Wake Up Call (26 page)

      Dex told me that he would always be available if I needed a ride. I really didn't have many other choices unless I wanted to wait for taxi service.

      It took me a few minutes, but I finally found his name. My whole hand shook as I firmly pressed the call button.

      The phone rang three times before he answered. His voice sounded half asleep.

      "Hello. It's pretty early. How-"

      "Dex," I cut him off. "I need you to get me. I need to leave right now. Please hurry," I cried into the phone. As hard as I tried to hold back the tears, I couldn't. “It’s me… Avery.”

      "Shit, Avery." he said in a panic. "Are you okay?"

      I reached up to wipe my face off as I continued to cry into the phone. "No. I need to get out of here. Just hurry."

      "You're at the same place as before?" he questioned with worry.

      "Yes. Call me right when you pull up and I'll come out," I whispered, trying to think of a plan. "Come now." My voice shook as I struggled to get the last words out.

      "I'll be there." He hung up.

      I hung up the phone and clutched it to my chest. I couldn't believe that he found me. I thought that I was free of him for good.

     A few minutes later, there was a light knock at the door.

      I sat on the edge of the tub and kicked it with my boot. "Go away," I screamed. "I'm not going anywhere with you."

      "Avery," Caleb said softly. "It's me. Can we talk?"

       There was no reason for me to talk to him. After seeing my dad and hearing that he knew Aunt Pam, it became very clear to me that he was dealing drugs. That would be the only thing connecting them.

    "There is nothing to talk about. You don't know shit about me and I want to keep it that way. Go away," I growled.

     It was silent for a few minutes before I heard noise outside the door again. It sounded as if someone had fallen against the door.

      "You listen here you, selfish little girl," my father hissed. "Your mother is going to die and you won't even go and see her. What kind of a person does that make you? You're no better than me." He laughed. "That's why no one will ever love you and you will never know what love is,” he sang his voice teasing and hateful.

      The tear stopped and suddenly I felt like exploding.  How did he know what I was capable of when I didn't even know myself?

      "Go to hell!" I screamed at the top of my lungs. I screamed so loud that it hurt. It took everything in me not to cover my ears from myself. "You are wrong."

      I heard laughter on the other side of the door that made my blood boil. "You are still that stupid little girl. I thought that you grew out of that stage." He slammed his fist into the door and then fiercely turned at the knob. "Stupid little-"

      I lost it. Something inside of me took over and I ran over to the door and yanked it open, body shaking and heart pounding in my chest.

      My father stood there unsteady on his feet as he glared up at me with shock in his beady eyes. "I'm not that same girl," I said bravely. "I'm all grown now and I'm not going to take your crap anymore."

      He stumbled into the wall while reaching out for my coat. His hand missed and he nearly fell to the ground. His eyes burned into me as he pursed his thin lips, the graying hair covering most of his mouth. "You get back here. I drove a long way to get your ass," he hissed.

      "Go to hell," I shouted, as I brushed past his drunken body. I was getting out of there. I had to.

       I ran past Caleb as he attempted to grab my hand. "No Caleb."

      Caleb shook his head and wiped something off his nose. I could tell by the look in his eyes that he was drugged up. "I'm sorry," he muttered. "I didn't know."

      I threw my arms up in the air and then reached for my purse. I hated Caleb for this. I hated him for bringing hell back into my life. "I'm out-"

      "Stop!" My father cut me off as he reached for my purse. "You're not going anywhere." He yanked me by my purse so that I was in his reach, then he reached for my hair and yanked me down to the ground.

      A screech escaped my parted lips as my head bounced off the table leg, sending a wave of pain throughout my head.

     I could see Caleb behind my dad as he attempted to reach for his arm to pull him away, but my dad shook him off and came at me anyways.

     Before I knew it, his hand was around my throat and squeezing. "Let go," I whined, fighting for breath. "Stop-"

      We all froze as the door to the house swung open to Jace standing there. The look on his face was fierce as he looked down at me on the ground and then to my dad that still had his hand on my throat. His strong jaw clenched as he stepped into the house.

      My heart pounded at the sight of him.

     "Let go," Jace demanded. "I won't hesitate to fucking kill you, you piece of shit."

      My dad looked up at him as if was just his imagination. Then a smirk crossed his twisted face. "Screw off. It's none of your business." He pushed me further into the floor as he began to dig his nails into my neck.

     I desperately grabbed at his hands attempting to pry them from my neck.

     "You piece of..." Jace's words trailed off as he gripped my father's neck, placing him in a headlock. "Let go or I will snap your fucking neck."

      My dad’s grip on my neck loosened, but then suddenly his fist connected with my right eye as a smirk crossed his face. I winced back in pain and covered my face as I watched Jace tackle him to the ground and hold him down by his neck.

      Everything around me blurred as Jace's arm continued to swing never letting up on my father.

      Caleb attempted to stop Jace, but not even that would get Jace to stop.

      "Stop," Caleb shouted. "You're killing him."

     I shot up from the ground and that's when I noticed all of the blood that surrounded them. Looking at it made me feel dizzy. Then panic set in. I couldn't let Jace kill him. "Jace," I shouted.

      As soon as the word came out, he froze. He dropped his arm to his side and looked up at Caleb. "You idiot. I should kick your ass for letting her get hurt."

      Caleb stood there in shock as he watched Jace get back to his feet. Not another word was spoken between them as Jace brushed past Caleb and stood before me.

      His handsome face looked pained as he reached for my hand and helped me to my feet. He slowly reached out his hand and delicately caressed my swollen face, as he looked me in the eye. His green eyes were strained and full of hurt.

      "I promised to never let you get hurt," he whispered. "I failed you and I'm sorry."

      My heart beat rapidly in my chest as his fingertips softly touched my face and trailed down to my lips. The touch of his skin made me feel safe and all that I wanted to do was curl up in his arms and get lost.

     "It's my fault," I whispered. I threw my arms around his waist and buried myself in his firm chest. The smell of him was so familiar and calming. Being that close to him made me realize what I had been missing all along. Why had I been so stupid?

      He squeezed me close to his chest and tenderly pressed his lips to the top of my head. "I wi
ll never let him hurt you again." Jace promised.

     "Shit," Caleb mumbled, interrupting the moment.

     We both looked over to see Caleb standing above my dad. He bent down and held his hand above his mouth. "He's barely breathing," Caleb panicked. "You better get out of here. Now, before I call the cops."

     A small part of me wanted to run to my dad. To make sure that he was going to be fine, but the bigger part of me told me that I needed to get Jace out of there. He was only protecting me. He never meant to hurt him.

     "Jace." My voice shook as I reached for his arm.

     Jace took a deep breath and bit his bottom lip. "I didn't mean to hurt him that-"

     "I know," I cut in. I knew that Jace meant well. He was taking care of me as he promised. Just as he did that day when Max touched me.    

     "Take that monster and get out of here," Caleb spat. "That's who you choose to be around? He's dangerous, Avery."

     "He's not. He was-"

     "It's fine, Avery. Let's get out of here." Jace said, pulling me into him.

     I took one last look at my dad as he coughed and struggled, spitting up blood. My legs grew weak as I let Jace lead me outside and to his Mustang.

     Jace opened the door for me and gently helped me inside before running over to his side and roughly shutting the door behind him.

      He shoved the keys into the ignition and then reached over and cupped my face. He was silent as his eyes studied mine. My heart sped up. Both of us started to shake, as he looked me in the eye. "I'm going to take care of all of this. I promise."

      I sat back in my seat and squeezed my eyes shut as Jace shifted the car into drive and took off. The tears rolled down my face leaving little wet spots on my shirt and jacket.

      I could see Jace turning to look at me every few minutes, but I was in so much shock that I couldn't even get words to form.

      I shook my head and slammed it into the seat. I didn’t know what to think. If my father
died then Jace would probably get thrown into jail, not to mention the fact that my mother could already be dead.

     
The car was silent as we pulled up in front of Jace's house. He took the keys out of the ignition and looked over at me. "I have something to tell you." He forced out. "I should've told you in the first place."

      My whole body started shaking as I attempted to look over at him. The look on his face was one of worry and pain. I wanted to reach out and hold him, to comfort him. "Tell me," I said softly, wanting him to know that he could tell me anything.

      Jace leaned his head back and squeezed his eyes closed. He nervously played with the steering wheel as he pursed his lips. "That girl. The one that was in the picture that broke." He paused and looked away.

     
"Yes," I pushed.

      "That was a close friend of mine. Zara was her name," he whispered. "Her boyfriend used to beat the crap out of her. She would come over at least once a week with bruises and cuts, crying and telling me all of the horrible things that he did to her. Finally, one day after I had enough and couldn't take anymore, I found him when he was alone. I found him and I beat the crap out of him." He stopped and looked over at me.

      I nodded my head for him to continue.

      He took a deep breath and ran his hands through his messy hair. "Zara came home just in time… she stopped me. He was barely breathing by that time. Fuck!" He slammed his head into the seat. "It was the same thing that happened tonight. I didn't mean to do so much damage, but something takes over me and when I care about someone I want to protect them."

      I reached over with shaky hands and grabbed his face. I looked him in the eye, while rubbing his cheek. "What happened to her?" I questioned.

     
His eyes became glassy as he quickly turned his head away. "She felt bad for him so she stayed by his side. A week later he beat her...to...death." He choked it out. “I should’ve done more to save her. After that I promised to never let that happen to anyone that I cared about again.”

      My heart sank to my stomach as I sat there, mouth open in shock. I was speechless. Jace had probably spent all of that time blaming himself. That's probably why Max said that he hadn't changed. He meant his violence, but it wasn't fair. He was only protecting his friend. "It wasn't your fault," I blurted out, wanting to cry and hold him and tell him that it wasn’t his fault.

      He looked over at me with a look of shock. His eyes softened as he reached over and ran his finger over my lip.

       "I missed you. I've been wanting to do this for so long now." He leaned in, pressing his lips against mine, causing me to become breathless.

       My arms instantly went around his neck and squeezed as he pressed his lips closer to mine causing us both let out a moan of passion.

      The kiss was broken up as loud knocking on the car window shocked us out of our own little world.

      We both looked up in surprise to see a police officer with one hand on the window and the other gripping the top of his gun as if he was ready to pull it out at any minute.

      His tall build leaned into the window as he nodded his head and waved his thick arm. "Jace Montgomery," he said stiffly. "Please step out of the car."

     
This can't be happening....

      I watched in horror as Jace stiffly pressed his face into the steering wheel and huffed, before slamming his right fist into the roof of his Mercedes. "Dammit," he mumbled.

      I felt sick to my stomach.
Caleb called the police! My father died? Jace is going to jail?

       I couldn't control my thoughts or emotions as I reached for the door handle, hands shaking as I pushed the door open. I placed one shaky leg after the other down to the dirty gravel as I attempted to get out of the car. My right leg gave out, but I quickly caught myself before I could fall down to the ground. "No!" I shouted. "Jace didn't do anything-"