"Mason," I whispered as he held me close to him. Tears formed in my eyes as the horrid images from last night flashed through my head. He looked down at me, whispering reassuring words into my ear as he held me closer.

"Baby, it's over. I won't let them lay a finger on you. You're safe. It's okay now. Just listen to my voice. It's all okay. You'll be okay."

He continued, brushing his fingers through my soft brown hair. I became tense as I felt something sticky and wet on my arms and back. I quickly turned around to see Mason lying there, covered in blood. His body still, skin pale and cold, eyes closed.

Horror flashed through my tired eyes as I sat in shock, waiting for this nightmare to end.

~*~

My eyes shot open as screams escaped my mouth. I had no clue where I was at. I looked around the unrecognizable room and realized that I was in a hospital bed. I was terrified, still screaming for some reason. Mason rushed to my side and doctors burst through the door trying to calm me down- wait... MASON?! How did he know that I was here? How the hell did I even get here?

"Ma'am, everything's alright. This young man checked you into the hospital a few days ago. You should be perfectly safe now." one of the doctors said kindly. I was still shaking from the fear, but I knew what he was saying was true.

"O-okay." I whispered quietly as Mason grabbed my hand, squeezing it lightly.

"How do you feel? Are you hurting anywhere?" the other doctor asked.

"I-I'm f-f-fine sir. My head hurts a bit though." I quietly replied as everyone just stared at me.

"Okay ma'am. You are going to need to stay here a little while longer so we can monitor you and make sure that you are recovering well. I will bring you some water and some Advil to help with the pain. I'll be right back." he said as he walked out of the room, the other following him.

I slowly turned my head toward Mason, looking into his relieved eyes. His green eyes pierced through me, knowing what I had had on my mind.

"Mason?" I whispered, looking at him before I looked down at myself, lying in this small bed in the incredibly small room. Masons hands were still holding onto one of mine. He slowly lifted up my chin, forcing me to look deep into my eyes as he began to speak.

"After you left I grabbed my keys and drove after you." he paused, sighed, then continued. "I saw you turn down an ally. I quickly turned the corner and then onto the next street. I didn't see you any longer and I was so terribly worried. I could tell the people on that street weren't very nice. It felt darker than the rest of the world.

I began to go slower until I heard a scream and loud crying. I knew it was you baby, so I stopped. It was coming from the house in front of me, so I charged into the door, seeing you unconscious on the ground.

One of the three men was on top of you, so I went to him first. Trust when I say, I beat the hell out of them all. Anyway, after that, I called the cops and sped you to the nearest hospital. You were out for days. I didn't go to school. I stayed by your side every single moment." he whispered at the last part.

My eyes widened in shock. I couldn't believe what he was saying to me.

"Oh my god! Are you hurt?!" I almost yelled.

He looked me in the eye before he slowly lifted his shirt. As soon as he did it l noticed a huge bruise on his stomach. My jaw dropped as l looked into his loving eyes.

"Baby, why did you get hurt for me?" I asked, forcing myself up, brushing his hair out of his face.

"Because I love you and I couldn't bear seeing you get hurt. Baby, I told you that l would protect you. I wasn't lying." he whispered truthfully in my ear, softly pushing me back down on the bed, motioning for me to rest.

I quickly lied back down but shot up again as I remembered what he had said before. "Wait... YOU CALLED THE COPS?!" I basically screamed at him.
"What's wrong? He can't hurt you anymore. He's in prison." he reassured my terrified self.

"But he promised that if I ever called the cops he would find me and kill me. He's going to hurt me when he gets out. And he's going to hurt you too. Oh god Mason. I can't do this. I can't see you get hurt. Please just leave before he kills you too Mason. Please!" I said, getting louder when he refused to move.

"I am NOT leaving. I will NEVER leave you. No matter what, you got that?" he whispered kindly in my ear. I just nodded as he looked into my eyes and continued.

"And baby, everything is alright. He's going to be gone for a long while, if not forever. Don't worry about it. And if anyone even lays a finger on you I will crush them. Okay?" once again, I just nodded as he wrapped his loving arms around me before forcing me to rest once more.

"I know I just woke up and everything... but I feel exhausted. Good night Mason. I... I love you." I whispered the last part, but I could tell that he had heard. I wonder what he was thinking. I know we said it earlier, but what if now was somehow different?

"I love you too baby. I love you more than you could ever possibly imagine." he quietly spoke, and with that, I drifted off into the comfort of sleep.

~*~

"SHE'S MY DAUGHTER! I DESERVE TO SEE HER!" I heard someone yell. The voice was female. Her voice sounded oddly familiar, but I hadn't heard it in so long.

"WELL, WHERE WERE YOU WHEN SHE NEEDED YOU MOST?! WHERE WERE YOU WHEN SHE WAS PASSED OUT ON THE LIVING ROOM FLOOR SURROUNDED BY A BUNCH OF DICKWADS AND HER ABUSIVE FUCKING FATHER?! WHERE THE HELL WERE YOU WHEN SHE NEEDED SOMEONE TO TALK HER OUT OF COMMITTING SUICIDE?!" The male voice yelled. It was Mason.

They both seemed shocked at what he had said. I could hear them gasp in almost unison. "Was she... really going to... you know... do it?" the woman asked, kind of nervously, waiting for a reply. Mason sighed, then finally spoke.

"Yeah, she was." he got quiet towards the end, his voice breaking a bit more with every word he spoke.

"H-how? Why? How did you s-s-stop her?" she asked quietly.

"She... Well, you will have to ask her about the first one. Why? I'm sure you will have to ask her about that too, but from what I know, her father abused her. She has bruises and cuts everywhere. When I barged in to save her there were three men and... one of them was about to... y-you know... so I beat his ass.

Anyway, she was also bullied and tortured every day at school, so, yeah. One day I noticed her in the hallway, so I stood by her locker. I was finally going to talk to her. She looked dazed, her eyes glazed over with hate and anger. She was more upset than she normally was. I tried to speak, and well, she kind of exploded.

I finally got her to talk to me and we went out into the courtyard. She was looking around when she began to cry and whimper uncontrollably, so I pulled her into a hug. That's when I noticed something sticky seeping through my shirt. I pulled away and noticed blood staining her sleeves.

I tried to rush her to the hospital and she screamed, telling me that she wanted to die and asked why I wouldn't just leave her be, and the truth is, I care about her so much, and-" he whispered something, and it was quite inaudible, then continued what he was saying. "and so I talked with her for a while, and she cried a lot, but she didn't do it." I heard him tell the lady.

Everything just brought tears to my eyes as I began bawling. It's over. It's all over now. It will all be okay. It's going to get better.

Mason quickly rushed in, hearing my cries. He quickly pulled me into his arms, gently caressing my body. "It's over baby. It's all okay now." he whispered, but all I could manage to get out was a simple "I know."

"Emberlynn?" I looked up to the figure in the door frame... My... MOTHER?!

☆Authors Note☆
Thank you all so much for reading. I've actually been working on this book since 8th grade, so about 2 years now, and I reread it, and tbh, it was total garbage, so I decided to revise it, adding detail and more vivid imagery, and if you have any suggestions I would love to hear them. I'm sorry for not updating that quickly, but here you go. I am actually quite proud of this story, and I am actually planning on making a movie based on it eventually, so... that's gonna take a lot of time. Anyway, just wanted to say thanks, and don't forget to VOTE! 💙😊