Status: Hiatus.

The Dark of the Night More Inviting Than the Sunlight

Chapter Twenty Eight; Worried Sick.

Jeph's Point of View

"How bad is it?" I asked Branden, not bothering trying to conceal the honest concern in my voice. Obviously, I was referring to the unconscious young girl lying on the bathroom floor. It broke my heart to see her in such state; so badly bruised and with her skin so unnaturally pale with her fingers and lips adopting a bluish tint. She had a gauze bandage wrapped around her left hand, the smell was awful, like something burnt... I shivered with discomfort and tried to push away the thought as I let my gaze land upon her head. There was a bandage wrapped carefully around the head as well, and I noticed that there were lumps of coagulated blood in her blond hair. Oh dear God, she must have been in so much pain! I couldn't stand the thought of that. Of Dawn being in pain, that is.

"She's pretty badly bruised I'm afraid... but I managed to get a few words out of her before, and her pupils reacts normally to light-exposure, so I doubt there's any major damage done to her brain - a concussion at the most. What we can do for her now is to make sure that she gets warm and a lot of sleep to regain some strength. I've already given her something for the pain," Branden informed me, as he began to pull a woolen sock over Dawn's right foot. When he was done, he lifted her very gently off the floor with such ease that it almost seemed like she was weightless.

"I'll carry her," I offered, eager to help. He placed her in my arms and I was surprised to learn how little she actually weighed. Her body felt so awfully small and fragile against my chest, it was like carrying a doll made out of a thin layer of glass - if I wasn't enough careful she'd break. I placed her ever so gently on my bed and tucked her in. Then I just stood there and looked at her for a while. Despite the unnaturally pale color of her skin, the dark circles around her his, her busted underlip and bruised cheeks - in my eyes, she was still utterly and breathtakingly beautiful.

Who could possibly have done this to her? Did she become the victim of this awful assault while taking a walk in the night? Who could possibly want to hurt a girl like this? Why her? Shouldn't we call the police? I walked out to the room just in time to see Branden shut the door to the living room.

"I told them that they could crash on the slouch couch," he explained and yawned largely.

"Who did that to her?" I asked without beating about the bush. To judge by his troubled facial expression he'd been expecting this question.

"I don't know, Jeph..." he said and I got the feeling that there was something he wasn't telling me.

"But shouldn't we call the police or something? Whoever did this ought to pay for it! Goddammit!" The anger I felt towards the unknown perpetrator was overwhelming. All I wanted was to cause that person so much pain, that the person would finally beg for me to kill him or her; and then I'd let the police take care of that scum.

"No, I promised Dawn not to. 'No police, no hospital,' that's what I managed to get out of her," Branden explained quickly. "I'm sure she'll be able to tell us what happened in the morning, but now she needs some rest, and so do you."

I ignored that last part of his statement and was determined to find about who did this to her. "But what about Bert, he's the one who found her, right? He must have seen something..." I attempted to walk past Branden into the living room, but he refused to move.

"Listen Jeph, you need to calm down. Now!" Branden's voice and facial expression were extremely serious. He definitely knew something I didn't.

"You know who hurt her, don't you?" I accused angrily. "Tell me for fucks sake!"

"First you need to calm the fuck down, Jeph! You look like you're about to kill someone! Dammit!" he yelled back at me. "Listen, I'll tell you everything once you've calmed down enough-"

"I am fucking calm!" I shouted at the top of my lungs.

"Just shut the fuck up and sit down, so we can talk this through like civilized people. I'll make you a cup of tea," Branden said and entered the kitchen before I had a chance to object.

I went to sit down in the comfortable office chair in Branden's room, and that's when I realized how tired I actually was. It had been a long night.

"Drink," Branden ordered, right after handing me a cup of newly made Earl Grey tea. I rolled my eyes at him and took a sip of the flavored hot water.

"So, are you going to tell me what happened, now that I'm all nice and quiet?" I asked him sarcastically, as I was rather irritated with his way of treating me like a child. He smiled apologetically at me before speaking.

"Bert came here, out of breath, and had panic written all over his face. It became quite evident that he'd been running all the way here. He told me that something had happened to Dawn, that she was seriously hurt and I had to hurry. So I ran all the way with him to the park, where Dawn had curled up into a ball against a tree.
We carried her back here as fast as we possibly could, and I started to give her the medical care she needed so desperately. She would have died if it wasn't for McCracken, there's no way she would have survived the night at only 14°F..." Branden told me.

I tried hard to get rid off the unpleasant mental image of Dawn's dead body, curled up against a tree, and took a deep sip of tea to get rid off the dryness in my mouth. "So, did Bert tell you anything about who... did this to her?"

"Jeph, I really think you should get some rest. We can continue this conversation in the morning," I could hear Branden's soothing voice in the distance as my vision began to blur, and not until that moment I realized why he was so eager to get me a cup of tea. He put something in it.

"Ba-starrrd..." I slurred, before I finally gave in to the drug and embraced the dreamless sleep.
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