Christopher pushes Gary aside and he falls to the ground, the shoulders of his shirt wrinkled from where his fingers dug into it. I can only imagine what color Gary’s shoulders are.

I sound like I actually care. I suppose the only explanation for the reason I thought that is all the times I’ve been questioned about the strange colors that would appear on various places of my body.

Christopher hurries over to me and my hope returns, though I still feel sick with what I was sure was to come. I never would have imagined he would be back here.

Zander steps in front of me, saying to Levi in a hushed voice, “Go with her. I’ve got Diego.”

Levi laughs. “You?”

“Go!”

“Come on precious,” Levi says. “We’re going for a little ride.” I can hear his struggle in his voice as he tries to move me. I won’t budge, nor stop fighting against him. Realizing he won’t succeed in dragging me away, he instead chooses to pick me up, then quickly carries me further behind the huge building and toward a car.

I bang my fists against his chest and kick, trying to make it as hard for him as possible, but neither of these actions seem to make a dent in his made up mind. He only smirks when I plead with him to release me.

“Levi, please don’t!”

“I love it when my name comes from those pretty lips of yours,” is his reply. “Say it again.”

“Let her go!” a voice commands, but this only encourages Levi to walk at an even faster pace – nearly a run.

All of a sudden, he stops cold. “You wouldn’t…” he says.

When I open my eyes, everything looks odd from how tightly I was squeezing them, and they hurt. I wait for a second to recover, then turn my head to find Christopher standing right in front of us. He has one arm up as he holds a knife in his hand, pointing it directly at Levi’s face.

“Where’d you get that?!” Levi asks.

“Your friend gave it to me,” Christopher answers in uncharacteristic sarcasm. “I, from firsthand experience, know that it’s very, very sharp.” He lifts up his other hand and a streak of red can be seen on his palm. “Would you like to feel for yourself?”

Levi shakes his head and says nervously, “No…”

“I wouldn’t imagine so.” Christopher doesn’t lower the knife until Levi puts me down. He does so in a surprisingly gentle manner, and then hurries off with his friends, occasionally looking back to make sure he’s not being followed.

As Christopher talks to the police, telling them everything, he reaches for me and pulls me close to himself. I bury my face in his neck and allow the tears to slip out as he rubs my back. When he hangs up, he wraps both arms around me and holds me in a tight, yet gentle embrace.

“Christopher?” I say quietly.

“Mhm?” His warm lips kiss my temple, causing a shiver to run down my spine. The shiver confuses me, because it’s not one of fear. I don’t feel the need to resist… I’m not afraid.

“What were you doing with Gary behind the school?”

“You don’t need to worry about that, Trinity,” he replies, his words only making me more curious and birthing more questions in my mind.

 “I’m sorry about your hand…”

“There’s no need to be. I’m just glad you’re fine. They didn’t get a chance to… hurt you, right?”

“No,” I answer, stepping back and out of his arms. “Thank you for helping me… again…” He gives me a certain surprisingly pleasant look that tells me there’s no need to thank him, either. It reminds me of what he said at the hospital yesterday, after I was told I was free to leave and it was just an anxiety attack I was experiencing. He said he’d do anything for me, and I believe him. His eyes show the truth. They show nothing less than the words he spoke yesterday. “And, Christopher?” I add.

With both hands cupping my cheeks, he wipes away my tears with his thumbs. “Yes?”

“Your right arm…” I say slowly, running my finger along the long, dark line. “What happened?”

 “Oh…” Christopher’s hands leave my face and return to his sides, and I can immediately tell that this is a touchy subject for him. His mood seems to change suddenly and I regret asking. “One of my cats…”  I study his face, from his furrowed brows to the frown he wears, and watch as his expression suddenly relaxes significantly. He quickly rolls down his sleeves, starting with the right one, and says, “Nothing.”

There’s silence between us – one that I expected, but it’s surprisingly not strange at all. I hardly even notice it, as I’m so distracted by the way his eyes become lighter in the afternoon sunlight. Apparently thinking, he looks off into the distance and over my head, tilting his own just perfectly, which allows more sun to reach his eyes. They seem almost transparent… as if he shouldn’t be able to see out of them. They’re beautiful.

As I stand here, staring into his them, I realize all over again how comfortable I’ve become with him in such a short period of time. It’s only been a few weeks since we reunited, and I already trust him like I’ve never trusted any male before. In all this time he hasn’t given me a reason not to trust him.

Suddenly, he speaks, snapping me out of the trance his eyes put me in. “I’m going to teach you everything I know in self-defense.”