Save Me

RaeLynn stumbled through the front door of her home and quietly closed the door. The time was way past midnight and she hoped to God that Chris was sleeping. The last thing she wanted was to encounter her boyfriend after he’d been woken up unexpectedly. She was there for one reason and one reason only; to pack her belongings and leave. She couldn’t take being with Chris anymore. She’d lied to Matt when she told him that she still loved her boyfriend and she knew that he saw right through her the entire time they were arguing.

RaeLynn walked up the stairs to the bedroom she shared with Chris and pulled an overnight bag out of the closet. She began packing everything she owned in the bag, trying to keep the noise level to an extreme minimum. After 30 agonizing minutes of searching and replacing and searching again, RaeLynn’s things were packed in her overnight bag and she began making her way downstairs. Her hand barely touched to doorknob when she heard the sound of someone clearing their throat. A gasp escaped from her lips and the overnight bag instantly fell from her grasp. She slowly turned around, only to come face to face with Chris.

“Where do you think you’re going, baby?” Chris whispered into RaeLynn’s ear while gently stroking her hair. RaeLynn closed her eyes and exhaled the breath she didn’t know she was holding.

“I was...g-going for a w-walk.” RaeLynn stuttered causing a sinister chuckle to emit from Chris. He roughly grabbed a fistful of her hair, pulling her close to him.

“I don’t fucking believe you.” Chris spoke in a low voice. He slammed her against the front door with his hands around her throat causing a gasp of pain to emanate from RaeLynn.

“There’s only one way you’re gonna leave me, remember that? You may have pulled through last time, but you will leave me permanently if you try to walk out that door. That’s a promise and a threat, baby.” Chris whispered, calm and composed. A slight shiver ran through RaeLynn’s body. Chris’s peacefulness terrified her and RaeLynn knew he wasn’t pretending.

“Baby, please. We can talk about this.” RaeLynn pleaded while Chris began to add pressure around her neck.

“I don’t think that will help, sweetheart. I know what you’re trying to do and it’s not gonna happen. I refuse to let you walk out that door, RaeLynn, because if you do…I will find you…and when I find you, I will kill you and you know I won’t think twice about it, baby.” Chris stated into RaeLynn’s ear. A whimper escaped her lips and tears ran down her cheeks as Chris continued tightening his hands around her neck. RaeLynn gasped and began clawing at Chris’s hands. Black spots appeared throughout her vision and blood was pounding in her ears. Her chest was aching from the deprivation of oxygen and her heart hammered against her ribs. Chris’s words began fading into nothing, but RaeLynn refused to surrender. She gathered as much strength as she could and kneed Chris in his groin as hard as she could. His grip on her throat instantly loosened and they both fell to the floor; RaeLynn gasping for breath and Chris curled in a fetal position from pain. RaeLynn scurried across the floor and dug into her overnight bag, frantically searching for her cell phone. Once she had the device in her hands, she quickly began to dial a ten digit number.

“Please answer, please, please, please answer.” RaeLynn whispered to herself as she witnessed Chris recovering from her defense move. A frustrated sigh left her lips when she got the answering machine from the other end of the phone. RaeLynn’s eyes widened when she saw her boyfriend walking toward her, an evil glint in his eyes. She began backing away and shaking her head, in hopes that she could make a quick escape. A sob escaped her lips when Chris pulled a gun from the waistband of his jeans. His pointer finger rested against the trigger and there was no uncertainty in his actions.

“Don’t…Chris, please.” RaeLynn pleaded as she continued to back away from her delusional boyfriend. Chris chuckled darkly as he advanced forward. RaeLynn lost all hope when her back hit a wall. Heavy sobs made themselves known and RaeLynn knew that the chances of survival were not in her favor. Realizing that there was nothing she could do in order to ensure her survival, RaeLynn closed her eyes and waited for Chris to end her misery.



Matt couldn’t concentrate on anything. He was constantly forgetting lyrics and his mind was elsewhere, making the dedication to his band practice dreadful. He groaned after stumbling through a verse of Gunslinger and threw the microphone across the recording studio. Brian, Jimmy, Johnny, and Zacky gave each other knowing glances and sighed. They fully knew where the lead singer’s mind was and they couldn’t say they blamed him. Johnny placed his bass on a stand along with Zacky and Brian while Jimmy covered his drums. Matt, who was beyond irritated with himself, sat on a couch and held his head in his hands. No one said anything and the quietness was nerve racking. After a few minutes of unbearable silence, Matt’s phone beeped with the notice of a missed call. He groaned and looked at the device with wonder and slight annoyance.

“RaeLynn called me.” Matt stated, slightly awed by her attempt to connect with him. Jimmy chuckled while twirling a drumstick in his hand and Brian rolled his eyes.

“Call her back, stupid. It may have been important. What if she really needed to talk to you about something?” The lead guitarist stated, earning a glare from Matt. He groaned incoherent nothings as he redialed RaeLynn’s number and patiently waited for her voice to flood his ears. When he received her voicemail message, his body tensed and worry instantly set in.

“Umm…she didn’t answer.” Matt mumbled while closing his phone. Jimmy stopped twirling his drumstick and he, along with Johnny, Brian, and Zacky, stood immediately. Johnny tossed Matt his car keys and they all headed for the door, knowing that something wasn’t right about that night. They piled into Matt’s Charger and began the ride to RaeLynn’s home. Matt’s hands gripped the steering wheel tightly and his foot was pressed against the floorboard. After pulled to a screeching halt in RaeLynn’s driveway, Matt and his friend sprinted into the house, frantically looking for RaeLynn. They didn’t see Chris anywhere.

“RaeLynn…are you in here?” Matt asked as he entered the living room.

“Guys, you gotta help me find her.” Matt pleaded and his friends gave him a nod before breaking up to search the house. Jimmy and Zacky sprinted upstairs while Matt, Brian, and Johnny searched downstairs. After 15 minutes of endless searching, everyone was in the living room, and Matt was ready to give up.

“Come guys, let’s go. She’s not here.” Matt stated, defeat prominent in his voice. He stood to leave and began walking towards the door when Brian grabbed his wrist.

“Syn, let go of my wrist. I don’t wanna be here any longer than—” Brian interrupted Matt before he could finish his sentence.

“Would you shut up? Follow me, I hear something.” Brian grumbled before walking in the kitchen.

“What the hell are you on, Haner?” Jimmy asked as he, along with all the other confused members of the group, followed Brian. He shook his head when he saw Brian crouched in front of a door in the kitchen, presumably the entrance to a pantry.

“Dude, you’ve lost it.” Johnny commented. Brian sent him a glare before pressing his ear against the door.

“Shut up, man. I hear someone breathing in here and by the sounds of it…they’re in some serious pain.” Brian retorted before standing and opening the door. He gasped at the sight he witnessed causing Matt, Jimmy, Johnny, and Zacky, to peer into the pantry. Matt’s knees nearly buckled when he saw the state RaeLynn was in. He cautiously stepped into the pantry and kneeled in front her.

“RaeLynn…what happened to you?” Matt whispered, distress evident in his words. RaeLynn managed to crack her eyes open and whimpered. Her shoulder was on fire and the slightest movement caused pain to radiate throughout her entire body. Matt’s eyes widened in concern and he frowned when he noticed RaeLynn applying pressure to her shoulder blade when her hands. Matt inched forward and gently placed his hands over hers. His eyes pleaded with her to let him help her and RaeLynn obliged. Matt removed RaeLynn’s hands and gasped at what he saw. A bullet hole presented itself before his eyes and tears rolled down his cheeks. Matt gathered RaeLynn in his arms and carried her out of the pantry.

“We gotta get her to the hospital, guys. Chris shot her.” Matt informed as he walked out of the house and placed RaeLynn in his car. Matt proceeded to drive to the hospital and the doctors tended to RaeLynn as fast as possible. Matt and his friends waited in the waiting room for any news and the anticipation was killing them. After 10 minutes of Matt’s unnecessary comments, the familiar Dr. Mitchell made himself known to the five boys. Matt stood along with Jimmy, Johnny, Zacky, and Brian, and waited on the doctor to speak.

“You all can take a breath of relief; Miss Meadows is fine. The bullet wound didn’t cause any significant damage to the left shoulder and we were able to extract the bullet and stitch the wound. We’re going to keep the stitches in for about two weeks and the entire wound should be healed within three weeks tops. Just to be on the safe side, she shouldn’t participate in any strenuous activity; it can cause the stitches to open and we’ll have to do the entire process again. We’re releasing her today, so you’re all free to visit her. She’s located in the second room on your left, just down the hallway.” Dr. Mitchell informed. The boys nodded in thanks and proceeded to RaeLynn’s room. Brian, Jimmy, Johnny, and Zacky stayed in the doorway of the room when knowing smiles on their faces while Matt stood by RaeLynn’s side. Johnny announced the boys’ leaving and Matt nodded in acknowledgement.

“I’m glad you’re okay, RaeLynn.” Matt whispered with a slight smile on his face as he placed his hand over hers. His smile faltered when he noticed tears falling from RaeLynn’s eyes.

“What’s wrong?” Matt questioned as he stroked the back of RaeLynn’s hand with his thumb. RaeLynn wiped her tears and sniffled before speaking.

“You were right…Chris didn’t love me. He never did. I was stupid to stay with him.” RaeLynn whispered before looking down at the sheets on the hospital bed while allowing more tears to adorn her cheeks. Matt tilted RaeLynn’s chin in order to lock his eyes with hers and wiped her tears.

“It’s okay. You don’t need to explain; I understand. I’m not angry with you and I don’t think I ever was angry with you. I just hated thinking of the pain he caused you every day. I care about you and I love you.” Matt whispered against RaeLynn’s lips before closing the gap. RaeLynn intertwined her fingers in his hair and deepened the kiss before pulling away. She rested her forehead against his and stroked his cheek.

“I love you too, Matt, and I have all this time.” RaeLynn confessed before pecking Matt’s lips. Dr. Mitchell walked in and cleared his throat in order to attract the attention of the two love smitten teenagers in front of him.

“I see you two have gotten reacquainted in a short period of time. That’s good. Miss Meadows, you are free to go anytime you wish. Please be careful and remember…no strenuous activity.” Dr. Mitchell stated before briskly walking out of the room. Matt chuckled and kissed RaeLynn once more before scooping her into his arms.

“Be mine.” Matt whispered causing a blush to tint RaeLynn’s cheeks. She nodded shyly and kissed Matt as they left the hospital, leaving all troubles and worries behind them for good.