CHAPTER TWO

I was in my room for the majority of the second day. My luggage were unpacked and I had my possessions organised within the drawers.

I ruffled through a small packet of papers and turned on my laptop. The computer was specially made for the patients of the therapeutic centre and I loved how easy it was to use it. Everything had verbal commands. It made studying much easier.

For the next few hours, no one interrupted my time alone and only meals tore me away from my studying. When I arrived at the dining room, I could feel the tension that threatened to suffocate me. This was what I was afraid to return to. Mom was persistent to keep a light conversation going and so was Ben, but I wasn't feeling too talkative and there was no hope that Violet would go along with mom's trivial pursuits.

I was also informed that there was going to be a housekeeper - Moira. She had always worked here in the house as a two for one deal, but we still had to pay her.

When the awkward family time was over, I returned to my room and went back to the material that I had to study.

It wasn't long before I heard something hitting my windows. I frowned and walked towards it, but the night blurred all the silhouettes into a giant sea of black.

"Madi?" I heard a hushed voice outside below my window.

"Tate?" I quietly called back. "What are you doing here?"

"Had an argument with my mom. Can I come up?"

I bit my lips nervously. I knew that there was a tree beside my room, but I had only just met him.

"Please? I don't want to go back to that hell hole."

"Okay." I wondered if I was making the right decision. What if someone found him in my room? What if he was a sick rapist?

I stepped back when I noticed that he was nearing the windowsill. When he was inside, I moved awkwardly back to bed where my laptop was sitting before putting on my headphones.

Tate thanked me for letting him in before sitting on the edge of my bed. "What are you doing?"

"Studying," I curtly replied.

He picked up the sheets of paper covered with tiny bumps. "How do you read this?"

I tried to focus on what the voice was saying in the headphone, but as he asked more questions, I realised that I wouldn't be able to concentrate while he was around. "It's just like learning a new language."

"Were you born like this?" He seemed genuinely curious, so I went along with it.

I shook my head. "I started losing my vision during the start of puberty. I can still... see, but it's all in black and white and I can't see anything specific. It's like looking through very thick fog all the time," I explained.

As we continued to converse, I realised that he was a very amiable person with a troubling life. He was bullied at school and his mother didn't care about him. "I can't be her perfect child!" he growled. He explained about how she was in completely denial. "She just drives me crazy!" When he finished, he sounded close to tears.

At first, I patted his arm, trying to be comforting, but as I noticed that it wasn't helping him, I pulled him into a hug. He clung on to me like a child as he sobbed.

"Sorry," he mumbled once he calmed down. "I'm not making a very good impression, am I?"

I smiled at him. "I like sensitive guys," I replied, a soft blush on my face. "Besides, if it wasn't for you, I would've just spent the rest of the night studying."

He pulled away and peeked over to the open laptop. "I've never learned that before."

I looked sheepishly back at him. "I'm taking college courses, right now."

"But you're younger than me!" he exclaimed.

I quickly hushed him, afraid that he was going to alert the rest of my family. "I had a lot of time on my hands at the institution. Since I can't really see, my entertainment options are quite limited."

"So you studied." I could hear the incredulous tone in his voice and whacked his arm.

"Shut up," I shot back, grinning. It slowly disappeared when I thought of what I wanted to do after I finished my schooling. "None of this has any meaning in the end anyway. Whatever I choose the pursuit, the likelihood that I'll be hired for it is slim. No one is going to want a blind girl in their employment." I sighed and laid down on my back.

I felt him lay down beside me. "You can always create your own business at home."

"Where am I going to get any money?"

We spent a long time musing the paths my life could take. When I asked about his future, he was vague and quickly changed the subject. I reassured him that many students didn't know what they wanted to do in life and told him that I was still the same.

I felt the tips of his fingers brush mine. When I didn't pull away, he held my hand in his. His hand was cold, but it felt nice having someone to really talk to. I never really had friends my age. The only people I was able to converse with was my mom and Dr. White. There were also several patients, but no one my age. I had contemplated the possibility that I was going to be alone and thought I had accepted it, but being so close to someone now, I couldn't help longing for companionship. I wanted to have a normal life - school, friends, boyfriends. I didn't really get to have any of them.

I tightened my grip on his hand and he squeezed back. This was what I had longed for.

Some time during the night, I had fallen asleep with Tate still laying beside me.

And from that night on, Tate often visited me during the same time. We never did more than talk and hold hands. In a way, I was glad because we had only just met, but another part of me was longing to know what his lips would feel like on mine. Would they be soft or chapped? Were they warm or as cold as his hands?

We talked about many things and when I asked why he dropped out, he told me about the bullying and the final step to spiting his mother.

One day, when he was about to leave, he told me something that peaked my curiosity. He told me to never go to the basement without him. I hadn't been planning on going there at all, but now, I couldn't get the idea out of my head. Why didn't he want to me to go there? What had he seen when he had lived in this house several years ago?

The thoughts flew out of my head when Ben told us that he had to head off back to Boston to visit a patient. Immediately, I was suspicious. I waited until mom and Violet were upstairs to confront him.

"Who are you visiting?" I asked him as he was putting on his coat.

"Just a patient," came the vague reply.

I tried my best to glare at him. "You're going to go visit the crazy bitch, aren't you?"

That caught his attention. "Madi, language."

"My language is the last of my worries when you're going off to see the home wrecker, Ben. Didn't we move here to get away from all that?" I argued. "Can't you stop thinking with your dick and actually consider that your family needs you here?"

"It's not her," he weakly protested. "And you're only a child. Leave the adult business to your mother and I."

I watched as light exploded into the room before the sound of the door closing bathed me in darkness, once more.

"Why do you even bother?" my sister asked me from the base of the staircase. "There's no point in trying to keep this family together. Mom is weak and you're weak thinking that it would ever be like before. We can live without him."

"That doesn't mean that we should condone his cheating ways and I hope you haven't been talking to mom like that. She's trying really hard - not just for herself, but also for us," I scolded her. Violet's blatant disrespect for the wrong people always irked me. She was also rarely ever reprimanded for it. God forbid if I spoke ill of the crazy bitch...

...

"So, it's just the three of us for a few days," mom told us at the dining table.

I hated how she just accepted it. There had to be a point where she was finally going to divorce him.

"How was school, Violet?" she tried, again.

Violet grumbled back at her. "You know I hate it there. I wish I was blind!"

"Violet!" mom scolded her before turning to me. "Madi, what about you? How are your studies?"

"Good," I replied. "The fall semester had just started, so not a lot of pressure, right now."

Mom fell silent for a short moment before striking up another conversation. "Dr. Henderson wants to see you next week at his office. I'll drive you there, since I don't know when your father is going to come back." In another beat, she blurted out. "I'm pregnant."

I froze. I thought that mom was only tolerating Ben, not still being intimate with the bastard. Did he know about this when he decided to go visit the bitch?

Beside me, Violet had abruptly stood up and stormed upstairs. I heard mom sigh.

"Why?" I asked her. "I thought it was over. Don't' say that it's for us or that he would change his ways. What we have isn't good – it's not healthy. You know that. He's just not a good father. I'm tired of defending you to Violet."

"I don't know what to do, Madi," she whispered. "He's always been there. I can't even imagine living without him, now."

I bit my lip, wondering what I should say. It wouldn't be right to keep pushing her on a divorce while she's pregnant, especially if she didn't want to leave him. At least he wasn't abusive and he was still the only one with a job.

"Mom, why don't you relax on the couch. I'll wash the dishes, today," I offered, already groping around for the plates and glasses.

"Are you sure? I can do it."

I waved her off. "It's fine. What can go wrong? If I break anything, I swear to call for you instead of picking it up myself. I really want to just live like I'm not... you know."

She seemed to finally be convinced and left me to it.

I quietly hummed to myself, trying to rid the day's events from me head, as I filled the sink with water. It wasn't so bad here. The house was big and of course, the cute neighbour boy wasn't bad, either.

A small smile graced my lips as I thought about him. We had only just met and I was already falling head over heels for him.

My thoughts were interrupted by the sound of someone knocking on the door. I frowned. Who was coming to visit so late in the evening?

"What happened to you?" I heard mom ask. There was a pause before she started to speak, again. "Well, you said that. Can you tell me what happened? How did you get hurt?"

I wiped my hands and walked over to the phone that was sitting on the kitchen counter. "Mom, I'm calling the cops!"

I picked up the phone and dialled, but when I held the phone to my ear, I didn't hear a dial tone. "Mom! The phone isn't wor - "

A hand reached out from behind me and covered my mouth. I struggled against the body that held me trapped.

"Madi?!" I heard mom scream for me. "Madi, where are y - "

There was a soft thump and my mom fell silent.

The person began to drag me out of the kitchen. I could see several forms in front of me. Two were standing and two were sitting. There were three of them in total.

"What are we gonna do? We have an extra one," the man who held me said.

"There were no blind girls in the transcript," one of the females stated. "We'll kill that one."

At the words, I struggled harder and I could hear my mom crying out with distress.

"Don't kill her in the house, though. Take it outside. I want this to be perfect." With that, I was forced into the cool night. As I was about to scream, the man clocked me in the head and my cry died into a whimper as I fell to my knees. He wrapped a cloth around my face, covering my mouth. There was a second strip of fabric wound around my wrists.

When I felt the sharp, cool blade against my neck, tears finally pooled out of my eyes. This was it. After everything that I had to go through, I was going to die at the hands of a psycho who was acting out according to some stupid transcript.

I clenched my eyes shut. There was still so much that I wanted to do and so much that I had yet to experience. I wanted to see Tate. I wanted to hold hands and lay in bed with him. I wanted to kiss him. I wanted to marry and have kids. I didn't want to die!

Mustering up whatever strength and courage that I had left, I threw my head backwards, causing the psycho to curse, stumble back, and drop the knife, but not before the sharp edge nicked the tender skin of my neck.

I scrambled back as soon as possible and tried to find my footing.

There was a surprised cry from behind me before it turned into one of agony. I turned and saw another dark figure behind the man who held me captive. The figure looked familiar and he had a knife in his hand.

In one smooth motion, he sliced the intruder's neck open like hot butter. When the figure turned to me, I fervently shook my head and began to run, but he caught me before I was even able to reach the tall gates.

As he touched me, my heart jumped in my chest. The rubber material felt slick against my arm. He picked me up with ease and slung me over his shoulder during my moment of distraction. He entered the house and trudged up the stairs to my bedroom. I was flung on to my bed. All I could do was stare fearfully at him. The world around me seemed to change and I saw glimpses of colour as I did when I dreamt of him the first night.

He stood there silently watching me. I looked uncertainly back at him. As he took his first step and began to near me, I tried to scurry backwards. When he was right in front of me, he reached behind the back of my head and the cloth fell away.

"Please, no," I begged him. What happened in my dream flashed through my head. "Not now. Help my mom and Violet. I swear, after... after I'll let you do whatever you want with me."

There was a short pause before he made his way to the door. I heard the sound of the door behind locked from the other side.

When he was gone, I realised that he had left my wrist ties on, so I began to wiggle around until I had my arms in front of me. I tried to feel for the knot with my teeth, but it was too tight for me to pull apart.

As I waited for him to come back, I could hear my heart trying to beat out of my chest. It nearly stopped when a horrified scream ripped through the entire house. I wondered if it was my mom or Violet. I could only hope that it was one of the intruders, instead.

Minutes passed and there had been no other noise in the house. Was anyone still alive? Was I the only one left? Where did the rubber man go?

I curled up in my bed and waited for anyone to come looking for me.

Knock. Knock.

I jerked into a sitting position. Was it the rubber man or the intruders? Was it mom or Violet?

"Madi?"

My heart skipped a beat when I heard his voice. "Tate?" I got to my feet and pressed my forehead against the door. "Tate, what are you doing here? What's happening out there?"

"Nothing," he replied.

"C-Can you unlock the door? This guy put me in here and he locked it from the outside," I told him after trying desperately to open it.

I heard the knob turn several times and then it clicked. I stepped away from the door as it swung open. "Tate!" I cried out and flung myself at him.

He wrapped his arms around me and held me close. "I'm here, Madi. I'm here," he whispered into my hair. "I was so worried. I thought you were... I - I don't think I can imagine life without you."

I sniffed and buried my face into his neck. "Have you seen mom or Violet?"

"Yeah, they're fine. The last I saw them was down the block," he replied as I breathed a sigh of relief. "When I came in, I saw two people run away. I didn't recognise them."

I nodded. He untied my wrists and led me downstairs. As he were about to leave the house, we heard police sirens approaching. Tate's grip on my arm tightened.

"The cops and I don't get along," he mumbled. "I'm going to go back home and hide." He gave me a quick kiss on the cheek before running towards the back door. I was left standing in the doorway with dark pink cheeks and a dumbfounded look on my face.

AUTHOR'S NOTE

I think this is the quickest I've ever initiated romance in a story. Typically, I do let it drag on for quite a while. Don't worry, there will be a lot more to the plot than just their romance, so hopefully it won't get too boring.

Thank you VampWolf92, meangirl8, icecoatedsha, NameWithNoMeaning, and Guests (Gasoline and Guest) for reviewing!

meangirl8: It makes me so happy to see a familiar name! It's absolutely wonderful seeing you here as well.

Gasoline: I completely understand what you mean. There are quite a few stories where the Original Character becomes a carbon copy of Violet. I hope you continue to like Madi as the story progresses!

NameWithNoMeaning: Not a lot of words are needed to make me happy. I'm just thrilled to see that people are enjoying this story so far!

Thank you again to those who reviewed and to everyone who has followed and favourited this story!

I'd love to hear more of your thoughts.