The man who’d been fooling with his zipper only seconds earlier was now being pulled up to a standing position. With a snap of Xavier’s wrist he spun the man around to face him, all the while not laying a hand on him.
His powers were stronger than that. He didn't always have to touch to destroy. Sometimes all he had to do was motion for it, and it would come to fruition. And that was exactly what he intended on doing with this man. For he was certain if he dared lay a finger on the disgusting piece of filth that Xavier would kill him with his bare hands.
Once the man was pulled away from the woman, Xavier pushed him up against the large dumpster, pressing his body into the metal as the man screamed for help.
“Shut up!” he shouted.
He closed the distance between himself and the unconscious woman and bent down to feel for a pulse.
The warmth from her neck instantly soothed his worry and he breathed a sigh of relief when he felt the thump thump of her heart beating.
Xavier stood up and turned his attention back to the man still pinned against the metal bin. He clenched his fist in mid-air, tightening his hold and squeezing at the man’s larynx.
“Listen to me you son of a bitch. I don’t know who you are, and I don’t fucking care. But you will not go near this woman, or any woman ever again. You got me?”
The man tried to nod, but he choked against the pressure of Xavier’s phantom hold.
Loosening just enough for the man to answer, Xavier asked him again. “Tell me you understand.”
“I…” the man coughed and fought for air.
“Tell me, damn it!”
“I understand.”
Xavier pierced the man with a threatening stare. He wanted the creep to know that he meant business.
“If I see you around here again, even walking down the street, I will destroy you. Do you understand me?”
Swallowing the man nodded his head. “Yes. I… I understand.”
“Good. And I’ll be taking this. “ Xavier grabbed the knife from his hand and shoved it into his back pocket. “Now get the hell out of here before I change my mind about letting you live.”
Seconds later Dante came running down the alley and caught up to his brother. “What’s happened?”
Xavier didn’t answer him. His attention was on the woman who lay unconscious on the cold and unforgiving pavement below them.
“Is she okay? How’d you know where to find her?”
Xavier brushed a piece of her hair from the side of her face and exposed a thin line of blood which dripped from her forehead down to her ear.
“X? You okay, man?”
“What?” he looked up, just finally realizing his brother was there.
"I asked if you were okay?"
“Yeah.” He shook his head, feeling a little foggy with scattered thoughts. “I’m fine.”
"What happened? I was waiting for you, and then I sensed you were in trouble."
“Really? I wasn’t. She was.”
Xavier bent over, and with both arms reaching beneath her he lifted her up and cradled her against his chest.
“Who is she?”
“I’m not sure. I was on my way to meet you when I heard her cries.”
“Did he?”
Xavier shook his head. “No. No, I don’t think so. He was fumbling with his pants when I found him. I think he just knocked her out.”
“It’s a good thing you were here. We stopped patrolling this neighborhood weeks ago. Nothing ever seems to happen over here.”
“Yeah, I know.”
Xavier couldn’t shake the cloudiness from his mind. His rational thinking was telling him to take the woman to the emergency room and let them know what had happened to her. It would be no different from any other victim they’d saved in this city.
It was his instincts that were doing a number on him, though. He didn't want to take her to the hospital. He wanted to take her home. He wanted to tend to her, care for her. He wanted to protect her.
"X, are you okay? You're not looking so good, man."
“Yeah.” He nodded. "I'm okay. I just…"
“Whoa.” Dante grabbed his arm as he started to sway. “Are you sure you’re alright?”
“I don’t know. Maybe I just need to eat something. Just feeling a little out of sorts is all.”
“Alright. Let’s take her to the hospital and we’ll –.”
“No.”
His sharp response had Dante give him a look of concern. "Xavier, she's hurt. We need to have her checked out. You know the rules."
“The rules don’t apply to her.”
“What?”
"Hey, guys." Max, one of their own came down the alley. "Is everything okay? I picked up a distress reading from X."
“You too?” Dante looked in surprise.
“I don’t know what to tell you guys. I didn’t send signals to either of you. I had it under control.”
Max rubbed at his jaw and raised his brows. “Dante we talked about this, man. Is he…?”
“He is fine. And he can hear you.” Xavier snapped.
Holding up his hand in surrender, Max replied. “Look man. You know I got your back. We’ve always been solid. But you haven’t been right for awhile. And –.”
“And nothing. I’m fine. Do I need to sing it to you?”
“Just relax, X.” Dante placed his hand on his shoulder. “So what are we doing with her? She’s gotta get checked out.”
“Fine. We'll take her to the hospital, but I'm not leaving her."
“Who the hell said he had to?” Max muttered under his breath to Dante.
“I heard that.” Xavier snarled.
An hour later Xavier stood in the doorway of the small room they’d placed her in. Max and Dante had left after he couldn’t take any more of their confused or assuming glares.
He wasn’t sure why, but his adrenaline was pumping on high, and his temper at an all new level of rage. This woman was a complete stranger to him. He’d learned from her purse which was found in the alley her name. He knew her address and age. He even knew that she was an organ donor. What he didn’t know was why she mattered to him so much.
As leader of The Hollows, Xavier knew their place in the world. Neither human nor demon, they lived somewhere in the middle. The gray area which had no real boundaries. It allowed them powers and contradicting emotions of all types. Their mission for the ages had been clear. To protect the innocent and pay penance for the wrong doings of their Creator the Great Marquis Andras, servant under Lucifer.
For years he had known his place. For years he had known his purpose. Yet now as he stood here waiting for this woman to wake from her drug-induced sleep, he questioned everything.
Could he be changing? The legends they’d heard for years from his parents and their parents before them had warned that someday there would be a male heir who would fall under the influence of evil and take up where Andras had once left off.
After so many generations before him had told the tale and waited for it to become a reality after long, they just stopped believing.
But what if that had been foolish. Maybe that false sense of security was exactly what would be Xavier’s own undoing.
She lay there peacefully with her arms resting gently against her stomach. Her breathing even as little whispers of a snore came through her nose.
Beautiful wasn't a word he would use to describe many, but with Elizabeth, it didn't seem to do her justice. There was something exquisite about her, something different. Something that called to him in a way he just didn't understand.
The thought of that man hurting her earlier, even if only for a second, tore through him. It filled him with an anger and urge to protect her at all costs.
He would not, could not ever lose her. He felt responsible for her in some way. She may not realize it, and may not even be happy about it, but he would be her guardian from this moment on.
He didn’t know why.
He couldn’t explai
n the reasons it needed to be.
It simply was.
For some reason, and in some way she had reached a part of him, that ached for her safety and well-being. There was no way he would let anyone hurt her.
Sitting down on the bed beside her, he lifted her hand in his, gently brushing his thumb across her soft knuckles.
A quiet whimper slipped past her lips, and her eyes began to flutter as she opened them. "Who…"
“Shh.” He tried to quiet her. “Don’t over exert yourself. How are you feeling?”
“Um…” she shook her head and looked around the room. “Where am I? Who are you?”
“You’re at West Palm Hospital. I’m Xavier. I found you.”
Her eyes widened. “Oh my God. That man. He…”
“Shh. It’s okay.” He squeezed her hand a little tighter. “He’s long gone. He’s not going to hurt you ever again.”
Nervously she looked down at her body. “Did he…?”
"No. No, he didn't. He gave you a bump on the head and a pretty nasty looking contusion. But other than that he didn't lay a hand on you."
“Are you sure?”
“I’m positive.”
“How did I get here?”
Xavier had saved many humans before. Never had such a simple question felt so complex. Instead of over thinking it he gave her a simple response. “I brought you here.”
“You found me?”
“Yeah. I was going to meet my brother. That’s when I heard you crying in the alley and I –.”
Xavier's mouth hung open, and his words ceased. It wasn't until just then as he was explaining things to her that he'd realized what had happened.
When he was out walking to meet Dante, he had heard her cries. He felt her dread and fear. But she was unconscious when he found her. Even though she was out cold, he could still hear the sound of her tears. She was speaking to him without using her words.
“What is it?” she asked.
He looked down at her, lying down fragile in the bed. The doctor said she'd be fine, no concussion but would probably have a pretty nasty headache when she woke up. Still, he looked deep into her eyes to see what else he might be able to sense.
“Why are you looking at me like that?”
Xavier’s heart skipped a beat. She spoke to him, but her lips never moved. They shared something. A connection of some kind.
With his hand still holding hers, he could feel when her heart began to race. His silence was unnerving, but undoubtedly more so for her.
"I'm sorry. I just… well, I was worried about you." He held back from telling her what he'd just learned. Knowing full well that she would either think him crazy or a liar. Neither one was a chance he wished to take.
“Well well, look who decided to join us.” A male nurse entered the room and lifted her wrist to check her hospital band. “And how are we feeling Ms. Hawthorn?”
“Umm…” she shrugged. “Fine, I suppose.”
“Okay, well let me just get the doctor and see if we can’t get you out of here.”
The nurse left the room as quickly as he’d appeared. Xavier felt his senses on hyper alert. The pain of the patients in nearby rooms combined with this bond he felt with Elizabeth was making everything so raw and real.
He was overcome with the need to be closer to her. He needed to hold her, touch her, kiss her, make love to her and ensure that she belonged to him. The primal and instinctual emotion was one he'd never felt before. And certainly, one he didn't know how to handle.
He drew in a deep breath and exhaled. Repeating the pattern several times as he tried to reign in the overwhelming need to take possession of her. These feelings were strange and foreign to him. Still, he welcomed them willingly.
“Hello there, and how are we feeling?” A young looking doctor who didn’t look old enough to have even reached puberty much less practice medicine stepped inside the room.
“I think I’m okay.”
“Uh uh.” The doctor lifted up x-rays and held them to the light. "Well your cat scan looks fine, and you don't appear to have any internal bleeding. No concussion and other than a pretty nasty egg on your forehead I think you're going to be okay."
“Thank you.” She replied.
“So what do you say we let you get out of here then? No one likes hospitals anyway.”
“I’d like that very much. Thank you, doctor.”
"Great. Let me just write up a script for some pain medication just in case the headache persists, and I'll get started on your discharge papers." He was about to leave when he turned back, "Oh and one last thing. We reported the incident to the local police department, but they were overextended tonight and asked that you come by in the morning to fill out of a report."
“Sure.”
Xavier rolled his eyes. What else was new in their crime-riddled city? There were never enough officers and always way too much crime. If it wasn't the gangs, it was the degenerates like the son of a bitch he'd happened upon earlier that night.
His stomach churned at the memory of how he’d found Elizabeth lying unconscious. If he hadn’t gotten there in time. If that man had hurt her in the worst possible way. He would never have been able to forgive himself.
“I guess I should say thank you. Though that hardly seems like enough.”
“You don’t have to say anything.”
He couldn’t help but lift his hand and gently brush at her cheek with a swipe of his thumb. Her skin was so soft, so inviting. He wondered what it would feel like under his lips. Would she feel as warm as she does now? Or would her body burn up inside from his touch?
“I guess I better get dressed. Do you know where my clothes are?”
“Oh. Yeah.” He reached for the bag hanging on a hook behind her bed. “There’s a bathroom just around the corner. I’ll wait here.”
“You don’t have to.”
“I know that.”
“You’ve already done so much. You saved me from… I don’t even know what.”
“And I’m glad I did.”
“Thank you, Xavier.”
He smiled. Hearing her say his name sounded like a sweet melody. Her voice was so soft and soothing. He could listen to her for hours talking about nothing and everything and still be just as transfixed as he was at that moment.
In the past weeks and days, he'd been feeling so different. He didn't know if he was changing. He had no idea what his future held. But for some reason, things seemed much calmer now that Elizabeth was in his life.
The clouding of his mind had seemed to clear. He no longer felt fuzzy or dazed by his overload of emotions. She had a soothing effect on him. That's what struck him as the strangest. Here she was a complete stranger. Someone he'd never seen before. When she was at her most vulnerable, it was him that she had called out to. Any one of The Hollows might have heard her, but they didn't. It was him and him alone who heard her cries for help.
Elizabeth walked back into the room. Her short skirt was torn, and stains covered her clothes from where she'd lain on the dirty alley. It sickened him for a moment and brought him back to those first few seconds when he'd wanted nothing more than to kill the drunkard who'd attacked her.
He forced the image from his mind, knowing full well that his rage would boil over if he continued to replay the scene in his memory.
“It’s almost two o’clock. I actually left work early tonight so I could get home and relax.” She shook her head laughing, albeit somewhat bitterly. “I guess I’d have been better off staying behind.”
“Hey. Come here.” He pulled her in for a hug and was pleasantly surprised when she went into his arms without reservation. “The important thing is that you’re okay.”
Her long brown hair waved into ringlets through his fingers. The deep tones of the color reminded him of hot chocolate on cold winter nights. Full of richness and sweet flavor it had always been just the right thing to satisfy his indulgence.
She looked up and smiled. “Yeah. Thanks
to you. My hero.”
He returned her grin. “I’m not a hero.”
"Well, you certainly were mine. Thank you, Xavier. I don't know how I'll ever be able to repay you."
His heart did that funny thing again. It skipped a beat, and then another, and before he knew it, the rhythm seemed to keep with the tune.
He pulled her in close for a hug, squeezing her tightly. For some reason, he'd found her that night. And even though she was thanking him, he had a sneaking suspicion that it was he who should be the most grateful.
“I don’t know how I got so lucky.” Her words were muffled against his chest.
“I’m the lucky one.” He whispered.
“What did you say?” She asked, looking up at him.
“Nothing. Come on. Let’s go see if your paperwork’s ready.” He held the door open for her. “And then let’s get you home.”
Chapter Four
Elizabeth hurried around her bedroom, struggling to get ready for work as the clock ticked closer to her shift time. She’d gotten two days off after her incident and had spent most of her free time resting at the insistence of her hero, Xavier.
She couldn't help but smile when she thought of him. He was sweet, kind and devastatingly handsome. Granted he was a bit of a mystery that she seemed always to be trying to solve. Still, even with his secretive ways, she couldn't help but feel drawn to him. Maybe it was the fact that he'd saved her from being raped or worse. Or maybe it was that he treated her with such kit gloves that she couldn't help but feel touched.
Regardless of the reason, she was thankful to have him in her life. The past couple of days had felt carefree and dared she even think, but they were fun. She felt a bit like a teenager whenever he was near. Not that she really knew what having a normal teenage crush was like. Her past left far too many missed opportunities and not nearly enough happy memories.
She quickly got dressed, stepping into her tacky cocktail outfit that Lou forced all the waitresses to wear. A quick glance at the clock once more and she knew she would be lucky if she made it on time.
All she could do was hope that Lou would show pity on her for it being her first night back. Still, it was a Friday night so she knew they'd be busy. And if there was one thing that she learned about Lou over these past months of working for him, it was that he didn't care for tardiness.
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