Save Me From the Dark (16 page)

“I love you, Bella.”

Bella

Listening to him say he loves me about rips my heart out of my chest. After a while, I hear the click of the door again. Climbing from the bed, I go into the bathroom and shower. Sitting down at the vanity with the towel wrapped around my body, I write a letter to Ace. There is so much that I need to tell him. So much that he needs to know, but I’m not sure I can get it all out on the three pieces of paper that I have.

With each swipe of the pen, brings tears to my eyes. On these pieces of paper, my heart lays splayed out for him to read. What I am doing is not something that I want to do, but I feel I have to do. He deserves a woman that can stand confidently by his side. For me to do that, I need to bury my demons. Me. I need to do this. Not Ace. Not Gary, but me.

Do I love Ace? With all my heart, but I can’t be who he deserves right now. Right now, I need to face down the man that has spent the last ten years breaking me and fix myself. Signing my name to the end of the letter, I place it on the bed. Grabbing my bag, I walk quietly down the hall and peek in on Ace, who stirs on the bed as I open the door a little more.

Taking one last look, I turn and leave. When I make it out into the hall, I creep toward the elevator. As my attention keeps shifting over my shoulder, I walk down what seems to be a never ending path to nowhere afraid that Ace would soon come barreling down at any moment. As I reach to press the button for the elevator, I realize that it will be like gunfire in the hall if I press it. So, I continue past the elevator and use the stairs instead.

Once I make it to the bottom floor, I walk past the front desk. The clerk perks up. “Can I call the car for you, Ma’am?”

“Oh, uh, yes please.”

“Sure thing. Just have a seat and I’ll call you when it pulls around.”

Smiling politely, “Thank you,” I whisper.

Sitting in a chair in the waiting area, I rest my head on my lap. This is killing me to do.

“Bella?”

My head snaps up at the sound of my name being called. Fear laces through me as my eyes meet Dawn’s. My hands shake and my heart pounds.

“Dawn? What, uh, what are you doing up this late?”

“Are you leaving?”

Tears spring to my eyes as I nod my head. She moves to sit next to me. Taking my hand in hers, she speaks gently.

“Does Ace know you’re leaving?”

“He knows I’m leaving he just doesn’t know I’m leaving now,” I say sadly.

Dawn sits quietly for a moment before finally speaking. “Why
are
you leaving?”

“Because I have to get my stuff in order on my own. I can’t expect him to do it for me or even help me. This is not his battle. This is mine. After being swarmed at the beach, I see what it would be like for him when it comes out that he’s with me. He’d be ruined, Dawn,” I sob. “I can’t do that to him. I love him too much to do that.”

Tears swim in her eyes. “Did you tell him that?”

Shaking my head, “Not fully no. I have to do this, Dawn. There’s no way I can bring Ace down. I need to have me and my life in order first. Please don’t hate me for this.”

“I don’t hate you, Bella. Does my heart break for my friends, definitely. I don’t hate you. Can you do something for me though?”

Looking at her, I can’t stop the tears or the shaking. My worry is that at any moment Ace is going to come rushing down here and beg me to stay. The problem is that if he did, I’d stay and then we’d both end up hurt.

“What?”

“Allow me to go with you to make sure your safe. It’ll help ease Ace’s heart to know that you weren’t alone and that you’re safe. I won’t tell him where you are, unless you want me to, but I will give my oldest friend the peace of mind to know that the woman he loves the most is okay.”

Nodding my head, the desk clerk announces that the car is ready. Dawn and I stand and walk out to the vehicle. I tell the driver where I want to go and he starts off into the night. Sitting back in the seat, I watch the hotel disappear from my view and my heart constricts painfully in my chest. A new bout of tears starts to fall down my cheeks as a sob breaks from my throat. Dawn pulls me into her arms and I cry on her shoulder.

“I love him. I love him so much. This is killing me. He’s going to hate me and he should, but I had to do this. I have to face this on my own. I
need
to face this on my own.”

“Shhhh,” Dawn hushes me as she strokes my hair. “He’s not going to hate you. I don’t think he ever could. He’s going to be hurt and worried, but he’ll never hate you.”

Dawn continues to hold me as I cry and eventually, I cry myself to sleep.

“Bella, wake up. We’re in town. Where are you wanting to go?” Dawn wakes me gently.

“Go to
Shamrick Motel
on First and Main please,” I answer groggily.

Sitting up, I rub my eyes before turning and looking back out at my home town. The light it once held for a little while is gone now. All because I left that light behind with a note. The gloom of this town now filling my body and sinking my shattered heart further into the dark spaces of nothingness.

“This is where you’re from?”

“Yeah, a small town of nothing. One school for Pre-K to eighth grade and one high school. More country living than city life even though there’s almost a twenty thousand population. It’s the kind of town you forget about once you’re gone. Nothing spectacular,” I reply uninterested.

“I see,” she says distractedly.

Looking over I see her reading something on her phone. Curiosity gets the better of me and I look at her, silently begging to know what is going on.

“It’s just Jarrett. He was worried because I hadn’t come home yet.”

“Oh,” I answer sadly.

“I didn’t tell him I was with you. I just told him that something came up. He’d go right up to Ace’s room to get him and they’d be here faster than we pull up to…” Her voice trails off as she looks out the window.

Turning, I see we’ve pulled up to the Motel. I turn back to her and see her face as it recoils in disgust.

“Is this where you plan on staying?”

“Yes, it’s all I can afford.”

“Oh, no way in hell. You are not staying there. No friend of mine is staying there. Monty, take us to the nearest decent hotel please, but that’s still semi close to her school. A place that
Ace
would approve of for his girl. You know him well enough by now to know what that is,” she yells up to the driver.

“Yes, Ma’am.”

The car starts moving again and I turn to Dawn and glare. “I came here because I can afford the rates here. I can’t afford a hotel,” I hiss.

“You want me to keep all this a secret, you’ll let me pay for a decent place for you to live. Yes, I know that’s below the belt, but I’m not having a friend staying in a place that looks to be lucky to still be standing.”

“Whatever, not like I have much choice.” Sighing, I look at my friend. “I’m sorry. I’m all over the place.”

Dawn waves her hand at me. “Don’t worry about it hun. I understand. Honest. I’m not trying to rule your life. Just want what’s best for you. You’ve been struggling for far too long.”

“Funny, I didn’t see it as struggling until now.”

“What do you mean?”

Chewing on my lip until I get the words right in my head, I take a deep breath. “Before I met Ace, it was just living normal life. Well, it was normal for me anyway. I didn’t know any better outside of it. But since I met Ace, I feel the struggle, but it’s not to survive the beatings…”

She reaches over and takes my hand in hers. “What’s it for then?”

Looking up at her, I shrug as I say. “It’s accepting the love from Ace and the love I have for him. It’s surviving
him
. He’s the only person that could truly break me. My father’s beatings have nothing on what Ace can do to me.”

“Oh honey. You need to give Ace more credit. That man is head over heels in love with you. I’ve never seen him so happy… and miserable. You hold his heart just as he holds yours.”

There is just so much going on in my head it is hard to believe that what Dawn tells me is true. This whole love thing could be because I’m in need of rescuing. It could have nothing to do with me at all. I can’t settle for a mirage. If I’m going to take the leap with someone, I’m going to take it knowing that no other factors play in to disguise the love they’re feeling.

We are soon pulling up to the
Plainview Hotel and Suites
. As we climb from the car, I look up at the building in awe. I’ve lived here my whole life, but because of how sheltered I was, I’ve never been on this side of the high school to see this hotel. Though many dances have been held here and all the kids talk about how incredible it is, I’ve never been here myself.

“This is too much,” I say not taking my eyes off the building.

“Too bad, we agreed no arguing. Now come on.”

We walk inside and I can’t take my eyes off the foyer of this hotel. Everything seems to shine. Out of the corner my eye, I can see Dawn walk over to the front desk, but I don’t follow. Instead, I continue to take in the beauty of this place.

There is a table in the center of the lobby that held the biggest bouquet of flowers I’ve ever seen. It is a major effort to not walk over there and inhale deeply, but somehow I keep my feet planted in their spot. The floors were white with specks of black throughout. The furniture is black with colorful accent pillows and rugs. It was just drop dead gorgeous in here. No wonder kids fall over themselves to have the dances here.

“You ready? I have you all checked in. I’m going to go up with you to see that the room meets my standards before I head back.”

“Oh, uh, sure.”

We walk over to the elevators. The wait is short. I watch as she inserts the card key and presses the button for the eleventh floor.

“Are you sure about this? I’m fine with staying at…”

“Listen, I’m not letting you stay in the death trap waiting to happen. You’re staying here. Really, it’s no problem at all. It’ll make me feel better.”

We exit the elevator and walk down to the end of the hall. There seems to be about twelve rooms on this floor. Which is a small amount for the space that is here, if you ask me. The last door at the end of the long hall has a door straight across from it. The closest door was a good twenty feet away.

Well, there is at least privacy and a bit of security.

“Okay,” she opens the door and waits for me to enter. “This is your new home until you go back to Ace. Which I know you will because you two are meant to be together.”

All I can do is look around this huge living space. The wide open space of the kitchen, dining and living rooms takes my breath away. There are several doors that are all closed that have my curiosity peaked as to what’s behind them. I’ll never have to leave here again. It’ll allow me to breathe a little easier. But then reality smacks and I realize what the cost of a space like this must be.

“This is too much.”

“Nope, this isn’t enough. Now you’ll have all you need here. When the groceries get low, just call down to the front desk with a list and they will do your shopping for you. There will be a car that will arrive to take you to and from school as well as a personal shopper here to take you shopping for some clothes…”