CHAPTER 1
Lea and Jon were on their way back from a pleasant evening stroll in a rather humid nyc, their favourite city. Their hands were linked and their arms were swinging up and down, up and down. They were idly chatting about everything but nothing, all at the same time. They were in there own little euphoria. Despite what an onlooker might think, they are not a couple but they were soul mates. Jon had never loved anyone more than he loved lea and vice versa.
Their peaceful stroll was interrupted by a young girl smashing straight into the front of Jon, letting out a small shriek of pain. She looked up with a terrified look in her eyes. It wasn't until they both got a proper look at her that they realised what a state she was in. Her face and clothes were bloody and there were bruises every where, the most prominent ones being the hand-shaped marks on her arms. The girl was holding her right arm close to her chest. The wrist was hanging at a funny angle, it must've been broken.
There was a pregnant pause between the three, during which the girl had been working herself up into a frenzy, her dark, pain-filled eyes darting all over the place. Finally, she spoke.
"I-I'm so sorry! I-I didn't m-mean to run into you!" Her words came out panicked and broken. Jon lifted his hand, intending to run it through his hair but the girl violently flinched. The next words she uttered broke both Jon and Leas hearts,
"P-please don't hurt me." Her head was bowed and the words were barely audible, but they both heard.
Lea gently bent down to the girls level. She didn't have to bend very far as the girl was only about an inch or two shorter than her but she didn't want her to feel as if she was talking down to her.
"No one's going to hurt you sweetie." The girl looked at her with tear filled eyes. Lea stared into her eyes, really taking them in. There was some maturity and experience in them but when she looked a little closer, she could see the vulnerability and fear.
"What's your name?"
She looked at both of them apprehensively, having an inward debate with herself whether or not to tell them. Eventually she buckled.
"Belle."
Lea smiled "how old are you?"
"14" Lea tried to maintain the gentle smile on her face but it wasn't easy. Who could've done this to a 14 year old girl? A beautiful 14 year old girl with long chestnut hair and big, sorrowful brown eyes?
Both Lea and Jon's thoughts were Interrupted by the sound of someone harshly shouting Belle's name. Belle instantly paled as she sharply turned her head to look behind her. No one was in sight but the shouts were getting closer.
"Y-y-you have to help me! Please!" She pleaded as her breathing became ragged and irregular.
"Of course, come on, my apartment is right here." Jon agreed without a second thought. That was one of Lea's favourite things about him. His need to put others first.
Jonathan quickly unlocked the door and Belle all but sprinted inside. Lea made her way to the window, just in time to see a drunken middle aged man stumble past.
"We should probably get you to the hospital, sweetie." Lea knew that Belle wasn't going to take kindly to this idea.
"NO! Please, I'm fine, I swear!"
But she obviously wasn't fine and they needed to know all the damage this man had afflicted on her. Jon decided to pitch in.
"It will only take an hour max, everything will be fine."
"Everything is already fine! I don't need to go anywhere!"
"Oh really? That broken wrist is just going to fix itself?" Jon started challenging her.
"It's not broken!"
"Last time I checked my hand didn't bend that way. Come on, just an hour and it'll all be fixed and you won't have to go again."
Eventually she buckled. Lea gave her some of her clothes to change into and they put the old, bloody clothes in a bag in case they were needed for evidence. Belle came out in leas clothes. They swamped her despite the fact that Lea was small herself. Who knew the last time that girl ate.
They all jumped in a cab and made their way to the hospital, silent tears fell down Belle's face the whole way there.