheeks turn pink as we take off our jackets. Emery leads the way to my room and plops down on the edge, waiting for me as it bounces a few times. I sit down beside him when Emery stares at my neck again, looking at the necklace that I refuse to take off. When we meet each other’s eyes again, his are glaring at me.

I guess there’s been too much going on in the past week for him to think of where I found the necklace. Eyes narrowed, he looks extremely angry with me.

“You went through my backpack.”

“I’m so sorry! I didn’t mean to but I couldn’t help myself and-“ I’m shushed as Emery puts a finger to my lips. He avoids my eyes and takes a deep breath.

“It’s fine.”

“What?”

“I said its fine.”

“Oh,” I mumble, getting embarrassed. Emery intertwines his fingers with mine. “Emery,” I murmur, avoiding looking at him. “How did you get away?”

Emery smirks when I glance at him. “I’ll tell you, but a better question would be why.” He raises his eyebrows, waiting for me to ask.

“Okay,” I mumble. “Why did you get away?” I’m not sure if the question really makes sense however Emery places his lips on my forehead and smiles anyways.

“So I could come back to you.”