Page 63 of Hurt Me Not
“No, it’s not.”
I let out a sigh before turning back, choosing to sit down on the couch next to her. She maneuvered so she was looking at me, her hands reaching for the glass while the rest of her body was still covered by the blanket.
How could anyone do that to her?
She’d annoyed me and made me angry, but that was because I wanted her and couldn’t have her, so yeah, I’d lashed out. Call it a dumbass coping mechanism. Her life had been so different from mine, and I couldn’t drag her down to my existence with my father.
She was perfect in every way.She was quiet, to the point where she never wanted to inconvenience anyone around her. She was sweet. Caring. Everything that I could never be.
Having people come after me? That was to be expected. To get where I was now, I had to do many things that I didn't want to. Including ruining peoples’ lives in the name of growth.
But Pearl? She’d never even hurt a fly.
“So you had no idea he was stalking you for three whole years. He would go around murdering or attacking anyone you got close to, and then at the beginning of your fourth year, just as you were about to start school, he cornered you in one of your classrooms and tried to kill you. Do I have all that right?”
It sounds like a fucking movie.
She gave me a hesitant nod.
“When I saw him in the classroom, when he talked to me… I was shocked because he seemed to know me and a lot of stuff about me, but I had no idea who he was.”
I could see it. Pearl alone in the classroom, turning around and giving him a smile just because that's who she was. Maybe in his twisted mind that meant she loved him. So when he got closer and started to talk to her and she tried to leave, he would have gotten angry. Demanded her attention. And when she didn’t respond the way he wanted her to…
“And that angered him more,” I guessed, and she gave me another nod.
“I really didn’t know who he was. At all. He was just another face in class. And when he was taken away, the police assured mehe’d go to jail. That they had more than enough evidence of what he’d done, even if I didn’t testify.”
I let out a scoff.
“Like the police could be trusted to take care of anything.”
I'd had my fair share of runs with the cops, especially when it came to my father. They’d always take his word for it, even as a drunk, when he told them I was going through a “teenage rebellion” stage.
Even when teachers saw what was happening and took my side. Even when I had to skip school because he’d beaten the shit out of me.
The only times when they’d actually do anything was where there were complaints or witnesses, which was how CPS got involved. I never knew if they were corrupt and he was paying them on the side or if they just didn’t give a shit.
So no, I didn’t trust the police as far as I could throw them. But if she hadn’t testified and her name had been kept private, I couldn’t have known about it.
That didn’t make me feel better, though.
“To be honest, I was just glad he was gone. I never thought?—”
Her lower lip trembled, and tears started to leak from her eyes. My poor Pearl. She didn’t deserve this.
Her tears had my heart breaking inside me.
She grew up with parents who never cared for her, what she did, or who she was with. I had the feeling she just existed in their house, and that was why she’d learned to stay in the shadows. Because no one cared.
And then, the one time she managed to get away from them and find the life she wanted, this asshole found her.
Why do I feel like Father has something to do with this?
It seemed like too much of a coincidence that he was out and threatening me at the same time her stalker decided to as well. I couldn’t ignore it.
My hand reached into the blanket and held her hand.
“I'll keep you safe,” I vowed, looking her straight in the eyes. “Jax, the one you saw earlier? I actually called her because I wanted to up our security.”
