Part Three

 Nightfall, as it seemed to unload many of its darkness, Emma can’t help but keep quiet in her bed ignore Nate’s threat and sleep the day by. By the stroke of midnight she slipped onto something decent, light as to what Nate preferred and she would have rather liked it that way to make things quick, she didn’t want to delay things to spare her more time with him, she’d rather get it over and forget it had all happened. That night she wore a front button down dress, her favorite floral gown for church, she assumed that it was much more faster for him to rip it all in one attempt, and did a little of an effort in brushing down her hair since it would get ruffled if not by the wind then at some point. She stood by the lamppost a few blocks away from home as instructed by Nate to do so for nearly a year that it was almost automatic. Pools of darkness ate most of the untouched areas of the lights illumination, she felt her heart skip a beat as the eyes of an approaching vehicle's torchlight momentarily blinded her as it stopped by her side, and then dimmed. It was Nate of course in casuals such as a tank top and god help her, boxers he really didn’t intend to wait. He had the windows rolled down and urged her to get in, tossing a cigarette butt aside and started to remove his tank, his dark irises as usual, menacingly animal-like, blood lust and the like of malevolence. Emma sat on her seat, quite as a mouse, hugging her legs against her chest as he hovered over her, first pressing a kiss on her lips and then working his way down. Emma closed her eyes, tears streaming down them, forget the pain Emma, she told herself, be strong, she begged with her strength as he all did what he pleased with her body.

When he was done, it was hours then, he had let her go, wiping away the tears on the corner of her easy before she left, pressing one last kiss on her cheek with a goodbye. Emma whimpered, hugging herself with her arms around her, violated and displeased of herself, the feeling of his breath against hers was still vivid, his touch and actions, she willed herself to push forward, each step she took to the direction of her home heavier than the other. “I won’t cry,” she told herself startled by a voice that came from behind her it was utterly familiar and clear as her name.

“Emily,” said the voice, it was soft and quiet as a whisper, could it have belonged to Nate it would most likely frighten her but it didn’t, she turned on her heels, her heart thumping out of her chest and nearly put into a stop, it was Jiro.

“Jiro,” she mused, and he was more of shocked to find out she knew his name, “uhm what are you doing here?”

“I was just passing by and you?”

“I don’t suppose you enjoy walking in the middle of the night?”

“You’d most likely think I’m a vampire,” he half joked, she would have believed him with his pale skin and all but she knew he wasn’t all that serious, “I saw you get out of that car,” his eyes ran her down from top down, “and you’re crying.”

Emma noting this, rubbed the back of her hand over her eyes, it was indeed still wet, more of a guilty plea, “Please don’t tell anyone.” She whispered, her tone so weak and almost more desperate that she intended, her throat hurting, and a large lump she could feel blocking the windpipe she used to breathe.

“If there’s something bothering you, you could tell me.” Jiro whispered, suddenly pulling her close into a hug, Emma on the other hand flinched, she never let anyone, hug her except her mother and friends, never even wanted a guy to hug her at all, not after what Nate had done. She shook her head,

“No,” she said, prying her way out of his hold but had only held her tighter, “I’m filthy.” She began to whimper, her sobs barely muffled against his chest, she would have joked, even rubbed it at Edward and Lucas’s face that he was indeed not weak, that in his hold, she knew he was strong, not weak, not a twig. She let him hold her, stroke down her auburn hair as she continued to sob, her body trembling.

He pulled back stroking the feverish flesh of her face and wiping the tears away, his slit eyes searching hers with so much understanding and worry, “If you don’t want to tell me, it’s alright, when you’re ready.”

When you’re ready… it was shockingly similar to the words Nate had told her along with her friends earlier that day. She pulled away from him, eyes shifting side to side like her delirious mother, cautious, alert, and definitely in the brink of insanity. “No!” she shrieked, backing away, and Jiro took a step forward. She shoved her hands in front of her supposedly her only line of defense, sweat of her utter nervousness creating a pool drenching her, “Get away from me,” she growled, and then began to whimper, dropping to the ground and hugging her knees closely against her. She practically bawled in the middle of the street, rocking from side to side like a crazy person she was. Jiro stepped closer, dropping to his knees to level her, she was trembling hard again and he had thrown his arms around her, as if he was protective blanket at any case ready to protect her from whatever she was scared of.

“It’s okay,” he whispered stroking down her hair, “I won’t hurt you.”

Emma had looked at him with pleading eyes, blinking away the tears that had desired to fall, "… Promise me you won't tell anyone. He'll kill me... He'll kill you... All of you."

"Who?" he whispered brushing the locks of her hair back to see her face,

"Promise me." She sniffled, hugging him tight from his torso, "promise me."

"I promise."

Emma rose up from her bed, scanning her room of its usual messy tidiness, clothes scattered all over the place, books sprawled open across the floor, table, even by her bedside. She blinked hard, running her gaze at herself, she no longer wore the dress from the night before but her button down pajamas and wrapped tightly under the large cottony existence of her blanket. How did she get back home? She asked herself, trying to recount every blurred memory from the night before. Could it be the doing of Jiro? Had she spilled enough of her guts and humiliate herself in front of a total stranger… or worst, did he find out her bloody secret?

Emma's world began to swirl around her making her queasy, the rushing of adrenaline not only dimming her sight but deafening her hearing with the drowning buzz surrounding her. She had rushed down the flights of stairs surprised she hadn't missed a step and tumbled over. Her mother had already been up and surprisingly enough, she was sane enough to have prepared breakfast. Emma yawned in relief, tossing herself on one of the revolving plush seat across her mother who had set a dish for her over the counter top.

"Feeling better are we?" It was her mother who had broken silence as she took a quick sip on her favorite beige colored mug of brewing coffee and set it down, expression grim as she regarded her with questioning eyes.

"Mom, can we move out of state, somewhere very far away from here?"

"What's wrong dear is someone bullying you?"

"No," she mused, her throat utterly dry as she spoke, "I just think maybe we should start a new, so you can forget about him."

Susan who had begun to pick on her platter, slammed her fist against the porcelain counter top, despite the fact that it looked stable and polished to much hardness, she swore the moment her mother had removed them, revealed a round indentation of her earlier rendezvous action.

"I know you are worried about me Emily," Susan exhaled, her tone a little jittery, "But I'll be fine, we can't always go on hiding, you're growing up, and you have friends here, people who actually like you."

"Mom, I promised I won't leave your side, that I'd protect you, I just want to protect you."

"And now let me do the same," argued Susan, her light auburn tresses too had come out into a perfect messy bun and not its usual mess. "Last night I was worried, you weren't in your bed. I was looking everywhere for you and nearly called the downtown police station. You were in the arms of a boy, wrapping him with all your strength and didn't want to let go, scared, it reminded me of myself. It occurred to me that you weren't telling me something, anything. I thought, maybe I was the worst mother a girl like you could have. The boy told me he was a friend coincidentally passing by and found you weeping by the front doorstep. He didn't want to tell me his name, but he did tell me to take good care of you, to make you feel safe. At first, I didn't understand what he was saying you know me too delirious and always spouting gibberish so it’s hard to distinguish reality with my mere hallucinations but at that moment, I experienced true fear, fear that went far more than the worst night of my life, the fear of losing you. I admit I was in the brink of insanity, and for the past seventeen years of your existence, my lives changed, and yours too. At a young age you had to be far more responsible, being the only one sensible in this household to take care of the both of us, I took away your childhood, let you stay by my side and worst, let your feelings draw away from men, I hadn't even realized you were hurting..."

"Mom, you're my number one priority," Emma whispered, her hands had found its way over her mothers, pressing them with all her strength of reassurance, "and this boy, he means nothing to me."

"But he likes you! I saw it in his eyes, so sincere and filled with worry it wasn't like any man whose eyes were always hungry for lust."

"Mom it would be long before I'd think of such things... right now you come first, if he likes me good for him. I might or might not return his feelings but if he could wait and understand where I'm coming from then I know I'd make a right choice, if not, and then it’s not meant to be."

"Ah my daughter," Susan passed her one of her wry passive grins as she stared off this empty space, eyes glistening almost dreamily, "17 years young, and you learned to think rationally, I'm so proud of you."

 

"Yeah," agreed Emma dropping her gaze onto both their hands, she had unknowingly rubbed slow circles on the back of her mother’s hands, somewhat calming the both of them, "I just hope you're right."