Page 18 of In My Blood
“We’re at a hotel in the city. I just wanted to bring you somewhere secure and comfortable. You’re safe here.”
“I have no way of knowing that,” I accused as I looked back to the needle in my arm.
“You have me. I wouldn’t allow anything to hurt you,Tesorino. Please believe that,” he almost pleaded, and he looked hurt by my words, but another lesson I had learned over the years, was never to trust appearances. There were some very good actors in this world.
“I want to…to leave. If you don’t want to hurt me, then you’ll allow me to do that,” I said as calmly and as firmly as I could muster, despite the fact my body was starting to shake with adrenaline.
“It’s not safe for you to be alone until we know who hurt our mother. Where would you even go?” he asked.
“I can take care of myself!”
“Cara…” he got to his feet and stepped closer to me, and it was all I needed for my flight instinct to kick in. I grabbed the tube attached to my arm and ripped it violently upwards. The tape tore from my skin and the needle came away with a spurt of blood as I rolled fast to the vacant side of the bed. I rolled right off of it and landed on my feet, but I had to reach for the wall when the room started to spin around me.
“Cara! Stop!” Rafe yelled, but he didn’t move fast enough to catch me as I got away from him. My arm was bleeding pretty badly so I cradled it to my chest and pressed the open wound against my boob to stop, or at least stem the bleeding. That was when I realised my clothes were mostly gone. I stood in nothing but my panties and bra, with a camisole over them. My legs were streaked with blood from my apartment and I could see the bruises that marred my body from Mum lashing out, and hurling things at me even more than usual in the last couple of weeks.
“Where are my clothes?” I screamed as my panic rose even higher. “Wh-what the fuck did you do?!”
“Nothing. Sweetheart, just let me explain,” Rafe said as he rounded the bed and came right toward me.
“Stay the hell away from me!” I growled, sounding almost feral even to myself.
“You’re bleeding. Please, I just….I want to help you,” he said calmly. Thankfully, he had stopped where he now stood a few metres away from me.
“You’re too damned late, Rafe! I don’t need your help now!” I snapped bitterly, then regretted it immediately. I hadn’t wanted to show him how much he could affect me.
“Rafe? Everything alri…”
My eyes shot to the doorway of the room and Dio walked in. He looked so much taller and more intimidating than I remembered him. His words were obviously cut off by the mess he had walked into the midst of. “What’s happening right now?” he asked instead.
“I’m leaving!” I snapped. “That’s what’s h-happening! Where are my clothes?” I was breathing so hard my words came out fast and gasping, but they still carried the anger and fear I felt.
“I can get you some clothes, Carr, but before I do I want to stop that bleeding, okay? You can’t leave here when you’re losing so much blood,” Dio said calmly as he walked further into the room and stopped beside Rafe.
“You’re n-not coming n…near me!” I panted.
“We won’t hurt you. You know us. We’re still the ones you used to trust to check your room for monsters before bed,Piccola. We haven’t changed. We just got older, just like you did too,” he continued, as he placed a hand on Rafe’s shoulder, like he was trying to comfort him. I glanced to my brother and saw he looked so unlike the man I knew. He looked upset. Maybe even a little wobbly where he stood. That was not the Rafe I knew.
“Wh…why did you t-take my clothes? Who t-touched me?” I asked, but my voice was lower and it trembled badly as the burst of strength that I had found before, seemed to leave me as fast as it had come.
“Rafe and a doctor we brought in took off the leggings and top you wore. They were hard with dried blood and the doctor needed to check you weren’t injured. We brought him in from a hospital in the city. I can give him a ring right now if you want to speak with him yourself.”
“I just w-want to go home,” I whispered tiredly. So tiredly.
“You can’t go back to that apartment, Cara. It’s not safe there any longer. I brought the possessions I thought were yours, and if you have a friend, or a boyfriend you want me to call, we can do that. We can bring them here to be with you, but for now, this is where you need to be. Rafe needs you to be safe. He has never stopped worrying about you since the day you parted, and now he has you back, he couldn’t stand to lose you all over again. I couldn’t either. Please, just give us a chance to show you that you can trust us.”
“Rafe?” I whimpered when I looked to him and saw he was trying to not meet my eyes. I wanted to be cautious of him, and maybe even angry, but I hated how broken he looked right then.I had hated him for never coming for me, for so very long, but I had never stopped loving him. Finally he lifted his gaze and his eyes met mine.
“I failed you, Cara. I made a promise to you and I didn’t keep it, but I will never let that happen again. I will never ever fail you again. That’s a promise I will keep until my very last breath,” he told me. I closed my eyes and pressed my head back against the wall. My legs were shaking so hard I allowed them to give up, and I slid down until I was sat on the plush carpet, leaning heavily on the wall.
“Cara?” I opened my eyes as soon as I heard movement and found Rafe on his knees before me once again. I had a flashback to the night before, and recalled him sitting just that same way to try and soothe me in my frazzled and panicked state.
“I’m okay,” I whispered as I looked him over. “You l-look the same,” I told him.
“I’m a little older and a lot wiser,” he laughed flatly. “Can I take a look at your arm? Please sweetheart? I’ll be gentle.”
“I w-want my clothes,” I told him, but I released my arm from where I pressed it to my chest and held it towards him.
“I’ll get you something to wear,” Dio spoke up, then he left the room.
