It's been two days since I received the letter that was wedged in my apartment door. Two days since I've received more unwanted presents from my stalkers to let me know that they know where I am. I watched over Oli on Monday and yesterday, but today I told Jason that I was coming down with something so I couldn't go over to his place again.

I'm not sick but the stress from overthinking and not sleeping properly for the last two days is taking a toll on me and I know I'm in no condition to watch over a child for a couple of hours. I need maybe twelve hours of sleep so I don't have this pounding headache anymore. 

I look at the other papers and pictures littered all over my table. I pick up one of the pictures, my lips pursing in distaste. This one is from a time where I was naive, trusting the first person that showed me he cared and instead I'm backstabbed by him.

What I don't understand is how he found me and what he wants from me. There's no way he should know where I am considering I skipped out of town the minute I was released. The only person who knew what happened was Cora, the first person I connected with here in Toronto but I only gave her the same story as Charlotte, no pictures, no name. I put down the picture and sigh, I might as well finish whatever cleaning I have left before I pass out. 

I grab my trash and recycling as I walk out of my apartment, locking it behind me as I go to the garbage room at the end of the hall. I pass by the old couple that lives across from me as they get out of the elevator and I hear bits and pieces of their conversation but some things they say make me freeze.

"Did you see those black cars hanging around here? There was even one parked out front, can't even see through the window not to mention some people coming into the building looked like dangerous, never seen them before."

As soon as I hear their door close, U run down the hall to dump my trash before I pivoting on my heel and run back to my apartment. This isn't a coincidence that they're here. I know how they play and most likely they're just coming to shake me up before coming back again and again until they get what they want.

I lock my door and go straight to my room, my phone in hand as I dial the only person I know who can help me. I stop for a moment, debating if I should do it or not but he's the only one that I can rely on for this. They'll send out they're people to sniff me out if I try to run and they're not far from me but at the same time, I'd be a little safer with him. I make up my mind, dialing the number on my phone, listening to it as it rings.

"Hey sweetheart, are you feeling-"

"Jason, can I come to your place? Like right now?" I ask, cutting him off as I quickly stuff clothes into a bag. I grab i.d papers and any personal information, stuffing it in as well. I walk to my bathroom grabbing the necessary toiletries and add them to the growing mess in my bag. 

"You know my house is open to you but what's wrong Victoria? You sound rushed," his voice changing to one of concern.

"I'll explain when I see you," I tell him as I grab my jacket and my shoes, stopping by my kitchen table to swipe the photos and letter into my bag as well. 

"Okay, drive safely," he tells me as I cut the line. I zip up my jacket and turn off all the lights in the apartment and go straight to my balcony, locking it behind me. I look down at the fire escape, ten flights to go down and most likely there are patches of ice on the staircase, not a safe idea but it's the best I've got. 

I carefully go down the flight of stairs, trying not to alert anyone that someone is creeping down the fire escape. I'm on the second to last flight when I slip on a patch of ice and my leg gives out. I manage to grab the railing but my knee ends up hitting the metal quite hard. I cover my mouth muffling my yell as I shakily get up and limp the rest of the way down. 

When I reach the landing, I peer over the railing, the snow meters below from where I stand. This can go either two ways, I jump down and land in a pile of snow or I jump down and land in snow plus ice.

I steel my nerves as I throw one leg over the railing and the other until I'm just sitting, gripping the cold metal between my fingers. You'll be fine Victoria, what's the worst that can happen? I push myself off and I'm falling for a couple of seconds and my body lands in the stiff snow. I might have not been lucky if it wasn't snowing the past couple of days.

I push myself out of the snow and quickly cross through the back parking lot to my car. I unlock it, brushing the snow off my pants and get in, throwing my bag on the passenger's seat. I pull out of the lot and go around to the front exit and I see the men my neighbours were talking about, some standing beside their cars, others coming out of the building. Too bad for them, my windows are heavily tinted so I drive past them easily.

I look at the time in my car seeing it's close to midnight and feel guilty that I'm imposing on Jason but who else can I turn to? I spend the next couple of minutes driving before turning down Jason's street to his house. I park my car behind his and take my bag with me as I lock the doors. I walk up to his driveway, knocking on the door lightly as I brush snow out of my hair. He opens the door, taking one look at me before grabbing onto my wrist and yanking me inside.

"What the fuck happened to you? Did you throw yourself in the snow?" he questions as his eyes scan my face and helps with brushing the snow from my hair.

"Something like that," I reply, averting my eyes from his.

"Alright, shoes off and then get your fine ass upstairs and take a hot shower," he says pulling me more into the house. "You don't need clothes I'm guessing?" he asks eyeing my backpack.

"No, I have some things, it's part of the reason why I called you," I answer.

"You can tell me everything, but that's after you warm yourself up. I'll be up in a bit, I just have to finish some paperwork," he tells me and I see the papers in his left hand. I nod my head silently and toe off my shoes, making my way to the staircase before stopping and turning to face him.

"Jason, thank you, for letting me stay here I mean," I say to him. "And could you do one thing for me? Bring me an icepack when you come up?" I ask.

"You're hurt? Where? Who hurt you" he growls out, striding up to me.

"Nobody hurt me, I fell but it really fucking hurts and I'll need to ice it," I answer to ease his worry.

"You're probably the unluckiest person I've ever met sweetheart. Why is it when we meet your injured?" he sighs as he places a chaste kiss on my forehead. "I'll bring your icepack, go warm up." I nod my head and walk up the stairs wincing from dull pain I'm feeling in my knee. I walk down the hall to Jason's room, only stopping to check on a sleeping Oli. I turn on the lights in Jason's room and hang my jacket in his closet as I go to grab something to sleep in from my bag. Best not to wear pants since it'll get wet from the ice. 

I grab a clean towel before going over to the bathroom and strip out of my clothes getting into the bath and turn the water to the hottest setting my body can handle. I only spend three minutes in the water, not wanting to increase his water bill before getting out to dry myself and then slip into my black satin camisole and shorts, the edges of both covered in lace. I think this is the most skin Jason has seen of me. 

I gather my clothes and go back to the room, folding my sweater and placing it in my bag and hanging my pants over it. I go over to Jason's bed sitting down and check my bruised knee, the skin already a dark discoloured blue. I hear footsteps walk in and I look up to see Jason standing in front of me with an icepack in hand as he looks at my knee.

"That looks nasty," he notes as he hands me the ice.

"It looks worse than it feels," I reply as I place it on my bruise. The cold seeping into my skin numbs the pain, and I let out a sigh of relief.

"Do you want to tell me why you ran away from your home?" he asks, cutting to the chase. I let out a sigh knowing he wasn't going to beat around the bush until I'm ready to speak.

"You might want to sit down for this," I say patting the bed beside me, a sad smile on my face. "I have some explaining to do."

✘✘

"Why did we change to this?" I ask holding onto the arm around my waist.

"Don't tell me you don't like this?" I hear him ask in a cocky voice behind me. "Especially when I can do this," he says, his fingers running up my bare thigh as my body shivers involuntarily from the sensation. Even though I can't see him, I know there's a smirk plastered on his face. Instead of Jason sitting beside me, he moved to sit against the headboard of the bed and pulled me so I'm sitting between his legs, my back against his chest. He takes a pillow and places it under my leg so it's propped so I can continue icing it. 

"I'm not complaining," I mumble as he presses a kiss to my temple as he pulls me tighter against him.

"So what happened sweetheart? I wouldn't press you for this but you coming here injured and looking scared I want to know," he tells me. "You can start wherever you want, I'll listen."

"You read my file right, the day the shooting happened in the bar," I say in a quiet voice. 

"I did, knew you got arrested and why," he replies.

"If that's all you read let me start from the beginning then. Originally I lived in Quebec, specifically Quebec City and although I lived there for eighteen years and speak perfect French, it's hard to hear the accent since I haven't lived there for years. When I was sixteen, my mom passed away, from cancer. She was battling it for four years before it killed her," I start off and I feel Jason press a kiss to my head, one of his hands entangling with mine.

"The last year before she passed away was spent in the hospital. Since she wasn't home it was just my dad and me, the two of us supporting one another while we were going through that life-changing situation. But my dad was acting strangely a couple of months before she passed away. He was coming home late, he wasn't visiting the hospital as much anymore and the days he didn't come home late, I might not see him for a couple of days," I tell him.

"He just used to leave you alone while your mom was in the hospital? How the fuck did you feed yourself? And not have emotional support?" he says angrily.

"Before he disappeared he'd leave me at least two-hundred dollars which I would spend on food, you must have seen in my file that my dad owns a business. My mom, she was so sick that she didn't realize her husband wasn't coming around so much. It wasn't until after she died I found out what my dad was doing. He was cheating on my mom while all those months she was in the hospital. Can you believe it? That fucker," my voiced thick with fury as tears fall from my eyes. 

"I'm sorry to hear that sweetheart," he says turning me to face him, his fingers wiping my tears. "Your mom didn't deserve him as a husband."

"I know, she didn't," I reply. "When she passed, it was a quick funeral, by the end of the week she was buried and my dad's mistress moved in. The minute she stepped foot into my house I hated her. She wanted to throw out things that belonged to my mom and I had to fight her on that. And then everything went downhill."

"Downhill?" he questions.

"It's the only example I can think of, but I turned into a modern-day Cinderella. I cooked, cleaned, did her errands, became her personal assistant," I list off. "When I didn't do things properly they refused to feed me and that would go for two or three days until they felt like I was punished enough. All the time I kept thinking why does my dad hate me? Does he even love me anymore? How could he let her do this to me? In the end, I started thinking it was my fault he turned his back on me," I sigh.

"Victoria, sweetheart. Whatever he did, whatever life choices he made was never your fault. You were only a teenager so how were you supposed to know all of that would happen. The only person at fault is your dad for turning his back on you," he says furiously, and I can feel the anger coursing through him.

"I realize that now Jason but back then I only thought it was because of me," I say turning my head to face him, our eyes locking onto one another.

"That's all I want to hear," he says leaning down as he gives me a soft kiss. "What happened after?" he questions, pulling back a bit.

"I'll get to that part but first what should I do with this?" I ask holding the melted icepack for him to see. 

"I'll take that but do you need another?" he questions as I hand it to him.

"No, I'll just stay here," I tell him. 

"Alright, be right back," he says giving me another kiss before moving and walking out the room. One part down, the other part to go and this one I'm not looking forward to.

✘✘

A/N What's up everyone and how are you all doing today? I'm doing good, still at home and healthy, I hope you all are safe and healthy during this difficult time.

Out of all the stories I've written, I think this is the first chapter I struggled to write and it took me more than twenty-four hours just to work out the plot. I had the idea but it was a problem of how I would spin it so I don't drop everything all in one go [otherwise the story would be done much quicker than planned]

And now we're diving into Victoria's past, we'll find out who 'they' are soon. And I know your wondering 'will her dad show up?' Maybe be will maybe he won't, make sure to keep up with the story to find out.

Anyways, I'm quite pleased with the outcome of the chapter and I'd love to hear your thoughts on it!