A/N: Sorry for the short chapter; the next few will probably be about this length because of my current case of writer's block, or rather, I'm having issues figuring out the order in which I want to put certain events in.
Hours later, at half past one, Jae wrapped herself in a blanket from Gen. O'Hara's bed and half walked, half crawled, out of the general's quarters, making her way up to her quarters and was about to open the door when a hand grabbed her shoulder in a vicegrip, spinning her around.
"Where the hell have you been?" an icy voice hissed angrily in the dark.
"Nothing that I can tell you about-"
"Don't take tones with me; you were supposed to be in your room two hours ago!"
"Well my apologies!" snapped Jae sarcastically. "Now get your hand off me.."
"Jae what is wrong with you?" Col. Tavington demanded.
"I told you, I can't say anything! Now let go of me!"
Trying with all her might, Jae struggled against the colonel's hold to no avail.
"Oh, right, I get it; the phrase 'I can't say anything' doesn't apply to you, does it?"
Suddenly, without warning, Col. Tavington pulled his hand back and cuffed Jae across her face.
"Don't you dare tell me that I don't have the right to know what the hell is going on! I am your guardian, and as such, I have every right to know!"
Jae grabbed her right cheek and began to cry softly, surprised and hurt by the blow and cried, "You bastard! What the hell are you thinking? If I tell you, things will be much worse than they are now!"
"Really, how much worse can they get?" Col. Tavington snapped.
"You have no idea.."
"Well of course I don't! You have told me nothing!"
"I can't! Don't you understand? If I could, I would have told you already! There's no way that I would want to hide what I am hiding."
"Jae, I'm not just going to stand here and let you get yourself torn up!"
"Well you can't do anything about it!" she shot, trying to get to her door, but Col. Tavington blocked the entrance.
Jae clenched her jaws together in frustration.
I hate it when you do this to me. Please, don't make it any harder than it already is...
"Get away from my door, sir. I need to sleep."
Slowly, Col. Tavington moved away from the door, and Jae stepped into the room, making her way to her bed and lay down on top of the covers, pulling the worn blanket tightly around her.
It's alright, I'm safe.. for now...