Free An Eternity of Eclipse by Con Template

shake even more behind me, fearing that the man would hit me as well. More shame hovered over me. When a kid fears for your safety as opposed to his own, then you know you have failed as his protector. Suddenly the courageous girl who was standing up to a handsome stranger in my dream last night felt even more nonexistent. I was back to being a pushover, and in this scenario, I was a spineless coward.
    No words came out of me.
    I didn’t say anything because I had no courage to.
    My reply became inconsequential because another voice had already crept into the scene.
    “Is that really the appropriate way to talk to a lady?” the voice asked. There was composure and civility within the intonation of the voice, but there was also steel lining inside it. “Especially when there is a child standing behind her?”
    “And why is it your business with how I speak to this bitch?” the bastard incited, moving away from me to address the good Samaritan.
    I felt someone brush past me to face the annoying bastard. I looked to my right to finally lay eyes on our savior.
    Standing slightly in front of us, our chivalrous defender was dressed in a simple white t-shirt and blue jeans that fitted him perfectly, accentuating his tall and thin frame. His long black hair was tied in a half ponytail, the length resting just above his broad shoulders. I couldn’t see the features of his face because his back was turned to me, but judging by how that t-shirt wrapped around his skinny body, I couldn’t fathom this guy being able to take the fully built bastard if they got into a fight. Though, considering the annoying bastard looked like he was well into his forties and this guy appeared as though he was only in his mid-twenties, the young one might win for stamina alone. Regardless of his physical build, his height overshadowed the other man’s and his demeanor more than made him look intimidating. The authoritative aura that emanated from him was hard to miss. There was something about him that was powerful and extremely foreboding.
    “Stay out of this,” the yellow-jacket-wearing-jackass warned him. “Or else I’ll—”
    “ What? ” our defender challenged. He took a step closer and stared the man down. “You’ll do what? You’ll slap the back of my head like you did that poor kid? You’ll belittle me? What will you do to me ?”
    Every word that he punctuated had steel in it, an underlying promise that if that bastard were to utter one wrong word to him, he would break his bones apart. It was an admonishment that I knew the bastard heeded. Apprehension and uncertainty began to cloud his eyes.
    When the other man said nothing, our defender calmly, but commandingly, added, “You should walk away now.”
    The man smirked, trying to pretend that he wasn’t afraid. “You know what? You’re not even worth it.”
    With a sneer, he glanced at Sony and me. Then, with one final expression of irritation, he sauntered into the store like he hadn’t abused an innocent child and cursed a girl who was half his age. He had no shame.
    I was disgusted. I was disgusted with him and I was disgusted with myself. We were poor examples of how adults should behave; the bastard being needlessly crass and me being needlessly spineless. The only semblance of a good example of how adults should conduct themselves was the nice Samaritan standing before us.
    “Thank you,” I said appreciatively, averting my focus back to him. “That was really nice of you. You didn’t have to do what you did, but thank you. We really appreciate it.”
    When he turned around to face me, I felt the breath escape me.
    He was very good-looking.
    His face was skinny and well defined, structured strategically to fit him and his body type. The only deterrents on his face would be the semi-dark shadows under his eyes and the hollowness of his cheeks. However, those weren’t big deterrents. If anything, they actually brought character to his visage and made him all the