Hi all.

Yeah, I know good faith my ass, but hey I got you guys a chapter didn't I? Summer is in four weeks for me, so there will defiantly be a new chapter soon, after the exam craziness passes. Thank you all so much for continuing to read this, even if I'm a flake at best. Laney's Courage is up to 15,000 views, now. I can barely believe it. You guys are the best readers in the world and I defiantly don't deserve such loyal readers.

Thank you so much and tons of love,

Rose

(* Song is Snuff by Slipknot. I am using this song really for the emotional tone of it and not so much the direct meaning of the lyrics. It is a very dark desperate and heart-broken song about feeling unworthy of the person you are with, that tone is perfect for expressing the vulnerability that and guilt that Corey is experiencing now.)

*Bury all your secrets in my skin

Come away with innocence, and leave me with my sins

Corey gazed at the girl slumbering uneasily on the couch next to him. She looked so vulnerable and small lying there in his arms. Feeling the warmth of her body on his and seeing the fragility on her features, he felt his surge with protectiveness for her.

The air around me still feels like a cage

And love is just a camouflage for what resembles rage again...

He studied the map of bruises covering her face and the way her eyes darted underneath their lids. Something about seeing the exoskeletons of the pain she had felt. It made him feel haunted.

So if you love me, let me go.

And run away before I know.

My heart is just too dark to care.

I can't destroy what isn't there.

He'd let this happen to her. All these years he'd promised to take care of her, to protect her, but when she need him most, he wasn't there. He'd been too pigheaded, too pissed at her for not answering her phone, and to wrapped up in the passion she inspired in him, to see that she was in danger. He'd let her down just like he always did.

Deliver me into my fate -

If I'm alone I cannot hate

He didn't deserve her.

I don't deserve to have you...

My smile was taken long ago

If I can change I hope I never know

Corey's thoughts turned to the man who did this to her, the man who marred her face and bruised her delicate psyche. Her father. How could someone do that to their own child? How could someone live such a pathetic, disgusting existence?

I still press your letters to my lips

And cherish them in parts of me that savor every kiss

I couldn't face a life without your lights

But all of that was ripped apart when you refused to fight

Corey thought back to several hours before, after he had seen Laney's pale dejected face staring at him through the dirty window. He'd raced inside to rescue her, adrenaline pumping through his veins preparing him to fight a legion of soldiers. Her father, that was a very loose application of the word, offered not even a token resistance to Corey's attempt to evacuate his daughter. The man was passed drunk in a pool of vomit outside his daughter's bedroom door, a busted bottle of vodka lying near his hand.

So save your breath, I will not care.

I think I made it very clear.

You couldn't hate enough to love.

Is that supposed to be enough?

Corey all but ripped the door off the hinges trying to get to Laney, who had begun to sob hysterically in the time it had taken him to get there. That image was burned in his head forever; Laney curled up in the corner shaking with blood covering her shirt. He never wanted to see her like that again. Never.

I only wish you weren't my friend.

Then I could hurt you in the end.

Rage filled Corey, absolute contempt for the man who did this to his child. This was not going to happen to Laney EVER again. He'd rather die than allow her to be hurt like this again.

I never claimed to be a saint...

Ooh, my own was banished long ago

It took the death of hope to let you go

The man who did this deserved to suffer for hurting. He deserved to suffer endlessly. Right now, that man, that monster, was going to walk away Scott free. The very thought made Corey's entire body shake with fury. This man deserved to suffer and Corey was going to make sure justice was served, even if he had to serve it himself. Those who do evil will get evil in return. Corey was going to make sure of it.