Taylor

Everything around me looked dull and colorless. Something had been taken from me. I wasn't sure if Eric or Sin had taken it. I tried to move on, but it was hard with the constant pain in my heart. I spent a couple more days in the hospital before I was released.

The police had come to take a statement from me and that had been difficult to relive every terrifying moment. It was then that I found out the finer details.

Jeff, the guy who'd found me, had been instructed by Sin to find me and he'd begun to investigate everyone around me, which included Sin's roommates.

What had flagged Eric as suspicious to him had been the rental of another house while he was still renting a room in Sin's house. He'd been on his way to check it out when he'd stumbled across me, beaten in the street.

I would always be grateful for Sin's part that he played in my rescue, but I'd shut the door firmly on him. He'd tried to visit me again in the hospital, but I'd refused to see him. While my heart wanted to hold on to him and never let go, my mind overrode my emotions. He'd tried calling and texting, but all he received was a wall of silence.

I wanted to be able to go back to the girl I'd been before the attack. I honestly hoped that when I got home, I would settle back into my life. But I wasn't that same person and I couldn't pick my life up where it had left off. The trauma of what I'd been through weighed heavily on my shoulders.

For the first couple of days I was still recovering, the bruises on my face stopped me from even considering going back to college. News of what had happened to me had gotten out and I was too self-conscious to walk around with visible injuries.

But even when the bruises began to fade and the physical reminders of my attack began to disappear, I couldn't bring myself to go back to school. No one around me seemed to know how to handle me. Even my brother was not sure whether to push me to go back to college or to leave me to decide when I was ready. So, for the next few days, everyone kept quiet and let me hole-up in my room, hiding away from the world.

Then one morning an insistent knock at my door jarred me from my sleep.

"Open the door, Taylor," I heard my brother demand on the other side of the door.

I groaned and turned around on the bed, putting my back to the door as I snuggled deeper into my pillow. I hoped that if I ignored him, he would go away.

He knocked louder.

"Geez," I muttered as I stumbled from my bed, brushing my messy hair out of my face.

"What?" I asked as I opened my door and pinned my bother with an angry look.

"Shower and get dressed," he instructed and I frowned. He pushed past me and walked into my room.

"What the hell?" I turned to ask him as I put my hands on my hips.

"I can't let you do this anymore," he replied fiercely. "Go shower and get clothes on. You are going to school today."

Fear crept into me. I wasn't ready for that. I dropped my hands from my hips as I stepped forward.

"I can't...I'm not ready," I tried to argue, but he was shaking his head at me. He had a determined look in his eye that told me he wasn't going to back down.

"I left you alone, hoping that you would be able to get yourself together, but it hasn't worked," he explained. I could see that he was truly worried about me. Did he think I was going to slip back into the darkness—the place I'd fought so hard to escape?

"I'm not ready," I whispered, feeling my fear escalate. My eyes pleaded with his.

"I'm doing this because I love you," he revealed in a firm voice. "I know you're still scared, but Eric is locked up, there is no way he can get to you."

I was shaking my head at him, trying to get him to understand. Didn't he realize that it had taken so long for me to recover from my first traumatic experience only to be targeted again? I doubted I would ever feel safe again. There would always be that thought in the back of my mind that something might happen to me.

"Matthew will be with you," he reassured me as he cocked his head to the side.

Before the attack, that would have meant something to me, but the fact that Eric had gotten to me while I was with Matthew didn't make me feel any safer with Matthew. It wasn't like he'd made a mistake and Eric had taken advantage of that. I swallowed hard, seeing the determined look in my brother's eyes.

"You have thirty minutes," he informed me before he stalked out of my bedroom, leaving me staring open-mouthed in shock that he was forcing me to do this.

My hands shook as I went into my bathroom to take a shower. I quickly showered and then got dressed for class. In my bathroom mirror, I used what little makeup I had to cover up the faint bruise that was still visible on my face. All three of them were waiting for me as I walked out of my bedroom. Jordan was the first one to step forward and throw an arm around my shoulders.

"It will be fine," she said, trying to soothe me, but her words didn't ease the growing horror building up inside of me.

"Are you sure this is the way to do it?" Matthew asked Connor, not convinced they were doing the right thing. I felt hope rise in my chest as I held my breath, hoping my brother wouldn't make me leave the apartment.

"We have to do something. She can't spend the rest of her life holed up in her room," he explained.

Nerves mingled with my fear as I walked beside Matthew and Connor, with Jordan following behind us to the college. I held on to the strap of my bag and dug my nails into the palm of my free hand.

As we walked, my eyes raced from one stranger to another, trying to read their body language to see if they were a threat to me. A few stopped to stare at me and I tried my best to ignore them. Word about what had happened had gotten around campus.

A hand softly touched my back and my eyes shot to Matthew.

"It's okay," he assured me gently, his eyes seeing my fear.

I gave him a nod as I bit down on my lip, trying to keep my emotions from taking over. I didn't want to be scared anymore—I wanted my life back—so, despite my fear, I put one foot in front of the other and I walked to my first class.

"I'll see you later," Jordan said as she hugged me goodbye. "Call me if you need anything."

I watched as she disappeared down the hallway to her first class.

"You'll be okay," my brother assured me as he hugged me.

My throat was too clogged with emotion to be able to reply, so I nodded my head.

"I'll see you back at the apartment later," he told me as he released me.

Alone with Matthew, I turned to face the door to my first class of the day and I hesitated. A warm hand enveloped mine and I looked up at Matthew.

"You can do this," he told me softly. I wasn't so sure, but I took a deep breath to try and ease the growing panic spreading inside of me.

Slowly, Matthew opened the door and walked in first. He continued to hold my hand as I took one step followed by another. My heart was pounding in my chest and it felt like I could hear my heartbeat echo in my ears. As I got closer to my usual seat, I saw Caleb notice me. He smiled and stood up.

"It's good to have you back," he said to me when I got to my seat.

Despite all the emotions drowning me inside, I gave him a weak smile.

"I'm glad to be back too," I lied. Despite my fear, I knew the only way to get my life back was to fight for it.

I'd survived the horrific murder of my parents. I'd survived being kidnapped and beaten by a crazy stalker. I was stronger than I ever thought I was and there was no way I was going to let my fear rule my life.