Page 51 of His Daggered Heart

He slams my head back and I see nothing. I blink, waiting for my sight to reappear. I hear his zipper and the shuffling of his clothing. I know I’m crying. I want to scream but nothing comes out when I try. I feel his hands on my clit. “I heard you’re getting married, congratulations.”

And then I feel air whoosh past me.

“What the fuck? Angel?”

Kohen.

Thank fucking god it’s Kohen. I drop to the floor, swirly colors behind my eyelids. I open them and I see them. Kohen is beating his face in. “How dare you put your filthy fucking hands on my girl.”

Walker can’t even respond as Kohen throws punches repeatedly at his mouth. I hear a crack and I know his jaw is broken. I struggle to my feet. “Kohen, stop!” I scream.

He doesn’t, instead he wraps his hands around Walker’s throat. “Do you like that, Walker? You like a man’s hands around your throat?’ Kohen spits in his face, Walker’s legs flailing around as he tries to twist and turn from Kohen’s hold. His face is turning unnatural colors.

I stand in front of them and move in to cradle Kohen’s face. “Look at me, handsome, you are going to kill him.”

His eyes move to mine and they are wild, the green is almost gone at how dilated his pupils are.

“He isn’t worth it, handsome. He isn’t worth our life together. Please, Kohen,” I cry. I see some sliver of humanity return as he really looks into my eyes. His features relax and Walker is trying to speak. I run to my phone and call 911. I also run to the shower and hit the panic button, a feature they put in the last time a girl was raped in here. Red lights flash and an alarm rings through the room.

Kohen gets up slowly, looking down at Walker. “You fucking pussy, you are a dead man. Maybe not by my hands but trust me, you fucked with the wrong family.” He walks away and grabs me a towel and some sandals as I explain to the police where we are. It really shouldn’t be so fucking hard to call for help in this day and age.

Security rushes in the room. “We’re coming in!” They yell while they assess the room and look at Kohen’s busted, bloody knuckles, and then down at Walker who is sitting now, trying to hold his mouth together. A woman security guard hurries to me and guides me to another room. Kohen tries to follow but she doesn’t let him.

“It’s okay, it’s just procedure,” I tell him.

“I am right here, angel. I love you.”

I nod, still speechless. Walker almost raped me. What do I even look like? What did Kohen think was happening? All the wrong thoughts flood my mind.

A female officer joins us and relief floods me. “Are you okay, ma’am? What happened here?”

“I’m okay, I was, um…” I pause, crying again. I can’t believe this is all really happening. She rubs my arm, comforting me. I gulp and she nods for me to continue.

“Here, miss,” the guard says, handing me some tissues.

“I was waiting for my boyfriend, I mean my fiancé, to come get me after rehearsal. I had just texted him.” She nods, writing everything down as I go through it from A to Z. She takes pictures and asks me if I need to go to the hospital but I decline. I know what the process is, I’m not doing this again, not for him, and he didn’t penetrate me, anyway. What they have is enough to take him in. They leave, after making sure I feel safe with Kohen and I get dressed as he waits for me, giving me some space. What if he is disgusted with me? What if the fact that Walker’s hands were on my body makes him not want to marry me anymore? I know these are probably just my stupid anxiety but still, what if?

“Where is she? Is she okay?’ I hear Levi. I hope they didn’t tell Cora because she doesn’t need this right now, and I know she had a scan today.

“Yeah, she is just getting dressed,” Kohen says flatly.

“Our girl is strong, man, she will be okay.”

I peek from the stall and see Levi’s hand on Kohen’s shoulder. Kohen is pinching his nose, looking defeated. His hands are bandaged up and I hope to god he doesn’t have anything wrong. He can’t afford to miss any training. He has that important meet coming up.

“I should have been here earlier,” he whispers but the echo carries it to me.

“Nah, man, don’t do that, Kohen. What was meant to happen happened, bad or good. This will define her in some way and all we can do is use it for good.”

“I don’t know if I believe that, Levi.” He swipes a tear away.

“You don’t have to, man. I get it. The cards were laid out and this was the dealt hand. Bad people live in the world, they have free will, they choose that path, and while they walk it, they hurt people. They make bad choices and they will answer for that. But us, we persevere. We use our pain and make it good by helping others, uplifting them, helping them through their own hurts. Hurt people might hurt people but you know what, man? Healed people heal other people, and our Alex, as tough as nails as she is, is a healer.

“I know you see her light, too. She has endured so much darkness already. The enemy tried to snuff her light but she never gives up, our little fighter. She will use this as fuel to feed the light. I just know it.” He slaps his arm. “You’ll be okay, too, even if you don’t believe in what I’m saying and I respect that.” He pauses. “Y’alls love can get through anything. I’m gonna go check on our girl, man. Relax, just breathe.”

Kohen nods, laying his head back against the cement wall. I scoot away from the stall door.

“Oh, I got myself a little spy,” Levi laughs. He knocks on the door. My eyes are wet again. Why am I crying so damn much these days? Fuck. “Open up, sweetness, let me see you.”

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