• PROLOGUE
    "Let me be!" she glared at him.

    "Why should I?" he demanded of her as he dragged her body against his.She felt the hardness of him on her stomach as he held her tight. He slowly bent down grasping her lips with his own. When she tried to pull away, he pulled her closer. She soon moaned into the kiss without realizing it.
    Then when they finally broke the kiss, she frowned as he kept his arms around her waist, "W-we can't do this...I'm sorry...I can't do this...with you...or anyone else. I'm...just not ready..." She broke off regretting it even as she did so.
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    CHAPTER 1

    Hanna Wes quickly walkedacross the street as her long dark dirty blonde hair swayed in the wind. Her long re jacket practically covered her whole body. Under it was a black dress that went to her ankles. She sighed as it started to rain. She had just turned 20 recently. Her dark green eyes wandered as she went into an alley.She knew she shouldn't have come through a place like this but, she had no choice she had to go through it in order to get to her cottage. Her pale yet smooth skin shivered as she felt a presence near by. She took one step in her long rain boots then stopped. She slowly turned around but saw no one.
    "Hello? Is anyone here? Whoever you are, I know you are here. Why are you fallowing me?" her voice trembled as the presence grew nearer. Before she could turn back around two guys came up from behind her. and shoved her against the concrete wall. They both wore masks of some kind. One held her to the wall while the other held a dagger.
    "W-what do you want from me?" she started to panic and tried to push them away forgetting about the dagger. She gasped when the one with the dagger swung at her. She screamed in pain when he slashed her arm. Her arm slowly began to bleed, "Please," she cried, "I have nothing for you..."

    ****
    John Peterson woke up when he heard the scream. He quickly slid out of bed and into his day clothes and a coat. He then took hold of his sword and sheathe and attached it to his belt. He stepped outside to hee two fellows with masks and a dagger threatening a young girl. His eyes widened noticing the slash they had put on her arm. His brows bunshed in a frown.He closed the door behind him and swiftly went to them after seeing one of them slap her, "What the bloody hell is oing on here?"
    The one without a dagger charged at him. John dodged the man and quickly drew his sword knocking him out with the handle of the blade. The other man growled and jumped at him. John stepped to the side and slashed the man's arm, "Now you know how she feels..."
    The man only stiffend for a minute and in that minute John threw him against hte brick wall knocking him out. It wasn't John's style to kill unless he had no other choice. He slowly sheathed his sword showing the girl he meant no harm. He then held his hand out to her to help her up.

    ****
    Hanna hesitated at first, not sure if she could or should trust him. She slowly grasped his hand with her own after a minutes thought. When he helped her up, she gasped in pain as the slash on her left arm began to throb even more. He slowly lef her to his cottage not sure of where she lived or if she wanted to go there.
    "You will be safe here, miss. I doubt they don't know where you live, so if you don't mind, I would suggest you stay here until it is safe again." he led her to a quiet room with a fireplace.
    She slowly sat down on the bed on the opposite side farthest from the fire, "Who are you?"
    "I am John Peterson." he answered in a gentle voice. He quickly got out some bandages, a bottle of alcohal, some needles, string, and a cloth to wrap the arm in when done. "This may hurt." he slowly poured some of the alcohal on her arm. She groaned and jumped at the stingy and burning pain of the alcohal. He clean her wound slowly. Inch by inch making sure none of it would get infected in anyway. He then dipped one of the needles into steaming hot water to sterilize it. He took hold of her arm and pushed the needle through her skin. She whimpered in pain but tried to tolerated it. He began to so her arm with very little ease for he didn't like hurting people, especially woman. She winced again as he put the needle through again. She sighed and tried to breath calmly as he push the needle through again. This time she almost screamed. When the pain cam coarsing through her arm she finally collapsed on the bed.
    John sighed in relief so that he could concentrate more on the wound then her reactions to it. As soon as he was done. He slowly bandaged her arm as best he could without waking her while she now slept. He then took the cloth and sat her up while she slept. He put the cloth on her arm like a sling for her arm.
    "Thank you...I don't know if I would have survived those two without you. I'm very grateful." she murmured then quickly fell back asleep.
    John stood slowly after watching her for a few hours or so. He stretched and then layed down on the minature loveseat across the room and soon fell asleep while he watched over her.
    ____

    He got up early in the morning noticing she was still asleep. He checked her forehead and frowned as she was a bit feverish. He sighed and brought up a cold cloth and an ice bucket to break her fever. He dipped the cloth in the bucket, wrung it, then gently layed in upon her forehead. He saw her flinch at the coldness yet she was still asleep. She began shivering so he pulled the covers over her shoulders and kept the cloth to her forehead.
    "That should do for now." he said to himself after checking her stitches in her arm. John went downstairs to the kitchen and began preparing a simple healing concoction. He let it warm by the fire and began making toast and some eggs. He quickly set the concoction on the table and then poured a glass of hot tea. He poured some of the concoction into the Hot Tea then added some sugar, but not too much. He poured the eggs and toast into a small bowl and mixed it quickly. When he opened the door to the room in which Hanna was sleeping, he quickly sat the bowl and the hot tea on the stand next to the bed.