Saved by you

Chapter 11 – Simple things in life.

Dream continues.

At the end of school I stayed inside my class room and waited for Christian. He came along with Ana and I look out of the window and see the wind is picking up. I quickly put my new coat on not wanting to make them late if they are in a hurry. My teacher stopped Christian and Ana before they could reach me as I fiddle with the zip on my coat. I find it hard to connect it and the zip it up to the top. Ana did not stay behind to speak with Miss Louise. Instead she glides her way through the maze of desks and bends down to my level. She is dressed in a smart long grey skirt, a white shirt and a black jacket. She looks pretty and professional. She must have an important job like Christian. I wonder what she has been doing today. Mummy used to tell me that most people who wear suits or smart clothes would probably be sat behind a computer screen.

"Let me do that for you Lydia," Ana said. I remove my hands away and let her help me. "Did you have a nice day?" She asks clicking the metal together and zipping my coat up for me.

I bob my head three times in answer to her question.

"Oh dear, looks like you've had an accident." Ana sees the big hole in my tights by my knee. I hope she is not angry at me for ruining them. Daddy would have made me wear them again if he paid for them. "What happened?"

"I am sorry." I glance down at the hole. I then explained, "Someone in my class pushed me over…"

Ana's eyebrows came closer as she frowned. I cannot tell if she is disappointed at me or at Dominic.

"But it did not hurt. My friend Brax took me to the nurse and she gave me a plaster for it." I poked the hole and showed Ana that it no longer hurt. "See…" I look up at her. "It does not hurt."

"Better not poke it too much or it could get worse."

I nodded again.

Ana smiled and dragged my bag off the table and extends her free hand out to me. "Ready to go home now?"

Home. I have a new home now with Ana and Christian and there lovely children. Will I ever get used to it being my home? I think I will. "Yes." I take her warm hand as she stands up.

We cross the room to join Christian and Miss Louise where they are still talking. "We still have some issues with the other children but a couple of the older children are looking after her. Braxton, he's been helping her a lot with her reading."

"I played soccer with him and his friends."

"Did you?" Christian sounded a little shocked. But maybe he is joking. "And how many goals did you score?"
I count on my hand before holding three fingers up as I said the number. "Three."

"Impressive," He grinned down at me before rubbing the top of my hair. "I think we have a future soccer player on our hands." Christian winked at me while he got down to my level and held his arms around me then picked me up like the other day.

"I think we will see a real improvement," Miss Louise spoke. I do not understand what she is talking about. "If she continues her reading and writing I think just before Christmas she will be on the same level as the rest of the children."

We say goodbye to Miss Louise and I will see her tomorrow. Christian carries me out of the building and across the playground. I see Brax and Brax sees me. He is with his Mummy and a couple of his friends. I wave first and he returns it back before continuing his conversation with his friends.

"We're going to have to keep an eye on you and the boys aren't we?" Christian said.

"Don't be silly, Christian."

Ana laughed. I do not know if she is laughing at me or Christian but I find myself joining in her laughter.

The man with the black glasses is still here and he opened the car door. Christian sets me back down on my own feet. "How's your knee, Miss Walters?" The security man asked me before I got into the car.

"Healing Mr Sawyer…" I smiled up at him before sliding into the middle of the car. Ana helped me with my belt as I am all fingers and thumbs before she sits back and puts her own on.

Lots of doors slam shut.

The noise makes me jump where I am sat. I do not like loud noises. They remind me of the gun. The gun that shot my poor Alvin. The door at the front of the car opens and Sawyer slips into the driver's seat. The door bangs hard again. I jump for a second time.

"Are you okay Lydia?" Christian asks. I do not want him to worry over me.

"Yes Christian. I am okay."

As Sawyer pulls off into the slight traffic Christian wonders, "Besides chatting up all the boys, what else have you done today?"

Daddy never asked me that before. He would always be sat in his chair as I walked in by myself. A beer can in his hand and him yelling and screaming in my ear to get up stairs. "We did maths, story writing, practised for out class play. Some art and I drew a tiger." I opened my school bag up and handed it over. "Keep it if you want."

Before Christian could respond Sawyer caught his attention, "Sir we have a slight issue at the house. Some Paparazzi are outside the gates. Would you like to go someplace else or?"

"No Luke," Christian replied coolly, glancing down at my picture. "Go through them. Knock the down if you have to."

"Boy," Ana sighs and glances down at me. She looks back at Christian and continued, "News travels fast."

I do not understand what she is talking about but I take her worry eyes as a warning of something. But I do not question because I do not want to appear nosy.

The next thing I see is really really bright lights flashing ahead of us. Mr Sawyer drives up to the gates of where Christian and Ana live. Where I live now. A lot of people are standing around and I see cameras which is causing the flashes. I do not understand why they are taking pictures of us in a car. Are we famous? The camera's click frantically around us. I do not like it. I do not like the noise they are making. I can hear them banging against the car as Sawyer pauses the car for a moment.

"Mr Grey!" Someone shouts. "Is it true?" Another person yells. "Ana!" They get louder and louder. I do not like them shouting. "Lydia!" How do they know my name? Why are they here? I'm scared. I'm frightened. I'm terrified.

Christian looks down at me. His eyes meet mine. I feel shaky and he notices. He wraps an arm around my shoulders. He glances away and looks towards Sawyer. "Luke, get Taylor to secure our boundaries. I want the entire building surrounded with security. I don't want these toe rags to pester my family."

"Certainly Sir." Mr Sawyer presses a button in the centre of the car and the gates open. The flashing gets worse but I focus on my injured knee. They cannot hurt me if I cannot see them. But they soon disappeared as Mr Sawyer drove forward and sped up along the long drive.

Looking behind me, I see the gates close. The lights on the cameras still flashing. I sit back down and blink u at Christian. I am confused with what is going on. "What is happening?"

Christian rubs his hand up and down my arm. His smile is short before he explains, "These people are after a story Lydia. It's their Job. They are interested in your story and the reason why we have taken you into our home."

Ana brushes her hand through my hair as she says, "But we won't let them get to you Lydia."

I glance at her as I ask, "Is that why Mr Sawyer has been watching me all day at school?"

"One of the reasons," Christian answered my question making me turn to look at him again. Again the small smile returns but not for long. "You're safe now Lydia. I will never let anything bad happen to you ever again."

Sawyer eventually pulled the car up to the house. Christian got out one side and Ana got helped out of the other side. I have a choice, either Christian or Ana's side. I look to one side and then to another before Christian looked inside and offered me a hand out. I took his big hand and stepped out of the car. "Thank you Christian."

We enter the house leaving Mr Sawyer outside gathering other people wearing suits and black sun glasses. They look important. Inside the house it smells like lavender my Mummy used to pick out and arranged in a vase. I liked it. The scary man that I do not like steps up to us while Ana takes off my coat for me. "Sir may I have a private word." I watched him carefully. His eyes looked down at me for a second before looking back at Christian.

"I'll be in the office," Christian said to Ana as she stood up straight again as she folds my coat in her hands. They kissed quickly. "We won't be long."

"Take your time," Ana waves her hand.

"LYDIA!" Jace's voice shouted across the hallway. I saw him running really fast towards me. I think he is going to crash into me. But he slows down and pauses in front of me before hugging me tightly. I do not expect it. But I like this hug. I do not usually hug anybody but since being in this home I have. I lay my head next to his and we hug for a moment.

Jace's Mother, Mrs Kate Grey enters the same way Jace did. She beams with a smile as she watches us. But she passes us and gives Ana a hug. I hear Ana say, "She's a boy magnet, I'm afraid."

Jace breaks from our hug first and grabs my hand. "Come on Lydia, let's go and play…"

"Jace sweetie," Ana calls as we get to the joining room. "Lydia could do with getting changed first."

I glance down at my dress and then at my bloody tights.

"We're going to play with Daddy and Teddy Auntie Ana. I promise she won't get her dress dirty. If she does, take it out of my pocket money."

Ana and Kate burst out laughing. They find something funny but I do not understand again.

"He's a little cutie."

We do not stop to understand why they laugh. Jace pulls me through the living room and out the doors; pass the table outside and down some steps into the large garden.

Phoebe is playing with Ava with some small dress up dolls. Lilly is sat painting the view with Mia. Aaron is playing some game on a small device on his own. Zakary and Leon are in the meadow with Ethan. They are chasing one another. Teddy and Elliot are on a trampoline which we are heading towards.

"Daddy Daddy," Jace shouts out. "Lydia is finally here!"

Elliot stops what he is doing on a trampoline. I think that is what they are called. He turns around to face us. "Hello sweetheart." He waves and I wave back shyly. Elliot crouches down and helps Jace up. Immediately he jumps around happily. He says something to Teddy and I cannot hear what he is saying. I note the shoes on the floor and I knew I have to take mine off. I fall on my bottom and try to figure out how these shoes come off.

Jace encourage, "Come on Lydia."

But I am struggling. My fingers aren't able to unfasten them. I move to the next shoe and see if that is easier. I wished I had on slip on shoes they would be easier. I can put them on myself. But these new shoes I am hopeless with. But at least they fit me better unlike the other ones that used to hurt my toes. Elliot gets off the trampoline. "Need help Sweetie?" He wondered.

"Yes please…"

Elliot smiled and unfastened the one shoe without any trouble. "Did you have a cracking day at school?"

Again I went shy. But I answered as he got the other shoe off, "Yes thank you…" I have not got comfortable with everyone just yet.

I stood up and Elliot placed my shoes together and with the rest of them. "Let me help you up Lydia…" He said. I stood still and then waited. He pulled back the curtain and lifted me through and I crawled along the flexible material.

Looking back at Elliot who joined us I see the smile on his face. He stands up next to me and bouncy wave crosses the floor. Jace quickly grabs me and steadies me before I topple over. Jace's fingers squeezes mine. He smiles at me and I smile back at him. "Have you ever played on a trampoline before Lydia?"

I shake my head. No.

He reached for my free hand and held it with the same grip as the other one. "Just hold my hand and jump. I won't let you fall."

"After three…" Elliot said as he stood to the side with Teddy. They both watched us with grins on their faces.

"One," Teddy counted.

"Two," Elliot said.

"Three," They both said at the same time.

Jace and I jumped in the air and bounced back down together before bouncing back up in the air again. It's really fun. We went up and down over and over again and again. This is so cool. All the time Jace keeps a tight but not hurtful hold on my hands. He does not want me to fall or to lose my balance. But if I do end up on my bottom then I have a bouncy landing. He is caring and lovely just like the rest of the family. He watches me as we continue to jump. A smile sits pleasantly on his face.

"Daddy," Jace calls as he makes our bounces a lot smaller.

Elliot glances up quickly from the game Teddy has in his hands. "Yeah Son?"

"Can you do thank thing with Lydia like you did with me before?" Before Elliot could answer Jace looked at me again and told me, "You will love it Lyds!"

Elliot bobs across and positions himself in front of me. Jace removes his hand and stands by Teddy. Elliot big rough hands take mine as he tells me, "What we're going to do is bounce then I'm going to lift you up in the air and bounce you back down again… okay?"

"It's real fun," Jace adds.

I nod my head and wait.

"One…" Elliot counts again.

"Two…" Jace says.

"Three!" Elliot announced with a quirky sound. We then bounce and he lifts me up in the air past his head and lifts me back down to bounce back on the trampoline.

I couldn't help but giggle to myself. That was cool and funny at once. Like Jace said it was fun.

"Elliot!" We all hear Mia from where she stood next to Lilly with the painting set. "Come and check out Lilly's painting she's going to be the next Louise Élisabeth Vigée Le Brun…"

Elliot untangled himself from the curtain net and jumped from the frame of the trampoline. "Who the hell is that exactly?" He asked his Sister.

"She was a French artist way back…." Mia explained giving her Brother evils as if he should have known the answer to that.

"Jeezus Mia keep the claw down, I probably wasn't born when she was still kicking."

"Hey," Jace said capturing my attention away from his Daddy and Auntie. "Come on let's bounce."

This time Jace did not hold my hand or support me in anyway. I do not think he wants to over crowd me. But it is good because I can do things by myself and learn on my own two feet. That what Mummy used to tell me. 'Learn on your own two feet.' Which I going to try to do. Jace let me freely jump up and down and my own and I was delighted. Somehow it felt better on my own. Teddy got bored and had enough of us bouncing around the place and went back inside the house after huffing.

"Is he okay?" I asked Jace.

"Yeah, he always acts like this. My Mummy says we will do it when we are older. But she told me not to. She doesn't want me to grow up."

"We need to freeze you in time…" I suggested.

"Or," He sounds like he has a plan. "I could be a super cool vampire and I could drink blood."

I frowned to myself. If Jace knows the answer to this then I should know because I am the same age as him right? "Um- Jace-"

"Yeah Lydia?"

"Um what– Exactly – Is um - Is a vampire?" Now I feel stupid.

"You don't know what a vampire is?" He raised his eyebrow as he paused on the spot. I continued to bounce lightly on my toes. He closed the gap and said, "Don't worry Lydia. Vampires aren't real they are pretend. Well I think they are. But don't worry superman will rescue you if they are." He grinned. "Anyway," he continued, "They are the dead and they come out at night to attack humans for their blood."

"Your Mummy wouldn't want you to be a vampire Jace. She would get scared of you hurting her."

"Your right there Lyds…" He sighed and leant his head to the side as he looked back at me. "I think I will have to stay as I am and grow up normally and maybe have a spider bite me to be Spiderman to have awesome powers."

"Spiderman?"

"You have never seen Spiderman?"

I shake my head. "What is Spiderman?"

"Oh Lyds," he swings his arms over my shoulder. "We're going to have to get all the comic books out and have a movie marathon." He grabs my hand and pulls me to the exit. I could not tell where the exit was so I was grateful I had not been trapped inside on my own. "Uncle Christian!" Jace yelled just as he and Ana sat down with drinks at the table where we had breakfast. "Can we have a movie marathon?"

Bleep Bleep, Bleep Bleep, Bleep Bleep.

The irritating noise rings in my ear, ending my sweet dream. Fighting with my strength, I manage to roll over and tap a button on my phone to stop my alarm before it could wake Jace up. Unfortunately though, it did. "So," His tone sounds intrigued and tired at the same time. "Did your theory work?"

I twisted back around to see his tired face as he ruffled a hand through his new hair. It threw me back for a moment, registering the new hair colour that Jace is supporting nicely. I had completely forgotten about it and I should have remembered. I do blame the lack of sleep I've been getting.

"Boy it did," I excitedly said in amazement, retreating back to him for a cuddle in the warmth we had created. "Jace Grey, you are officially my nightmare catcher. I can't believe it worked." With excitement pumping through my veins I kissed Jace's cheek as a thank you before resting my head against his shoulder.

"What about tonight Lyds?" I detected the concern, worry and fret in his deep voice. He didn't give me enough time to speak so I let him carry on, "You'll be taking sleeping pills, won't you?"

I gulped, nod my head slowly and whisper, "Yeah…"

That got me a, 'please don't' look from him.

"Jace I can't do it without them. Every night I try. I really do." I didn't remove my eyes away from his because I need him to understand how difficult this is for me. "I go to bed thinking I can fight against it but I am weak. I wake up in the middle of the night frightened and scared, hurt and sickened. It's the only way to stop it without you." Pausing for a moment and breaking the eye contact first, I allow my body to relax a little. I don't usually confess everything to everybody and my heart is still getting used to it. "Jace, if I got the chance to sleep next to you every night I would take it up like that." I clicked my fingers to emphasis my words. "But it will never happen."

Jace held me closer and he plants a soothing kiss on my forehead. "Try out something for me?"

"You have a theory?"
"No..."He said simply. "Have something of mine and keep it with you tonight while you sleep."

I bite my lower lip, not wanting to take anything away from him.

"Don't look at me like that. I just want to see if it works and if it doesn't then we're going to have more sleepovers."

"Okay. Fine. Speaking of sleepovers though, I have to go…" Not wanting to go, I still force myself to pull the cover away and drag my ass out of bed. It's early on a Sunday and no one should be up but I am not taking any risks. "Go back to sleep…" I say with a hushed soft voice. "Noodles come on…" I can take her for her morning walk.

"Laters Lyds," Jace rolled onto his stomach and flopped back to sleep.

I cracked the door open and peer out into the hallway, trying my best not to disturb Jace. Completely clear. I closer the door lightly behind me and quickly headed for my bedroom, Noodles right beside's me.

In my room, I got changed from my pj's and into fitness gear and put on some flashy over the top trainers and headed down stairs. The only person that is up is Mr Taylor, Pops' top security man. He's heading outside to in his workout gear just like me. "You're up bright and early, Miss Grey?" I took the surprised and the calmness of his tone in. When I met him, I didn't like how he treated me but now it's different. Much different. But still, I do not like him.

"Please call me Lydia," I muttered and sighed. Another one calling me Miss Grey. 'Ah' I want to scream out loud, I cannot stand it. "Noodles needs to do her business," I simply say, passing him by to get to the back door.

Noodles follows after me as I exit and skip down the few steps to the grass.

Within seconds of touching the short green grass, my head pounds in pain and Noodles runs off into the meadow. Whoa! What the! The throb throws me off guard and off my balance. My body shivers but I shouldn't be cold because the sun is starting to rise and there is no wind today. My head feels heavy and I get slight neck pains too. I must have slept awkwardly on Jace last night. Jesus man! I don't feel too good. I droop to the floor but instead of crashing down on the hard surface, strong arms surround me.

"Steady there," Taylor said, worry in his eyes as he glances back at me. "Are you alright Lydia?"

"Yep, fine, fantastic, too much exercise yesterday, I'll be fine."