Oh, you guys are the best

Oh, you guys are the best. SKITTLES! Hi, girl.

Anywho, please know that I cherish every friggin' word of your reply; they mean so much to me. You guys rovk, and I hope you enjoy the next chapter!

Chapter 4

He heard movement from underneath the heap, and quickly moved towards it. The planks were heavier than he thought, but he moved them away as quickly as possible; trying to find her. Then he saw a glimse of some white cotton, and pulled on it. Sure enough; soon he found a leg and grabbed it before shuffling the planks that were hiding the rest of her body. She groaned and whimpered; barely conscious. Lifting her gently in his arms; he made his way upstairs and laid her on the floor.

''Shhh...'' he whispered. ''It's going to okay. You're safe. Does anything hurt?''
She nodded gently, and her hand flew to her head. Her face scrunched up and a few tears escaped her eyes. He knew he'd have to place something cool on her head, and sicne his shirt was on his horse, he ripped a piece of cloth from her dress and dipped it in a nearby bucket before placing it on her forehead. She closed her eyes and it seemed it was doing her good. He relaxed a little.

''Any better?'' he asked. She nodded nad sat up slowly. Not knowing quite what to do; he got up and stared at the hole where the stairs had been. Deciding that he had to come up with a new way to get upstairs; he started thinking of solutions. An idea popped into his head, and he ran down to the basement; collecting some of the bigger planks and carrying them back up. The woman just sat and watched him; facinated by the way he seemed so determined and wrapped up in his work. Neither noticed that it was beginning to get late, and cold.

''There'' he said; a very clear note of satisfaction in his voice. He wiped the sweat from his forehead and stood back to admire his work; a ladder. It was quite nicey built actually, and looked very steady. The woman smiled and nodded aprovingly. That's when Nathan noticed all the cuts she had, and cursed. He couldn't believe he hadn't seen them; they must've hurt like hell! She looked down at her legs and saw the blood that trickled gently down her leg and used the cloth to wipe it up and shrugged.

''You okay?'' Nathan asked. ''Do they hurt much?''
She shook her head and smiled gently. The truth was; she had been through a lot worse, and this was nothing. That's when she realized...

Panicking; she started running around the room; pulling at her dress and trying to clean up the stuff that was lying around. Nathan looked at her strangely; wondering what was going on and why she was behaving like that. She stopped for a moment and a look of pure terror came upon her face. Nathan listened too, and heard galloping in the distance. Before he could utter a word; he was being pushed into what had been the kitchen, and gasped as the woman seemed to open up... the wall. A very secret door swung open, and Nathan was pushed inside.

He heard steps on the frontporch and someone entering the house. Then he heard a terrible, evil laughter and a loud whimper as someone was thrown into the wall. His fists clenched; knowing it had been 'Jessica'. It sounded like two men in there, both shouting and making loud noises.

''Well Haley, seems you've fallen down the stairs!'' came a cruel and loud mans voice. 'Haley...' He thought. 'So that's her name...'
He heard her whimper in pain again and a new voice rang through the walls.

''Hurt yourself, have you? You stupid woman.'' it said. This one was deeper and even more cruel sounding than the first one. Nathan had a suspiscion that this was the leader. When he heard Haly cry out in pain for the third time; he decided he'd had enough and he burst through the door and straight into one of the guys. They both looked very surprised, Haley just looked sad.

''Leave her alone'' Nathan sneered. The two guys seemed to find this funny; because they started laughing. One guy was blond, blue eyed and looked fairly strong, although not as strong as Nathan. This was the first man that spoke. The second man seemed quite a bit older, and a hell of a lot stronger. He had dark hair, fierce and intimidating blue eyes and a weary look to his face.

''Or what?'' hissed the first guy. ''We're stronger than you.''
''Maybe so'' Nathan replied. ''But you see, I have one major advantage.''
''And what might that be...?'' sniggered the older one.
''This!'' Nathan shouted and swung a plank in their heads, knocking them both to the ground with a thud.

-

Nathan had recognized the two men; Dan Roe and his son Lucas. They were not someone you wanted to mess with, that was for sure. Nathan hadn't had the 'pleasure' of meeting them up until five minutes ago, but he had heard of them. They harassed families and burned down properties if they didn't get what they want. He had even heard that they kidnapped and killed people, though he'd never had it confirmed. But he didn't like how this looked; them causing Haley so much trouble… He had a sneaking suspicion that they were the reason she was so jumpy and scared.

"fking hell…" the older man groaned as he tried to get up. Nathan kicked him hard in the head; causing him to fall back again. The younger, blonder one was still unconscious, but Nathan wanted to make sure. So he kicked him too.

Haley was biting her lip and fiddling nervously with the hem of her dress. She was absolutely terrified, he could tell. But he had other matters to see to right now. He had to deal with the two unconscious men on the floor. Just as he was about to drag them outside; footsteps are heard on the porch again, and the door is swung open. In walks a tall, muscular, dark haired man in cowboy attire. He looks from Haley to Nathan to Dan and Lucas.

"What the…?" he asks; looking at Haley. Nathan couldn't help but cringe at the way he looked at her; his eyes filled with lust and knowledge. It was like he knew Haley a lot better than he did, and he didn't like it one bit. The way his eyes raked over her body, and the half smile that settled on his mouth made him want to gag. Who was this guy?

Haley looked terrified, to put it mildly. It was obvious that she knew this man in some way, but she didn't seem too fond of him. Nathan took a protective step between them; wanting to shield Haley. The man didn't seem to like this, and his smile turned to a frown. Haley let out a whimper and shrunk further back.

"Hello there, Haley…" the man said. His voice was low and intimidating. "I see you've got yourself a bodyguard." he continued. Then he looked Nathan up and down and snorted. "Of some sort, anyway."

"What do you want?" Nathan snapped; his patience running low.
"Am I not allowed to se my wife…?"
"Your wife!?" Nathan asked; his insides churning.
"Ain't that right, baby?" asked the man; now speaking to Haley. She looked terrified and lost; Nathan was feeling confused and taken aback. He slowly turned towards her and gave her a questioning look. Her eyes fell to the floor and she shifted her feet nervously. Nathans stomach fell to the floor. This was true!? She was married…? This whole thing just got a hell of a lot more complicated…

"Now then, if you'd be so kind as to stop screwing my wife, that would be nice." the man said and took a step forward. Nathans blood started to boil, who the hell was he to talk to him like that!?

"I'm not 'screwing' Haley. She's been living here alone, and I've been helping her these past two days. She is terrified of anything and everything, so I'm pretty sure she's been left here for quite some while…" Nathan sneered. He didn't like this one little bit, something about this man just wasn't right…

"This whore doesn't deserve anyone's attention; she can't even speak!" the man roared. He threw his head back and laughed a cruel and evil laugh; sending chills down Nathans' spine. But anger took over and he punched the man in the nose.

"Do not talk to her like that! She is not a whore! God, you don't deserve her…" Nathan said; spitting in his face after the last sentence. Then he noticed that Lucas had started moving, and drew his attention to him. Haleys' husband seemed astonished that he'd actually been hit; and seemed a little lost in his own world. Haley was eying him suspiciously; it was clear that she didn't trust him.

"You get up, and I swear you'll never walk again…" Nathan hissed at Lucas. He stopped moving, but looked very angry. Nathan wondered how he'd gotten into this mess; a few days ago he'd been free and careless!