Not Ready to Believe

So she tells him everything. Aww.

She was going to kill herself.

The more I thought about it, the more anxious I became to know the truth. What could have happened to this poor girl that drove her to such a point? Juliet…Elissa. Why?

I felt her stir beneath my hands as she slowly awoke from her deserved slumber. Iy had only been two hours, but she looked as if she had slept for an eternity. Her eyes were large-kind of like a new born fawn- and uncertain as she scanned her surroundings, trying to make sense of everything. Her small, delicate hands picked up the matted rope and held it tenderly, sighing as she remembered. 

"Please. Tell me. What's happened to you?"

She looked at me for a moment, then stared off into the dark trees surrounding us. She was seeing something I never would see…something I would never fully understand. She saw a beauty in this place that no once could even imagine.

Finally, as if realizing that resistance was futile, she sighed in defeat. The rope fell slowly from her hands, landing in a coil beside her feet. 

"Fine. I'll tell you," she muttered quietly beneath her breath, afraid something-or someone-might hear her. "But, I don't think you're ready to believe me."

Her eyes held such a sadness that even if she had a history of compulsive lying, I wouldn't be able to even doubt her. I wasn't sure why, but I cupped her chin in my palm, lifting her face towards my own. 

"Try me," I whispered. 

_________________________________________________

So I told him everything. 

Everything from the first time my dad had returned home drunk and beat me-I think I was 7 or 8, to the nights I was so fucked up and wasted I had needed medical attention but refused it, to the humiliating rape inflicted upon me by Draco…I told him everything. As I finished my final sentence, the strings that held me down like a cage snapped and I flew through the air, all burdens and sense of fear suddenly lifting from me. I knew it was no where near over, but all that mattered was that I had finally got the chance to tell my story.

I had noticed that during my explanations, he had remained dead silent. The only sign that showed he wasn't just apathetic about my situation was the violent trembling of his clenched fists. I could see the white of his knuckles as clear as day. He was furious. 

"Please. You can't tell anyone," I begged him. He said nothing. "Well?" 

The sudden ferocity and desperation in his embrace knocked the air from lungs. I cried out in shock and pain as he squeezed my tight against his chest. I was in a death grip. 

"All that you've had to suffer alone…" he whispered into my hair. It seemed to become a habit. One that, I was ashamed to say, I rather liked. "I promise you…on my very life and soul…you will never have to go through something like this again."

I didn't know how to respond. So instead, I  cried some more. Finally, tired of looking pathetic in front of him.

"De-Um. Romeo, I need to go home." Home…I didn't want to go back. Not now, not ever. I wanted to stay right here with him. 

He pushed me away and stared intently into my eyes, capturing my gaze like a cobra. The expression on his face made me regret suggesting I return home…but I knew I had to. If they woke up and found me gone…I would been in some deep s**t.

"No. You're never going back there," he said firmly, giving my shoulders a quick shake as he spoke. I held my breath. 

"I have to."

"Look, I made you a promise. You're not going back there."

"Then…where?" I asked. I knew I couldn't go to Essie's or Ravens, both of their parents would call mine, and I would be dead before the morning came. Crane already had a massive family to take care of, so I couldn't go there…i had no where to go. He thought for a moment, then said, so seriously that it frightened me:

"With me. Come on, Elissa. You're staying at my house tonight."