Chapter One
"Morning." The blonde haired, blue-eyed young
man addressed the woman who
stood in the doorway of Annie's home.
"Young man I do hope that your intentions towards my
daughter are nothing
other then honorable." Annie's mother,
Linda, said sternly.
"Mom-" Annie tried to
interrupt but was cut off by her mother, who gave her a
disapproving
glare.
The young man blushed a bright red and turned his face
towards the ground but
only for a moment. He felt somewhat sorry
for Annie, who was only trying to
help in the situation. When he
looked up, he faced Annie's mother, his
composure was back, and
steadily looked her mother in the eyes as he
answered.
"With
all due respect ma'am," he politely stated with an icy ring
about his
voice, one that her mother did not like. "I shall
treat your daughter with the
utmost care and respect."
Linda sighed, knowing there was nothing more that she could do
for the
moment. "All right Chris, but I find out that you
hurt her, you will pay,"
Linda finished, her eyes darkening
at the thought of what might happen to her
daughter in the care of
this man.
She had seen this sort of thing happen to her
daughter before. The guy would
be nice for a while and then leave. Linda hated seeing her daughter upset,
although she knew that
Annie would never admit just how much it hurt her. She
only
wanted what any other good mother would want for her daughter. To
see
her happy and be see her married with a family. She wanted
someone to see past
her daughter's disabilities, to the inside
where her good heart lay.
Annie had been born with a disability that had left her, well, smaller then others, and made it difficult for her to run, walk, and play as fast as other children when she was younger. Many a time, Linda had seen her daughter cry many a tear because she did not realize why people had made fun of her in school when she had to wear special braces on her feet when she walked. As her daughter grew up, she noticed a quiet strength that lay within her, one that she had seen when her daughter had been made fun of, quietly taking in and suffering in slience, and walking away, which had left her without many friends. Linda sighed as she jerked back into reality…
"Very
well, have fun and be careful," she whispered in her daughter's
ear as
an exuberant Annie stopped before walking out the door.
Linda gazed upon her
daughter seeing just how much her daughter
took after her; she had inherited
her own green eyes, a lovely
shade of emerald, and thought of how they
darkened when she was
upset...or hurt.
She just didn't know how to play the game of
love, but she would
learn...eventually. But unknown to her mother,
her daughter had already suffered cruel treatment among the opposite
sex. She just had to find the right man first. Jerking herself
back
to reality, she took in her daughter's bouncy mood and bright eyes
that
shown as a result of her bursting happiness. Linda gave her
daughter one final
hug. She had no problem trusting her daughter,
although Linda had to admit, her daughter was one that need
compassion, someone to see her for her inside and not her outside,
and she just felt that this young man wasn't it. It was something
about the young man she
didn't trust, and there was something
dishonest about him, something in his
manner that didn't rest
easy in her mind.
"Are you ready?" Chris asked once
Linda had shut the door. The young couple
made their way along the
sidewalk. Annie was so happy; she thought that she
heart would
burst with the emotion. She had only known Chris for about a
month
but things were going so well and he treated her like a
queen. She sighed
blissfully while leaning on Chris's arm and they
walked hand-in-hand through
the historic streets of Asheville.
Chris surprised her, causing her to lift her head from its
delightful
position atop his shoulder. He took her hand and led
her through a darkened
alley, icy tingles shot through her,
causing her legs to lock up, making
moving impossible. Something
just didn't seem right about this situation, but
as she looked
into Chris's bright blue-eyed gaze, some of her fear began
to
subside, but not entirely.
"C'mon honey,
everything will be fine," he whispered, leading her further
away
from the street so that they were out of earshot, as well as
eyesight. He
then gently teased her earlobe as well as his teeth
as well as his tongue.
"Hmm," he muttered, "you
taste good," as he continued his ministration on her
ear,
slowly teasing her neck with tiny, yet fiery kisses that shot sparks
all
through Annie's veins, making them feel as though she sizzled
from the impact.
He had never behaved this way before,
he was always so nice to her and
treated her with kindness and his
compliments were sweet and sincere, making
her blush when she
heard them. She felt, rather then heard her slight intake
of
breath as she felt Chris's lips continue to make their fiery way
down
towards the small indention where her throat met her
shoulder, which caused a
slight tremble to pass through her. She
couldn't remember ever feeling like
this before...oh yes she
could, as she let her eyes drift shut as she heard
Chris murmur,
"C'mon baby, tell me..."
"C'mon! Let me know that
you are feeling as good as I am, at least do
something," she
heard him say. But what could she do? Here she was,
practically
laying on top of the guy for crying out loud! So she took it as a
bit
of a lesson, one that she had tried once before. Couldn't be that
bad,
could it?
BEGIN FLASHBACK
She
began to hesitantly kiss his neck, not sure if he liked her attention
or
not until she was rewarded with a satisfying "oh yes,"
and continued on with
her 'lesson'. As she came to the indention
where shoulder meets throat, she
gently bit, teasing the recent
wound with her tongue.
As she heard an intake of breath, she
immediately pulled away. As she looked
at what she had just done,
she saw the spot that she had just given her
attention to and saw
that it was turning an angry shade of red, with a light
shade of
blue hovering above it. It was then that she realized what she
had
done; she had caused the skin to break underneath, causing the
redness to
appear.
She didn't think anything of it, until
she looked into his hazel eyes, which
were looking at her shocked.
Annie was taken back by his response to her. He
immediately
pushed her off of him and examined the wound for himself, wincing
as
his fingers touched sensitive skin.
"What will my
friends think," he asked, slowly shaking his head and trying
to
cover his neck where the wound was.
She
pulled away from him as if she had been dumped into a bucket of cold
ice
water and moved over to the edge of the couch, wrapping her
arms around
herself to stifle the cold trembling feeling that was
settling in the pit of
her stomach, causing her to feel almost
nauseous, to feel so alone...
END FLASHBACK
Annie came back to reality with a jolt, as if she
had had one to many vanilla
lattes from Starbucks. She still felt
Chris's lips upon her neck and pushed
him away with a slight
nudge. "Chris, we shouldn't," she said softly, her
voice
holding a tremor that she hoped he wouldn't notice.
He
looked at her as if she were from another planet and angrily ran
his
fingers through his hair. "Why shouldn't we Annie?"
he asked as he rolled his
eyes towards the sky as if already
becoming bored, not even having her answer
yet. "I have
waited patiently for you to get over whatever issues you have
with
yourself sorted out and I believe that my patience is wearing thin,
my
dear," he half growled the last two words and proceeded.
"Tell me why not, my sweet Annie," he asked, grabbing
her chin, forcing her
to look him in the eye.
"Chris
please," she whispered, her voice on the verge of tears, but
was
silenced by his hand over her mouth.
"Shh
my sweet innocent," he whispered soothingly in her ear. "Now
tell me
that you don't feel anything when I do this," he
sneered, as Annie opened her
eyes, shocked at the dangerous glint
that they held and shut them tightly.
She was afraid that if
she didn't give Chris whatever it was that he wanted
that she
would be hurt. She tried to mutter from underneath his hand, but
got
nowhere. Annie's panic slowly began to rise as she felt Chris
rub against
her.
BEGIN FLASHBACK
"Yeah
baby," he teased her, "that's what you like isn't it,"
he asked
harshly, his lips suddenly crushing hers, punishing,
bruising them as she felt
his teeth sink into the tender flesh of
her lip, causing it to split. Her
stomach became nauseous at the
coppery taste of her blood mixed with the moans
coming from Chris
as he forced himself on her. She wanted to scream for help,
do
something, but her voice was kept silent. As she let her eyes drift
shut
once again, another flashback appeared, no matter how hard
she tried to fight
it.
As she felt his hand across her
mouth, she turned her teary-eyed gaze to look
up at him. "Now
tell me something," he asked. She remained motionless. "Do
you
like what I am doing to you," he asked, not waiting for
an answer. With his
hand over her mouth, she could do nothing but
submit, and if she didn't, she
would have to pay the
consequences... She drew a sharp breath as pain radiated
through
her body, causing her muscles to jerk in a spasmodic attempt
to
escape, but his strong arms pined her in place holding her
down.
"You see, your actions betray you," he
whispered in her ear, releasing her
arms. She didn't know what she
was feeling to be honest. She felt something
warm but didn't know
what and let it out slowly as it subsided. That didn't
last long
as she drew in another breath as more pain came. She made the
mistake
of looking at him, tears streaming down her face. That face
would
haunt her memory for the rest of her dying days. Those eyes
were so
cold-hearted and mischievous...But why was the only
question that she could
think of as she slowly closed her eyes.
"Now don't make a sound," he whispered in her ear and
she was rewarded with
another stab of pain, this one different
from the others, so much so that her
vision clouded and thought
that she was losing consciousness. She didn't want
to see whatever
it was that he was doing to her, although it seemed to her
that he
had a peculiar fascination with her watching him as he reaped
his
'reward' and felt a few lone tears escape as she kept her eyes
glued shut.
END FLASHBACK
Annie pushed at him with all her might, so much
that she caused Chris to
stumble backwards. It didn't last long as
he came at her once again, his
posture rigid and his eyes so angry
that they practically shot flames at her.
"Do you
realize how many girls would kill to be in your position right
now?"
he hissed at her.
She felt the whoosh as
Chris's hand connected with the side of her face, but
Annie just
stared at him with all the remaining strength that she could
muster,
shaking violently, fearful of what he might do next. He grabbed
her
arms in a vise-like grip and forced her chin upwards once
again.
"Don't turn away from me you stupid little
cripple," he practically stumbled
over the words in anger and
brought his mouth down upon hers once more,
causing the split lip
to burst open and seep more blood. As he toyed with her
bruised
mouth, Annie began to push him away once more, stating the word
"no"
this time.
"Let me go," she
stated matter-of-factly, rising to her full 5 foot 3 inch
height.
Doing the only logical thing she could think of, she brought back
her
leg and swiftly kicked his shin and made a run for it. She
didn't look back
and ran as fast as her little legs would carry
her, to the only place she
could seek solace...the library.