\'\'Let her go or I\'ll blow your brains out.\'\' a familiar voice calls out. I turn to the direction of the voice and see Jason holding a gun and pointing it towards Khalil. Khalil\'s attention diverts from me to the unwanted guest. \'\'Who the fuck are you?"\'

\'\'You don\'t need to know. Didn\'t your mother teach you that it\'s bad manners to threaten a lady?\'\' Jason asks and takes steps closer towards us. \'\'Melody, get up.\'\'

It is dark, save for the random streetlights sprawled across the area that found its way to illuminating the alleyway. Khalil brings the knife closer to my neck almost piercing skin and drawing blood. \'\'Get up, Melody and it\'ll be your blood on the asphalt. Try me.\'\'

I choke back a sob, my mind conflicted and a little bit hazy. I throw a dirty look Khalil\'s way but he ignores me and turns his head again, focusing his attention on Jason who still has the gun pointed in his direction. Can he even shoot that thing? Of course he can, he\'s a gangleader! \'\'I won\'t say it again,\'\' Jason warns. \'\'Put the knife down and let her go.\'\'

\'\'Or what, little white boy?\'\' Khalil mocks, his ego getting the best of him. Like always. \'\'You going to shoot me, little dude?\'\' Khalil is much more muscular than Jason. He\'s known for frequenting the neighbourhood gym so he\'s quite buff. I\'m surprised he hasn\'t even crushed me yet. I couldn\'t see Jason\'s reaction from my vantage point because Khalil\'s tall and muscular frame is blocking me.

This is the perfect time for me to escape: I\'m not going to be deflowered today, Khalil\'s knife has seemingly been dropped on the floor and…

Wait…the knife is on the floor. The cokehead must have dropped it in his stupidity. While he was busy berating Jason, I peep from behind his legs and motion to Jason that I\'m about to slide the knife to him. He catches my drift and nods slowly while Khalil continues his tirade. I slip the knife which was two centimetres away from Khalil\'s foot and slide it all the way to Jason who catches it with his left foot, but hides it behind his back.

Maybe it\'s the weed talking but Khalil is still mouthing off to Jason, and if it wasn\'t for the fact that I\'m traumatised I would have actually laughed in his face. Jason, still angling the gun to Khalil makes a silent motion for me to run to him and I do. With the speed of Usain Bolt, I rush towards Jason\'s side before Khalil realizes what is happening. Jason grabs me by my waist and pushes me to his back.

\'\'You little bitch!\'\' he exclaims, his tone holding nothing but pure rage.

\'\'Call her that again and I\'d actually shoot you,\'\' I hear Jason say. I peep from Jason\'s back in time to see that Khalil is charging towards us, but Jason takes matters into his own hands and I hear the firing of a bullet.

Holy shit! He shot him. He actually shot him…on the foot.

Khalil crouches down and groans, holding his now bullet-holed left foot in pain.

\'\'Let this be a reminder to you the next time you want to assault a lady.\'\' Jason puts the gun in his back pocket and turns to face, me, his eyes filled with worry. At this point, I think I\'m almost hysterical. Jason Blunt actually shot somebody and I witnessed it. \'\'You actually shot somebody,\'\' I whisper in disbelief. \'\'Holy shit, we\'re going to prison.\'\'

He narrows his eyes, his expression showing nothing but anger. \'\'Don\'t worry about the fucker. Worry about yourself and we\'re not going to prison. The only one spending time in a jail cell is the groaning coward on the floor. I\'ll make sure of that.\'\' he chuckles darkly. His hands pad my face and I fall in deep into his aqua blues. They look so kind and so inviting that I can\'t help but stare at them. I bet this is how he gets all the girls in school. His eyes are hypnotizing.

\'\'Are you alright, Princess? Did the fucker touch you? If he did, I swear to God, I\'d actually kill him.\'\' I shake my head. \'\'He d-din\'t, but h-h-e,\'\' I stammer, too scared to get the words out. Who knows what could\'ve been if he never showed up. I could\'ve been raped for God\'s sake. The mere thought of it sends a few stray tears down my face and he notices them. With the swipe of his thumb, he wipes the tears away and shrugs his jacket off, handing it to me. I take it eagerly, wanting to be enveloped by the warmth in order to dispel the cold ordeal that had just taken place.

\'\'Come on, Princess,\'\' he says in a calming tone. \'\'Let\'s go.\'\' He sights my bag near the dumpster and picks it up along with my jacket. With a last glare at Khalil, he grabs my hand and we are out of the alleyway and on to the busy street. Still visibly shaking, and no, not from the temperature, I say. \'\' I need to go home.\'\'

\'\'Not yet, Princess. You\'re coming with me. We\'re going to the police and filing a police report.\'\'

\'\'And tell them what?\'\'

He looks at me in disbelief. \'\'Tell them what? The scumbag tried to rape you!\'\' I visibly flinch at the word and he apologizes. \'\'I\'m sorry. But this cannot go unreported. What if he does this to another innocent woman?""

\'\'If I report, they\'d arrest you too because you shot him,\'\' I try to rationalize. \'\'You\'d go to prison and I don\'t want…\'\' I pause and he looks at me expectantly. I swallow the saliva in my throat. \'\'I don\'t want any more problems with the police.\'\'

He raises a brow but says nothing, with a slow nod, he grabs my arm gently and pulls me towards the almost empty parking lot next to the alleyway. \'\'I\'m not going to jail, Princess.\'\' He brings out a set of keys from his front pocket and leads me to a black sedan. Like a gentleman, he opens the passanger side and ushers me to get in. I answer without protest and he fixes my seatbelt for me.

I probably look like a hot mess right now: mascara is probably smudged on my face due to all the crying I\'ve been doing and my eyes are probably red from more crying. Jason peers deep into my brown eyes, looking like he want to say something but it dies on his lips. Instead, he tucks a stray lock of braid that had fallen out of my bun behind my ear and caresses my face once more. I lean into his caress and we stay like this for a minute, just watching each other, until he clears his throat. As if snapping out of a daze, I release his hand and he closes the passanger door.

He rounds to the driver side and hops in. Putting the key in the ignition, he hands me my items and I search my bag for my phone. Reading the time, I curse silently in my head, and even curse some more when I look at the amount of missed calls. Not in the right of frame of mind to talk to anyone at the moment, I lean my head against the car window and sigh.

\'\'I won\'t force you,\'\' he starts. \'\'to go to the police.\'\' He turns on the heater and I mentally thank him, glad to be getting some more warmth. \'\'But I want you to think about all the women before you, Princess. He could have assaulted a lot of women, but they were too afraid to speak out, judging by the fact that the fucker is not in prison. Think about the ones after you too. I know a lot of bastards like him; they crave power and control and the only way to feed those two dangerous emotions is by attacking those they feel are inferior to them.\'\' He turns to me but I don\'t meet his eyes. \'\'Do you really want him to do this to someone else?\'\'

Do you really want him to do this to someone else? It was me today, but it could be my sister tomorrow. You know, for most of my teenage life, I\'ve been a firm believer in female empowerment. Women need to lift each other\'s crowns up, not tear it down, because at the end of the day, women have to stick together in this cruel world.

Jason is right. I can\'t let this slide, and neither should any woman out there.

It\'s time to put my money where my mouth is.

\'\'Let\'s go to the station.\'\'

\'\'Good, because he needs his dick cut off.\'\' I giggle a little and he starts the car. As we drive, I call his attention. \'\'Jason.\'\'

\'\'Princess,\'\' he answers, not taking his eyes off the road. \'\'Thank you…for everything.\'\'

\'\'Anytime, Princess.\'\'

I don\'t want you to go to jail, Jason. It will kill me.