My Protector

Chapter 5

Kayla's POV:

I woke up pretty early, before the sun started to rise. Normally we would just stay where we were and try to get more sleep and wait till it warmed up a little and people were out and about. Can't get the chance of spotting people dropping change when they pay for something at a side shop if they weren't open yet.

But today, I'm not waiting for the sun to come up. I've been awake off and on all night long, scared that I was going to get ripped out from under this bridge by Jonah. With every little sound that happened, I jolted awake and my heart would beat so hard I felt it in my throat.

I don't know what time it is exactly but I could see that the sun was just barely starting to appear. It was still quite dark out but in an hour or two, the sun will be up. My first thought is to get over the bridge to the other side of town but it puts me out in the open. This is why I want to do it before the sun comes up.

I rubbed my eyes one more time to make sure they were awake and I peeked around the corner and took a long good look to make sure no one was out there waiting for me. I took a deep breath and crawled out from where I was sitting and stretched for just a few seconds before starting my walk towards the bridge.

I was very nervous about going over because there is nothing for me to hide behind and until I got to the other side I'm open to being seen from all over. I went over the guardrail again and headed to the sidewalk that went across. My heart was beating rapidly again in fear of getting caught. Now that I'm in front of the bridge it looks so much longer than what I thought it did when I was under it.

I heard a car driving up behind me and I turned to hide my face when it passed. I can't walk across this, that is going to take too long. I have got to run and I got to get over there and get off of the main street!

I ran up the small incline of the bridge which caused the muscles in my legs to burn. I felt a little sting in my thigh, probably from the stitches pulling again but I couldn't stop to look at it. I got up over the bridge and started down to the other side. As soon as I got to where I could jump off of the road I did. I ran across the side street and into the alley between the buildings.

This one was very narrow compared to some but I could see that it did go all the way through. It's just safer to be in the alley than anywhere else. There were a few dumpsters back here and the moment I saw them my stomach growled. I haven't eaten anything since Jaxson gave me those two eggs that I couldn't eat all of. I walked over to one of the dumpsters and lifted the lid. The smell gets you every time regardless of how often you dig through one.

Most of the time there isn't anything edible and it wouldn't be the first time I ate something that was already molded. My father told me, even if you throw it up a few minutes later, your body still took in some of the nutrients. Those first few times I had to eat something molded I refused. Eventually, I got so hungry a few times that I had to eat it. Sometimes you throw it up, and sometimes you don't.

I couldn't quite reach in the dumpster so I looked around to see if there was something I could step on. There was a bucket down the alley a ways next to another dumpster so I walked over there. I decided to search the dumpster it was sitting next to first since it was right there. I lifted the lid to that one and got on the stool. At first glance, I didn't see anything but most of the time the garbage is in bags. The best dumpsters are the ones behind the restaurants or grocery stores. They dump out a lot of food that is still good to eat just not for them to sell or serve. Unfortunately, most of the food and stores are on the other side of the bridge. I'm on the side with a bunch of businesses.

I grabbed a bag and pulled it out of the dumpster and ripped it open. There were a lot of different kinds of food in it that was probably from people's lunches. I dug through it and found a half-eaten apple and grabbed it. It was really brown on the side that was chewed on but the other side still looked okay. I ate what I could on that and threw it back into the bag. I dug around again and found a yogurt cup. It looked all black inside. There's no way I would bother with something that looked like that. It was too far gone at this point and besides, just getting what I could on my finger wouldn't have been enough to bother with.

I dug around a little bit more but didn't really find anything else. Most of the food was pretty well eaten or more on the liquid side of texture. I tossed it back into the dumpster and closed the lid. I think I just need to keep walking. The sun is coming up now so people should start coming out and people at work will be wanting to get their breakfast at those shops on the sidewalks or pick up the morning paper.

The business side has the most of those because of all the workers wanting coffee or hotdogs. I'm just not sure how I'm going to watch for dropped change if I can't be out in the open. I walked through the alley to the other side and looked around before walking out onto the street. Just around this corner over here should be a few stands.

I walked around the block and sure enough, the coffee stands are open for the people heading to work. I walk over to where they were and looked around for where I could try to hide. I just need a little bit, just enough to pay for a bus fare out of town and to the next one. Problem is, those can cost several dollars and that is so hard sometimes to come by. Most of the time the change that falls from pockets are pennies or dimes. The smaller coins aren't as noticeable if they get caught in the person's hand or money as they pull their money out.

My father always insisted that we were not going to be beggars. That we were not going to be one of the ones sitting on the side of the street with a hat or bucket beside us for people to drop change into. Even though it was never something I had ever thought about doing, he drilled it into me almost on a daily basis that I was never going to use my body for cash.

The moment I started to develop, that's when the men started to try to pay me to do things to them or they do to me. So often my father would get into a fight with them or he would just pull me away and we would leave. Sometimes he would make me stay back while he looked for coin that way we wouldn't have any troubles. Even the homeless men would want to try just because they were horny and hadn't been with a woman in years.

It wasn't something that happened all of the time, just occasionally each week you would have some disgusting person trying to put their hands on you. The main reason why we tended to stick around the businesses is that if you get into the wrong area, that's when the trouble appears. Some are so drugged up they would do anything for their next hit and would do anything to you if they thought you had drugs.

There was a small indent in the building that had two doors into the building so I decided to sit there. It had a closed sign on the one door so that would probably be the best one to sit in front of. Plus, there was a newspaper stand to my left and across the sidewalk was a hotdog stand. Those were almost the best ones because they cost people dollars instead of coin like most coffee shops. The dollars tend to pull out coin if the person has them in their pockets.

I only spent part of the day there. I was able to get about 68 cents, but only about 15 of it came from someone dropping it at the hotdog stand. The rest came from a few people who just dropped me some as they walked passed. You really have to swallow your pride when you have nothing. Whether you want them to know or not, people always seem to know that you are homeless.

I took the little bit that I had and walked down the street to go to another block. I had to wait at the light and got a little uneasy because I was the only one standing at the corner waiting. There wasn't anyone else wanting to cross at this time. The worst time to cross is when people are at work and not on their breaks.

I happen to glance over to the side as I waited and I spotted a black car slowly pull into a parking space down the street. The first thing I noticed was the fact that no one got out of the car, as if they were watching me. It was enough for me to take off across the street even though the traffic was still moving. Horns were going off, screeching tires as people slammed on their brakes. People cussing at me through their windows because I ran out in front of them.

I got over to the other side of the street and happened to look back over at that black car. The moment I did, the back passenger door opened and Jonah stepped out of the car. I just had that feeling it was him. I thought I would have some time to get away since he was on the other side of the busy street but I was wrong.

I could see he had an overconfident, mischievous grin on his face and he started walking across the street, not looking at anything other than myself.

"s**t!" I said aloud and turned quickly to go down the sidewalk but bumped into someone, delaying my escape.

"Kayla!" I heard Jonah yell which caused me to look back.

He was now starting to run across the street so I shoved myself passed the person I ran into and ran down the sidewalk. I wasn't close to the cost of any bus ticket and there wasn't a stop nearby. My fear and adrenaline kicked in and I felt myself push harder in my run, knowing that I was going to have to run to get away from him.

I saw another alley and I turned to go into it but not soon enough for him not to see me go in it as well. I ran just a few steps before I saw that it was a dead end! I looked up and around to see what I could do and saw a fire escape that went up the building that was probably a good six stories high. I ran over and jumped, trying to reach the ladder to pull it down.

I saw him enter the alley and he slowed down. He knew that I was in a dead-end alley and a smile grew on his face.

"Nowhere to run Kayla!" He shouted at me.

"Come on!" I quietly yelled at myself and jumped one more time, hooking my hand on the ladder and my weight alone pulled it down.

The moment the ladder stopped he leaped into a run. I couldn't help but let out a cry as I climbed up the ladder as fast as I could. I tried to pull the ladder back up but he grabbed it and yanked it down.

"Give up, Kayla!" He shouted at me as I started up the stairs to the next level.

"Leave me alone!" I shouted at him and looked down to see where he was.

"You know I can't do that!"

I went around to go to the next flight and happened to see that he was closer to me than he was before. Dammit! He's catching up! I couldn't help but feel defeated but I pushed myself to keep going. I got to, I think the steps that went to the fourth floor when he grabbed my ankle and I fell onto the steps. It hurt like crazy to hit the metal as hard as I did but it didn't stop me from grabbing the railing with my hand to hold on.

"Let go!" I screamed at him but that only made him try harder.

It was like the challenge of trying to get me was getting him excited and he wanted more. He pulled himself up a little higher and held onto my ankle. I turned and grabbed the railing with my other hand and looked down at his awful smiling face. I took my other foot and kicked him in the face causing him to yell out in pain and he released my ankle.

I got myself turned around and ran up the stairs again.

"You b***h! Get back here!" I heard him yell as I went up the next set of stairs.

I was able to get to the ladder that went up to the roof and I started to climb. I have no idea where I am going to go once I get up there but I really had nowhere else to go! It was either stay in the dead-end alley and just let him get me or try to get away by going up. I felt him grab my foot and pull which caused me to slip down a step.

"Go away!" I shouted again and started to kick the foot he had in his hand.

My shoe slid off as soon as I kicked and the sudden release caused him to step down and I went up on the ladder. I continued my way up the ladder till I was able to go over the edge of the roof. I stepped down and was thankful that this roof was not covered in stones like the last one. It was hard enough to run with my thigh like it is let alone to try without one of my shoes!

I saw as soon as I got up there the rooftop exit and ran as hard as I could.

'Kayla!" He yelled at me again when he got to the roof.

I ran up to the door and tried to open it but it was locked.

"No!" I screamed and pulled again.

"There's no escape!" I heard him yell and then laugh at the end.

I turned around and saw him walking towards me instead of running. I looked around to see where I could go. If only there was a building nearby.

"There's nowhere for you to go, Kayla, just surrender and maybe I will take it easy on you." He said smiling that evil grin I remember all too well that night he was in our kitchen.

I took off towards the side of the building that would have another building attached only to get to the edge and see that the other building was at least two stories shorter than this one! Why did I have to pick the taller of the buildings!

Daddy I wish you were here! You would know what to do! I cried in my head and turned around and saw that Jonah was now maybe six feet from me and just standing there. He looked too pleased to have me cornered and nowhere to go. I tried to go one way but he moved to show me that he could block me. I tried the other way and he moved again.

"My father's dead, just leave me alone! I can't pay you the money he owed!" I shouted at him only to get him laughing.

"Do you really think I care about the money? That my father cares? The money your father owed us was chump change. Not even noticeable." He informed me.

"Then why are you chasing me? Why?" I shouted at him, demanding to know.

"My father went to your house that night, specifically to kill your father as punishment for not paying. If it wasn't for me he would have. I'm the one who told him that we could exchange your father's debt for you."

"But there are how many other girls you could have had, why me? Why make that swap?" I asked him again while I continued to think about what I could do to get away from him.

"No reason. I just liked what I saw when you walked into the room." He said and his smile changed into a lustful look.

My eyes widened and I took off to the side without thinking to get away. I was grabbed and pulled into his chest.

"You're mine!"