and kicked him and now I’m in my room with the door locked. I called the cops and they’re on their way. So I’m fine, really.” My voice sounded like it didn’t belong to me.
Stryker let forth a string of curses and I heard a commotion in the background.
“I’m coming to get you. Hold on. Just stay on the phone with me.” He put his hand over the phone and I heard muffled talking. They were probably all coming to my rescue now. I listened to them with one ear and trained the other on the hallway. I’d told the cops which room I was in so they could find me.
“Are you still there?” Stryker said as I heard more chatter and car doors slamming.
“I’m here.” Sort of.
Tires squealed. “Just stay with me, sweetheart. I will never let him hurt you.”
“I know.”
He said a bunch of other things, but I didn’t hear most of them. I felt floaty, like a balloon that was only lightly tethered to the ground.
I waited and waited and waited.
Finally, voices sounded down the hall. Adult voices. Police voices. Then there was a banging on my door, followed but a flutter of other voices that I recognized.
“Katie?! Are you okay?” Stryker said, trying to open the locked door. Ah, that question that never had an answer. “Just tell me if you’re in there, sweetheart.”
“I’m here,” I said, getting off the boxes and pushing them out of the way. I opened the door and was met by quite a group. Three cops and five friends.
“Oh, Katie,” Stryker said, reaching out for me. I shook my head.
“I’m okay. I just…” I looked at all of them. “I want to fucking kill him, the bastard.” My weird floaty feeling was gone, replaced with something that burned hotter and brighter.
Rage.
“Where is he?” I said to one of the cops. “I have a few things I’d like to tell him.”
The cop looked at me with a stunned expression.
“We, uh, took him into custody. I don’t think you should see him right now.” He tried to put his hand on my shoulder, but I shrugged it off.
“No, I’m not done with him yet. I’m going to make him regret everything he did to me.” I tried to lunge past the crowd, which wasn’t the brightest thing to do because about six sets of arms were there to stop me.
“Let me go!” I said, trying to shove my way through and failing. “I’m going to make him wish he was never born.” I growled, and another set of hands clasped my face, forcing me to look into a set of lovely green eyes.
“You already got him. You got him. He doesn’t have any power over you. He never did. He is nothing. Nothing, compared to you, do you understand, Katie? He’s nothing.” He pulled me into his arms and whispered the last part into my ear as he crushed me into his chest.
“Nothing, nothing, nothing.” Rocking me back and forth, he said it over and over. I was sure the cops were giving us strange looks, but they stepped back.
“I hate him,” I whispered into his pounding heart.
“I know, I know. I hate him too. The only reason I’m not killing him for you is because I’m holding you. You’re the only thing keeping me from making a big mistake and ending up in jail.” His voice shook a little as the cops talked back and forth about what to do. I knew from experience that I’d have to give a statement and so forth. It was going to be a long night. I wished I could rewind and go back to when I was so excited about my hair.
Stryker held me for as long as it took for both of us to calm down enough that we didn’t both bolt.
“Can I give my statement tomorrow? I’m really tired,” I said to one of the cops.
He said something into his radio. “Are you sure? It’s best to get everything while it’s fresh in your mind.”
“Oh, it will still be fresh tomorrow.”
“Are you sure?” I appreciated his concern, but I couldn’t do it tonight.
I nodded. “Yes. I just want to go home with my boyfriend.” I squeezed Stryker’s hand.
“Okay, well just come in tomorrow when you’re ready. He’s not going to be bothering you anymore tonight.” He gave me his card and I thanked them for their quick response.
We all stood silently in the hallway. Then Simon’s stomach growled so loud we all heard