This part is slightly graphic and upsetting. If you are offended by slightly graphic content, then feel free to skip this part. It's nothing overboard, but if you don't feel comfortable reading it, then you may skip it. There will be another set of bold text letting you know the end of the slightly graphic content.

A raspy voice whispers in my ear, "Now, I don't want to hurt you. But if you don't cooperate, then I'll have to." This voice is awfully familiar, but I can't place it. I start to whimper. I'm really scared at this point . I don't know what he's going to do to me. He releases my arms, but the knife blade is still at my throat.

 "Turn around. And if you yell, I'll kill you," he says, and removes his hand from my mouth. While shaking, I turn around, and I'm shocked to see who it is. It's Roman Lerman, the shallow guy from my science class. "You," I say softly. He smiles evilly. 

"You're so beautiful, Sophia. You have no idea how much I want you as my next victim," he says. He runs one hand through my hair, the other down to the side of my body, and he brings his head closer into mine. I'm disgusted. I take my hands and push him as hard as he could. But, it's not hard enough. He's just pushed back a little bit. His seductive face is now starting to get angry. 

"You're going to regret that," he says. In an instant, he's on top of me, pinning me down onto the cold, hard floor. My arms are beneath his knees, and I can't move any of my upper body. The second I'm on the floor, he clamps his hand over my mouth again and brings the knife blade back to my throat. 

"You could die in the next five minutes. Your life is in my hands. Remember that," he says. I don't have any choice but to comply. If I want to make it out of here alive, the only thing I can do is obey. 

"That's a good girl, Sophia. Now don't move," he says. He gets up off of me, while still pinning my wrists to the sides of my body. He then holds both wrists down onto my chest. 

"I can't wait to do this. I chose you specifically, Sophia. You were the perfect one. I chose you," he says, and he brings the knife back to my throat. I shake my head. 

"You don't have to do this, Roman. Please. Don't do this," I say. He smiles. 

"Oh but I will. You are so much like the others, Sophia. So beautiful, so innocent. I love that. I love the innocence in your eyes. But I love the look in their eyes when I'm doing it to them. It's the thing that I enjoy the most about doing this," he says. 

He takes the knife and he presses the tip on my throat. "Roman, don't. I have a family. I am a sister. I am a daughter. I'm a granddaughter. I'm a niece. I'm a cousin. But, I'm someone. You don't know what you're going to do to my family if you do this. You're going to cause them suffering forever. If you do this, you are depriving my family of someone they love. You don't want to do that, Roman. Please," I say. 

He shakes his head. "I love when they plead. I love when they're at my mercy. But how do I know that you aren't going to go tell the police if I let you go?" he asks. I shake my head. 

"I promise. I won't tell the police. Just let me go," I say. He shakes his head and presses the tip of the knife harder against my throat. 

"That's what they all say. And I don't believe them Sophia. I don't. I know exactly what you're going to do. You're going to run down to the station, tell your daddy, and get me busted. But I won't let that happen. Ever. You're at my mercy. I shall do what I want to do with you," he says. I convey my last plea of mercy through my eyes. He looks into my eyes and smirks evilly. He then raises the knife high up in the air. 

I close my eyes, because I don't want to witness this. I can't witness the pain that's going to be inflicted on me. But before he can do anything to hurt me, the door is forced open.  

End slightly graphic content

I keep my eyes shut, and I hear a voice saying, "What is going on here?" The voice is familiar, but I'm too mortified to recognize it. I can hear feet scuffling, then a large thud, followed by another one. The thud sounds like physical contact between two people. 

I can hear a groan from someone, like they are in pain, and it sounds like Roman. I hear feet scuffling towards me. Someone kneels over me and puts two fingers on the side of my neck, as if they're trying to check for a pulse. 

The person then started lightly slapping my face, probably to see if I was still conscious. "Sophia. Sophia, open your eyes!" the voice says. I slowly open them, and there's Ray kneeling over me, his handsome face filled with concern. 

Relief washes over me, and I relax. It's just Ray. I didn't need to be frightened. His bright eyes light up after he sees that I'm still alive. 

He looks so relieved that I'm alive. After seeing that I was not unconscious, Ray puts his hand on his chest as a sign of relief. He helps me up off the ground and I straighten my shirt. 

Once I am done with that, I can see Roman lying on the ground with a bit of blood on his face. Yeah, Ray is a fourth degree black belt in karate. Roman didn't really stand a chance. 

I brush back my hair, and then I run into Ray's arms and burst into tears. Ray hugs me tightly and pats my back, whispering in my ear, "Shhhh. You're safe now, Sophia. I've got you. I won't let you go," he says.   

I never want to let go. I wanted to hold on to Ray forever. But I have to eventually. Once I let go, I notice I'm bleeding a little bit from my neck. Roman must have pressed the knife tip kind of hard. 

Ray goes into his backpack and he finds a Band-Aid. He rips off the wrapper and applies it on my neck. I flinch a little bit at the touch, but he applies it gently, and then caresses my face. He then looks back at Roman. 

"I have an idea," he says. Ray looks in Roman's backpack, and finds handcuffs in there. He takes Roman's hands and handcuffs them to a nearby pole so that he can't run away. He then walks back to me.  

Once we are there, I'm curious to see how my dad will react to me almost being murdered. I've always been afraid that if anyone tries to hurt me, my dad would skin them alive and feed their internal organs to red tailed hawks. When we walk in, we see one of the officers already there, eating a sandwich. Thankfully, it's one of the assisting officers, not my dad.

"Ah, Ms. Smith. What brings you here?" he asks. 

"I need to speak with my dad. It's incredibly urgent," I say, shaking out of slight fear. He smiles. 

"Just your luck. He's free," the officer says. I take a deep breath and I go to my dad's designated office. I knock on his door lightly, and I hear his strong voice say, "Come in!"

With a bit of hesitation, I enter his office to find him typing up a police report. He's holding a cup of coffee with a bit of cream in it. My dad notices my presence and halts his typing.

 "Sophia! What brings you here with Ray, love?" he asks. I look at Ray with a hesitant look on my face, and he nods. I take a deep breath, and I just let it out. I hate sugar coating things.

"I was almost murdered," I say, and I brace for my dad's reaction. My dad's face falls, and he looks like he's about to explode. Here it comes. 

"You were WHAT?!" he yells. The coffee cup he is holding is being squeezed so hard that  I'm afraid it will break and spill all over him. I tell him the whole story, from meeting Roman to Ray saving me from a grisly fate. At the end of it, my dad pulls out a couple of Q-tips.

"Sophia, I want you to swab every part of your body that Roman left evidence on. That way, we can get a conviction and he can go to jail," he says. My dad points to a bathroom, and I go inside and swab my throat, mouth, and arms. I then give the samples to my dad.

"We're going to arrest that bastard soon. Don't worry, love. And Ray, I can't thank you enough for looking out for my daughter. You are the finest gentleman I have ever met. Thank you so much," my dad says.

Ray just smiles and walks out of the police station with me. Once we were outside, Ray starts to walk to his car. I grab his hand and prevent him from walking any further. Ray turns around and looks at me with a confused look on his face. 

"What is it, Sophia?" he says, and walks back towards me. I take a deep breath.

"Ray, I can't thank you enough for everything that you have done for me today. You are so caring, so sweet, and I just can't imagine you with someone else. I can't. I can't thank you enough for what you have done. I just can't," I say, my voice breaking.

Ray comes closer to me and runs his fingers through my hair. He sighs. "Sophia, you don't know how scared I was when I saw you like that. When I saw you like that, I thought you were dying. I thought I was going to lose you forever. In my opinion, that is the worst nightmare ever. I can't bear to lose you. I didn't do that for you. I did that so that I wouldn't lose my mind, because I like you. I like you, Sophia Smith, and I can't deny it any further," he says. I smile.

Ray grabs my waist gently and pulls me closer to him. His touch is so tender and it's driving me nuts. I step forward and lean in. Ray puts his hands on my face. I wrap my arms around his waist. Our heads come even closer together, and the next thing you know, we're kissing. It was so sudden. I was just talking to Ray and the next thing you know he's kissing me. 

I'm not complaining though. He's really good. I can taste the pure delight. I can taste the mint chapstick that he always uses. And I like it. I let go of his waist and sling my arms around his neck. Ray then gently puts his hands on my waist and grabs me gently. All this time, Ray is gently pulling at my lips and nipping them, which makes this even more relaxing than it should be. 

I'm running my fingers through his hair, and I can tell that he's enjoying this more than he should be. We are like that for the next two or three minutes, but I can't keep track of time when I'm in a moment like this.

After we're done, Ray disconnects our lips and he rests his forehead against mine, his eyes closed. We try to figure out what's going on. We're trying our best to savor this moment for as long as we can. It all comes to an end when he opens his eyes and looks into mine. "That was the best experience ever," I say. He smiles. 

"I loved it so much. Maybe we can do it again," he says and smirks. I laugh and I take his hand to hold it. He grasps mine gently and kisses it. I'm just so happy. Not about the almost-assault, but about the kiss. There really has been the good and the bad today. I guess that is going to be my life from now on.

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Hi everyone. I'll get to all the fun stuff but let me say something real quick. Sophia almost died in this chapter. I am not, in any means, condoning any kind of murder. Everything Sophia said about her being an important part of her family is something that has come from my heart itself. I know this is kind of a touchy subject, and I'm sorry. If any one of you guys knows someone who was murdered, may they rest in peace. My heart goes out to everyone who was nearly murdered or has a loved one who suffered this horrible fate. I hope you all are doing fine, and that I am sorry in advance if I have offended or hurt anyone in any way possible through this chapter. 

That was the most heartfelt message I've ever written. And now, we get to the fun stuff. RAY AND SOPHIA FINALLY KISSED!!! I'm internally celebrating right now!!!! Do you think it's the right time, or do you think he should have saved it for something a little bit more special? Let me know in the comments.

Please vote/comment/share/follow/message if you like my work! I'll see you guys on Sunday with a new chapter of I Never Imagined! Have an outstanding rest of the week!

Love you all,

S.V.T.S