Hey guys!!! So here's the next instalment. I would've updated sooner but it's been the first week of the school year in Aus so it's been really busy. To the reviewers for the last chapter: AmbaLee, xxkissesandcuddlesxx, BlackRabbit23, BlazingWolfFire, xXRavenBlackXx, bookwormgrl101, small-cub, Sabaku-no-Torai, love-30stm, GuysGirls3 – you certainly know how to flatter a girl & I am loving it! Hope you like this chapter, the next one contains a MAJOR development story wise! Keep reading, Please Review…

P.S I have uploaded a playlist onto my profile. It's got some songs that directly relate to scenes in the fic & some that just invoke that 'Patch/Nora forever' kind of mood. Please check it out, tell me what you think & if you know any other good 'Hush, Hush' songs then I'd love to hear about them…

CHAPTER 12

"Dabria." I scowled.

"Nora." She replied, as if we were opponents facing off against one another. Which in a twisted way, I suppose we were. The competing objects of Patch's desire. Neither willing to let him go, to surrender.

"Nora, you have no idea how long the last two days have felt. Searching high and low, never finding you. It was so…depressing." She paused thoughtfully, as she paced up and down the room. "So imagine my surprise when I get the call from Patch, telling me to meet him here…"

I could feel my panic rising, the tips of my fingers shaking. Goosebumps coated my entire body. My senses heighten. The sensitivity overwhelmed me. The couch felt as hard as wood, the small line of light streaming through the far window was blinding, the passing scent of cigarette smoke and alcohol was now a pungent odour. And over all this, Dabria continued, her voice deafening.

"Seriously, Nora. Here? You had to know that sooner or later I would look here. The only reason I didn't come sooner was because I thought you wouldn't be idiotic enough to come here, let alone idiotic enough to stay.

"But that's the great thing about you Nora, full of surprises. Always keeping me on my toes. Well…not any longer."

My vision blurred as she walked towards me. Where was Rixon? I thought frantically. My thoughts were stopped though as Dabria's hand struck me across the face. The blow stung and I could feel my skin heating up, turning red. Out of instinct I flung my hands over my face. It didn't help. Dabria caught a fistful of my knotted hair in her closed hand and she pulled, hard. The shock didn't have time to register though, as she hurled my head into the wall behind the couch.

"Ahhh!" I cried out. Shock waves of pain travelled through me. My head felt like it had been set on fire, burning from the inside out. She let me go, allowing the pain to surge more freely through me.

"How does feel Nora? Because that's how it felt as Patch slipped through my fingers. That's how it felt as I watched you two become close. That pain you're feeling, I felt it everyday for months!" Her voice wavered as she screeched the words.

Dabria was losing it. In that moment, Dabria may have been my attacker, but for the first time it became clear to me that when you broke it down Dabria's actions were driven by her heartbreak. And maybe a little vengeance. But this sudden insight into Dabria's twisted mind didn't help minimise the pain I felt as she continued her beating.

Her hands gripped my arms by the skin, her nails sinking in. I screamed as they digged deeper, sunk lower. My eyes screwed shut as the pain continued. I couldn't feel anything, hear anything. All I was aware of were Dabria's nails plunging into my skin and the pain that it caused. It was unbearable. I didn't think they could go any further yet they kept going…and going.

Until they weren't there anymore. The indentations that had been created and filled with her blood red nails were now empty. My eyes fluttered open cautiously, wondering what she would do next. But it was no longer Dabria standing over me. Rixon was there, and Dabria was now unconscious at his feet. I peered up at him, my eyes having trouble staying open.

"C'mon," he mouthed as he pulled me off the couch. He wrapped my arm around his shoulders and started to drag me towards the car. Shadows crowded my sight as he did so. I felt queasy, sick. I needed iron. I opened my mouth to tell Rixon this but the words didn't make it. Darkness closed in around me and I let the numbness take hold.

***

"Nora, you there?"

My eyelids sprung open as I heard my name. Rixon was driving us down a steep mountain road covered with thick fog. My mind drifted to thoughts of home. Home. I couldn't help but wonder what was happening there, how it looked, the weather. All the small details that you never really care to notice on a day to day basis.

It had only been three days yet in the images my mind conjured everything seemed completely different. I just didn't believe that it could have stayed the same when so many other things had changed. Guilt hit me as I my mind turned to Vee, to mum. They were probably worried sick, beyond sick.

"Nora?" Rixon asked again, looking over from behind the wheel.

"Yeah, I'm awake," I mumbled back, rubbing my eyes.

"Good, for a second there I thought you'd need a hospital or somethin'. You were looking pretty bad."

I thought back to the house, back to what I suffered through. I could only imagine what that had done to my appearance. Pulling down the visor slowly I peered into the scratched mirror.

Ugggh, was the only word that came to mind. I looked like I'd been the victim of a street thug, not a blonde who wore the same dress size as me. The point of impact where I'd been flung into the wall, the left side of my forehead, was purple and cut. Blood that was now dry had dripped from the cut down my face. There was a lot of redness and puffiness on the other side of my face, presumably from where she'd struck me. And the back of my head felt a little tender from she'd pulled me by the hair. The memory of her nails floated back into my mind and I looked down to my arms. On each arm were five tiny crescent shapes, coloured with blood. Trails of dried blood came off some of them, continuing down my arms.

"Great," I breathed as I looked away from the wounds and out into the fog.

"A few scrapes here and there won't hurt you, trust me I've seen worse." He said, a wide grin spreading across his face.

"And in which bar was that?" I replied lazily, shutting my eyes and leaning back into the seat.

"Touché," Rixon answered. He was now hunching over the steering wheel trying to find a something through the fog. Probably a turnoff. "You might not remember, but I gave you your iron."

"Oh, thanks." I didn't remember.

Latching on to my silent thought he added, "yeah, you sort of half woke up a couple of times. Most you would do would mumble but luckily you mumbled 'iron'. I found it in your pocket and you managed to swallow one. It was a bit like you were sleep walking, without the exercise."

"Right. Thanks again."

"No probs. And I'm sorry that I wasn't there sooner, I was just trying get stuff into the car out back. I honestly didn't think she'd be there, I thought we had a few more minutes."

"That's Dabria, full of surprises," I said sarcastically. I looked over and saw a pained looked on his face and continued, "but hey, it's okay. The point is I survived. You got there in time. Both with Patch and Dabria. Thank you."

Rixon let out a little smile, he seemed quietly proud to be the reason I was alive.

"But Rixon…"

"Yeah?"

"Next time there is a psychopath heading our way let's just leave. Not pack."

"You got it," he smiled