Selcouth

The silence tonight was loud. The apartment was lonely with just me tonight while Roman worked his night shift.

Esclados spoke, “I like tonight. Tonight is quiet. You two have been going at it like a pair of rabbits.”

I laughed and shook my head. “Oh come on, we have to get better at it somehow. It’s fun.” I turned my head at the down of loud booms outside. Mother told me about thunder. I never understood it but it scared me.

I grabbed a blanket and hid underneath. I wanted it to go away. As if hearing about my fears, the thunder got louder.

I heard the front door, peeking out of the blanket. I gasped and sat up. “Oh my gosh, Roman!” I screamed.

I got off the couch and ran over to him, grabbing his face with my hands. “Roman, what has happened to you?” Tears welled up in my eyes.

His face was bruised and bloody. He looked so broken and beaten. I helped him sit on the couch. I grabbed some supplies and cleaned up his face in a gentle way. “Who did this?”

“I-I was just walking to my car. He came out of nowhere and attacked me,” he told me.

“Who?”

Roman put his head on my shoulder. “Your stalker.” He gave me a note.

I swallowed, looking at it. “Roman, you know I can’t read.”

Roman sighed. “I am not up for reading any death threats... My face hurts so bad and my left eye is barely working.”

I grabbed some ice packs from the freezer. “Don’t you have insurance? You have to go to the hospital.”

“No, no. I just can’t do that. I had to see you first.” He grabbed my wrist, pulling me onto his lap. I finished cleaning up the blood. I put the ice pack to his eye. “Thank you, Zel,” he whispered.

I kissed his head and nodded. “Of course. I’ll always take care of you.”

I got up and made Roman some food, eyeing the note. It was gnawing away at me. After handing Roman his plate, I grabbed the note and opened it up. I scanned the words, rubbing my eyes. They made no sense. I couldn’t read them.

Roman watched me, taking small bites. “I see you are ready to deal with that.”

“It scares me. I don’t know what it says. What I hold in my hand could be threatening our lives but I won’t even know it.” I sat next to him, sighing.

Roman grabbed the note from me, reading the words in his head. “It’s a threat. He wants you to meet him at the warehouse building. If you don’t, they’ll come after me again.”

I swallowed. “Oh my gosh.” I looked at the storm outside. “I...” I had to. I had to make sure Roman was safe. I cared about him.

Roman faced me. “And you’re not going, right?”

My lack of response told him otherwise.

“No, Zel, you’re not going to face that guy alone.”

I sighed. “Roman, I have no choice. I can’t let them hurt you again.” I frowned at the sight of his bruised face. “I care about you too much to let anyone hurt you like that.”

“I care too much to watch you get yourself killed,” he said.

“Excuse me, who says I’ll die? Do you think I’m not strong enough?” I folded my arms.

He grabbed my hand as if he was trying to make me feel better. “You haven’t trained enough.”

I pulled my hand away from his. “That’s too bad. It’s now or never, and if I choose never, you will die. I refuse to take such a risk.” I stood up, looking at his face once more. It was enough motivation to get me to go.

Roman tried to grab my hand and stop me but I dodged him. I put on shoes and a jacket, zipping it up. I turned back to look at him. “You’re going to be safe. I’ll make sure of it.”

“Rapunzel, please. Don’t go,” he begged.

I ignored his pleas and left the apartment building. I walked in the rain, screaming at the thunder and lightning that crossed my path. I made it to the warehouse, shivering in the cold darkness. I looked around, illuminating the dark with the ball of light in my hand.

“Well, well, well. You came,” a man spoke from behind me.

I turned around, looking at him. I squinted, realizing he looked nothing like the man I’d seen stalking me.

“She wasn’t smart. I guess love does that to people,” another man said from behind me again.

I turned my head, recognizing this one as the man who’d been stalking me for months. “I was threatened. It’s your damn fault I came.”

He chuckled and came closer to me. “It’s such a shame that you chose this route.”

The other guy laughed, coming closer. They both were trying to trap me but it wouldn’t work.

I threw my light at them, to which they both dodged. I had been practicing with one ball but I was able to still produce two at the same time. I had two hands.

The man grabbed my arms and pinned them behind my back while my stalker grabbed my face. “You’re so special to us, Rapunzel. We have known about those powers and we want to use them to our advantage.”

Go for the groin.

I brought my knee up to his babies, getting a high-pitched squeal from him. He grabbed his junk and bent over.

The man behind me grabbed my neck but I grabbed his face, shoving my thumb in his eye. He screamed out, “Bitch!”

I took this moment to get away, throwing my light at them both. They were wounded long enough for me to run away. “Stay away from me and Roman or you will regret it!” I ran out of the warehouse, running through the rain under the night sky.

I made it back to the apartment, looking at Roman. He was passed out. I took some heavy breaths and took off my wet jacket. I pulled a blanket over him, caressing his cheek with my fingers. “Just sleep tight. I promise nobody will hurt you under my watch.” I kissed his head. I locked the windows and door and closed the blinds.

I wasn’t too sure anymore what I was supposed to do with this information. There were bad people just as Mother had warned me. They were trying to get to me and I knew they weren’t about to stop now. What was I supposed to do to keep us safe? We couldn’t just move away. They would find me. They always did.

How did they know about my powers? I ran my fingers through my hair, gripping it tightly. I had to find a solution and fast. Time was running out. Roman could be dead tomorrow and it would be my fault. I would rather kill them than let Roman die.

He said it was okay. If they hurt me first, I could kill them. They hurt us both. They were going to pay the ultimate price for that.

Roman shifted, opening his eyes. He sat up, seeing me safe and sound. “Thank God, I was worried.”

“I did as you said. I hurt his manly bits and put my thumb in another man’s eye.”

“Whoa.” He widened his good eye. “You mean to tell me there were two?”

“Were there not two when you were beaten?” I looked over at him.

Roman shook his head, swallowing. “No. There was only one. It was your stalker, I swear. You beat two guys?”

“No. I just weakened them by going for vulnerable parts and throwing light at them, which is like a burning sun. That’s all I did.” I grabbed his hand, intertwining our fingers. “I did it for us. I want to make sure you’re safe.”

Roman looked at me, kissing my cheek. “I am. I may not have powers but I can handle it.”

“I want to protect my prince, Roman. I want to keep you safe. Knowing you’re getting hurt because you’re with me and I have powers...”

“They want you for your powers? That’s for sure?”

I nodded. “They confirmed it. They want to take advantage of my gift for their own selfish reasons. It sounds silly but it’s true. My powers are putting people I love in danger... I never had this issue when I had nobody to care about.”

Roman squeezed my hand. “Don’t say that. Don’t you dare say that. Caring about people may have obstacles but it is worth it. I’ll always handle the pain and danger to be with you.”

“Why?”

“Because you’re the one woman who cares about me this much. I care about you. I want to see us together. I want us to have a happy life.” He put his head on my shoulder.

I swallowed, shaking my head. “I want the same but we can’t have that. I have powers and people will always want to use them and hurt me to get to them.”

Roman sighed and shook his head, dropping the argument. He got off the couch. “I need a hot bath. You want to run one for me?”

I stood up, nodding. “Of course.” I went to the bathroom and ran a hot bubble bath.

He came, discarding his bloody scrubs. He got into the bath and groaned, laying back. “The hot water feels nice.”

I sat on the floor, watching him. “I can imagine.” I shivered.

He looked at me. “You look cold and wet. Why don’t you join me?”

“Because two naked bodies in water are going to lead to other things. You’re hurt and I can’t do that.” I looked at the bubbles.

He chuckled. “Oh come on, a black eye won’t scare me away from having sex. Grab a condom and get your ass in this water.”

“It scares me, Roman.” I touched his face. “I don’t want to see you get hurt because of me. This is my fault.”

Roman sat up, putting his hand on my cheek. “Don’t blame yourself. I knew the risks when I chose to be with you.” He kissed me, taking time to really sync our lips together.

I returned the kiss, lifting my arms as he removed my shirt. I heard someone knock on the door. Roman pulled away, sighing. “Why must they ruin everything?”

I laughed to myself and stood, putting my shirt back on. I went to answer the door, the smile dropping from my face.

The two men pushed me out of the way. My stalker went for the bathroom and I screamed, “Roman, run!”

The other man held me back, wrapping his arms around my body, keeping my arms pinned to my side.

The stalker brought a naked Roman out of the bathroom, pushing him to the ground. “You really think you can mess with us? You don’t get away with stuff like that. Now you’re the one paying the price.”

He began to kick Roman in the side while I yelled and trying to fight back. I bent my head down to this man’s arms, biting hard. He let go, but before I could fight, he swung his fist at my head.

I crashed to the ground, losing my balance even after trying to get back up. My vision was trying to give out on me. I was terrified of what was about to happen. I was going to lose the one person I cared so much about.

I looked over at Esclados, begging for him to help me. He didn’t move but rather blended himself with his habitat inside the tank.

Roman grabbed his side, crying out from the pain. I couldn’t imagine the humiliation he was facing. He was being beaten in front of me, and he was naked. It didn’t matter, though, if he felt that way. It wasn’t true. No matter what I witnessed that was embarrassing, I was never going to leave him. I would support him no matter what.

I sat up, looking at the new legs that walked into my view. They were of a woman. I looked up, blinking a few times to focus on her face. My breath caught in my throat. “Kara.”

She bent down to my level. “Surprise. Don’t trust everyone you talk to, Rapunzel.” She smiled, looking at the men. “Take him to the car. I want to deal with this one myself.” She turned back to face me. Before I could question what she wanted or why she would do this, her fist met my face, sending me straight into the darkness.