Happy almost school's out, friends. Here's a little diddy I've been working on for just over a month now. And since I know so many people hate when I leave my stories unfinished, I wrote this entire story before I even thought of publishing it. So, here it is. I think I'll update every Thursday, just for the fun of it.

Enjoy. Feel free to express your joy with your words. :)

"I told you, no one gets it but me. And that's why I've been here for you this whole time. I'll protect you."

Her phone started to ring again, but she ignored it. "He wants to hurt me. He doesn't love me."

"That's right, he wants to hurt you. You know something? He loves to see you cry. He loves to watch you suffer. He lives for those days when you get hurt, and his only goal in life is to maim you as much as he can. And these women want to help him."

The phone rang and rang in her hand until she could no longer focus on anything else. Ring. Ring. Ring. Ring.

"Answer the phone already!" The other woman shouted. "He wants to help you! Let him help you! Think of the children!"

"The evil one has a good idea. Go for her children. If she wants to help hurt you, help steal your soul, hurt her first before she can get to you."

"I'm sorry," she whispered.

3 Hours Earlier…

"Hey, Sarge, you seen Jules yet?" Sam asked. He'd come in early today, hoping to catch his secret girlfriend before anyone else was at work, but no such luck. As of 9:05am, no one had seen her. "I expected her to be in by now."

Greg looked up from his paperwork, wrinkles of concern fluttering around his eyes. "She called in sick," he said, although somewhat hesitantly.

"Sick?" Sam gave Greg 'the look'. "What do you mean, sick?"

Greg licked his lips, an unreadable expression crossing over his face. But just as quickly as the look appeared, it was gone again, a smile replacing it. "Come on, Sam. Do you really think she's skipping?" He picked up the papers he was signing. "She doesn't do that."

Sam pursed his lips as a response, not wanting to talk back to his boss. "Okay, then," he said, "I'll just go hit the gym."

"Good idea, Sam."

With a sigh, Sam walked out of the conference room right into the gym/meeting area. "What's up?" he asked his fellow team members.

"Not much," Ed answered, sweat dripping off his bald head. "But Sofie felt the baby kick for the first time last night."

"Yeah you did!" Wordy pumped his free arm in the air in appreciation. Having two daughters yourself made you really excited for others' kids. "How far along is she now?"

But before Ed could answer, there was a loud yelp from the corner. "Holy crap! Ow!"

"What the hell man?" Wordy looked over at Spike, who was lying in a slightly crumpled heap at the bottom of a treadmill. "How much did you drink last night?" He asked. "I mean, sure, I know how it was after yesterday, but come on!"

"Nothing-ow-I swear!" Spike managed to untangle his arms from his torso. "I just tripped over my damn shoelace," he said as he yanked his shoe off. "Dammit."

Greg stuck his head out the door of the meeting room. "See, I can tell without even asking that Jules isn't here yet," he said with a grin. "She would be kicking your butt so hard for swearing."

Spike grinned back at his boss, now on his feet. "Yeah, I know. She really gets on my case about that." He paused to look around him. His face took on what could be considered an almost worried look. "Where is Jules, anyways?"

"Sick," Sam called out from his position on an elliptical. "And she must be damn sick to miss a day."

Ed cleared his throat, uncomfortable with the language that the men were using without Jules around. "Boys! Clear the language! We still got Winnie to impress!" He motioned towards the young woman sitting behind the front desk. "Isn't the right, Winnie?"

"Yes, sir," she answered, a smile breaking out on her beautiful face.

Ed gave her a smile back. "See that, boys?" he asked. "Winnie here wants impressing. So take off your sailor hat and put on your military cap." He pointed towards the equipment room. "Weapons drills! Loser buys the first round tonight!"

"Bet you I'll beat you this time, Sam," Spike said almost menacingly. Although, with his stature and demeanor, it was hard to be scared of him.

Sam gave him a look. "Care to bet $5 on that?" he asked.

Spike paused momentarily, his eyes narrowing. "No gambling in the workplace, Braddock."

"You just know I'll beat you again," Sam teased. "That's all." He sped up his pace to make sure he was first to the equipment room. "I've seen you bet with Sarge before."

"Hey, not true!" Greg protested. He slipped into the room beside Sam and grabbed his clipboard. "Who's up first?"

"I'll go first, Sarge." Wordy put his hand up in the air as an offering. "If I do it first, I can't feel as if I've already lost to the pros." He said the last part of the sentence almost disgustedly. Sam knew he was being referred to, but showed nothing on his face about it.

"Team one, gear up! Hot call! Hot call! Armed suspect with multiple hostages, 152 Barrydale Road."

Greg waved his hand. "Let's keep the peace, people!"

"Sarge-" Sam started to talk to Greg, but was cut off by someone handing him his rubber-bullet riffle.

Greg turned to face him, a slightly rushed look on his face. "Ed, take a car, you too, Wordy. Sam, ride with me. We can talk then."

"Boss, you gotta know, now."

"What is it?"

Sam looked at his boss, his features in almost a state of panic. "That's Jules' house. I know why she called in sick. She's been taken hostage."

Jules sniffled as she readjusted her grip on the gun. She was sweating, but didn't notice in her state of mind. Rather, who was there with her. When he was there, she couldn't think. He was her only thought, the only thing allowed to be in her mind. She hadn't made up that rule. He had.

"Julianna, look at these people. They don't love you. I love you."

"Please, just- just let us go." One woman cowered in the corner, her arm around her little boy. He cried silently into his mother's hoodie. "I-we, didn't do anything! What do you want with us?"

"Shut-up," Jules whispered, blinking rapidly. She couldn't take it all in. There was too much going on around her. "Just shut-up."

Another mother pulled her two girls closer to her. "Don't cry," she crooned to them. "You know how we play pretend sometimes?" She stroked one of her girls' hair. "This is kind of like that. Can we be really quiet and still? Just like a mouse?"

Jules breathed unevenly at the sight of the mother comforting her kids. "I-I told you to be quiet," she said, pointing her gun at the two kids.

"Make them be quiet. They want to hurt you. They've been watching you for months. Every mistake, every little hesitation. Now, you need to silence them."

"Please, I-"

"Shut-up!" Jules yelled, her voice cracking. She waved the gun around the air. It was almost as if she hadn't realized it was a gun. "I told you to be quiet and you didn't listen!" She paused to catch her breath, even though she couldn't in her panicked state. "He wants you to be quiet!"

The first woman with the boy gave her a frightened look. "There's no one here but us," she whispered. "Can't you see that? There's no one here but us! Let us go!"

"She's wrong, Julianna. They ignore us because we're too special for them. They're scared of me. They know I can protect you and that scares them."

Jules lifted the hand with the gun in it to her head, not in a suicidal way, but rather in a confused way. She tried to wipe away the sweat that had accumulated, but to no avail. "I don't-I don't know," she said softly. "I-I can't-"

"It's okay, Jules. I'll help you get rid of these murders. I know they took your soul. I'll help you get it back."