Stupid Girl
1200 Words
[Noel’s POV]
Later, I stand in front of the place that I’ve called hell for most of my life and stare up at it, taking in the brightly lit windows while hugging Nick’s jacket closer around my body. Instantly, his scent envelopes me, calming my heart that races as my fear over what waits for me threatens to suffocate me.
“It’s going to be okay.” I whisper, knowing that for now my stepmother and Joelle wouldn’t possibly do anything to me. “At most they’ll degrade you.”
Settling on this, I begin to move forward, bracing and readying myself for what is waiting before the door bursts open and the women in question storm out.
“Noel!” My stepmother shrieks, moving forward and grabbing me painfully by the arms. “Where the hell have you been?”
For a moment, I don’t speak as I take her in, wondering whether or not she was aware of what her daughter and my supposed fiancé were doing. I was certain that she was, and that alone pisses me off further.
“Does it matter?” I ask, my voice dripping with defiance. “Wasn’t this what you want…”
I don’t get to finish my words before a hand connects with my cheek, sending me crashing to the ground so that my stepmother’s heeled foot can connect with my stomach.
Gasping, I curl in on myself, trying to protect my body against the attacks that I didn’t think would come but should have known were waiting.
“YOU STUPID GIRL!” She shrieks, landing blow after blow. “DO YOU KNOW WHAT YOU’VE DONE?”
What I’ve done. It was almost laughable to hear that when she and her daughter were at fault. If they didn’t want me to catch onto their deception, then they should have tried harder to hide it.
“AFTER EVERYTHING I’VE DONE FOR YOU!” She continues, grabbing me by the hair and lifting me so I’m forced to look her in the eyes. “Go now!” She hisses, her eyes flashing with rage. “Go and apologize to Hunter and his parents, NOW!”
Apologize. Was she really telling me to apologize to the one who was truly responsible for our wedding not going through today? She had to be out of her mind!
“I won’t,” I whisper, my anger spiking. “I won…”
“YOU WILL!” My stepmother growls, her free hand connecting with my cheek. “YOU WILL GO IN THERE AND APOLOGIZE, THEN BEG HUNTER TO MARRY YOU!”
“No!” I repeat, this time more strongly. “I won’t marry him!”
“You ungrateful b***h!” My stepmother shrieks, beginning to drag me toward the house. “You will marry him, even if I have to…”
“NO!” I scream, reaching up and digging my claws into my stepmother’s skin. “I WON’T APOLOGIZE! LET ME GO!”
“SHUT UP!”
Gasping, I feel myself slamming into the ground before my stepmother’s hand presses against my skull with all her might.
“Listen here,” she hisses, leaning close to my head. “If you don’t marry him, you know what will happen as well as I do.”
I did, and even if I didn’t want to lose Azure Moon, I didn’t want to leave her to control it either. If I was going to lose everything, I was going to make sure that she lost everything too.
“Then let the pack disperse.” I rasp, trying to ignore the pain radiating through me. “You can blame your w***e of a daughter for…”
No other words escape me as my stepmother lifts my head and slams it against the ground once, twice, three times until I taste blood in my mouth and my ears ring.
Shit, she was really ready to kill me, and given how weak I was, I knew that I didn’t stand a chance if I fought against her.
I’m going to die. I think inwardly as black spots start dancing in front of my eyes. I’m going to die, and the pack my grandfather loved so much is going to disappear.
Closing my eyes, I let this single thought settle on me as I begin to accept my fate, but before the world around me can disappear, my stepmother’s hand disappears from my head, and I’m being pulled into strong arms.
“Who?” I whisper, half expecting it to be Hunter. “Hu…”
“Noel!” Nick’s deep voice erupts around me, making me feel like an absolute fool for thinking for even a second that the person who tricked me and betrayed me would possibly be the same one saving me. “Noel, are you alright?”
“Who are you?” My stepmother growls as I open my mouth to say I was. “How dare you interfere in our family matters!”
“How dare I,” Nick repeats, his voice dripping with rage. “If I didn’t, then you were going to kill her.”
“Are you accusing me of being a murderer?” My stepmother snaps. “I was only disciplining my daughter.”
“You’ve got a funny way of disciplining.” Nick snaps, pulling me closer as he stands. “There’s a fine line between discipline and abuse, lady.”
At his words, I feel a laugh wanting to bubble up, but I don’t let it. Instead, I curl into the warmth that is suddenly beckoning me as a wave of relief rushes through me.
“Who are you?” My stepmother demands. “Put her down!”
“I won’t.” Nick says, his voice confident. “I’m taking her with me. We’ll return another day to collect her things.”
“WHAT?” My stepmother gasps, disbelief coloring her words. “What do you mean that you’re taking her? Her fiancé is just inside waiting for…”
“What fiancé?” Nick laughs. “The one who cheated on her after promising to protect her from the likes of you? He doesn’t deserve to even breathe the same air as Noel, and I won’t allow him to come near her again.”
“Nick,” I whisper, knowing that there was no way my stepmother would settle for this. “Please, just…”
“Don’t worry,” he murmurs, tightening his hold on me. “Just let me take care of you, alright?”
Let him take care of me. Didn’t he know that was easier said than done, especially after everything I suffered? Even now with him here acting like my knight in shining armor, I still couldn’t quite find it in me to trust him, but I knew if I stayed here, then my stepmother and the others would certainly try something. Maybe that’s why I decide, for one last time, to put my faith in someone and say the word that everything in me screamed not to say.
“Okay,” I sigh, letting his strong heartbeat soothe me. “Please, take me away.”
- Writer
