Knight in Damaged Armor

After a long drive (and far too many dad jokes), they rolled into the Brotherhood Campground. The strong smell of cedar woke Emily, signalling to her the trip was finally over. She hated drives, she couldn't read without getting sick and it meant she couldn't hide away on her own either, but this time it was worth it. This time, she would spend time with him. He hadn't said as much, but she was hopeful nonetheless. She was sure he wouldn't just ignore her after that call last week. There was something drawing them together, she could just feel it. She took a deep breath of forest air and smiled, her curls blowing against her face from the windows breeze.

"Yes," she thought, "this time things will be different".

The Friday night start to the weekend was normally a quiet one for Emily. Most people arrived to camp late after work and school, and so nothing much happened around the camp besides drinking. She generally found people to be annoying drunk, simply because she enjoyed her personal space (and they seemed to have no concept of it in their drunken states), and so she spent those nights reading on the porch outside their cabin.

Tonight, as she sat on the porch swing, she was reading Shannara, and she had found herself captivated as always by the mysterious druid, Allanon. She was in an intense scene between him and an army when her phone vibrated in her pocket, making her jump, startled as she was pulled back to reality. She gazed down at the screen at a message from Jared, "You look beautiful when you're reading"

She glanced around quickly, feeling her privacy invaded as she realized she was being watched and unsure of which of the two it actually was. She always hoped it was Jared, but now she wasn't so sure. 'Would he stalk me like this?", she wondered, and she imagined that Azazel would probably be more inclined to try and scare her in such a way. She tried to keep her expression calm, refusing to show whoever watched her that she was afraid. If she was going to be close to Jared, she needed to stand up to the other and get used to the idea of dealing with them both.

She stood from the swing and walked to the edge of her porch. It was difficult to see anything outside of her section, her porch light brightened the area around her, but consequently made it seem much darker out in the night. She waited a moment, expecting him to show himself, but it seemed he had no intention to. Taking a chance, she spoke out into the night, "Where are you? Will you come talk to me? Or are you only here to tease me?"

Her phone sounded an alert and she read the incoming text,

"He wants me to stay away from you, said I frightened you last time...I was only playing, dear...."

"Only playing!?" she thought to herself as she tightened her hand into a fist, "how could he be so ignorant!? I had feared for my life that night and he thinks he was only playing??"

Livid at the memory, and new knowledge of his complete lack of consideration, she shouted out to him, "Yeah well, you DID scare me and I find your sense of humor to be repulsive! You are a monster to find enjoyment in other peoples terror! I don't want to speak with you. You can tell Jared to find me when he wants", she picked up her book and stormed into her cabin. The door slammed and the soothing sound of crickets ceased with the disturbance she had caused.

Azazel stood beside a nearby tree, watching her leave angrily into the house. His chest burned with a feeling he couldn't quite understand...it had upset him that she was angry at him, it hurt him somehow. He had never had any issue scaring a human before, or hurting them for that matter. But somehow it had effected him this time and he felt guilty for causing her fear. It made him feel weak, he realized, and the fury in him began to rise. Gritting his teeth, he turned back towards the woods, fists clenched in rage, and disappeared back to his house.

The next morning, Emily sat at the table with a plate of bacon and eggs, shifting the food around with her fork and staring out the window, lost on thought. Maybe she had been too hard on him last night, she considered. Maybe... he really had just been playing, and simply didn't understand the fault. He had called her a toy, after all. The thought made her shiver, the way he had said "toy" that night hadn't seemed playful to her, but, she supposed she really didn't know a lot about him either. She sighed heavily, regretting her reaction to his attempt to talk last night. If she had been more understanding, then maybe she could have learned something about him.

"Emily, you've hardly touched your food," Robert, her step dad, placed a hand on her shoulder as he continued, "Is anything wrong? I mean...there's Bacon on that plate and you haven't eaten it. Bacon!"

She faked a laugh and put on a smile, "Yeah I'm fine dad, just excited about fireworks today I guess", she lied. "Are you and mom leaving to help set up?"

"Yeah just as soon as your mother finishes 'putting her face on' he made quotations with his fingers and laughed, " I always try to tell her she already has a face but she seems to think she has to make one everyday. I won't ever understand it."

"Cool dad, I'm going to go wander around the woods, maybe try and find a new path to explore" she stood from her seat and grabbed her book, gave her dad a quick hug and ran out the door. As she left she heard her dad shout jokingly, "well dont expect the bacon here when you get back!"

She kept her head down as she walked past the houses and camp members. Despite what her mother believed, Emily still hadn't made friends with anyone. She had a few acquaintances, but they seemed to only enjoy her company when she was the last option available. She didn't mind, but she preferred avoiding the awkward, forced conversations that happened when they noticed her.

When she reached her favourite spot by the river, she sat and closed her eyes, breathing in the sweet smell of the trees and calming to the sound of the babbling brook. But the peace of her sanctuary was broken when she heard someone stumbling through the bushes suddenly.

She peeked in the direction of the sound of crushing leaves and saw a teenager she recognized, Ray, but had purposefully avoided since learning about him from others. He was known to be very forward with women, and she had been told he was as sexist as they get. Clearly, he was drunk at the moment, she noticed. She stayed quiet, shifting her body slightly, hoping he wouldn't realize she was there at all.

Ray approached the river after many turns and stumbled and fell to the ground beside it. He pulled off his shirt and splashed his face and sat there, trying to regain his composure. Emily felt this was a good time to sneak away, so she stood slowly and began to tip toe back up the hill.

A twig loudly cracked as her weight found it and Ray turned to spot her, cheeks red with intoxication. "Heeeey there cutie, out here all alone?" He was already up and approaching her, his words slurring badly. She continued moving away, ignoring his question. "Hey now.....didn't your daddy ever teach you manners? Come back here, say hello like a good girl", he was grinning now, his eyes tracing her figure as he licked his lips.

In a panic, Emily stumbled and fell backwards, her ankle twisted and pain shot through her. Ray was quick and over her immediately. He pressed his weight onto her and began kissing her as she struggled to move her face away, but he was much stronger than her and the stench of alcohol on his breath filled her nose. She hit his chest but he didn't seem to notice, or was too drunk to care. He reached a hand up her shirt and cupped her breast, squeezing it tightly and Emily cried out in response. He slapped her across the face,

" Shut up you stupid girl! You can go once I'm finished! " He moved his hand between her legs and tears formed in her eyes, she closed them, desperate to wake from this nightmare.

Suddenly she felt the weight of him fly off of her and sat up to see Jared sitting over him, punching him violently as blood formed on Rays lips. He was rescuing her! Ray swore in pain as Jared continued the beating before deciding he was satisfied. It felt like forever to Emily, but she struggled to look awsy from the chaos unfolding. Before he stood, he grabbed Ray by the throat and spat through bared teeth "If you ever go near her again, I will rip your fragile little throat out myself!" He spat on Rays face and released the grip on his neck, standing to face Emily.

She looked into his eyes and saw the coldest silver staring back. It wasn't Jared that had saved her....it was Az. A surge of emotion flooded through her, and somewhere deep inside her she felt as though she was bound to him.