The Fools That Fall in Love

4 days had passed since I saw Michael. I felt oddly sad about it, seeing as I didn't really know him I shouldn't have been sad.. Right?
The beatings from Jason had been avoided, until I messed up. I was in the kitchen, cooking a stir fry for dinner, when Jason came in and looked over my shoulder.
"So you aren't incredibly useless!" He said, heavy with sarcasm.
"Piss off.." I said quietly, unaware he was able to hear me.
I felt the cold sting of a slap before I knew what was going on. "You fucking bitch!" He yelled. It was amazing how mad he could get over the dumbest things.
"I'm sorry!" I yelled, more defensively than not.
"I'm so tired of your shit Lydia! I don't know why I don't just kill you now!" He threatened, picking up and knife and pointing it at me.
I started to get nervous. Jason had done some pretty cold things before, but he had never threatened to kill me, let alone point a knife at me. I found myself wishing Michael were there to save me, but it was just a fantasy. I wasn't sure why I wished for Michael, in particular. I thought maybe it was because of the lack of people in my life and he had been the newest. Or even because he'd helped me out when I was upset about loosing my job. Whatever the case was, I wanted to get swept off of my feet and saved, just like before.
After Jason was done with me, I found myself with bruises on my body and a cut on my cheek. The bruises on my back hurt the worst, and I found it agonizing to move, not to mention getting up and walking to my room, then trying to address the "battle wounds."
I was suddenly not hungry, and almost glad that Jason dumped the stir fry over onto the floor. I cleaned up what I could and changed my clothes, carefully, with tears running angrily down my face from the pain of the beating. I sat on my floor, starting to feel hopeless once more. This happened often, I found myself wallowing in self pity on my floor, with tears going everywhere. This was not the life I'd imagined. This was hell, I was all too sure of it.
I fell asleep on my floor, which was a mistake. I heard the slight rattle of my window as the midnight air rustled itself against the window pane. I tried to get up and go to bed, seeing as it was about midnight, but wasn't able. The bruises on my back prevented me from even standing up. He must have done a lot more damage than usual.
I heard the window again, but this time, it was more of a knocking, rather than the wind. I cautiously looked out the window from where I was to see what was there, but all I could see were weary shadows of unknown things in the night.
I turned around to go back to bed, and standing before me was.. Michael?
"Ah!" I screamed and squeezed my eyes shut while blocking my face. I looked up to realize who it was and I found myself standing there silently in disbelief. "Michael? What are you doing? How did you get in here?" I said slowly, trying to wrap my brain around it all.
"How? Through the window of course." He said, as if it were obvious.
"W-what?" I stuttered. "You didn't come through the window.. I was facing it. It never moved." I stared at him in fright. starting to question weather talking to him was a good idea or not.
"Of course it did. You just didn't see it. There's a lot you don't know, dear, dear Lydia. Your ignorance to my situation is something to be grateful for, don't take it for granted." He said, staring intently into my eyes.
"What are you talking about?" I was starting to get very antsy, and anxious.
"Don't ask questions, please." He was going to keep talking until I remembered Jason.
"Michael! You have to go! If Jason catches you in here he'll think I'm cheating on him and I'm going to be in so much trouble!" I begged, trying to shove him out of the window, but he didn't budge, as if I hadn't even touched him.
"Maybe I want him to catch me, or, maybe I just want to catch him." He smiled, but it wasn't comforting.
"I should never have told you about him.." I sighed.
"I already knew, Lydia." I looked at him, dumbfounded.
"What do you mean, you already knew?"
"Like I said, there's a lot you don't know. There's a lot that if you did know, you'd wish I'd never told you. Please trust me on this." He stared at the door as he talked, as if waiting for the right time to attack.
"Talking in riddles isn't helping! Why can't I know what's going on? What IS going on? Why are you here? How did you manage to get in without me noticing?" I droned on with questions that Michael disregarded.
"Wouldn't it be a shame if Jason just.. Tripped.. Down the stairs and broke his neck? Gosh. That sure would be bad." The creepy grin had left his face and I got the feeling that he was really going to murder Jason. I almost, no, I DID want him to murder Jason. I wanted to see Jason fall to his death. I wanted to go to his funeral and laugh, but I knew how terrible that was, and how it wouldn't solve anything, but make it worse.
"You're a crazy ass. You know that, right?" I said, keeping my composure.
"Yeah. So I've been told." He looked back at me. "I can't tell you much, but I will tell you this. Jason isn't who you think he is. He's.. Not like other men."
"I could have told you that." I smirked, gesturing towards the abuse.
"That's not funny." I half lectured, then getting back on topic. "I mean, that isn't what I'm getting at. I can't exactly tell you who, or what, he really is. Not yet. But I can tell you that no police man, no adult, and no authority figure can stop him. He's not in the right state of mind. He's practically dead."
"Practically dead?" I questioned, not getting the connection he was making.
"Yeah. One day, I'm going to sit you down and tell you everything, okay? It'll all makes sense then, and you'll understand why you can't know right now. But please, trust me when I say that my friends and I are the only ones who can help you. Don't ask why, just accept that fact. Put your faith in us, and know that we're going to get you out of this." I was stunned by his words. Why did he care so much? Why is it that no one else could help me? I had a million questions running through my head, but I could only ask one.
"Okay. Then, if you can keep me safe.. Will you stay with me tonight?" I asked quietly, unsure of how he actually heard me.
"Of course I will." He half smiled and lay with me in bed. I thought it would be a bit awkward, but something made me feel calm and at ease. I easily went to sleep.
I woke up by myself that morning, but surprisingly, not in any pain at all. I checked out my body in the mirror, finding it completely healed. No bruises or cuts. Nothing. I had no idea how that happened, I'd just gotten beaten. How did I heal that fast?
My mind kept wandering to the subject the whole day, as James wasn't home yet again. I also realized that I didn't dream, like usual. I'd had the same dream over and over recently, but finally, somehow, stopped having it. I also found that odd.
I knew the night before changed something, what it was, I didn't know. But something changed, and whatever it was, it wasn't going back to normal. I was dead set on finding Michael again and badgering him for answers once more. Maybe I would be lucky enough to get him to stay again..