Kane….

I was intensely aware of the pink shit on her face.  Jason had obviously kissed her.  Why wasn't she all over me right now?  Was it due to her injuries?  Did the infection not take hold of her?  If not, why?  Why did I feel jealous of a kiss to a girl that I barely knew?  Then I realized that it wasn't jealousy.  I was angry.  He had violently attacked her.  She was one of the nicest people that I had ever met.  I wondered how many times he had hit her before.  What else had he done to her?  I growled at the thought.

I went to the bathroom and wet a towel with warm water.  It was time to clean her up.  I looked in the mirror while squeezing the water out of the towel.  No wonder the motel attendant didn't want to rent me a room.  I had pink caked with dirt all over my face.  It was even in my hair.  I looked down.  My shirt and pants were covered with dirt and grass.  My hands were a mess.

I felt of a sore spot on the back of my head.  That's right, Jason had hit me several times.  Why didn't I hurt worse?  I had even been unconscious for a few minutes.

I decided to clean up a little.  I’ll take a shower after I clean Colours up.  I scrubbed my hands and face.  Then I looked back in the mirror.  I had a big yellow spot on my cheek and another on my forehead.  I frowned.  Shouldn't the bruises be black or purple?  How are they already almost healed?

Then, I looked at the violet colored stone in the middle of my forehead.  What is it's purpose and why do the others have different colors?  Roxy's was yellow, and Jason's was red.  What do the different colors mean?  Why don't they all have stones?  Lilith just had red hair and eyes.  Why didn't she have one?

A loud moan from the bedroom brought me out of my thoughts.  I grabbed the wet towel and rushed to Colours’ side.  I sat beside her on the bed and took her hand.  She instantly calmed.  Does me touching her help?  I quickly took my hand away, and she started moaning again.  I took her hand, and she stopped.  Interesting.

I held her hand with my left hand and used the wet towel to clean her face with my right.  I worked on the pink stuff, which had kind of dried into a paste, first.  I didn't want her licking her lips and swallowing more.  Then I worked on the blood and dirt.  When I was done, she looked a lot better.  Strangely, she seemed to be healing faster than normal.  Her eye was no longer bulging and had settled to a black and blue bruise.  The cuts on her lips had healed.  I didn't know if that was due to holding my hand or because she was infected.  I remembered how Roxy had talked normally not long after I had bit off her tongue.

I let go of Colours' hand.  I decided to get cleaned up since she was no longer moaning.  I grabbed my bag and went in the bathroom.  I stripped and got in the shower.  I couldn't wait to get the stink and filth that was Jason off of me.  It dawned on me that I was almost raped.  I scrubbed and scrubbed every inch of me.  I washed my hair twice.  I hoped that I didn't stink like him.  He had a very distinctive odor.  He smelled like candy, sweat, and rot all at the same time.

Then I remembered Doug.  Poor Doug.  Guilt gnawed at me.  I sunk down to sitting in the shower and just let the water spray over me.

It was apparent, as soon as I opened the door, that he had let someone in.  I had forgotten in the rush that Lilith lived in the same building as us.  The door wasn't even locked.  I had tried to slip in unnoticed. I could hear him and someone else going at it in the living room.  I hurried back to my room and got my gun and my taser.  I grabbed another bag and put ammunition and a few other things in it.  I closed my door softly and quietly made my way down the hallway and into the kitchen.

He stood inside the door waiting for me.  He wore a big pink smile and had wet, green stains on his clothes.  I had no idea where the other person was.

“Just let me pass, Doug,” I said.

His smile got wider, displaying teeth dripping with pink.  “Sure.  After you pay the toll,” he chuckled.

“What toll?” I asked.  Then I heard footsteps behind me.  I spun around, and a red-haired dude, I don't even know, latched onto my mouth.  I was caught by surprise as his tongue slipped in, and I felt an engulfment of the disgustingly thick liquid.  I easily shoved him back away and knocked him out.  I spit pink stuff on the floor, trying not to swallow.

“Shouldn't have done that,” Doug said from behind me.  I grabbed a kitchen chair and swung it around until I felt it connect with his temple.  Doug went down hard, busting his head open on the wall.  I didn't even check on him.  I just got out of there.

I should've let him come with us.  I choked as a sob wracked me.  I had never killed anyone before.  There was so much blood.  I think that I even saw some of his brains poking out.  I squeezed my eyes shut and ground at them with my fists, trying to get the picture out of my mind.  I just stayed there, in the bathtub, until I calmed down.

I knew I had to come up with a plan.  I was pretty sure that the motel attendant wouldn't let us stay another night.  I didn't want to stay another night.  We weren't far enough away.  Where would we go?  Another motel?

I wanted to get out of the city, but I didn't know if Colours was up to traveling.  I decided to just wait until morning to figure it out.  Maybe she would be healed.  There was also the matter of whether she was infected or not.  What would I do if she was?

Then I remembered the antidotes in that small silver case in my bag.  I got out of the shower, quickly dried off, and got dressed.  I dug through my bag and got the case out.  I debated on whether to go ahead and give her one or not.  Again, I decided to wait.  Maybe she wouldn't need it.  What if Jason had lied again, and it wasn't really an antidote?  I guessed that if she started foaming pink, it wouldn't matter.  There would be nothing to lose.

I put the case back in my bag and carried it back to the bedroom.  She wasn't lying there peacefully like I had hoped.  She was moaning, writhing, and crying.  Is she having a nightmare?  Probably about that bastard.  Not only does he haunt her in life, but he haunts her in sleep, too.

I sat on the bed next to her and gently placed my hand on her arm.  She sat up and started swinging her arms wildly.

“Colours, it's Kane,” I said, releasing her arm.  She stopped and just started crying.

“It's okay,” I whispered and hugged her to me.

“He was here,” she whispered hauntingly.

“I promise he's not here,” I soothed, rubbing her back.

“Do you think that we could call my parents?” she asked once she had calmed down.  Her phone was in her purse.  I had to go get her purse out of the car.  I was mentally kicking myself the whole time.  Her purse had all of the money in it.  I’m really going to have to get it together.  I retrieved it and went back into the room.

She was lying down asleep.  She looked so peaceful that I didn't have the heart to wake her.  I debated, then eventually, decided to go ahead and call her parents.  She had wanted me to call them.  They would want to know.

I found it strange that there was no lock code on her phone.  I shrugged it off and went into her contacts.  I scrolled through and easily found her mother's number.  She had very few contacts to go through.  I had expected it to be hard.  Didn't she have any friends?

After taking a moment to collect myself, I took a deep breath, then dialed the number.

“Colours!” A woman's strangled voice answered on the second ring, “Are you okay?”

What a strange way to answer the phone.  That was not what I was expecting.

“No.  This is a friend, Kane,” I answered.

“Oh, nooooo!” The woman wailed.  What the hell?

There was some commotion, then a gruff man's voice said, “What's going on.  Where's Colours?”

“She's right here with me.  She's sleeping,” I answered.

He sighed loudly, then, “I’m going to put you on speakerphone so that we can all hear.”  I heard a loud beep.

“Is she okay?” the woman's voice cried, “Did that bastard hurt her?”  So, this had happened before.

“Yes, but I got her away.  I’ve got her hidden in a motel.  She's sleeping now.  She wanted to call you,” I answered.  I heard crying.

“If she can make it okay, don't take her to the hospital,” a younger woman's voice said, “he'll find her and he's probably made himself the emergency contact after last time.”  After last time?  How many times has it happened?

“I won't.  I think that she'll be okay.  She just needs some time,” I reassured them.

“Take her to our house right now!” the older woman said, “We're in Canada at our other daughter's for a visit right now, but you are both welcome to stay there.  Neither of you are safe now.  That man is crazy!”

“I can't until morning.  The city has put a curfew in place,” I told them.

“As soon as the curfew lifts, go.” the man said, “It's a new address.  We had to move because of him.”  They're even scared of him.

“Only stay for a couple of days,” the younger woman said, “Jason is very resourceful.  He'll still find you there.  Is there somewhere that you can take her out of the city?”  What have I gotten into?  They don't know the half of it.

“Yes,” I answered.

“Take her there,” she said, “and don't look back.”

“Get rid of her phone right away.  He may be tracking her through it.  He has a tight leash on her,” the older woman said.  That explains why she doesn't have a lock code.

“Okay.  I’ll do that,” I agreed.

We finished the conversation with me, jotting down the address and the phone number that I had called.

Right as I was about to hang up, Colours stirred, “Mom.  Dad.”

“Colours, honey, is that you?” the older woman asked.

“Yes, mom,” she answered.

“Are you okay?” the younger woman asked.

“I’m okay,” Colours said weakly, “I hurt.”

I took her hand in mine, and she sighed with relief.

“Kane is going to take you to Mom and Dad's house in the morning,” the younger woman said.

“Nooo!” Colours groaned, “He knows where…”

“No honey, we moved.” The man interrupted, “We had to go after what happened.”  I wondered what happened.  What was so bad that they had to move?

Colours visibly relaxed, “Okay Dad.  I’m so sorry.”

“You have nothing to be sorry for.  We're all just glad that you're safe now,” the man reassured her, “Kane's going to get you out of there.”

She looked at me with pleading eyes.  I knew then that I would.  At least, I would die trying.  I nodded my head.  She smiled at me, the best that she could, with gratitude.  Honestly, I didn't have much of a choice anyway.  I think that Jason had set his sights on me, too.  I needed to get out of the city.  May as well have some company.

Really, I had decided to help her long before Jason beat her.  I had decided when I got the antidotes from Jason's desk after his disgusting little speech.  I just told myself that I was going to her to give her the antidote.  I was already in love.  I just didn't know it yet.  Or, maybe I just didn't want to admit it.

It's not like she would ever return the feelings, anyway.  What would a girl like her want with me?  She was way out of my league.  I knew my place, and it would always be pining after her.