Chapter One Continued

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"Aah, get away from me!"

Mitch jumped up from his bed. Isabella scream sounded as if she was terribly scared. He took hold of the fire poker from his room and went to her room to find out what was going on. Grunts and squeels were coming from inside and her door was weide open. When he got to the doorway, Mitch first peeked around to scope out the situation. A greasy elderly man with a long beard and frizzy hair was trying to pull Isabella toward the open window. She bit his arm and he screamed out in pain and then threw her against the wall.

"Listen to me, woman!" He commanded, "You belong to me! You will do as I say!"

Angrily, Mitch stormed into the room, the fire poker held high above his head, "Let her go!"

The knobby hands secured around Isabella's arm tightened and her captivator pulled her in front of him. "She's mine and she belongs with me. I bought her fair and square."

"You bought her? Don't you think that this young woman should have a say in her own life?" Mitch growled, slowly walking towards them.

"This has nothin' to do with ye, mister. Just let us go and you won't get hurt." The man wobbled drunkenly as he spoke, clenching Isabella tight against him.

Isabella bit down hard on his arm again and he yelped out in pain, immediately releasing her from his grasp.

"Get behind me, Isabella!" Mitch ordered as he ran for the man who has holding onto his arm in pain.

Once he was sure Isabella was safe, Mitch took hold of the man and pulled him out of the room by the collar of his filthy shirt. "You are going to stay away from Miss Isabella and if I ever see you again, you will not be this lucky."

Mitch threw the old man out of the front door and watched him stumble over a stone and fall down clumsily. He stood up and muttered aloud, clearly angry at the nights occurances. But, he backed off into the brush and Mitch waited until he could no longer see the figure in the darkness.

After closing the door behind him, he turned around to find Isabella standing in his shirt in the kitchen. She looked pale and exhausted and her eyes were puffy from crying.

"Are you alright, miss?" he asked, walking towards her with concern in his eyes.

She nodded, clutching the shirt to her self-consciously, "Thank you for that, he was very angry."

"He will never bother you again. I will see to it." He brushed away a tear from her cheek and smiled, "Now, why don't you go on back to bed? You need a good few hours of rest yet."

Isabella whispered goodnight and crept back to her room to sleep. Would she be able to even fall asleep after what had just happened?