• His eyes, his smile, his voice, his laugh.... These are the things I will miss most about him.
    Damian.....
    The name floated around in my head, twisting and swirling like a summer breeze. He was torn away from me, all because of that man. I don’t even consider that man human anymore, after what he had done to me.
    His image fluttered behind my eyelids. Picturing him in my mind was like a drug to me. I was hopelessly addicted to it. Unsuccessfully I tried to push the image out of my head.
    * * *

    My eyes fluttered open and I sat up groggily. Tears pooled up in my eyes automatically. Thinking of him always made me cry. The tears spilled out of my eyes and dribbled onto my lap, making my white monkey pyjamas wet in spots. Dizzily, I stood up and walked over to the mirror in my room. The red walls were too cheerful for me at the moment. After what I had gone through, black was my new favourite colour. Tracing black eyeliner around my eyes, I pulled an ugly bandage off my face and examined the 3 inch long gash that ran from the bottom of my ear, followed my jaw bone and finished under my chin. I skimmed my fingers across it, feeling the rough texture of stitches and dried blood. Hot pain sliced down my face and I gasped, remembering what happened on that horrible night.
    * * *

    We were running through the woods, Damian dragging me by the hand. Roots threatened to trip me, trying to tangle in my feet. Damian’s strong hand lifted me up if I stumbled or fell, which happened many times. He took a sharp right turn and I swung to the side losing balance. He caught me as I fell and carried me to a log. He sat me down on it and he kneeled in front of me. His green eyes boring into mine, he smiled warmly.
    “It’s going to be all right, Lana.” He said between deep breaths. “I told you there was something wrong about him.”
    I looked at him, disappointed. Why didn’t he say the stuff you’d expect from a guy like him? Seriously,
    Why be so unpredictable?
    “This is serious,” He told me impatiently. “He’s after us, if you haven’t noticed.”
    I rolled my eyes at him and said “Let’s get going then!”
    We got up and I brushed the bark from my jeans. God, I was so glad I didn’t wear a dress today. Do you know how hard it is to run in a dress?
    “Look!” I said a little too loudly, “There’s an old warehouse over there.”
    “Let’s go then,” He replied.
    I had to admit, these trails were really spooky at night with all of the animals making noises to fill the silence. Slowly, we jogged to the warehouse, gasping for air. My lungs felt like they were burning. My legs ached horribly. My stomach heaved wanting to throw up. Even though I felt terrible, I had to be strong and keep pushing through it all.
    * * *

    I found myself absent-mindedly stoking my cut, craving the pain that came with it. I let my hand drop to my side, but I still felt the wound stinging. Hot tears dripped in my gash in a steady pace. I fell back on my bed and closed my eyes, wanting to drift away and never return.
    * * *

    We were in the warehouse, crouching behind a large crate. Damian was digging around in the crate, pulling things out of it to make enough room for us to sit inside it. He shoved me inside and crawled in next to me. Taking the side of the crate he pulled off, he closed the box and wrapped his arms around me.
    “I shouldn’t have let you come with me....” He whispered in my ear, trailing off. “This never would have happened,”
    I felt his sobs shake through his body and I hugged him tightly. He stopped crying after a few minutes and looked into my eyes. His eyes were bloodshot, making them look even greener.
    Footsteps rattled the ground and I started to shake. I held my breath and I went tense. I could smell the strong body odour of the man who was making the loud noise.
    “Come out, Little Girlie!” a loud and powerful voice called out. “I know which crate you’re in,” he said as he kicked our crate.
    I pushed the side of the crate open with my leg. I got out and stood up. I looked back at Damian and saw his wide eyes staring at me with a big “Warning!” sign in them. I straightened my back and the large man grabbed me by my hair. I shrieked, trying to pull away, but he just gave me a harsh tug and I was restrained. Turning me to face him, I saw a big toothless grin stretch across his face. I heard a thump and whipped my head around to see Damian standing up outside the crate. Startled to see Damian the man let go of my hair and froze. I ran to Damian and hugged him.
    “Hello, Little Girlie,” He said with sarcastic joy, “Nice to see you around here isn’t it?”
    I had an urge to do something that was going to really tick him off. I weighed my options for a second and spat at his feet instead of mouthing off. He glared at me; oblivious that Damian had began charging at him. His eyes flickered to Damian and with inhuman speed and strength, flung Damian off to the side. He slid across the floor hitting some crates and laid still. The large man took out a knife and stepped towards me. He pinned me against a wall and pushed the knife along my jaw line. Adrenaline was pulsing through my veins and I didn’t feel the slightest pain. I pushed him back and ran to the body of Damian. I grabbed my cell phone and Dialled 911.
    “Help me! Someone! Help me!” I sobbed into the phone.
    “Stay calm” said a voice from the other side of the phone, “Police are almost at the warehouse,” She said “We had a complaint and we are coming”
    I flipped the phone shut and sobbed into Damian’s body. His chest moved up and down shakily. I giggled in relief, knowing that he was alive. I looked behind me and saw the man pacing back and forth. He was mumbling and swearing to himself, under his breath. Sirens sliced through the silence startling all three of us. Damian’s breathing quickened and his eyes fluttered open.
    “Ouch,” He said to me, smiling weakly. He sat up slowly and wrapped his arms around me, whispering in my ear, “I was so scared you would get hurt.” His eyes flicked to the cut on my face. His face went white.
    “I’m fine,” I said, trying to be convincing. “The only thing that matters is that you’re okay and that we’re going to get out of here fine.” I stared into his emerald eyes, getting lost in them. I wiped my cut and saw crimson blood smeared on my hand. I winced at the horrid sight and tried to erase it form my mind.
    “You’re right,” He said with a sigh. He stood up and wobbled a little. I wrapped my arm around his waist and tried to help him gain his balance. I was too small to help him very much, but he tried not to put all of his body weight on me, which made him even more wobbly.
    “Come out with your hands up!” a Police officer said.
    We walked out, relieved that help was finally here and paramedics came to our aid. I looked back and saw the man being taken away in hand cuffs, screaming at the cops.
    “You took quite a beating, didn’t you, young lady?” a small red head woman asked me.
    I nodded, not really wanting to say anything. But I knew I had to, “I think Damian has a concussion.” I said dully.
    She nodded and told the other paramedics to help him. Both of us were whisked away in an ambulance. I let him have the stretcher and I sat on the side of it, holding a cloth to my chin to stop the bleeding.
    We arrived at the hospital in no time at all and Damian was taken to a room. I was quickly stitched up and had an ugly, giant bandage stuck to my face.
    I walked to his room and sat on the chair beside his bed. He looked at me with sorrowful eyes.
    “I need to move far, far away from here....” He trailed off and looked away, “I’m moving to Boston.” He said with a neutral voice. “I’m so sorry.” He said sincerely.
    I hugged him tight and I knew that he was transferring hospitals tomorrow. “Okay,” I said, “Goodbye.”
    * * *

    That was the last time I saw him. I lay on my bed, recalling everything that happened that night, picturing every feature of his face imagining him whispering into my ear again.
    I swore to myself that I would forget everything about him and that night, but I knew it was never going to happen.

    The end