Mon Amour

The boys were all in pajamas helping Ellie decorate. Carson was hanging the garland, Cameron was arranging ornaments, and Caelan was distributing the Christmas decorations among the shelves. Music played softly in the background as Ellie took care of the breakable figurines of the nativity scene her grandmother had given to her.

The boys sang and danced along to the music, pulling silly faces and sliding across the floor to the upbeat Christmas songs on Ellie's iPhone. She couldn't think of a better was to spend this time of year.
Danny and Claude were doing the secret Santa swap at the rink and would then be home to help finish the decorating. Ellie's head bobbed along with the music as she picked Cameron up to reach the top of the tree.

And just as she did, the lights went out.

The four of them were plunged into darkness, and silence as the music on the iHome stopped abruptly.

"Awe man!" Caelan whined from somewhere to her left.

"Well this is just great. How are we supposed to decorate now?" Carson grumbled.

"Ellie. I don't like the dark." "Now now calm down." Ellie grabbed the flashlight from behind the couch and flicked it on. It wasn't very bright, but it was enough for them to find each other in the large living room.

"So what do we do?" Caelan asked, pulling tinsel from his front, as Cameron stuck close to Eliie's legs.
"I'm afraid I'll need to go to the basement."
They looked at her in horror, eyes wide.

"Th-the basem-basement?" Carson stammered, wringing his hands. " Ellie, there are all kinds of creepy things down there." She pursed her lips.

"Well then I guess you'll all have to come with and protect me." She shuffled across the floor in her socks, moving towards the back of the house when she stopped suddenly, all three boys bumping into her.
She held a finger to her lips, and took a step forward, the hair on the back of her neck standing on end. A shadow moved across the wall at the far end of the house, slowly creeping and slinking forward. Fear gripped her as she realized what was happening.

Someone was in the house.

She backed up, pushing the boys slowly behind her. She pushed them back into the living room and into a corner.
"Ellie what-"

"Shh!" She whispered " I need you to listen. I want you to run, run fast and get the neighbors and tell them to call the police and send them here. Wake as many as you can, and don't come back here until the police have come do you understand?" They all nodded tearfully, and before anyone could move a baseball bat came smashing down on the breakable Santa figures Carson had put up. Everyone screamed as Ellie turned and saw a bat weilding man rushing towards her.

"GO!" She screamed at the boys, giving them a great shove forward, towards the door. The man with the bat sent another swing barely missing Cameron, and smashing into the glass on the fireplace. He swung a third time sending picture frames crashing down, glass exploding from them and raining down over them.

One.

Two.

Three.

She watched as Cameron made it out the door and went to run for it herself, when a blinding pain crumpled her to the ground. White spots burst in front of her vision, as she hit the ground hard. She felt an arm haul her up and slam her roughly against the wall. Something warm trickled down the side of her face, as she kicked and clawed at the stranger to get free. She sent a flying knee into his groin, hearing a muffled grunt of pain. She made to crawl away but he was too strong, and too big.

He flipped her over, smacking her head off the floor and grabbed a handful of her hair, yanking it painfully so her neck cranked backwards. He pinned both of her arms with his knees and punched her several times very hard in the face, she freed one of her hands, and tried to shield herself, letting out several cries of pain as his fist connected squarely with her jaw, nose and eyes. She coughed, spraying blood across the floor, as it rand own her chin and the sides of her face. Her head connected with the floor again and her vision got blurry and blackened around the edges. His hand closed around her throat, and she sputtered for air. Using her free hand, she clawed at the intruders face, feeling the exposed skin on his neck rip open beneath her fingers. He squeezed tighter, stealing more of her air. As she let her eyes slide closed, she thought of her boys, and Danny, and the team, and Claude. She wished she could see him just one more time.

She blacked out.

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Everything was muffled, and far away. She could hear sirens, and voices and see red and blue lights flashing around her but they sounded miles away. She could hear several loud voices around her but they were going in an out of focus. She felt a hand on her arm and jerked from it's grasp screaming and clawing at it.

" Miss! Please hey! I'm not going to hurt you!" She was met by a pair of clear blue eyes, looking horrified in a pleasant face accompanied by spiky blond hair. He looked much like Jeff.

She stopped struggling and gripped his sleeves, unable to form words but instead spilling more blood from her mouth. Every inch of her body throbbed and ached and she struggled to keep her eyes open.

"Please don't leave me." She cried, tears rolling down her cheeks, stinging the cuts on her face.

And she blacked out again.
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Danny smiled at his teammates, most of whom were half buzzed or drunk by now. Everyone was dressed in festive attire, which meant they had all showed up in the ugliest sweaters they could find. Claude was joking around with Hartsy when Danny's phone rang. He frowned.

"Philadelphia Police department?" He questioned aloud. The room grew silent as he answered it, a jolt of panic rushing through him. Claude, and the others waited barely breathing as Danny went white as ghost and covered his mouth with his hand.

" We'll be right there." He hung up and grabbed his coat, and turned to Claude eyes glistening with tears. It was unlike Danny to get overly emotional about things, so they could all tell something was seriously wrong.

"Danny what happened?" Mike asked, eyebrows pulling together. Danny tried to collect himself, and took a deep breath.

" Someone broke into the house. Ellie got the boys out safely but-"

Claude lept to his feet, blue eyes huge in his head. Scotty was even at a loss for words as they watched him yank on a jacket and slap all his pockets in search of his keys.

"G." He turned to find Jeff's hand resting gently on his arm. "Calm down man. I'm sure everything is fine."

"Ellie's on the way to the hospital, as are the boys. We need to go guys."

"Not alone your not."

It warmed Claudes hear to see the guys hurry around to pack up their things and find keys and arrange who was driving with the least intoxicated person of the bunch. Adrenaline pumped through his veins as he and Danny sprinted through the arena, and out into the parking lot, Danny driving. He squealed out of his spot and sped off into the night, several of the guys following close behind.

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"She's been severely beaten." The doctor told them, his face grim.
Claude covered his face with his hands and exhaled a breath, as the doctor relayed the laundry list of injuries she had. Claude heard the doctor say words like "broken" "fracture" "severe bruising" and "internal bleeding" and felt sick to his stomach. Mike squeezed his shoulder, his usually dancing eyes stormy.

The rest of the guys were scattered around in chairs listening to the doctor and shaking their heads.

"We'd like to keep her for another night, but she's adamantly refusing."

Claude's head snapped up " She's awake?"

"Oh yes. Wide awake. And handling it pretty well. She was more worried about those little boys than herself. Which one of you is Claude?" He asked glancing around at them.

"I-i am." The doctor peered down his nose at Claude and smiled

"She's been asking for you. Come with me son." He gave the guys a nod and followed him down the hall.

"Is she going to be okay?" The doctor nodded.

"She'll be fine, and as of right now we don't think there will be any permanent damage to her face. She'll have to be watched though, and no work or strenuous activity for a few weeks. Does she have any family or someone you'd like us to call?"

Claude shook his head " I'll call her parents, other than that she has no one but us. I can't believe I want there to-"

But the doctor held up his hand " Son. There was nothing you could have done to stop this."

They rounded the corner, and found two police officers stationed outside of a door. One of them, a hulking blonde haired blue eyed man, smiled grimly at Claude and extended a hand.

"You the one who stayed with her?" Claude questioned, grasping his hand and gripping it tightly.

"Yessir. I couldn't leave her. I have 6 sisters."

Claude gave him a ghost of a smile " thank you. I love that girl more than anything. If that psycho had-"

"Well he didn't. Be thankful for that. And we will find him. She took a pretty big chunk out of him. She's a strong little thang. Here." He pulled a cars from his shirt pocket and handed it to him. His name, James Conroy and cell number were on it. "If you need anything please don't hesitate to call me."

Claude nodded and gripped the handle of the door, pushing it open.

The room was brightly lit, the halogen light buzzing softly. The T.v was on, dim voices floating out of it. Two nurses were leaning over Ellie, blocking Claude's view.

"Claude?" He heard her soft voice call out.
The nurses turned and stepped away from her.

Ellie's normally beautiful porcelain doll face was a mess of bruises and cuts. Her left arm, and right foot were wrapped in a thick heavy black cast. Several of her fingers were taped together, and bandages littered her arms and bare legs.

"Ellie. Oh Ellie I'm so sorry." Claude fell into a chair at her bedside, taking her extended hand and resting his forehead against it. Ellie brushed a tear away and let out a breath she didn't know she was holding in.

"Claude." He looked up at her, blue eyes wet with tears.

"Please, for the love of god take me home."
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