Resisting my step-brother 2

He’s out

We were well into January by now and the evenings were getting dark quicker by the day. I needed to grab a few things from the shop down the road for this evenings meal so I took a walk down there as it wasn’t worth taking the car. A dark hooded figure was walking in the same direction on the opposite side of the road. I thought nothing of it and entered the shop. Once I had paid for my groceries I walked out and headed back towards the house. I could hear footsteps behind me so I looked around. It was the same person from before. I walked a bit quicker to try to gain some distance. It wasn’t working, my legs were so short that I wasn’t moving quick enough. The man grabbed my arm and turned me around.

“Did you think I would forget about you?” The man growled. I gasped as I recognised his face.

“Cameron! What do you want?” I yelled and he continued to hold my arm.

“Pay back. You really think you could get away with ruining my life?” He snarled. 

“Let go of me Cameron, or I swear I will scream!” I yelled and he lowered his brows at me 

“Go ahead, I’ll f*****g kill you before anyone gets close to you!” He threatened. I didn’t know how I was going to get out of this, his grip was extremely tight, so tight it was making an indent in my arm. I suddenly remembered that I had Dan’s number on speed dial. I reached into my back pocket of my jeans and ran my fingers across the buttons. Once I was familiar with where my fingers were placed I rang Dan. I waited a few seconds to give him time to pick up. 

“Please Cameron, just leave me alone!” I yelled loud enough so my speakers could pick up my voice.

“You’re going to f*****g pay for locking me up and taking away any chance I had at a normal life” he said .

“I didn’t do anything. It was all you! You’re the one who threatened me and assaulted me. You were asking for it!” I cried and his expression showed his fury. I was petrified. I hadn’t realised that it was the 15th 3 days ago. He must have been laying low whilst he planned on how he was going to approach me. I saw blue flashing lights coming towards us and Cameron let go of me. Dan was close to the end of his shift however he was still on duty. Three police cars came into view, the echoes from their sirens filled the street and startled Cameron. Dan jumped out along with two officers and ran towards us. Cameron dashed away and the two officers chased him. Dan ran over to me and wrapped his arms around me tightly. 

“Are you okay?” He panicked and I began to sob uncontrollably in his arms.

“Dan... I was so scared” I cried. He stroked my hair and kissed my forehead.

“I’ve got you baby, you’re safe” he comforted and then put me into the car. We headed back to the house which was only down the road. I sat on the sofa and Dan gave me a glass of water. He sat down next to me and ran his fingers through my hair. 

“What were you doing going out by yourself? You know how dangerous it is out there now he’s been released from jail” Dan explained. I told him about wanting to make a nice meal for us tonight and that I hadn’t thought about Cameron getting out. He kissed my lips passionately and rested his forehead against mine.

“Don’t scare me like that again okay?” He whispered. I flashed a slight grin.

“Hey Dan, do you mind if we ask Elle a few questions?” One of his colleagues asked as he creeped in. Dan looked at me for acceptance and I nodded.

After I had finished giving my statement, the officers left and Dan held me tightly to his chest on the sofa. He was holding me as if I had just been resuscitated back to life. It was as if he was close to losing me and didn’t want to let go of me ever again. I liked it. It showed me just how much he really cares. Soon enough I ended up passing out against his chest, he was so comforting and made me feel so safe.

I took Friday off of work because of the drama that had unfolded the night before. I was exhausted and I didn’t want to go out the house. It was about 2pm and there was a knock at the door. I was frightened to even go near it let alone see who was behind it. What if it was Cameron coming back? Dan was at work so I was on my own. I took my phone out and prepared to speed dial Dan as I walked up to the door.

“Who is it?” I called out whilst holding a knife I had grabbed from the kitchen moments before. 

“It’s me Elle, open up” Liam yelled. I sighed with relief and put my phone back in my pocket.

“What do you want?” I said and he opened the letter box.

“Just let me in” he demanded so I unbolted the door and let him enter.

“Woah” he said holding his hands up in defence.

“What’s with the knife?” He asked and I looked down at my hand, not realising I was still holding it.

“Oh s**t, sorry” I said and put it down on the table beside the door. I looked back at a confused Liam who was staring at me.

“Elle, what’s going on? You didn’t show up for work which is not like you at all. And then I am greeted with a knife?!” He interrogated. 

“Yeah, sorry about that” I avoided his questions.

“Do you want a drink?” I asked him whilst walking to the kitchen.

“Uh, orange please” he responded, looking down at the size of the knife.

I walked back in moments later with two glasses of pure orange juice. I led him to the living room and we sat down on opposite sofas.

“Elle... why weren’t you at work today?” He repeated his question.

“I... I just wasn’t feeling great” I lied.

“You look shattered” he stated and I narrowed my eyes.

“Thanks for noticing, I didn’t sleep very well last night” I clarified and he sucked in his bottom lip with restraint. 

“Elle... talk to me. You always go to work, no matter how unwell you are” he reminded me and I sighed deeply.

“Why aren’t you at work?” I avoided and he huffed.

“Because I’m the boss and I do what I want, now give me a straight answer” he moaned with frustration. I bit at my lip and tensed up.

“I... um... Cameron was released from prison” I started and he scrunched his nose up.

“What! He still has another 5 years to go”

“He was let out early on good behaviour and cooperation” I explained. I took in a deep breath and continued.

“He found me, followed me actually, last night to the shop. I was going to pick up some food to cook for the evening and he followed me there”. Liam’s face dropped and he was overwhelmed with concern.

“What! We need to get you to a safe place where he can’t find you” Liam suggested but I shook my head.

“He will just find me again” I explained. He bit the inside of his mouth and then moved over to the seat next to me. He placed his hand to my chin and tilted it upwards.

“Did he hurt you?” He asked me. For a moment, I felt like we were back at the house. He always tilted my head up to him and kissed me whenever I felt a bit down or frightened.

“He grabbed my arm and threatened me. I thought he was going to but I managed to ring Dan on speed dial from my jean pocket. He arrived in minutes with his colleagues”I said and he let go of my chin.

“They caught him then” he assumed but I shook my again at him again.

“He got away” I confessed and he sighed.

“Elle, I’m so sorry” he said cupping my cheek. Suddenly, Dan walked into the room and stared at us aggressively.

“Everything alright?” He asked sarcastically and Liam turned to him with a grin.