[Bonus chapter] Her Savior

(From Leandro's Perspective)

When she came inside, all I could see was Jed's hand around her waist and her laughing as if she was having the best moment of her life. I did not like it at all. I wanted to rip that boy's head off his body.

I wanted to make it clear to him that- not her, never her. She was... was she mine? I did not know. But I wanted her untouched. No one had the right to touch her. How dare he do that! Moreover, I still was not sure if Ella truly slept with him. What did she see in him? That slender dirty-golden-haired turkey!

She behaved as if she had never seen anyone better than him. She would even hold his hand, smile at him. She never did that to me. Or was she afraid of me? Did she not like me at all? Or was my skin not worthy of being touched?

I almost grabbed that boy by the throat and make it clear to him that she was off the list. But then I realized that there were other ways to let him know that. Perhaps I would show him that she was off-limit.

Ella surely did not expect me to do something like that. I did not hear what she was about to say. My eyes had already caught the sight of the delicate skin of her throat. And my lips needed to touch her throat.

As I kissed her throat, I knew she liked it. She did not want to, but she did. She was trying to hold back moans. She thought that she would not have any effect from my kiss, but little did she know when it came to her, everything became perfect.

Her skin was soft like butter. She seemed to melt in my grasp even without her knowing. The moment my lips touched the soft skin of her throat, I knew I could not stop. She was like an addiction, a sweet but forbidden addiction. I could take her if I wanted, I could do things to her that she could not imagine. But I would never force myself on someone, especially not her. She was... she was something. I did not know what, but she was so different and real that I sometimes wondered if she knew what she was saying and doing.

I was not done savoring her throat. But I forced myself to pull back. I wanted to go away, but I could not. It was because of her lips. Those sweet petals called me towards her. I could not help it. I had to kiss her and I did.

When I finally pulled back going against my will, she was angry. Before kissing her, I knew she would be angry. But I did not care. I needed to show that boy that she was... perhaps not mine... yet, but not anyone else's either.

She had gone upstairs after that. I did not like the fact that she closed the door from inside. They were alone in the room. But I did not tell her to open the door either. Because I had promised myself that if I heard any kind of sound like they were doing something disgusting, I would break the door and kill the boy right away.

And when they came down for dinner, Ella did not talk to me. I did not talk to her either. She was still angry. I liked the way her face was when she gave me glares when I was not looking, but she did not know that I still could see her.

They went upstairs again after dinner. I sat down on the couch downstairs. It was dirty, but I had to stay here. I would never leave them alone here.

After some time, suddenly I heard her voice. She was calling my name. No, she was screaming my name. She needed me and I... I would always be there for her.

I was going to kill the boy. That evil was surely doing something wrong to her. I hurried upstairs and broke the door with one kick.

Ella was lying on the bed, clutching a book tightly against her chest with both of her hands while that boy was shaking her. I pushed him away and he fell on the floor.

"Leandro! Save me, Leandro! I don't want to die," Ella was screaming, her eyes closed and her face panicked.

I had never felt the way I felt at this moment. I never cared if anyone needed my help if anyone needed to be saved. I had left that part of me a long time ago. But now after hearing her crying out my name, telling me to save her, it was like even if I had to save her from Satan himself, I would.

I hugged her tightly. The moment I held her, she dropped the book from her hand and jumped on me, hugging me tightly, burying her face into my chest. I secured my arms even tighter around her. I felt as if I needed to save her, I needed to make her feel better. She looked scared. It was kind of like the time when she saw blood, but this time, her expression was much worse than before.

"What did you do?" I snarled at Jed. If Ella was not clinging to me, I would definitely kill him. The anger I felt inside my veins was hard to control. My monster was banging inside me to come out. But there was one thing that was stopping him. It was her. Feeling her so close to me helped me not to lose the last string of control that I had.

"I didn't do anything. I was just talking to Miles. Ask him," Jed said, terrified, as he pointed a finger out the window at another boy who was looking at this place with a shocked expression.

"They'll kill me, Leandro. Please... please save me," Ella said, digging her nails on my back from over my black shirt.

"You're safe with me. I'm here... I'm here for you. I won't leave you," I said soothingly. Even I could not believe that I was comforting someone. And it was not just someone, it was her. And that's why she got this side of me even when I did not even know that I had this side of me.

"They have knives. They... they stabbed me... my stomach," Ella mumbled, her voice trembling.

"Ella, you're fine. You're with me. I won't let anything happen to you. You're safe with me," I said, stroking her hair.

"There's blo... blood. I... I'm dying, Leandro. Don't let me die," she pleaded.

"I won't let you die," I said firmly. It was not just to comfort her. It was a determination, a promise to myself.

It took a while for her to calm down fully. Even though she stopped screaming and talking, her grip around my neck did not loosen a bit. I took her on my lap, but she did not wake up or move. She slept peacefully.

I looked down at her as her head was rested on my shoulder. I did a surprising discovery. Even though she was terrified and was screaming, there was not a single tear on her face. She did not cry at all, but she was afraid. It was strange. Even a very strong person sometimes broke down from a nightmare. But why didn't she? It was not like I wanted to see her cry. But I felt that the whole thing was bizarre.

"I'm taking her back to my place. And if you try to do something to her, I'm telling you it will be the last day of your life," I said warningly to Jed who still seemed to be processing what just happened. "Tell me something. Did you... did you sleep with her?"

"With who?"

"With her," I said pointing down at Ella who shifted on my lap.

"No, of course not," Jed replied as if he would never think of doing something like that. "Why would I? She's my friend. And besides... never mind. She's just my friend."

"Then keep that in mind all the time."

"Anyway, who is Leandro? And why are you calling her Ella? She is Leora," Jed said.

"I call her Ella because it's my choice. It's not your business. And she calls me Leandro because she likes it. That's all," I said and picked Ella up in my arms. She was light just like the first time I picked her up like this.

"Take this book. It's Leora's," Jed said, handing me a thick book.

The book... I knew the book. But how? How did she manage to sneak it out of the library? Did she use one of the hidden passageways?