Free The Light of the World by Tara Brown

away from her. She is dangerous and
damaged goods." His words kill me inside. I feel rage building
inside of me. It makes my stomachache come back.
    "Go home." He points to their house. Jon sways
and tries to shove him.
    "Leave her alone. You're the damaged goods
dude."
    Wyatt pushes him and sends shim sprawling on the
grass. I try to run to Jon but Wyatt grabs my arm and swings me. I
fly out of his grip and land on my butt on the grass. He grabs for
me but I pull it away.
    "ENOUGH!" I cover my eyes for a split second, "I
am done with you touching me or mauling me. This is nuts. I'm
calling the cops. I know it was you. You beat up Sam."
    His eyes are dark. His jaw is set. His face is
contorting into something. It scares the shit out of me. I reach
into my bag and fish for my phone.
It's in my dorm. I left it on the bedside table. I remember the
call to Willow earlier and crying over this asshole. I'm stunned at
the lengths I will go to make myself suffer. His mouth still makes
me want to kiss it. His hands, that look ready to strangle me,
remind of the feel of him against my bare skin. I get a waft of him
in the air. He smells like Axe and cologne but also the musk that
he naturally smells of. My mouth waters.
    He looks at Jon and points, "Go." Jon stands and
stumbles off into the night.
    My vision clears and I can see everything. I can
see his eyes grow soft and concerned.
    "You're screwing with me. You don’t want to be
with me, you only want to hurt me and make sure no one else wants
me." I'm angry sobbing in the grass.
    "You don’t know do you?" He takes a step toward
me again. He's out of control. One minute he's raging and now he's
talking to me gently.
    I stand and take a step away from him, "Screw
you." I walk past him. When he reaches for me, I run.
    I run until my stomach twists and I gag. I dry
heave and clutch myself.
    He's laughing behind me.
    I try to walk fast while doubling over in
pain.
    His arms scoop me up and he plugs my nose, "Stop
smelling me. Don’t breathe me in." I plug my nose and it helps. I
turn my face away from him and drink in the cool night air.
    "Screw you."
    He looks at me and smiles his boyish smile,
"Rayne you're going to be the death of me."
    My hand drops and I take in a huge breath
through my nose. I am instantly nauseous. I lean away from him and
retch. He holds me out. I throw up all over the grass.
    "You have to stop puking on me."
    I cough and gag and try to stop.

Chapter Seven

    I feel like death.
    "I think someone drugged me." I whisper into the
darkness.
    He looks worried. He's sitting in the chair
across the room. The chair the man was sitting in when I slept here
last time.
    "Where does she live?"
    I rub my eyes and frown, "Who?"
    "Your mother."
    I lick my lips and swallow. "Plattsburg." I have
to call her after I call the police. As soon as I get away from
him.
    "Get up and shower." His face is stoic. I have
no idea what's going on. I need to get away from him.
    "Are you bipolar?" I ask and wipe my mouth.
    He starts laughing.
    I climb out of the bed and stumble into his
bathroom. The room is messy. The bathroom looks like a tornado has
whirled through it. Nothing is where it was the last time. There is
regular shampoo and soap on the floor of the shower. No body wash.
I wash the soap until it's half its size and then scrub myself.
    When I step out of the shower he's holding the
towel out for me. I'm naked and dripping water. I hold the curtain
over my body to hide my nakedness. "Get out." I'm terrified deep
down, but something on the surface likes him. It wants to trust
him.
    He shakes his head and walks toward me with his
arms out. He wraps the towel around me and hugs me. He's being
sweet and gentle again.
    "I don’t know how to be with you. Not without
killing you."
    My arm hair stands on end and my low lip
trembles. "Are you going to kill me?" My stomach drops into my
bowels.
    He kisses my hands and shakes his head, "I'm
going to find a way. I'm going to fix this."
    His