Jessica felt the blood drain from her face as her mother stalked towards her angrily. She shrank back against her pillow clutching the sheets dearly, her knuckles turning white in the process. She felt her body shudder as her mother�s face came unbearably close to hers. Jessica could smell the faint, familiar stench of hard liquor on her mother�s breath.

�Where have you been?� she demanded, her voice threateningly low.

Jessica�s face contorted with fear as she miserably fought to quell the rising lump in her throat but with no avail. Her throat was parched and she was unable to make even the minutest of sounds.

�Answer me!� her mother shrieked, abruptly grabbing a fistful of Jessica�s shirt. As her ugly, unmade face loomed before her, Jessica felt her stomach do a series of tumultuous flip-flops. Her mother had asked the inevitable and sadly, Jessica was unable to muster up enough courage to answer her.

Her mind raced in dizzying circles. When her mother had said that she was leaving town, Jessica had assumed her absence would surely last longer than a week. It always did. Jaunts to far off exotic places with seedy looking characters were hardly uncommon for her mother.

The only rationale that Jessica could come up with for her mother�s early return was that something had gone wrong. Possibly her mother�s �friend� had found someone else. Whatever the case, Jessica could tell from the cold, hard glint in her mother�s eyes that she was angry and eagerly seeking revenge.

�Answer me!� her mother sneered again maliciously.

Jessica closed her eyes, squeezing them furiously in the hopes that if she did it for long enough, maybe her mother would just disappear. As she listened to her mother�s ragged breathing and felt her strong grip upon her, she knew that would never happen.

Jessica�s blatant disregard for her question angered Mrs. Turner even more. As a scared whimper emitted from Jessica�s throat, she couldn�t help but flinch in disgust. Just looking at Jessica made her sick. Her daughter was everything that she was not and she resented her with a vengeance for it.

It had been so easy for her former husband to open his heart to the little girl. It pained her to no end to think that even in the early stages of their marriage, he had never truly been satisfied. He had always wanted something more. After the first two years, it appeared as if he was quickly losing interest in the marriage altogether. His nights were spent at the office and he was constantly running off to meet clients or to attend seminars. At the time, Mrs. Turner had been willing to do anything at all to prevent her husband from slipping away from her completely. The only way she could think of saving what was left of their relationship was to give him what he had always wanted. A child. And much as she hadn�t wanted to, she had done exactly that.

When Jessica had come along however, her husband paid even less attention to her. Praise and attention was always lavished upon the child. He absolutely adored her. She was his little princess. Even today, Mrs. Turner still hated her for that.

Unknown to Jessica, her father had tried to contact her numerous times in the past. The letters were torn up, the gifts were thrown out and the phone messages were never delivered. Her mother was intent on Jessica never finding out that her father did in fact care about her.

As she thought about all of this, her blood boiled furiously. Her fingers curled instinctively, angrily balling into fists. The sudden urge to release her jealousy and anger took over her body as she let the first fist fly furiously. She hit Jessica squarely on the cheek and strangely, a feeling of immense satisfaction washed over her. She did it again and again, pummelling Jessica�s body until she soon became tired.

When she finished, she stood up completely exhausted from the effort. She brushed her hands off satisfactorily as if just having completed a difficult task. She rose quickly and without even so much as a glance back, she quickly exited the room, off in search of the only other way she knew to drown out her sorrows.

Jessica lay upon her bed, staring lifelessly at the ceiling. Her routine for the past few hours had been to find a spot and stare at it until her eyes began to burn and the spot turned blurry. Concentrating on something else always reminded her less of the pain.

With a stiff hand, she reached up and gently fingered the tender area of her cheek where he mother had hit her. Tears trickled down her face as she grazed it carefully. Her limbs ached profusely, but Jessica was unable to move. Her attention was riveted to the ceiling as her mind raced in constant contemplation.

The next hour was spent contemplating the same eternal question which always plagued her after a bout of her mother�s beatings. What have I done to deserve this? Jessica knew she hadn�t always been the perfect child or so her mother had often told her. Still, she couldn�t remember doing something so horrid that it warranted such painful punishment.

As the tears slipped down her face, she felt her stomach tighten, making it almost impossible to breathe. Her mind swirled with confusion as she tried to ignore the pain and concentrate on her thoughts. She closed her eyes, forcing herself to drift off to sleep in the hopes that when she awoke she would feel better. Jessica knew however that it was a lost cause. She would never feel better. As she lay uncomfortably she noticed that slight tremors still ran through her body as it shook slightly in fear.

A series of conflicting emotions ran through her, leaving her mind in a state of utter emotional turmoil. She felt hatred towards her mother but in another sense she was grateful. Grateful that her mother hadn�t inflicted even more pain upon her. Surely she was capable of hurting her much more than she already had.

As Jessica lay in her bed, staring at the wall quizzically, she wished that she could just forget about the trials and tribulations of her life. She wished there was some way she could just fade into a world of oblivion and never come back. Never have to face reality and the fact that it was she herself who was responsible for all this pain.

Something tugged at her heart just then and try as she may, Jessica was unable to ignore it. She knew that it was only in the sanctity of Nick�s arms that she was able to forget everything. Forget all the screams, all the threats and most of all, the pain. When she was with Nick it seemed that nothing else in the world mattered except she and him. Two people who cared about each other so much. Two people who could spend hours on end together in complete silence and still be satisfied.

She wanted that right now. She needed that.

Her limbs screaming in protest, she carefully raised her stiff body from the bed. With visible effort, she got up, taking a few moments to gain her composure. Every part of her body ached profusely, but she ignored the biting pain. All she could think about was Nick and the wonderful world that she was transported to every time his arms surrounded her.

Jessica entered the elevator staring absentmindedly at the intricate pattern on its floor, through her tinted sunglasses. She had worn them in attempts to hide her puffy eyes from Nick. She hadn�t bothered to cover up her sallow face with makeup though because she knew it would be useless. The moment Nick saw her, he would know something was wrong. Aside from the telltale bruise, it was obvious in the way she stood with her arms protectively covering her chest and the way she walked slowly, her eyes darting furtively about in search of danger.

Exiting the elevator cautiously, she paced down the long seemingly never-ending hallway. The dim light cast shadows about it giving it an eerie glow. For a split second, Jessica was daunted. However, she forged ahead, her legs moving mechanically and her footing completely uncoordinated. Despite how much they ached, she didn�t stop. She kept on, the prospect of being in the comfort of Nick�s arms willing her to go on.

She stumbled down the hall blindly, finally reaching the door. Her hand felt leaden as she strenuously lifted it and knocked gently. As quickly as her aching limbs allowed, she turned her body, positing herself so that Nick wouldn�t be able to see the unsightly bruise upon her right cheek.

The door finally opened and Jessica immediately felt a feeling of relief wash over her. From the corner of her eye, she watched carefully as a look of concern and then confusion crossed Nick�s face. �Jess? What are you doing here?�

He anxiously awaited her answer, his heart sinking lower and lower as each silent second passed. Why won�t she look at me? He watched unhappily as Jessica face remained turned away from his. Carefully he reached up, gently grazing her soft skin. With slow fingers, he gently turned her face towards his. Nick gasped audibly as he saw the ghastly bruise upon her face. Quickly, he pulled his hand away from her skin as if it were hot to the touch.

After staring at her inquisitively for a few moments, his curiosity suddenly turned to anger. I�ll kill whoever did this to her, he vowed silently. Without a moment�s hesitation, Nick reached forwards and enveloped Jessica in his arms. His heart sped up as he felt her body trembling slightly beneath his grasp. He held her silently for a few moments, wishing he could ease all her pain. As he pulled back from her slightly and gazed worriedly into her he noticed they were bright with unshed tears.

A momentary silence passed between the two of them. �I didn�t know where else to go,� she whispered, her voice strained as she broke the silence.

Nick stepped forward again, pulling her body close to his. Gently, he ran his fingers through her hair, smoothing it carefully. It was his way of telling her that she had come to the right place.

And as Nick�s soothing touch calmed her down slightly, Jessica knew she had.

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