My eyes had adjusted enough for me to see the large frame of a man rushing toward me. It wasn’t large enough to be my dad, but it was menacing nonetheless.
“Daddy!” I shrieked, flailing my arms and legs, frantically trying to escape whatever or whoever was restraining me in my own personal version of hell. “Stop! Don’t touch me!” I screamed at the shadow of a man when he lifted me off the ground.
“It’s just me, Liv. I’ve got you.”
“Quarry?” I squeaked, relief flooding my system.
“You’re okay. I won’t let anything hurt you. I swear.”
I immediately burst into tears, and he wrapped me tight in his arms. Front to front, he hugged me as if he were the one losing his shit—not me.
Just then, the door swung open and a flashlight illuminated the room as a symphony of children’s cries filtered in. The welcome chaos was music to my ears.
“Jesus Christ, what the hell is going on? You two woke up all the kids,” Flint growled.
“Hey, shut the fuck up, dickhead. She was scared.”
“Oh,” he replied in understanding. “You okay, Liv?”
My body shook as I dangled in Quarry’s arms. I couldn’t even form a coherent thought, much less an answer.
“What the fuck happened to the TV?” Quarry barked, holding me even tighter.
“The power went out,” Flint replied. “I’m gonna call Slate. You two good?”
“She’s fine. I’ve got her. You go take care of the kids.”
The lights suddenly flickered on only long enough to taunt me before plunging us back into darkness. Another round of sobs overtook me. I wasn’t scared of the dark. Well, not exactly. It was just that silence tended to linger in the darkness.
“I…I…n-n-n-need my headphones,” I cried into Quarry’s chest.
“Flint?”
“Yeah. Give me a second. I need to grab Riley first,” Flint answered before disappearing along with the flashlight.
Darkness once again cloaked the room, and I scooted impossibly closer to Quarry’s chest, finding the immediate relief I desperately needed.
I’m safe with him. Always.
The power flashed one last time before staying on for good.
“Holy shit,” Quarry breathed as we both took in the room.
The DVD player, the Xbox, and the cable box were all knocked to the floor, and the entertainment center that had once housed them lay on its side with one door completely broken off.
“Are you hurt?” He quickly stepped away and raked his eyes over my body, searching for any sign of injury.
I wasn’t, but it was then that I realized what a mess I probably looked like.
“Don’t look at me.” I quickly ducked behind him and buried my tear-stained face in his back.
He chuckled and pulled my arms around his waist, resting his hands on top of mine. “She’s okay,” he said to himself.
“I’m not okay. I look like one of those girls at your school right now.” I sniffled.
“Nah. They aren’t cool enough to be like my Rocky.”
Suddenly, my Rocky didn’t sound so bad.
I rubbed my face in the cotton of his tee to dry my eyes. “Thanks. Ya…know. For that,” I told his back.
He didn’t even have a chance to reply before I heard Flint’s voice heading in our direction.
“Yeah. Everyone’s fine, Slate. The kids are back in bed, and I’m just about to give Liv her iPad. We’re all good.” He paused, “I’m not sure I can say the same about your entertainment center, but all of the homo sapiens under the roof are alive and well. Okay, I’ll ask. Hang on. Hey, Liv? You want your parents to come back?”
“Um.” I seriously considered it until Quarry’s hand folded securely over mine, allowing me to answer honestly. “No. I’m good.”
“She says she’s good. Okay. See you later.” He must have hung up the phone, because he let out a loud huff. “Christ, that was pandemonium.”
“Sorry,” I squeaked.
Quarry’s body stiffened before he corrected, “She’s not sorry. You’re not sorry. There’s nothing to be sorry about.”
“Right. Well, whatever. Here’s your iPad, Liv. I’m going back downstairs. I’ll leave the flashlight up here in case the lights go out again.”
“Thanks,” Quarry replied.
Flint’s voice grew distant as he shouted, “And clean up that crap before Slate gets back? Yeah?”
Quarry didn’t reply. Nor did he attempt to step out of my grasp. He actually didn’t move at all as I clung to his back, still trying to get myself under control. My pulse slowly returned to a non-marathon pace, but my mind wasn’t nearly as fast to recover.
“You gonna let me go any time soon?” he asked.
“Not if I don’t have to,” I retorted.
“Then you don’t have to. You want to at least put on your headphones. Just in case?” He lifted the earbuds attached to my iPad over his shoulder.