Page 62 of These Jagged Edges

"Learning to breathe again. Everyone thinks getting away is the hardest part, but to me, it’s learning to live without fear. It had been a companion for so damn long, I didn't know how to live without it." Allison takes a small bite of pie, and I continue. "Before all this," I circle my hand in the air, "I lived with the fucking devil. He manipulated me, beat me, raped me, and left me with scars. Some visible, some cut so deep within me they'll never truly fade away."

I look out the window. "I can remember laying on the floor and begging death to show mercy on me, but it never did."

"How'd you get away?"

"I ran like hell."

"Has he ever found you?"

Her question made me uneasy. My devil hadn't found me but in the back of my mind, the wordsnot yetwere whispered sarcastically.

I give her a shaky smile. "Not yet."

She narrows her blue eyes on me and asks, "What would you do if he ever does?"

"Fight like hell, because I have so much to live for.”

Allison pushes the pie around on her plate. "He used my addiction against me and made me sell my body for money or drugs. If I refused..." Her voice trailsoff.

"I'm so sorry," I tell her honestly. "Are you sure he's found you? Or is he just trying to manipulate you into coming back?"

Allison hesitates slightly. "I'm not sure. Honestly, I'm not even sure why I called you."

"You're scared honey. But you’re not alone, you should reach out to people. I’m glad you did."

Allison offers me a sad smile in reply. "What do I do now?"

"First, we smash that fucking phone and get you a new one. Then, you live."

"What if I'm not sure how?"

"You wake up every day and choose to live. It's going to be hard, but I'll be right there with you."

I take her small hand in mine and give it a slight squeeze. She could do it I have no doubt. I look at her and realize how this was who I was not a short time ago, but now I feel ready to take on the world. I know I can help her feel the same way about herself.

"Do you have any family?"

Allison shakes her head. "Not anymore."

I decide right then and there to do everything in my power to help her.

"Now, let's call the sheriff and get you in some self-defense classes."

"Maddox will never let me step foot in there."

"You let me worry about that." I reassure her as we finish our pie.

"You want me to what?Have you lost your damned mind?"

Lord, grant me strength because I’m two seconds away from kicking this overgrown asshole out of my house. "Maddox?—"

"Want me to teach her self-defense," he says to himself with ahumorless chuckle. I watch him pace my bedroom like a caged animal, rolling his broad shoulders, his body tight with tension.

I put my hand on my hips. "Look. At. Me."

Maddox stops pacing and stares daggers at my forehead. "Maddox Cole, I said look at me.”

I keep quiet until his fierce green eyes lock on mine. "Don't raise your voice at me, and you have one more time to ask me if Ilost my damned mind," I say sarcastically, mimicking his condescending tone, "before I throw you out of my house! Do I make myself clear?"

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