• "No... No... I said- WAH!"

    Arms wrapped around my waist from behind me. "HEY!! DANTE!!! HELP!!!" I screamed louder and louder.

    "Oh shut your mouth. He's already been taken care of... Look, sweetie." The man said low and close to my ear.

    I shook my head and tried to pry his hands off of my waist. 'No... No. He can't be!! He's stronger than that!' I thrashed around in his arms as he tried to keep me still.

    "Hold on dear. This won't be long... Now hold still! I don't want to kill you!" He shook me harder and covered my mouth as I tried to scream more.

    He tried to press me against a wall, but I kept kicking the wall back and hitting his shin. Finally I bit his hand and he smacked me.

    "Dumb b***h!" He yelled as he smacked me around more.

    "Put her down or else..." I couldn't believe it. Was it him? 'Please be him!!!' I couldn't have been more happier to know he was alright... Sorta.

    Two swords were sticking out of his back and he was bleeding badly. I was scared to actually look at him. It never occurred to me that he would do this.

    "Dante, go get help. You need it more than I do." I tried to say it in a commanding voice, but it faltered. I was too shaken to say it straight.

    "No. I won't... Put her down now." He looked directly into the man's eyes. "I will kill you if I have to."
    He pulled out the swords and I saw more blood pour out of him. I whimpered as he stepped forward to us.

    "You just try." The man said back, then he looked at me and cupped my chin. "She's a doll, isn't she? She's just so young and innocent. Why would she be with someone like you?"

    He held my wrists together in front of me, and tried to kiss my cheek. But Dante swung one of the swords at him and cut his face.

    I fell to the ground as they began to fight. Blood and dirt were flying everywhere. Every time I heard them scream I couldn't help but get even more scared. Every time I heard a crunch I feared it may have been Dante breaking bones. I tried to get up and pull him aside before one of them really killed each other. But as I tried to pull him away, the man grabbed my hair and pulled me to him. Dante was too quick. I couldn't see what he did to him, but I could hear that the man was gasping for breath.His boney hands let go of me completely. And he fell to the ground.

    I couldn't help but stand there. I couldn't move really. I was terrified because I hadn't seen him this angry. Dante had different eyes... Darker. More hatred than I could ever imagine in one person, was slowly being released through his eyes.

    He was breathing heavy when he looked at me. He was trying to hold himself up by his knees. "You... You alright?"
    At first I said nothing. But as he started to lose his balance, I ran to help him up. He tried to shake me off, but I kept a gentle hand on him. Finally I pulled his left arm over my head and onto my shoulders.

    "You never answered my question..." He said with a low chuckle.
    "Better than you are obviously... Why?" I whispered as we began to walk to his home.
    He was silent. He wouldn't look at me for a few minutes but then as I stared into his face, I couldn't continue. I would just stay silent.

    "Because I love you and I didn't want some a*****e touching you. And he started it when he stabbed me with the swords. I ended it when he grabbed your hair... Beatrice. Stop right here for a moment, please."
    We both stopped and he turned me to kiss him. Lips to lips. He placed his hands first on my face to keep me there, then he placed one hand on my waist while the other went through my hair.
    He had his eyes opened while we kissed. I had shut mine, but that's not what made me feel different... It was that even when he stopped kissing me, his eyes looked like something else was there. Something more than what I used to see.
    He rubbed his thumb on my cheek and finally said we need to explain what happened to his father.

    After sometime of walking, we finally made it to his home. It was later than usual and his parents were angry. Mainly because my parents didn't know where I was, and my brothers didn't walk me home... So they went to the one person I'd most certainly be with. And got his parents.

    After an hour of trying to explain, his father finally looked at us.
    "You were trying to protect your girlfriend, right? So it looks to me that you did some damage to yourself... Like broke both your arms and got stabbed in the shoulders and fractured your jaw... Do you feel anything?"

    Eyes wide, I stared at him. Letting go, I backed away thinking I didn't help him.That I made it worse. He gave a confused look, but it wasn't until it finally occurred in his mind that he was hurt that badly.

    "Adrenaline rush dying down? Well... You certainly won't be walking her home for a long while. Beatrice... You should go now."

    Dante fell to the floor and I refused to leave until I knew he was alright. I just couldn't sit at my home and know he wasn't alright. So I helped him up to his room.

    After many days of sleep, he finally woke up. And I wasn't there to see him. I was told by one of my twin brothers that he was doing fine. It scared me to know he was always asleep, but now that he finally woke up, I could feel better.

    What embarrassed me, though, was that his parents and sister told him that I had visited him everyday. At his side, singing some song I had learned. Even his little brother had ratted me out.

    But as I gathered my things, one evening, I heard a little voice call out. "Right there!"
    I jumped from the voice. I was about to drop my things and run, but I noticed my brother walking to the voice. And futher inspection told me it was Dante's little brother, Gabriel.

    "What are you up to, little one?" He said as he bent down on one leg to pat his head.
    "I AIN'T LITTLE! Dante! She's right there!" He stuck out a tiny finger towards me.

    "Dante?" My brother and I said it at the same time.
    "What are you doing out of bed?! You're hurt! Go home now!" I ordered, walking to him with an atempt to look as serious as possible.
    But as usual it all melted as he gave me a hug. My head burried in his chest and my arms wrapped around his torso.

    "Now, I can't remember... Did you ever answer my question?"
    He said with a smirk. I knew it... I knew he wouldn't listen to me, but I still loved him. He knew it too.