Outlawry

Chapter 11 ~ Ava//Pious New Pal

I furtively went up to my room and closed the door. I walked up to my mirror to examine the damage that had been done to my neck.

It looked swollen, and not to mention, just flat out disgusting. My lips pulled into a frown.

I brushed my hair out. The strawberry colored hair covered nicely over the wound. As long as I didn't wear it up, no one would suspect anything. I let out a breath.

"I'll get through this," I whispered to myself.

"Holy shit, Chica, you're in for some serious hell!"

Gomez's words resonated in my mind. Serious hell? What is that even supposed to mean?

I knew he was going to harass me. I knew he was going to stalk me. These were obvious. But, if Gomez had said it, what could possibly be worse than what I had been through tonight? And what I had already been going through? Was that not hell enough for him?

The full moon's light leaked in through my white, flowing curtains, resembling ghosts. The wind blew, making them gracefully flutter.

I looked to the note Luther had given me that was sitting on my desk, and I thought back to the flowers. They had so much more meaning to them now. They were symbolic now, and not just crusty old roses. The roses were me, and they represented what Luther could do to me. I shuddered.

When would this torture end?

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

"Wake up sweat heart, it's time to go to church," my mother whispered as she shook me awake.

My eyes snapped open, and I shot up, making sure that the hair still covered up the wound.

"Are you okay?" she asked. "You slept all day yesterday and all through the night!"

I looked around drearily. I could feel the marks throbbing, meaning that last night wasn't a dream. My eyebrows curled up.

"Yeah," I said, flipping the covers off of me. "I'm fine."

"Well, get ready, we leave in thirty minutes."

She stepped out of my room and closed the door behind her. The note still remained on the desk. I thought it best to keep it out of sight. I stuck it into one of the desk's drawers.

Searching my closet, still trying to open my eyes wide enough, I grabbed a loose, light purple sweater and a white, wool skirt. After putting them on, I slipped on a pair of white vans and brushed my hair and teeth.

The whole morning, I felt disgusting and guilty. I should never had gone to Luther's. What was I thinking? Why had I listen to Gomez? I don't even know the man! He could be Luther's ally, and just pretending to help me, for all I know.

I stared down at my Cheerios. My mom closed the fridge and leaned against the counter towards me. I lifted my eyes to meet hers.

"What's the matter, sweat heart?"

I shrugged. There was no way that I was telling her the truth.

"I don't know," I lied. "Just, moving and everything. It's just a little traumatic."

She pursed her lips sympathetically. "I know how you feel," she said. "We used to move a lot when I was little too, ya know."

I nodded and stared back down at my Cheerios. If we kept talking about this, she would know that I was lying, for I wasn't having any issues with the move. In fact, it was a nice change. Well, all except for Luther...

"Hurry up and eat," she said, slapping her hand down playfully. I jumped at the sudden excitement. "I want to get there early."

I nodded and lethargically finished my cereal.