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Chapter 8 - Protect Me... Always

{Your POV}

[EDITED - 07/29/2021]

"Hey [Y/n]~"

My body froze at the very sound of his dark tone of voice. The mere sound of it caused me to shiver, and it gave me the urge to cry and scream out loud for help—for someone... anyone... to help me.

"...Gene?  G-Go away...," I stuttered in fear, afraid he would make me do something again.  My voice wavered; my breathing quick as my heart beat increased.

"No, I don't have to, [Y/n].  You know what I want,"  he spoke in a painfully low whisper, smirking as if this was the most amusing thing he's ever seen.

Gene is the most cruelest, nastiest, rudest—basically, he's the most terrible person there is in this school. He made me do things that he wanted, but I always refused and I would get beat up because of it. I always refused, no matter what, because I didn't want anyone else getting hurt because of him.  It appeared to me that he seemed to take a liking to my stubbornness; keeping a close watch on me while I was on school grounds was almost like a full-time job to him.

'Argh!! Sometimes—actually all the time—I want to punch him!!! But even if I did, it's not like it'll help me. Sasha and Zenix will beat me up then...'

I blinked twice as a picture was being waved tauntingly in my face. "Look at this, [Y/n]. Tsk, what a shame it is."

Now I really want to wipe that teasing, disgusting, stupid smirk off of his stupid face.

In the picture, he had pointed to a black-haired girl with green eyes, saying,  "She has a boyfriend, yet... she was kissing another boy,"  he taunted, shaking his head as if he really cared at all.  He just likes to ruin other people's lives.  My lips curved downwards, forming a distasteful frown, but not towards the photo, but towards Gene's stupid face.

     But, upon closer inspection of the girl in the picture, I could clearly tell it was a setup.  Someone had obviously pushed that boy to kiss her.  I assume it was Gene and his stupid minions that took a dumb picture of it for fun, and simply for the excitement of getting others in trouble.

     "No, I-I'm not doing anything! I won't let you hurt others!" I shouted, feeling slightly confident enough to fight back a bit, yet still feeling small under his piercing gaze; his dark look sprouted the fear I had lost in that second or two, returning it right back to me.

     Next thing I know, Gene is bursting out in an evil laugh; a laugh that one would hear in those movies with a crazed killer.  He held his stomach as if this was the funniest thing he's ever experienced, although I couldn't quite understand the "hilarity" behind this cackling mess of a guy. 

     "So, you refuse?" he stated loudly, continuing to laugh while stepping closer to me.  "That makes things more better for me and them." 

     I watched in fear as time came to a slowing point.  His index finger shifted from being held safely in his rough fist, to pointing at the duo—Sasha and Zenix—standing behind him, waiting for his command to beat me up for refusing—something he despised—once again.

     Gene flashed a smug smirk my way before opening his mouth to fire the one command that I most feared of hearing; the one I was shaking in my boots for.  "Why don't you teach her a valuable lesson on behaving, hm?  Cover her in reminders to respect me and to follow what I say from now on."

     My eyes widened at the sheer coldness that dripped off his tongue; the coldness that froze into icicles before smashing into pieces on the floor before me.  Warm and terrified tears had already formed in my eyes, but it was too late to cry, because I was suddenly shoved to the ground by Sasha and Zenix.

     I screamed in both pain and fear, shoving and kicking and doing all I could to get them off of me.  "G-GET OFF!!" But it was no matter, really, because Sasha's hold remained strong on my shoulders.

     "Heh, it's all gonna be okay, little princess."  Sasha moved off of me to stand up, but she didn't leave me laying there without something to keep me still.  She held her foot on my stomach to prevent me from moving, smirking towards her partner in crime.  "Let's have some fun, Zenix."

     Zenix stepped back, and for a second I thought I would've had a chance of escaping, but he came back with a kick full of force. First it was my sides, then my thighs, then my arms.  He kicked me in every single place his foot could reach. 

     I kept screaming for them to let me go, but Sasha had quickly covered my mouth with a smile after I almost let out a second scream for help.  They wouldn't be done kicking me for a long while, but my body already ached and pained all over.

{Aaron's POV}

     It was peaceful, I suppose.  I was walking to my locker to grab something when I heard the faint sound of a pained scream in the distance.  My ears locked on it and I snapped my head to the direction of the sound.

     There was no time to think.  Quick to react, I followed the second shrill, and the closer I got, the more it sounded like a girl crying for help.  My shoes met freshly cut grass and the outdoors—the running track—because that's where the screaming was coming from.  I turned towards the bleachers, and that's when I heard voices.

     A laugh pierced through the air.  "This is so much fun! I just love it when you refuse to do whatever Gene wants! I love beating you up!"

     Those voices... they sound like Zenix and Sasha, who were widely known as Gene's evil minions.  They're basically owned by Gene at this point since he controls whatever they do and say all the time.  But they don't seem to have a problem with it, because they apparently love to hurt others.

     "Yeah!"  a male voice agreed.  "You can't even move and that's the best part! We get to beat you up all we want."

     I slowly and carefully peeked around the corner of the bleachers only to find a [h/c]-haired girl being kicked mercilessly by Zenix as Sasha held her down.  She looked hopeless, scared, and she knew she couldn't do anything about it.

     That's when I moved in.

     "What do you guys think you're doing?" I stated lowly, stepping up to stand beside them.

     "None of your business,"  Zenix sassed, before continuing to kick the poor girl again.  Her arms started to fall from trying to defend herself against Sasha holding her in place, and she looked as if she was going to pass out.

     "Don't make me repeat myself, you two,"  I warned, my voice strong and deep; unwavering. Their demeanour quickly changed from being smug and confident to scared and hesitant. 

     'Just what I wanted.'

     "W-We were actually just leaving! U-Um... right, Zenix? L-Let's go!" Sasha shakily grabbed Zenix's hand and hurried off with him, completely out of sight.

     The girl I believe I saved held her stomach tightly in pain as she was most likely kicked there a lot of times.  Her body was painted in dark bruises and cuts, covering almost all the skin with purple, green and red blotches alike.

She curled up and began to cry quietly to herself, mumbling some words that I could understand, and others that I could not. "Wh—Why.... Why does Gene h-have to do this to m-me?"

I felt so bad for her.  She didn't need to be beaten up like that. It was just unfair. 

I carefully approached her—slowly as to not scare her or anything—and helped her up. She complained in tiny mumbled and groans of aches ranging from all over her body.  Once she stood up completely, she looked into my eyes, which quickly changed from an angry crimson to their normal steel shade.

"A-Aaron..?"  she stammered quietly, her eyes glassy as she started to cry again.  She hid her tear-streaked face in my shirt as she started to sob in both agonizing pain and sadness.

"[Y/n], it's okay now...," I softly soothed, patting her head gently as she shook in my arms.  I felt my lip curl into a quiet snarl, my fangs bared as I glared angrily at the brick wall in front of me.

'GENE. He hurt [Y/n]. He should pay!'  I felt absolute pain for her.  Gene was gonna get it.  'Oh, he'll pay all right.... I'll find him tomorrow.'

As quickly as I could, I got rid of my bad thoughts about making Gene pay for what he had done, and instead, I gently pushed her away from me to see her face. "Hey, let's skip school today, okay? I'll clean and take care of your wounds, all right?"

She didn't seem to hate the idea, but rather, she looked thankful for it. She nodded wordlessly, making my lips turn into a small smile as I would be able to help her.

— At the House —

[Y/n] bit down on her hand as she held back a scream at the pain pulsing through her left leg. Her tears had restocked and streamed down her red cheeks at the sharp, stinging feeling of alcohol entering her open cuts.

"Hey, you need to stop moving! I can't clean this cut if you keep trying to move," I scolded softly, not harshly, while holding her free hand with my free hand.  Then an idea came to me.

"Hey.... Look at me,"  I spoke in the softest tone I could muster, which gained some of her attention as she slightly moved her head to look, but then she turned her eyes away from me and shook her head.

I gave a quiet sigh, thinking of another way to make her look at me. Then I rubbed her hand, saying, "If you look at me, it might be easier to take the pain of me cleaning your cuts."

After I said that, she slowly turned her face to look at me.  After taking a deep breath, she began staring deep into my eyes, and soon, she started to get lost in them.

"There.  Now keep looking,"  I said, smiling at her in encouragement.

She slowly nodded in reply, not breaking eye contact whatsoever.

After quite a bit of winces and whines, I was ninety-nine percent done cleaning some of her cuts, but there was a slightly larger one than the rest, and that one was on her leg.  No matter how much I tried to get near it, she wouldn't let me. She complained of it hurting too much and that she wouldn't be able to take it.

I sighed,  "[Y/n], it's gonna hurt more if you don't let me clean it."

"F—Fine!  But it hurts... a lot...," she mumbled, fear still evident in her tone. She clearly did not enjoy having to go through all this. But I mean, who would? This was painful for her.

"Hey, it's okay,"  I said, smiling softly at her. "Listen, you can hug me if it hurts," I offered, watching her eyes widen a little as her cheeks seemed to turn a shade brighter.

She nodded hesitantly and shakily waited for me to start cleaning the large wound.

"Three... two... one...." As I started to clean the cut, she started to cry again in pain.

"OW!!"  She gritted her teeth and clenched her hands into tight fists before hugging me tightly like I told her she could.

I couldn't help but smile at her.  But this wasn't something one should smile about, since she was in serious pain. I shook the smile off my face and continued to clean her cut.

She gripped my shirt so tightly that I almost thought she would rip it. "That hurts!! That hurts!!" she cried, gripping harder onto the fabric.

"Listen, this will never happen again, okay? So you won't have to go through all this pain. I'll protect you, all right? It's okay, [Y/n]."

After a few seconds, I noticed that she kind of stopped crying. Her breathing was still a little quick, and her grip was still tight on my clothing, but her tears stopped flowing and all I could hear were sniffles.

"P-Protect me..?"  she echoed, almost as if she didn't quite believe my words.

"Of course. I'll protect you from anyone... especially Gene."  I gritted my teeth slightly as I made her that promise.

"T-Thanks, Aaron...," she mumbled, hugging me tighter.

She felt so warm.  I felt my cheeks start to heat up because of her hugging me. I couldn't understand it.

'Why?'

~

2188 words.