Metamorphosis
Chapter 10: One Thing Just Led to Another.
Disclaimer: I don't own.
"These fucking bastards deserve to be castrated."
Voices poured into her mind, her brain slowly processing information.
She couldn't recall what had happened.
The voice continued; "Her wrists are bleeding. She probably cut them on those broken glass bottles there when I kicked that asshole. Get me some gauze please."
She felt gentle hands, a warm coat around her shoulders. Someone touched a wet towel to her cheek.
Pressure around her wrists.
Her eyes flew open, pain registering in her head.
Danger.
Danger!
"Let me go!"
Lenalee wrapped her hands around her upper torso and curled up.
She couldn't see; the world was spinning. Nothing was clear. She struggled against the soft, but firm hands. She didn't remember these hands from the rape, but she didn't know them, either. They were alien to her.
…
Rape…
She was dirty now…?
Unclean, violated…
Impure…
"Is she okay?"
The concern the voice held was lost; in her fright, Lenalee hallucinated.
Four dark, smirking shadows entered her vision.
"She's really pale."
The grins widened and the eyes of her assailants glinted evilly, unrealistically.
She screamed, no sound registering in her mind.
"Hey, girlie…"
The voice called her name.
She saw lips moving with each syllable of her name.
They couldn't possibly know her name.
She thrashed about.
It's a bad dream.
It's a bad dream.
But she couldn't erase it.
She couldn't escape.
She struck out, futilely fighting back.
-
Tyki dodged a hand that lashed out near his face.
The girl looked like she was having a spasm.
"O-Oi! What's happening?!"
"I think she's having some kind of seizure!"
A flying fist almost made contact with the white haired boy's cheek. It missed by a millimetre.
He frowned.
Something wasn't right. It would be better to get everyone out and try to calm Lenalee down.
"Everyone out. Now."
There was a shuffle of feet as the other men exited the room.
Allen turned back to the ebony haired girl, contemplating his next actions.
He needed to calm her down.
"Lenalee. Lenalee, it's okay…" he soothed.
The girl, her eyes wide, continued to thrash about. The white haired boy noticed the cuts on her wrists reopening.
He attempted to stop her distressed movements. But this seemed to aggravate her further. She struggled more against his hold.
The restraining wasn't going to work; it was only making her panic.
He'd have to take the hits she threw at him so wildly. She continued to struggle.
Allen cupped her heart-shaped face.
A kick landed on his side and he winced slightly in pain. For a girl, unconscious too, that was one strong kick.
"Lenalee, it's me, Allen. You need to look at me. Everything's okay. Look at me."
He forced her to stare into his eyes. This earned him a tight slap across his face.
Blood graced his cheek. The white-haired boy knew it wasn't his.
Lenalee's wrists were going to bleed her to death at this rate; there was already blood running down her arms from the cuts.
He recovered from the slap, turning once again to stare into her eyes, trying to calm her down.
"Calm down. Everything's alright. Look at me."
The world seemed to slow for a moment.
"Look at me, Lenalee."
Her blank amethyst eyes refocused. The thrashing ceased.
"Lenalee…?" Allen asked cautiously, his voice soft and soothing.
Her weary eyes blinked.
"Have you calmed down, Lenalee?"
The ebony-haired girl did not reply for a moment.
She searched Allen's face, noting the familiar, handsome features.
Realisation dawned on her. She was lying down, curled up in a ball, and he was leaning over her.
His face was so close.
Embarrassing.
She moved to sit up. Seeing this, Allen withdrew himself from his current position, sitting in a slightly relieved posture on the chair he had pulled up next to his bed where Lenalee lay.
The ebony haired girl tried to make sense of what was going on. Her head hurt and her wrists stung.
A hand went up to her forehead.
She cringed as pain ran around her wrists.
"Are you okay, Lenalee?"
She watched Allen retrieve a roll of bandages, gauze, disinfectant and antiseptic liquid from a first-aid kit on the bedside table.
"I've already reduced the swelling in your cheek. Do you mind letting me see your wrists? I need to treat them quickly."
The white haired boy offered a hand to take her hands.
Lenalee blankly obeyed. She brought her legs around to the side of the bed to hang off the side, placing her right hand in his.
Slowly, she registered the cuts on her palm and wrist.
"I hope I came in time. They didn't get to do anything to you, did they?"
She looked up, away from the cuts and whatnot, staring at Allen's expression as he concentrated on treating her wounds.
She tried to speak.
"I… don't know…"
Her voice was hoarse. And her throat felt like sandpaper.
Unclean…
Violated…
Dirty…
She began to shake. The tears pooling at the sides of her eyes.
Allen saw her inner turmoil.
He paused, leaning down to kiss the new bandages around her right wrist.
"It's okay, Lenalee… You're safe now."
He looked up into her frightened eyes. Tears had begun streaming down her cheeks already.
"D-Did you save me…?"
He wiped her tears away.
"Yes. Tyki and I. We beat those brutes senseless."
The white haired boy grinned.
Lenalee smiled faintly.
"Thank you…"
Allen returned the smile, his soft expression mixed with worry.
"You're welcome."
He turned to the roll of bandages, gauze, disinfectant and antiseptic liquid again.
"Let me treat this first. I'll get you something warm to drink after that, okay?"
The ebony haired girl nodded.
-
"So… Do you want to tell me what happened…? Do you want to talk about it…? I mean, what were you doing out so late at night?"
She just stared at the mug of hot chocolate in her hands.
The warmth was comforting.
Lenalee sipped a little of the hot liquid, letting the warmth flow into her. Then she turned to the white-haired boy with a small smile.
"I don't mind. But, answer me one thing first…?"
She paused, bowing her head, and Allen waited for some kind of reaction.
She needed to know.
"Were you too late…?"
When she looked up, Lenalee's eyes were glassy and teary.
"Am I dirty, Allen…?"
The white haired boy seemed taken aback.
To ask such a question…
He couldn't answer.
The ebony haired girl noticed his internal discomfort, and withdrew her question.
"I'm sorry… I just… wanted to know… Sorry about this, Allen. I'll go home."
Shakily, she set the mug down on the side table and flipped the comforter off her slender legs.
She was trembling again.
Allen gritted his teeth. She was still thinking of others at a time like this.
And he was an idiot. This wasn't how you treated someone who almost or may have already gotten raped!
Raped.
Good god.
You needed to give them reassurance. Not unleash their martyr complexes.
"Lenalee! Wait."
The girl continued to edge out of the bed, but seemed to be listening.
Allen's jaw tightened.
"I'm sorry. I don't know…"
Lenalee, who was already halfway out of the bed now, stopped.
"It's not your fault. I asked an impossible question. You wouldn't possibly know, even if you saved me. It was unfair for me to ask you that question."
Again with the martyr complex.
'Please, think about yourself for a moment.'
Allen looked at her desperately.
"I don't think they managed to do anything to you," he stated firmly.
Sad amethyst eyes met his determined silver pools.
"Do you feel any form of discomfort or anything, if you know what I mean?" he asked.
She shook her head.
"I know what you mean. I don't feel any discomfort. Just. That. Uncomfortable harassed feeling…"
The white haired boy's expression softened.
"Then please," he said softly, "get back into the bed. After all that shock, I think it would be best that you rest a while."
He looked up, put a hand on her shoulder.
Her eyes met his.
"Alright."
Allen's chest tightened. He could sense that she was doing this for his self-assurance.
Slowly, Lenalee sat back down on the bed, her head bowed.
"Okay…"
Allen watched as she played with her fingers aimlessly.
"Today, after I called you, and you told me that Lavi was sick, I went to Lavi's house…"
Things were getting awkward. She didn't seem to want to tell the whole story; she was fidgeting, shifting her weight.
The nineteen year-old couldn't put his finger on it.
"Ah, you don't have to start from the very beginning!"
The fingers stopped moving.
"It's okay."
They continued in their random movements.
"I went to Lavi's house. He wasn't in a very good condition, so I fixed him up. Then after he had woken up…"
The girl's voice shook, her lip trembling. She bit down hard on it, attempting to withhold her mounting melancholy.
"Anyway… I intended to sleep over at his place to take care of him and left the house at around twelve thirty AM to go to 7-11 to pick up some food for Lavi."
She lifted a hand, gazing at the bandages around her wrist.
"I was walking out of the store when a bunch of fugly bastards came up to me. I tried to leave but… yeah…"
Allen stared at her, bewildered.
"You weren't scared…?"
Lenalee shook her head, her expression still hidden from sight.
"No. I usually go out like that at night. I guess Lavi's neighbourhood just isn't so pleasant."
She narrowed her eyes.
Now calm, her thoughts had cleared.
She should've been able to fight back against those assholes.
She ran a hand through her hair.
"How could I have been so weak?"
She didn't realise she had spoken aloud for a few seconds.
When realisation dawned, a hand went up to cover her mouth.
"Did I just say that out loud?"
Something far more troubling then demanded her attention.
The look on Allen's face was. Unsettling.
His eyes had widened momentarily before his brows had furrowed, and he gritted his teeth.
"It wasn't your fault. You weren't weak. Those bastards just overpowered you."
Lenalee smiled sadly.
"That's not true. It's entirely my fault. If I had been more careful, I would have stood a chance. I wouldn't have troubled you. And I'd have gotten back to Lavi, apologized to him properly. And nothing would've troubled anyone. I'm supposed to be taking care of Lavi…"
Allen couldn't stand the look on her face.
She looked around, changing the subject, seeming to realise something.
"Speaking of taking care of Lavi… What time is it? I need to get back-"
Her gaze landed on his face.
She gasped, alarming the white haired boy.
"Is something wrong, Lenalee?"
"Your cheek! There's blood on it, and it's swelling!"
She reached out to touch it.
Allen cringed away slightly.
"Ah! I'm sorry!"
Her expression shaped into one of apprehension.
"Did you get hurt fighting to save me…?"
She caressed his red cheek softly.
The boy half-smiled. He couldn't possibly tell her it was she who had hit him, while thrashing about.
But he couldn't let her go on thinking he'd gotten hurt saving her either.
"My master slapped me at the bar when he was half drunk earlier."
Allen gave a sheepish smile, attempting to lighten the mood.
"I think he thought I was one of his sluts in his drunken stupor."
Lenalee didn't look convinced.
The girl was sharp.
"Anyway, you need to go home, right? I'll escort you back-"
"Thanks Allen," the ebony haired girl said in a small voice, "but I know I was the one who hit you… I'm sorry."
She looked at him forlornly.
"I… need to get back to Lavi. Are my shopping bags here?"
He eyed her desperately. The white haired boy couldn't hold it in any longer.
He pulled her into his arms, her chin resting on his collarbone.
She was so cold.
"Please. It's fine. Stop caring only about the welfare of others and care for yourself for a little while…"
He pulled away, his right hand cupping her chin.
And brought her lips to his.
A/N: Whew. I can't believe how bad this chapter sucked. _ At least the end was unexpected. right? o.o I'm so sorry to Icetiger13, Katarina H., waterlit, Edge End, xHanako, rmiller92 and Andrew for disappointing you all. Please don't kill me!
And a few people mentioned how the Lenalee attack was awkward. haha. it's probably less awkward than this chapter. -.- but I apologize. it was my fault. it sucks. _
Alright. I hope the next chapter is better.
Review, please?
Please read Of All Sweet Love Parodies, too, if you have time, everyone~!
The second chapter is godawesome~!
Thanks for reading thus far~!