The Girl In The Mansion.

Chapter twenty three~

Chapter by: xlovemusicalsx

(y/n)'s POV

Remind me again why I was waking up at 4:30 for a fucking morning class on history that isn't even related to my musical theatre major? Oh right, because my college is awful and everything sucks. Why me?

I stumbled into my shower, which woke me up enough to get dressed and get a bit of dry cereal for breakfast. Eating anything more in the mornings made me nauseous and feel all gross.

I was out the door at 4:57, and I had to walk to my class in the complete dark. The one thing that sucked about fall was exactly this, with the seasons changing and it being dark outside constantly. At least I had on my warm skeleton hoodie for some comfort.

The brisk wind made me curl inwards on myself, holding my backpack straps cautiously.

I looked around, enjoying being on my lonesome. It was nice to just think sometimes, alone on the sidewalk with trees all around.

That was interrupted, however, when my arm was grabbed by the crook of my elbow and dragged backward. I yelped in shock, but a hand flew to my mouth.

The one that grabbed me slid my backpack off, somehow managing to keep their other hand on my mouth. I was pulled against a strong chest, struggling against an iron-tight grip.

Where the hell was Heather when you needed her?

I was struggling to breathe, and I couldn't tell if it was because of the person's grip or my panic, but I felt light-headed. I tried to elbow this person in the gut, but they were too strong.

"Hey, little darling. I heard you and Veronica are real good friends, huh?" A deep, masculine voice whispered, sending unpleasant chills down my spine. Nevertheless, I nodded as well as I could out of fear.

"Well then, I know exactly what I'm doing to you." He murmured, and I felt something sharp prick my neck before the weight lifted off me. I grabbed my backpack, turning around to see that guy who attacked me once before, when Heather came to my rescue. But instead of a beautiful blonde young woman, there stood two extremely hairy guys my age. One was punching JD, but the other rushed in front of me to keep me behind him.

"I'm so sorry about him, he's an asshole. I'm Ram, by the way, and my friend throwing those sick punches is Kurt." The guy in front of me said. I smiled weakly despite him being unable to see me.

"I'm (y/n). Sorry to trouble you with this." I apologized softly, holding onto my backpack straps with a death grip.

"No problem. Do you have a friend nearby you I could take you to stay with today? This guy's seriously shady. I should know, we go way back." Ram asked. I knew Heather lived only a couple minutes from here, so I nodded.

"Yeah, she lives in the big spooky mansion in the woods." I answered quietly, looking away from the bruised and bloody JD with Kurt on top of him.

"No way dude, you're friends with Heather Chandler? She and I went to high school together! We gotta come say hi." Ram said excitedly, drawing Kurt's attention. I shrugged, figuring that I could just ask the girl next to me for the notes anyway and I say I was sick.

We walked there in peaceful silence, only disturbed by the crunching of leaves under our feet. When the house came into view, a small smile tugged at my lips. The boys sped up, probably excited to see their old friend, so I followed suit.

Kurt knocked on the door with extremely bruised looking (and hairy) knuckles. These guys were certainly very strange.

Heather answered the door in a red oversized sweater and black shorts, making me blush. She immediately looked to me, before glancing to either side and taking in the boys next to me.

"What're you guys doing here? At 5:30 in the morning no less?" She asked.

"JD, the fucking emo, attacked your friend here, but luckily we were taking a nice stroll so we protected her. She's staying with you for the day, I don't trust Jason." Ram answered smugly, seeming delighted at her veiled annoyance.

"She was attacked? Thank you, boys. I'll take it from here." She said carefully, grabbing my arm to tug me in. I waved at the guys as I came in before Heather nearly slammed the door shut.

"Fancy meeting you here?" I attempted to lighten the mood. Her lip quirked upward, but otherwise she stood tense.

"Are you okay? What happened?" She asked quietly after a moment of just looking at one another.

"Well, I was walking to class but this dude JD just grabbed me and whispered something about "do I know Veronica" which I do, she's a friend, and then he was like "I know what I'm gonna do with you then" but those two guys tackled him and helped me." I explained. She nodded along, reaching out to grab my shoulder at some point.

"I'm so sorry, you needed me and I wasn't there to protect you." She whispered, looking genuinely sad. I shook my head. No, she didn't know, it wasn't her fault.

I pulled her into a tight hug that she melted into automatically, making me smile and nuzzle into her shoulder.

I was safe now, and that's what mattered.

(917 words)