I sat silently gazing around feeling my hand. Since 2 years ago no man has ever touched me. Or you could put it as I have never let a man touch me since then. My first love had the biggest impact of pain on me. My heart would have bursted if not for my mom and younger sister.  

As my mind went off thinking I dozed off without being aware of it. I awoke moments later when someone was shaking me. I rubbed the side of my face as my head was not yet clear.

“What is it?” I questioned thinking it was Xi who had awoken me, but when I opened my eyes fully I noticed it wasn’t her. I gave a small shout and jumped away.

“Whoa! Hey!” he said jumping back too.

“Don’t do that!” I said combing my hair back with my hand.

“I was just waking you up,” he said coldly.

“Didn’t I say don’t touch me?” I asked.

“What’s your problem? It’s not like I want to do something to you,” he replied.

I glared at him and muttered, “It’s not like I’m interested either. Thanks a lot, now I don‘t feel sleepy anymore.”

“Look the sun’s almost up, those guys should be off the street by now,” he said.

“You say that now when we already lost them hours ago,” I complained.

“But it’s also fine if you want to stay here. When they attack you don’t yell for help,” he said walking towards the door.

“This moron trying to scare me,” I thought then got up following him outside.

It was barely dawn, but it was starting to get bright outside. During the next few minutes I followed him down the road and silence followed. I didn’t see any cars or any living flesh. By the time the sun began to rise my stomach was grumbling. I didn’t have any food the day before because I was suddenly dragged here and I really needed some now. I stopped and watched as he went on. I rolled my eyes knowing that I would have to speak to this arrogant person again.

“Hey!” I shouted. He stopped in response and turned back waiting for me to go on. “I’m hungry at least let me get some food first before you drag me on the run again.”

And with that I got two buns for breakfast. I ate satisfactorily as I followed him. We were walking amongst a market place. On both my left and right were stalls being set up and food being cooked. There were dozens of conversations going on. How I wondered what mom and Xi would be doing. They would be searching for me at most. Mom would have not gone to her stall then. I sighed at just that thought.

“Hey can’t your short legs move any faster?” he asked as he stopped ahead.

“Can’t you say anything nice? Every word you say has to sound so cold,” I told him.

“You’re not being any nicer,” he retorted.

I stared at him expressionless then said, “It wouldn’t hurt to say sorry for what you did yesterday.”

“That word does not exist in my world,” he replied.

“No wonder your parents didn’t teach you any manners. You must’ve been a brat the moment you entered this world,” I said.

He stared back at me. To my surprise he didn’t say anything but continued on walking ahead. I also surprised myself by feeling sorry for what just came out of my mouth. But who knows maybe he was just tired of arguing with me and didn’t want to say anymore. That’s right I shouldn’t be taking this to the heart. It’s not like he has a heart anyways. I continued on eating in silence. It was only a few minutes after what I had said that he raced back to me grabbing my arm.

“Ow! What is it?! What’s your problem! Let go!” I shouted in anger. He pulled the bun that I was eating out of my hand and threw it somewhere behind me. That was when I turned around to see that the men from yesterday were stalking us. My eyes opened up wide in surprise.

“C’mon!” he shouted as he dragged me after him.

“Here we go again.” I thought, but the only thing on my mind was survival.

A bunch of people yelled at us as we pushed them aside moving forwards. He was going too fast I thought I would trip over my own feet. I couldn’t make out where we were going. Everyone of the surroundings seemed like a blur. My breath started to become heavy as I heard the men’s voices behind us as they shouted for us to stop. My heart pounded so fast that I thought my chest would rip. Never in my life had I run this much. We came to a stop short after and fear pumped me as I saw what was before us. A lake. A big lake. I hated water. Water was my worst enemy. Water gave me fear. I pulled my wrist out of his grip and backed up.

“What are you doing?” he asked watching me.

I shook my head unable to speak. My brain was blank. I couldn’t speak anymore. It was too late. Fear had already engulfed me. I was its victim. I could not go near water. No matter for what reason I could not go near it.

“Where are you going?!” he asked stepping towards me. As I turned away to run he grabbed me again turning me around. “What’s wrong with you?!”

My answer to him was just my heavy breathing. As the men neared us he quickly pulled me towards the dock.

“C’mon, stop pulling!” he said as he continued to pull me.

I shook my head in fear and tried to pull back but he was too strong but we didn’t make it to the dock on time because of my stubbornness. They had already caught up to us. Everything was going too fast. The person holding me was pulled back then struck to the ground. The only thing I could hear was the waves of the water splashing against the shore again and again in my ears.

“Get out of here!” those words finally transmitted into my brain and I turned to run but tripped over a rock right before me. I fell painfully onto the ground. Focusing only on the pain as I was pulled up a few seconds later.

“I remember you from yesterday,” he said. “I’ll teach you a valuable lesson today.” He tossed me onto the dock. Not a word could come out from my throat. I moved away from him but as I did so I only got nearer to the edge of the dock where the gray blue water lie below. I was scared to death.

“Aren’t you going to call for help? Sorry, but…” he said turning back to watch as his men surrounded the stranger I had with. “It seems your man is a little busy right now. Lets finish this quick shall we?” He pulled me up by my hair and as he did so I grabbed his hand that was holding me and bit him. He shouted and let go of me. As stupid as my action was I lost balance and fell in the water.

Everything became silent and a blue world was before me. I lost my breath, I couldn’t breathe anymore. I didn’t move or try pull myself up. I couldn’t feel myself falling. Images…images…a man falling into the water right before my eyes. A little girl screaming for help on the shore. After a few minutes of struggling the man finally disappeared…forever. Then I blanked out.

**************************************************

He felt the earth upon his skin as he turned his head slightly to see the girl being pulled up by her hair. Though he had had no connection and didn’t know her name he felt angry. He had always had a huge hatred toward men who mistreated women. Since young he has always witnessed his mother being beaten by his father. A huge resentment filled him and he pushed himself up punching a random person to the ground. He swung his fist around and kicked. He didn’t stop until he was sure everyone was down. He rushed to the docks and elbow punched the man who had been with the girl. After the last man had been hit he searched the dark waters.

“Where is she?” he questioned as his chest heaved up and down from being out of breath.

The water was cool and smooth as he made his way in. It took almost 30 seconds to adjust his sight underwater. He pulled himself deeper to swim around. Running out of breath he moved towards the surface and taking a few breaths of air returned to the water.

“She…she’s not dead yet right? It can’t be,” he told himself as he turned here and there in the water. At last something appeared before him. A girl sinking further and further down, her eyes closed.

“She looks so calm,” he thought to himself and quickly swam over.

He grabbed her and a few seconds later emerged by the shore. Her thick jacket made it hard to pull her up but he finally managed. She lay so still that it reminded him of the time he had last seen his mother. He shook his head throwing that thought away. He hesitated as he moved in to give her CPR. After blowing a few breaths into her she finally started coughing water out. She sat up quickly and started heaving heavily. He couldn’t tell if she was crying or just panicking because her face was wet and damp with water.

“Are…are you ok?” he asked unsure of what to do at the moment.

He felt strange and surprised as she threw herself against him sobbing. Feeling her own body against him made him feel a shiver of happiness. He slowly moved his hand up to pat her shoulder.

“Can you walk?” he asked after she had calmed down. She nodded slowly wiping her face with her wet sleeve which made now progress anyhow.

He moved away from her and got up. Trying to stand up she fell miserably and shook her head. She was surprised as he appeared before her.

“Get on my back,” he said. Silence followed.

He waited until he felt her arms on his shoulders. He stood up from the ground and started to walk on not sure where to go. Along the way he could feel her head leaning on his shoulder for comfort. The weight of her head felt just right. He was starting to feel something he had never felt in a long time. Warmth.

“Hey,” he said. “Could you shift yourself a little? You’re starting to fall.” When he got no reply he turned his head slightly to see that she was asleep.

He sighed wondering what to do. Going back to the cabin would take a few hours. Would it be faster to rent a place to stay for the night? Deciding on it he quickly headed towards the nearest inn.

It was a large red building on the corner of a street. The lights surrounding its name were bright and seemed welcoming. He pushed the glass doors open and entered. It smelled like a thrift shop and flower pots of marigold decorated the inside. Behind the white counter a woman with thick black glasses and curly hair stood smiling.

“Welcome! How may I help you?” she questioned.

He looked up at her hoping that his wet appearance wouldn’t seem too suspicious.

“Could I get a room for the night?” he asked.

“One room for the night,” she repeated pressing some buttons then handed him a room key, “that would be $100.”

He reached into his pocket and grabbed his credit card. She returned it in less then a second and with a smile watched him go up the stairs.     

He closed the door behind him as he reached his room and gently set her down on the bed. He sighed heavily taking a seat on the ground leaning against the wall and turning to look at her. She seemed to turn back and forth uncomfortably. He gently sat her up and took her heavy wet jacket off thinking she would be more comfortable and pulled the blanket over her after lying her back down. At last when she finally turned her head around to face him he noticed tears streaming down.

“Dad,” she kept mumbling.

He moved his hand to dry her tears but as he did so she quickly moved her hand up and grabbed his surprising him.

“Mom! I’m sorry! I didn’t mean it! It was all an accident. Forgive me,” she cried.

He could only concentrate on her cold hand then a thought occurred to him. He quickly felt her forehead to find that it was hot. A moment later he dashed down the stairs to call the receptionist.

Minutes passed by as he waited outside the door and soon the woman emerged from the room.

“She had a little fever. I just gave her some medicine so she’ll be fine after a few hours,” she explained.

“Thank you,” he said as he returned to the room. He sat down on the floor and leaned against the wall watching her sleep.

******************************************************