Beautiful Pain

Chapter 5

Novalee

I can't believe I was able to do that. I stare down at the bloody mess on my leg, cursing my long name. Technically it's not that long, but when you have to cut twelve letters into your skin it feels like a thousand. And then there was my address.

I hear my fathers footsteps on the stairs and quickly put my scissors away and wrap a t-shirt around my leg and throw pajama pants over top. Silently, I flick my light off and creep into my bed while I listened anxiously to his footfalls.

My body tenses as he reaches the top of the stairs, and my stomach shrivels as I feel bile creep up my throat. Sweat breaks out on my brow and palms as he pauses at my door. I squeeze my eyes shut and pray.

A shuddering breath whooshes out of me as the hall light goes out and his bedroom door slams closed. I can hear him collapse on his bed and start snoring within minutes.

Quiet tears slip down my cheeks. But for once, they aren't filled with pain and despair. I cry tears of relief and hope, with just a tinge of happiness. My soulmate is coming to save me. I pray he's not too far away, and I pray he gets here before my father sees what I have done.

•

I wake up before my alarm, so I turn it off so it can't wake my father. The t-shirt I wrapped around my leg stuck to my cuts when I tried to peel it off. I knew I forgot to do something before I fell asleep last night, but I was so excited at the thought of my mate coming for me that I couldn't keep a straight thought.

Gently, I pried the material away from the dried blood. I used my first aid kit to clean the reopened wounds and bandaged it up before getting dressed.

     Will he make it here today? Or is he too far away? Good Lord I hope he's close, if my father doesn't kill me the suspense definitely will. The house is quiet when I poke my head into the hallway. I can hear my father roll over in bed, and then silence again. I pull on a hoodie and run on tip toe out of the house.

     There is a slight chill in the air outside, but in a few hours it will be hot and miserable. Summer hasn't fully let go yet, even though it's getting close to October. It'll be difficult to hide the cut on my forehead by lunchtime. But then again, I don't really have any friends anyway so maybe no one will notice. I decide I'll just eat in the library and keep my hair down. As I walk into the front doors, I take a deep breath and start a new mantra. He's coming for me. He's coming for me. He's coming for me.

Deacon

I haven't stopped driving since 6:30 last night. According to my GPS, Smithburg is just under thirteen hours away from Denver. I've been speeding as much as I can through Utah, but even with the time I've shaved off I still have another five hours to go. My vision starts to blur and I pull over reluctantly.

I run my hands down my scruffy face and try to shake the exhaustion away. When that doesn't work, I pour a bottle of water over my face and eyes. I just need to get there, grab her, and then we can get a room somewhere and I can get some sleep. I just have to keep going.

After a few minutes of walking around my car, I get back in and start speeding down the empty highway. My GPS updates my arrival time every few minutes as I shave off more time with my speeding. I don't want her to be hurt anymore, it's time I start protecting her.

Finally, I pass into Nevada. Only three more hours. I look at the clock and see that it's four o'clock. For the last ten years, most of her beatings have started after five p.m. I drive faster and pray that I make it in time to spare her more violence.