Savior (Book One)

Chapter Forty

It didn’t take long for Bud to pick the lock on the door. Once he succeeded he looked at me, holding his finger to his lips. I nodded towards him, my heart beating fast with anticipation. Bud opened the door and peeked out to see if the coast was clear. When he deemed it safe he nodded towards me and gestured for me to come up the stairs. I did so nervously biting my bottom lip. When I got to the top, he placed a hand on my shoulder and leaned in closer to me.

“I want you to run as fast as you can to the front door. I will be right behind you. When you get outside, run to the nearest neighbor and call the police, alright?” He asked, looking at me with intense chocolate colored eyes.

I nodded seriously and hugged him. “Words cannot compare to the gratitude I feel for you helping me Bud.” I pulled away from him and looked at him. “Please be safe.”

He nodded and placed a hand on my upper arm. “I will. I doubt that Henry has military training,” he laughed, making me crack a small smile. He nudged me towards the door and I moved, peeking out to make sure the coast was clear before I jolted out of the room towards the front door. I heard Henry yelling behind me, his footsteps falling heavily onto the wooden floor. I didn’t dare to look back, though. I didn’t want him to catch me again. I heard a crash and I hesitated, looking back to see Bud and Henry throwing fists at one another. I bit my bottom lip, debating whether or not to help him, but he looked at me and yelled for me to get to one of the neighbors.

I nodded and ran outside, ignoring the gasps of shock at my disheveled form. I ran to the nearest neighbor and knocked erratically on their door, nearly hitting an old lady in the head when she opened the door. “I’m so sorry. I…I need to borrow your phone. My friend is in danger, and he needs my help.”

The old lady seemed shocked, her eyes wide and her hand hovering over the doorframe. Finally she nodded quickly and allowed me entrance. I found her phone and called the police, relaying the information to them with speed. They told me that they were on their way and I thanked them before thanking the lady and rushing back over to Henry’s house. I ran inside, but Henry and Bud were nowhere to be seen.

Where did they disappear to? I gulped, grabbing a gulf club that was near the door and made my way further into the house, keeping my eyes peeled for either male. I neared the back of the house and heard struggling noises coming from the back yard. I gulped and went out of the back door, shocked to see Henry with a bloodied face and Bud having a broken nose. It looked like Henry was keeping up with Bud just fine. It was a scary thought, considering I didn’t know what Henry was capable of.

I went to run over there, but I heard someone crying to my left. I blinked, lowering the gulf club and walked over to the bush. I looked behind it and gasped when I saw Ivory crying her little eyes out, clutching a small stuffed bunny in her hands. I knelt down by her and gently touched her shoulder, causing her to look up at me with teary eyes. My heart felt heavy in my chest as I pulled her against me, resting my head on hers as she cried.

“Shh, don’t cry sweetie. It’ll be alright.” I whispered, though I knew that she wouldn’t be with Henry any longer when the police arrived.

Her whole body shook and I couldn’t help but feel like it was my fault. I was tearing her family apart. Granted, it wasn’t planned…but if I had never been sent here, they would probably be living happily ever after. I frowned. Then again, Henry would have probably found another unsuspecting child to lock in the basement. I rather it be me than anyone else. But I still couldn’t help but feel guilty for tearing this happy family apart.

I held onto Ivory, keeping her face hidden in my chest to keep her from seeing the horrors of her father being taken into custody as the police finally arrived. It felt like only a couple short minutes before Ivory was taken from me, the police woman nodding towards me before she tried comforting the small child. I felt a hand on my shoulder and looked up to see Bud staring down at me. His face was bloody, thanks to his nose and a cut near his eye. I let him help me up and lead me to one of the ambulances, where a paramedic checked me. She told Bud that I was lacking iron and nutrients, and that I should be fed soon.

Bud nodded towards her and after being checked himself, led me to his car. I looked curiously at him, but said nothing as I climbed into the passenger’s side. He ended up driving me to his house. I blinked in surprise and looked at him as he gestured for me to get out of the car. I did, following him obediently into his house. As I walked inside I recalled my memories of my first day here. I remember eating Lucky Charms as my first human meal. I smiled to myself and followed Bud into a bathroom. He took down a towel and turned towards me.

“I’m sure I have some clothes that fit you. Just sit tight until I get them, ok?” He paused and sighed. “We were supposed to go to the station to give statements, but I knew you’d probably wouldn’t want to be seen like that.”

I looked down at my disheveled state and bit my bottom lip. I glanced back up at him. “Thank you so much Bud. For everything.” I said sincerely, tucking my hands behind myself.

He gave me a small smile and left the bathroom, leaving me there to stare at my reflection. Good grief I looked like crap. I studied the way my left eye was crusted shut, blood caked at the top of my head and around my nose. My right eye was bruised darkly and I gently touched it, wincing when I felt pain. Well duh…of course it would hurt. It was recent. I sighed, pulling my dirty, tattered hair over my shoulder, blinking in surprise to see the sword still nestled between the dark strands. I took it out of my hair and stared at it curiously, wondering how Henry didn’t see it. I mean, the thing was embedded with real gold and silver. Surely that was worth a fortune, right?

I gently touched one of the golden snowflake-like shapes, the metal cool against my fingers. Well, I should be thankful that he didn’t take it from me. I don’t know what I would have done if he sold it. Who knows how long I would have spent trying to track that thing down.

I smiled sadly at it and clipped it on my wrist, not wanting to risk separating from it. Bud came back into the bathroom with a fresh change of clothes. I thanked him and watched him leave so I could shower. I undressed, frowning when I saw my ribs showing through my skin. Gosh…I really did need to put on more weight. I looked a little anorexic.

Surely that wasn’t healthy for a human.

I sighed and stepped into the shower, gasping with relief to feel the hot water cascading down my skin, washing away all of the dirt and grime. I bit my bottom lip and looked up into the spray, the water soothing to my cuts. I didn’t want this to end. It was so relaxing to finally be able to shower, and get clean. However, we still had to go down to the station to give our testament against Henry. I was still a bit guilty for tearing him away from his family, but hopefully he will have time to think about the wrong he has done with his time in jail.

I finished showering and reluctantly stepped out of the shower, drying myself off before I pulled on the clothes that Bud provided for me. They were a bit big…ok, they were really big on me, but Bud luckily included a belt to keep the jeans up. I brushed my hair using a comb that I found on the sink, and clipped the sword back in place, my bangs escaping the clip to frame my face.

I walked out of the bathroom and walked into the living room to see Bud applying some kind of gel to his nose. He glanced up and nodded in approval before he placed the gel down and grabbed his keys. “Come on, Sky. Let’s get to the station.” He said.

I nodded and followed him to the car, climbing into the passenger’s side. As we began driving, I decided to get my testament ready for the police. I hated to separate a father from his children…but it had to be done. What if instead of me, he used his own daughters to obtain money? I couldn’t let him do that to anyone ever again. I hated doing this, but he had to learn that the world isn’t always about how much money you have. At least…it wasn’t supposed to be like that. Heck, what would I know? I wasn’t as smart as my older brothers and sisters when it came to human ways.

I blinked as a familiar building drew closer to us. I took in a breath and closed my eyes, sending a small prayer to Father before I bit my bottom lip and followed Bud inside.