The next chapter is up! Enjoy!
The two of them sat together on the couch.
Adar continued holding Mia, who was still quite shook up from the whole ordeal. He didn't blame her, that would've been scary for anyone. Even he will admit that he was scared for her.
Had he not been there or made it in time, he has no doubt what that man would've done. It was very clear what his intentions were when he ran into the kitchen and saw him straddling her with the knife in his hand.
His train of thought was broken when he heard Mia speak.
"Aerin, can you please go let Tundra in, but please, keep him away from Lucas and bring him in here." She requested.
"Of course." He replied.
Adar unwound his arms from around her and got up. He walked into the kitchen, his gaze going to the pathetic excuse for a man lying on the floor. He did hear a small, pained groan leave him and knew that meant he was coming to.
Hopefully, the please will arrive shortly. Otherwise, he may have to grab something to tie him up so he doesn't try to escape or attack them again.
He went to the back door where he could still hear Tundra barking and pawing at the door.
When he opened it, the large dog came bounding in looking around for his owner while he whimpered. Adar called him to come, and the dog started walking beside him. The dog then spotted the man on the floor and made an attempt to approach him, but Adar lightly grabbed his leather collar and led him out of the kitchen away from the man.
Tundra then made a b-line to the couch and spotted his owner sitting curled up on the couch with her knees hiked up. He jumped up onto the couch beside her and started whimpering a little as he licked her face.
Mia wrapped an arm around his thick fur neck and Adar sat on the other side of her and placed a hand on her back, gently rubbing it.
They couldn't have been sitting there for more than a minute when they heard some people come through the broken front door.
"Police!" They called out.
"Over here." Adar told them.
The four officers came walking in and a couple of them rounded the couch and a man, woman, and dog sitting there. The dog went to get up to greet them, but Mia gripped his collar and told him to stay.
"The assailant is lying on the kitchen floor." He told the officers.
The other two officers headed to the kitchen with their guns drawn, and heard some rustling as they entered and saw the man struggling to get up as he wobbled about on his hands and knees.
"Don't move!" One of them ordered.
The man slowly looked up at them with a dazed look on his bloodied face and saw two officers standing over him with their guns drawn and pointed right at him.
Then one of them holstered his gun, while his partner kept his trained on the attacker, as he hauled him up and started putting his hands behind his back and slapped the handcuffs on his wrists.
"You are under arrest for assault and attempted murder." He said, as he put the handcuffs on him and started leading him out of the kitchen.
As they walked through the living room the officer started reading him his Miranda Rights.
Mia could hardly look at him, as they led his battered form past her and the couch they were sitting on. Adar placed his arm around her, and he watched as they led the bastard out.
When Tundra spotted him, he started growling at the man like he knew he was the one that had hurt his owner. The dog stood up and was about to jump over the couch at him, but Mia grasped his collar once more and tugged him back.
"No, Tundra. Stay." She ordered.
The dog reluctantly obeyed and stayed put but still growled at the man until he was led out of the house and placed into the back of a squad car.
Then one of the officers came over and gave her a sympathetic smile.
"Hello, Ma'am. I'm officer Amanda Jenkins. Is it alright if I ask you a few questions at this time? Or would you prefer to wait and come down to the station when you're ready?" The female officer asks.
Mia was silent for a moment, before replying.
"It's fine…I can answer them now." She says.
"Alright, may we start with your name?" Officer Jenkins asked, as she took out a notepad and pen.
"Mia Accardi, and this is my friend Aerin. He currently resides in the guestroom here as a tenant." Mia replied.
The woman nods, as she writes it down.
"Ok, and did you know your attacker?" She inquired.
"Yes…he was an ex-boyfriend. His name is Lucas Richards. He was arrested before around two and a half years back for…assaulting and raping me back at this hotel we were staying in while performing a ballet concert in New York City." Mia explained.
"So, he was convicted then and incarcerated." Officer Jenkins stated.
"Yes, judge found him guilty and sentenced him to five to ten years. But I believe I heard them say he may have been eligible for parole within that time. Though, I never would've guessed he'd be out this soon on parole if that is the case." She replied.
"If he is out on parole, they should've notified you of it and made you aware." The officer informed her.
"Well, so far no one has. So, I had no idea he was out." The young woman says.
"Ok, we'll get more off of him when we get him back to the station and get this all figured out because by law, they should've notified you within the next forty-eight hours upon his release." The female officer said, as she continued jotting down more notes.
"Is it possible he was let out not that long ago and they weren't given the chance yet to warn her as of yet?" Adar inquired.
"That can be a possibility too. As I've said, we will learn more once we get him into interrogation and start questioning him. Though he may have to get looked at first because it appears he sustained some pretty serious injuries." Officer Jenkins replied.
Her gaze then flickered back to Adar.
"We heard from dispatch that the young lady here informed them that her friend incapacitated her attacker, you mind if I ask you what occurred?" She asked him.
"Not at all. I was out taking a walk along the beach out in front of the home. Was waiting for Mia to join me when I heard her scream my name. I looked over my shoulder and saw that man had a hold of her from behind and was dragging her back to the house.
I started running back to the house to help her. By the time I got there though, he had shut and locked the door. So, I kicked it open and quickly entered. I heard the struggle in the kitchen, so I ran in and found him on top of her with a knife in his hand.
I went over, pulled him off and engaged him, incapacitating him within a short amount of time. When I saw he was no longer a threat, I approached Mia and checked to make sure she was alright. It wasn't long after she grabbed her phone and called the authorities." Adar explained.
"Ok, and where is the knife now?" The female officer asked, as she continued scribbling down notes.
"I threw it into the sink after he dropped it during our scuffle." He replied.
Officer Jenkins nodded and wrote it all down.
Then her gaze went back to Mia. She has already noticed upon meeting the young woman that she had a streak of blood that dribbled down her chin from a cut on the side of her lower lip and the area around the lower left side of her jaw looked red and a bit swollen.
"Shall we request an ambulance here for you Miss Accardi to provide medical assistance?" The female officer suggested.
When Mia thought about it, she really didn't feel like going through the whole process of being taken to the hospital to be poked and prodded. While she felt sore in some areas, she doesn't believe anything is broken.
"No, it's fine. I just feel a bit bruised, nothing more. If I decide at some point I should get checked over, I can always call my sister-in-law. She's a nurse at Cooper University Hospital Cape Regional." Mia told the officer.
Adar shifted his gaze to her, eyes filled with concern.
"Mia are you sure? You took quite a beating. It may be best a doctor looks you over." He said, voice filled with concern.
The young woman shook her head, "No, I really don't feel like going to the hospital. As I said before, I just feel a bit bruised and just want to relax. Not worth spending hours at the hospital getting checked out and observed. If I wake up tomorrow and something feels off, I'll give Tess a call and she can come over and check me out."
While he still felt it better, she goes and get looked at now, he will honor her request.
"In the meantime, perhaps your friend here can monitor you and bring you into to get checked out if anything seems out of the norm if this is the case." Officer Jenkins suggests.
"I will." He says.
The officer nodded.
"Good, alright that should do with the questions. We will notify you when we get more answers out of your attacker. Figure out what halfway house he was staying at upon his release and who was tasked with watching him." The female officer stated as she placed her pen and pad back into a side pocket on her jacket.
"Thank you." Mia told her.
"Yes, thank you." Adar added.
"You're welcome and I'm sorry you went through such a horrific experience like that. If you want, I can give you the number to this center for abused women and you can talk with councilors there." Officer Jenkins offered.
"Thanks, but I'm good. I'm just relieved it's all over. And hopefully this time they will put him away longer without parole." Mia said.
"Oh, they will, by coming here and assaulting you with attempted murder charges on top of that; he violated his parole. His ass isn't going anywhere." The female officer assured her.
"Good to know." Adar says.
After that, the officers finally left.
Now it was just the two of them again, plus the dog. There were a few moments of silence before either of them spoke again.
"I may need to call my family and let them know what had occurred. But first, I really feel the need to shower." She told him.
"That's fine. Let's just clean out that cut on your lip first. I'll grab a washcloth and soak it, then help you clean it out." He replied.
"Ok, I have one in my bathroom we can use." Mia said.
She got up from the couch and started heading out of the living room.
Adar got up and went with her, while the dog jumped down and started following down the hallway as well. They entered her room and headed straight for her bathroom off to the left side of the bedroom.
Mia reached into one of the small drawers below the sink and pulled it open, then she pulled out a navy-colored wash cloth.
He turned the water on in the sink, adjusting the temperature then he held out his hand, offering to take the cloth. She handed it over to him and he wet it.
Afterwards, he wrung it out and turned to face her.
"Just tilt your head back a little." He told her.
Once she did, he lightly dupped her chin with one hand and reached up with the wet washcloth and began to very gently dab away the dried-up streaks of blood trailing from the side of her mouth down her chin.
As gentle as he tried to be though, Mia did flinch a little when he dabbed a little at the cut itself. Something he didn't miss and gave her an apologetic look.
"I'm sorry." He softly says.
"It's fine." She replied, barely above a whisper.
Adar continued clearing the cut for a few more moments. During this time his gaze flickered to hers and he saw her eyes have become a little glassy again, making it seem like she was on the verge of tears once more.
When he finished, he lightly caressed her cheek, brushing his thumb over it.
Normally, she would flinch or shy away from a touch like this in the beginning. After the first time she was assaulted, Mia would flinch or tense up from any physical contact.
Surprisingly this time around though, she didn't.
She is unsure why his touch was always so comforting to her. It may have to do with the fact that she always seems to feel safe around him. Even after she found out the whole truth about him and who he truly was, for some reason Mia still never felt uncomfortable with his presence or closeness.
She closed her eyes and leaned into his soft touch; his warm palm felt soothing against her tender sore spot from where Lucas had struck her.
"Forgive me for not being there sooner. I cannot help but feel, if I were there with you, things would've never gotten that far, and he would've been on the ground long before being able to touch you." Adar whispers, with guilt littering his tone.
Mia reaches up to lightly grasp his hand on her cheek and gives it a light squeeze.
"No, you didn't do anything wrong, Aerin. If anything, I should thank you. I probably…" She trailed off, swallowing the lump building up in her throat.
"I probably would've been…dead had you not been here." She finished, as a couple of hot tears rolled down her cheeks.
Yes, he sadly believed that too. That's why it scared him when he wasn't here at the house when that man showed up and then, he was locked out of the house and had to break down the door to get to her.
Adar has no doubt that man would've raped and killed her afterwards.
She still had one hand tightly clutching the front of her torn shirt closed from where the asshole proceeded to cut it open.
It made him burn with rage when he saw the man on top of her with the knife and the front of her shirt torn open, partially exposing her bare breasts.
Before he could say anything else, she spoke again.
"I'm going to shower now. I just need to grab a fresh pair of clothes from the dresser drawers." She said.
He nodded in understanding and stepped back to let her by so she could go grab some clothes.
Mia went into her drawers and pulled out a tank top, bra, cotton capris, undies, and socks. Then she carried them back into the bathroom and placed them in a small pile on top of the toilet seat.
Adar had already left the bathroom by the time she returned to it and closed the door.
He went and sat on the edge of the bed and waited for her. He wasn't alone for long when Tundra sat down on the carpeted floor by his legs. Then the dog placed the top of his chin on his lap.
Adar reached up and absentmindedly scratched the dog behind his pointy ears. Not a few moments later, he heard the shower being turned on.
Meanwhile, Mia kicked off her sneakers, slowly stripped out of her torn shirt and bra and dropped them to the floor. Then she bent forward and pulled her cargo capris and undies down, slipping them off before pulling off her ankle socks.
Everything was left in a pile on the floor.
Then she stepped inside beneath the warm spray and let it run over her completely for some time. The days' events came crashing down on her once more and she found herself silently sobbing again. Her tears mixed in with the water that ran over her head and body.
'Why? Why did this happen again?!' She thought.
Though the question just made her cry harder, until she could barely keep the sobs quiet anymore. Then she reached for a bar of soap and started scrubbing herself.
Like the last time Lucas assaulted and raped her, she felt dirty, and couldn't get the feel of his hands off her or erase the horrid feeling of him harshly thrusting into her while grunting and panting like an animal.
This made her start scrubbing her skin even harder with the bar of soap as if trying to scrub away his awful touch completely. She continued to cry the entire time as she thoroughly ran the soap over every inch of herself, until her skin felt a bit raw.
Then what seemed like after several minutes, she finally placed the bar of soap down and picked up the shampoo and squirted some into her hair. Mia then started lathering it up quite vigorously over her scalp and through her hair until it bubbled and foamed, before rinsing it out beneath the stream of water.
The conditioner came shortly after, and she did the same with it. Lastly, she must've emptied out half the contents of the shower gel from the plastic bottle into her hand until it started to overflow out of her palm.
Again, she started to harshly scrub the soapy scented gel into her skin until it was wet and foamy from being lathered for so long.
Mia then finally stepped directly beneath the showerhead again, letting it wash away all the shower gel.
Even after it had washed away completely, she continued standing beneath it. She just wanted to make sure she washed every trace of him off her completely.
Adar was a little concerned because she had been in there for a while now. But he didn't want to bother her. She will finish and come out when she is ready.
Another few minutes went by, before he heard the shower finally turn off.
He wasn't waiting for much longer when the bathroom door opened, and Mia came walking out. Her hair was still damp and messy as she entered the bedroom.
As she drew closer, Adar noticed something a little different. Her skin on her bare arms and shoulders looked a little red and irritated. Almost like what it would look like after scratching one itchy area repeatedly or had some kind of skin irritation of sorts.
The petite young woman came to a stop in front of him where he still sat at the foot of her bed.
Adar could see she had a bit of a haunted look in her light blue eyes. He reached up and lightly caressed her arms.
"It seems like, no matter how hard I scrubbed myself with soap…I can't get the feeling of his disgusting touch off me." She said, in a low tone.
It was then he understood why her skin looked red and irritated and why she took so long in the shower.
"I know it was horrible. But he will never touch you again. I promise." He assured her.
That was a promise he was certainly keeping no matter what. If by chance that asshole does get out again and try to harm her once more, he will not hesitate to kill him next time.
It also just proved that after these last several months of living with Mia, he has started to grow very fond of her. How could he not? She was smart, beautiful, strong, and humorous.
The more time he spent with her, the more the pain of his past and losing his uruk children ebbed away and was gradually replaced with happiness and peace. She just had this way of making the pain and sadness within him dissipate.
It was something no one else had been able to do before with him, during his past life. So, all he knew was loss, devastation, and pain throughout his long existence.
Adar started seeing Mia as special, because she showed that she understands him more than anyone else ever had and accepted him, despite all his previous flaws and transgressions.
A few moments of silence passed by between them, before he carefully pulled her in for a gentle hug.
At the height level he was sitting at, his face was level with hers. So, as he pulled her in for a hug, her cheek brushed against his.
Mia wrapped her arms around his shoulders, embracing him back.
"Thank you." She whispered against his ear.
This made him tighten his hold a little more around her.
"You're welcome, Wilwarin." He replied softly.
A small smile touched her face as he referred to her by the special nickname he gave her a few months back.
They stayed like that for a little while, enjoying the security of the close contact.
Eventually they did pull away. When they did, he saw the haunted look in her eyes was replaced with happiness and peace. She gave him a small smile, and he returned a smile back, as he reached up and brushed a long dark, damp lock back over her shoulder.
Mia didn't expect herself to be this calm right now or feeling a sense of happiness. If anything, she thought she would've still been hysterical and bawling her eyes out nonstop.
That's generally how she was after the first time Lucas beat her and raped her.
But it seems like Adar really knew how to calm her and keep her grounded. Just another thing he is good at besides making her smile and laugh and feel alive again.
Her smile faltered a little when she remembered that she still needed to contact her parents and brother to let them know what had happened.
Odds are they will all come running over once they hear about it. But they needed to know. It was just not something that she could keep from them.
"I need to contact my parents and John and let them know had happened." She finally says.
"Of course." He replied.
Then he got up and they both left the bedroom together to grab her iPhone. As always, Tundra got up and followed them out.
She had taken it out of her pocket a little earlier and put it on the coffee table during her conversation with one of the officers.
They entered the living room and sat on the couch. Mia then leaned over and grabbed her phone off the coffee table and went into her contacts.
First, she called her parents and told them what had happened.
Mia could tell they were both shocked and horrified and just as she thought, her mother had told her that they were on their way over to see her. The phone call lasted for several minutes before she informed her mom and dad that she was going to call John and Tess to let them know what had just occurred.
Her parents lived up in Avalon, so they weren't all that far away. It was about a twenty-three-minute drive from there to here. Though she wouldn't be too surprised if her father drives well over the speed limit to get here.
Her brother lived much closer because he lived right here in Cape May only about eight minutes away.
Eventually, she was able to get her parents off the phone so she could call John and her sister-in-law.
Just like her parents, her brother was both shocked and outraged by the incident, same with his wife. As soon as they heard she was attacked, they told their son Camden to watch his little sister for a little bit and then they got into the car and started driving over to Mia's.
Both Mia and Adar were still sitting on the couch before they heard someone at the entrance to their home.
"Jesus Christ. That fucking animal actually bust through the goddamn door." John's voice came as he and his wife Tess walked through the open doorway with the busted door.
Both Mia and Adar turned their attention to John, while Tundra jumped off the couch and rounded it to greet him and Tess.
"That was actually me. He locked me out, so, I had no choice but to kick the door in to get inside." Adar informed him.
Mia stood up and walked around the couch to meet them.
Once she did, both her brother and sister-in-law quickly pulled her in for a tight hug. Mia wrapped an arm around both, returning the embrace.
"God, I'm so glad you're alright." John says, as he continued hugging his younger sister.
Then as he pulled back from the hug, his gaze shifted to Adar, who came walking around the side of the couch to stand beside Mia.
John approached him and held out his hand to him.
Adar reached out and gripped the other man's hand. John grasped his hand tightly while adding his other hand in, tightening his hold.
"Thank you, so much for saving her." John says, in a heartfelt tone.
The former Dark Elf gave him a brief nod.
"You're very welcome." Adar replied.
Tess saw Mia's busted lip and the bruise forming on her jaw that stretched halfway up her cheek.
"Let me look at that, Sweetie. I also brought along my first aide kit." Her sister-in-law told her.
"Thanks, Tess. But I'm ok. Just bruised and sore for the most part." Mia assured her.
Tess gave her a skeptical look but sighed and nodded.
"Alright but promise me if you still feel any pain or discomfort by tomorrow that you will get yourself to the hospital and I'll make sure one of the doctors' there will see you right away." The other woman pressed.
"I will. But really, I don't believe I have any serious injuries. Just feels a tad sore and tender in my midsection and the right side of my his and thigh. Though I believe the side of my face hurts more than they do. But Aerin cleaned up the cut on my lip." Mia explained.
"What I don't understand, is how that son of a bitch was able to get out on parole so fucking early. Had he not, this would've never happened." John stated angrily.
"I don't know. But the police told me that they were questioning him and getting information on which halfway house he resided in and who was watching him. Hopefully, we should have answers soon." She told him.
"At least we now know after this, he's never getting out again." Tess says with certainty.
"Maybe, but my point is, he should've never gotten out to begin with." John said, irately.
"I know you're angry, John. We all are. But at least feel relieved that I am still here and that is all thanks to Aerin. Lucas did a stupid thing by coming here and he will be paying for it. And I like to believe that after this, we'll never have to worry or even think about him again." Mia tells her brother.
Despite everything that happened, he, along with everyone else, knew what she said was true.
Lucas clearly violated his parole by coming here and confronting her. When he should've been staying as far away from her as possible.
They continued chatting for some time, before her parents finally made it over.
When both her mom and dad spotted her, they wasted no time rushing over and pulling her in for a hug just as her brother and sister-in-law did earlier upon arrival.
Her mother had tears in her eyes as she held Mia tightly.
Both parents were greatly relieved that their daughter was alive and safe.
They all knew it was all because of Adar, that she was still here. For Mia has explained to all of them during the phone conversations she has had with them on how he came in and saved her.
For this, they will always be grateful to him for it.
As shown, when her mother enveloped him in a tight embrace after she finally relinquished her hold on Mia. She then thanked him profusely for saving her daughter. While Mia's father gave him a pat on the back for it.
They all remained at the house, ordering some dinner when the time came.
Something Mia didn't mind because it took her mind off the terrible events that happened earlier. In truth, she was happy they remained here for a little while longer because it made her think about the possibility that she would've never seen them again had Adar not been there to intercede and pull Lucas off her.
It further cemented her family's trust in him as a friend and they could see she was truly safe with him.
Not only that, but it seems like since he came into Mia's life, her family has noticed she seemed much happier and more like her old self before the first assault. Something else they were grateful to him for.
When everyone finally decided to head out, it was already around 8:30pm when the last of them left. Though her brother and father did their best to place the busted door back in place, it wasn't just left wide open the whole night.
John assured her that he would have his friend and buddy over to install a new door by the next day and have new locks installed.
Mia thanked him for that and gave them all a big hug before they left.
Soon, it was just her and Adar left within the home. The night was still early, so the two of them sat on the couch and turned the TV on.
She put on an old movie for them to watch, and they ended up watching 'The Goonies'.
It was an old time favorite of hers growing up and was quite funny. As they watched as the group of kids get stuck in one blunder after another, Adar found it to be amusing too.
They watched a couple more movies after that until it got late, and they started feeling tired.
Mia turned off the TV after the last movie ended. But she remained seated where she was on the couch for a few moments. Afterwards, they both finally got up and left the living room and proceeded down the hall.
Before he walked a little further down to his room, he stopped when he heard her speak.
"Aerin." She says.
He stopped and turned to her.
"Yes?" He asked.
Mia was silent for a moment before speaking.
"I…I really don't want to be alone. Will you…stay with me tonight?" She hesitantly, asked.
After everything that had happened to her, she felt a little afraid of being alone.
Instead of saying no, he gave her a soft smile.
"Of course. Let me just change first and I'll be right in." He replied.
"Thank you." She said.
Adar gave her a brief nod, before entering his room and shutting the door.
He changed out of his clothes for the day into what he had been wearing as night clothes. Which still consisted of a t-shirt and some sweat pants. Then he left his room, walked a few feet down and entered her bedroom to see her already in bed with the blanket pulled up to her waist.
Mia was still wearing the same tank top and cotton capris she had worn during the day after her shower. The only difference was, she removed her bra, because she never sleeps in one.
Once he entered, he switched off the lights in the room and approached her bed.
Adar rounded the bed and pulled the covers back. Then he got in beside her.
Mia slowly turned to face him. He was lying on his back not a few inches from her. Again, the days' events caught up with her and made her remember how close to death she was.
She scooted closer to him, closing the gap, then she laid down right beside him with the side of her cheek pressed against his left pec.
His arms automatically went around her and he held her close as she laid partially on top of him.
It wasn't long until the dam broke, and Mia once found herself silently crying as she lay there with him.
Adar heard her let out a shaky exhale and felt the barest hint of wetness seep through one tiny spot on his shirt where the side of her face was resting.
He tightened his hold on her and gently rubbed her back.
Today was certainly a day they may never forget. But they at last knew that they could move on from it and continue moving forward.
From here on out, they like to believe their lives will go more smoothly from them.
They had each other. Both acted like one another's rock for their fragile hearts. Still, the pair knew they would get through this together.
If anything, this experience cemented their strength and steadily growing bond with one another. Now, they only had more than enough time on their hands to see where this bond will eventually go.
Even after they finally felt the pull of sleep, they kept their arms around one another as they slept throughout the rest of the night.
Tomorrow was a new day and a new start.
Until Next Time