Bound to Me (4 page)

“Hold your horses!” I answered with irritation, and opened the door to see my mom standing there.

“I thought something happened to you sweetie, I was knocking on your door for a very long time.” She said, but my mom wasn’t drunk. To my utter amazement she was sober, well at least for now. I wondered what the sudden change was. She was acting all fidgety and nervous. Grabbing her sleeves, and constantly looking down to the floor.

“I was really tired mom and I just slept in. I didn’t think that was a crime.” I replied back with a hand on my hip waiting to see what the real reason she was standing here at my door at one in the afternoon for. Holy crap! I slept the morning away! Something was not right at all and I think I just stepped into something I knew would only get freakier by the hour.

“I just wanted to tell you how sorry I was…he’s gone baby. After Ben hit you yesterday that was it. I got rid of him this morning.” She said with tears in her eyes now. This could not be true? My birthday could not get any better than this.

“How long will he stay away this time, Mom?
  Last time it was only for a few days.” I am hoping that maybe this will be a permanent situation and we can finally look toward a better life now that Ben will be out of the picture.

“For good Ronnie, I can’t take seeing you hurt anymore and I am going to get help to.” Olivia had finally worked up the nerve to do what she has been contemplating in her mind to do. She grabbed me for a hug and finally feeling free of the
enemy, I was able to let go and cry. I cried for all the hurt and suffering I had had to endure alone. After all my tears were gone, I look up at my mom. I felt a sense of pride, because looking into her eyes I knew her mind was finally made up. Slowly but surely the woman I was once so proud of, would go back to being her old self again. It would be a slow process but we now had each other, and I knew she was going to need me to help her. I knew I would give her this last chance, and if it didn’t work out and she took Ben back, I would go live with Amber.

“You don’t have to worry mom. I will make sure you get help as soon as possible. I need the old you back.

Since today was my birthday and I took off work, I decided to clean up the apartment with my mom and try to restore order to it. We wanted to get rid of everything that had any sort of connection to Ben. It was going to be a brand new start, and if that meant getting rid of every piece of furniture in the apartment then so be it, as long as there were no reminders.

In the time we stood cleaning up the apartment Ben called at least twenty times hollering and threatening to come back whether my mom liked it or not. Olivia was not giving in though. She had her mind made up. We spoke while we cleaned, about everything Ben did, and how he acted towards me. I told her about the many times he put his hands on me and she couldn’t recall half of them. That only meant she really had an alcohol problem. I told her about how he went through my stuff when I wasn’t home and his disgusting flirtatious ways towards me.

Olivia told me why she would get drunk so much. I understood why, I guess the hurt of my dad leaving was too much to handle. She said he was her soul and she felt like she couldn’t do it without him. Promises and vows were broken. She had never heard from him again until she just saw him again one day walking down the streets of downtown Manhattan with his new pregnant girlfriend ‘The secretary’ from his previous job. That completely shattered my mom’s soul.

I guess some people needed an outlet to take away the pain. Hers was drinking.
 She cried and hugged me about a hundred times apologizing for everything.

“I think I need to go down to the court house and get a restraining order on him baby, because I know he won’t leave us alone.” There was fear in her voice, and I don’t know if it was for me or for her. Either way Ben was not coming back into our lives and I was happy.

The phone rang again and she grabs it and starts to yell at Ben. I never heard my mom so angry in her life. She was also a pro at cursing. Never knew she had it in her. She slams the phone back into its receiver and smiles. Standing there with a broom in one hand, she was out of breath from the argument with Ben on the phone, and I think she was excited she finally stood up to him. Olivia was finally fed up and ready to go to battle and I was ready to defend her, no matter what the cost. This looked like a woman who just woke up from a bad dream.

Turing off the water from the sink after washing all the dishes I looked at her “You do what you have to mom to keep that bastard away from us. I will go to the police next time if he even comes near this place again. I lost you once and I won’t lose you again.” Olivia quickly nods and
started to stare at my shoulder.

“Ronnie? Baby, what is that on your shoulder?” Uh oh did I seriously forget to mention to my mom when I woke up this morning that I got another tattoo last night.

“Um, it’s another tattoo mom. I got it as a birthday present to myself.” Slowly a smile starts to appear on her face.

“Oh-
em-gee!!! Let me see it!” She lunged for my shirt, and quickly brought it down “Now that is a work of art Ronnie, maybe I should get one too. Maybe a panther on top of my tit or…or a lollipop on my pu-“

I stopped her before this conversation could get any more disturbing. “Whoa Mom!!! T-M-I and women your age don’t get tattoos anymore. Seriously stop your freaking me out.” I say laughing and looking at my mother in a whole new light. This is something I have been looking forward to for a very long time. This moment was all I ever wanted and I was finally getting it.

I told my mom how I had got the job at the restaurant and was saving up some money here and there. In no time the house looked amazing, almost good as new. We spent the rest of the afternoon just catching up with life. My Birthday was perfect, or so I thought it was.

Chapter 4

I decided I wanted to go back to Dominion and see what was going on with this tattoo and the strange dream I had. Before I left the house my mom was on the phone with an outpatient program and I knew she was really serious this time about staying clean, so I left her to it and made my way out of the apartment.
 

Not paying any attention and being in such a rush I did not notice Ben standing there lighting his cigarette right outside the brown stone, standing next to the stairs that led out of our building. “What do you want Ben?” I told him with fear in my voice backing away from him slowly like if he was a lion or snake ready to attack its prey. I knew a thing or two about how hard he hit and I was not in the mood to be his punching bag today.

“Your mother has been ignoring my phone calls Ronnie and it’s because of you. Mostly everything that happened was because of you.” I already knew this was not going to end well because he was already drunk. No surprise there. This was the quiet before the storm and I was in the path of destruction.

“Well if you would have just kept your hands to yourself Ben, maybe none of this would have happened to begin with. It’s just like you to put the blame on someone else.” It was the only response I could come up with, I didn’t want to piss this man off more than he already was. I decided to turn and walk away hoping he would just leave the situation alone, but he grabbed me by the arm and slammed my back against the wall till my head met the concrete. My vision goes black, and I see spots behind my eyelids.

Living in New York City, screaming won’t do you any good so I didn’t even try. People aren’t quick to come to your rescue. You would be lucky if someone picked up the phone to call the police. “Did I say this conversation was over Ronnie?” He whispered with pure venom in my ear.

My heart beat started to pick up, like I just finished running a marathon and I began to get tunnel vision out of fear. Out of nowhere there was this burning sensation on my shoulder. “Let go of me Ben, before I scream rape.” I tried pushing him out of my way and he back handed me. His knuckles once again being introduced to my mouth, was not how I wanted to spend my birthday. I stumbled back away from the wall, and I could instantly feel the warm liquid drip down my mouth. My lip was split and I put my hand to my mouth to wipe it away. “Nice job Ben, thanks for the love taps, but you hit like a girl.” I said sarcastically.
  I knew I shouldn’t antagonize him, but I was just so angry and really getting tired of the beatings.

He shouted something, but I couldn’t seem to hear anything he was saying because of the sudden pain in my shoulder where the tattoo was, drew me down to my knees. I saw an orange flame shoot out of my shoulder which blinded me for a moment and then the pain was gone, and Ben was left standing there with a look of sheer stupidity and horror on his face.

Mouth hanging slightly open, Ben right then looked like a man who had just seen God. “What’s the matter Ben, you look like you’ve seen a ghost? Or is it because you lost your nerve to hit me again?” I ask, this time his mouth closed and opens again looking like a fish out of water, he has his eyes trained behind me in shock. So I knew for a fact it wasn’t me who made this man scared shitless. A girl can only dream right?

“Human, why the look of surprise?” a male voice said behind me. See funny thing is, it was the same voice as the dragon in my dream, and I felt like if I turned around right now my world would turn completely upside down. Time stood frozen and it felt like forever before I turned around, two point five seconds later I faced the voice behind me. A dragon was not standing there, but a gorgeous naked guy with skin that has been kissed by the sun and blessed by the gods.

I had to look up at him to see his face, and boy was this man tall, about 6’3 and lean with muscles to die for, not bulky like a wrestler. No, this man had a lean, swimmers body and yes I said man because he was far from a boy. His eyes, oh my god! His eyes were dragon eyes, red as rubies with a slit for a pupil. His hair was a brownish blonde, which curled at his ears. He was a God.

“Oh my world, what the hell did I get myself into?”
It was the only response that came out of my lips.

“Hello Veronica, did I not tell you, you were mine to protect?” Liam, my dragon can turn into a man. Go me! He took a step forward and grabbed Ben by the collar and slammed him back against the wall “You come near Veronica again or her mother I will char the skin off your bones where you stand you vile human, do you understand that? She belongs to me, and I do not like what is mine
to be touched, I have killed for less than that before, so consider this your final warning.” Liam said then lets him go.

Ben shook his head in agreement “Yes-Yes I understand.” Then hauled ass down the steps and never looked back again. All you could see was a cloud of dust.

Liam turned towards me, and I instantly backed up against the wall. You would have to, if you would have seen the look on his face. “Look buddy, I don’t know what’s going on here, but this is so not what I had in mind when I got the tattoo, and I don’t belong to anyone, but myself. I also know Tai-Kwon Do asshole.”

He came forward and stopped right in front of me. “Your lip is bleeding. You should let me heal that, for you. I’m sure you don’t know how to fight Veronica because I would not be here if that were the case.” He smiled looking down at me.

He brought his head down toward mine I thought he was going to kiss me for a second.  All I had to do was close the two inch gap and we would, have been kissing. “Um no thanks, I can clean it up.” I said, but not really meaning it at all, placing my hands on his chest before he can come any closer but not pushing him away. I wanted this insanely beautiful man to kiss me.

Liam grabbed my hands and brought them down to my sides then brought his face forward again. He opened up his mouth and started blowing warm smoke out of it. Now things just got downright weird, and that was top of the list kind of weird. The kind of weird you don’t know what to do, but just stand there and hope to God you don’t pass out from hyperventilation weird. The smoke was warm against my lip. With a tingly sensation I could feel the skin mending back together. I slowly closed my eye lids basking in the heat of his breath into my mouth. He smelled Smokey and minty, and it was the most intimate thing a guy had ever done to me, without even kissing me. I saw a sudden flash of light behind my eyelids and I felt a quick burning sensation on my shoulder again. This time it didn’t hurt that much. I quickly opened my eyes, and Liam was nowhere around. I unzip my hoodie and brought my shirt down off of my shoulder, and the tattoo was nothing like what it was like the first or second time. “Okay I guess that means I am stuck with you then.” I said aloud and to no one in particular.

I touched my lip and there was no more cut there. The only evidence that there ever was a split lip was the dried blood on my chin. I ran like a bat out of hell down the street and into the night with one place in mind. The one place it all started … ‘Dominion’.

Chapter 5

Liam

Heaven for me would be flying for all eternity. I would soar through the sky of Dragconia, my own personal heaven.
  Here I would never be in human form and I could fly whenever I was not on a case. It was a place we existed in another dimension when we fled the human world, because we couldn’t co-exist with them anymore.

The earth seemed to have gotten smaller when more dragons were made. I made my way to the mountains where I knew all the Guardians and White Guardians of our race would be. The White Guardians, which were also, white dragons were the ones in charge. They were wiser than the rest of us. They knew all knowledge of our world and the humans. They also held the secrets of the Gods. Some of them actually serve the Gods. They also assigned the case we got and we helped them by completing our assignments and making sure we succeeded.