"She isn't lying, I believe her. If only you could see the marks on her back, there was clearly abuse"

"It could have been Kage, we don't know what they are hiding"

"Look at the pictures, those are laceration scars.. Kage didn't do that to her"

"You are hiding something, Katherine"

Erika's p.o.v.

Kage and I were sitting on the couch in the activity room watching TV. My legs were resting over his lap as my body leaned on the arm of the sofa. His arm was holding my legs as we watched the News since that was the only channel we could watch besides PBS Kids.

"Erika..," a faint voice called from the side of the sofa. I look over to see Madalyn standing there.

She was wearing a black dress with white leggings underneath, her shoulder-length red hair pulled into a pony tail.

"Can I talk to you for a second?" She asked. I nodded and got up at the hesitation of Kage.

"I'll be right back" I mumbled to him before he finally took his hand off my leg so I could stand. We walked a few feet away and she pulled me behind a wall.

"Um... I uhh- I need you to tell the nurse that I uh... I-I got my period" she spoke softly in a whisper tone. It then occurred to me that she was 13 and it wasn't surprising it was just now starting. Man that's awkward.

"Yeah of course I'll tell then for you" I said seeing a wave of relief wash over her face. I walked with her to one of the head nurses of the girls ward and nudged Maddie to stand beside me.

"Madalyn has started her period and would like to keep it as quiet as possible please" I whispered. The nurse smiled and patted my shoulder.

"Thank you dear. Come on Madalyn, let's get you some supplies" She said and walked off with Maddie.

After that was over, I walked back to the couch to see a boy about my age talking to Kage. I sat back down and placed my legs over Kage again, returning to the position we were in to begin with.

"And then she was like 'No! Brandon don't kill Muffin, he's just a kitten!' Man it was hilarious" the boy who I assumed was Brandon said.

His eyes landed on me as he looked me up and down like how a lion looks at it's prey.

"Brandon, I respect you man but take your damn eyes off her and finish your story" Kage said, squeezing my leg gently and gripping me a little closer to him. I have to admit that I really liked protective Kage.

Brandon smirked at me and closed his eyes , shaking his head gently.

"it's not important" he said and opened his eyes again, walking away.

I could feel Kage's heart beat faster and see the way his nostrils flared when he was about to freak out. I placed a hand on his chest and shook my head.

"I'm okay, Kage. Calm down" I said softly, Kage never taking his eyes off Brandon.

"Kage why are you so angry he didn't touch me"

"He wanted to you could see it in his eyes"

"Don't get mad at it, he won't bother me" I tried to calm him down the best I could.

"you don't understand.. he isn't scared of me like the others are"

"He doesn't have to be scared of you to know not to fuck with you" That sentence seemed to do the trick and his breathing started to even out.

"If he even gets close to you, I'll kill him" Kage said before finally directing his gaze back at me.

"If you kill him then you'll be locked up and I'll never see you again"

"All teens go back to your wards" the intercom blared. I sighed and gave Kage a small kiss as we got up.

"I'll... see you later" He said hesitantly. He didn't want to leave, anyone could see that even if it was just for a few hours.

**

When I got back to my room, I went over to the window and looked outside through the bars.

I could see all the adults walking around, enjoying the fresh air that we rarely got here. We were only allowed ground privileges once or twice a week here.

Kage's p.o.v.

As I laid down on my bed all I could think about was the way Brandon's eyes seared into Erika like he was mentally undressing her. They are the same age but they are both wildly different from each other.

He has no respect for women at all. I admit im not a star child when it comes to respect but I have and never will use someone just for sex like he does.

I don't want to even think about what he thinking about doing to Erika. Those thoughts floored me into rage and I had to stop myself from going into another outburst.

Before I realized what I was doing, I was exiting my room and walking down the hall to Brandon's. The only locks were on the outside of the door so I knew I could get in.

When I walked in, I could see Brandon throwing the blanket over himself, immediately knowing what he was doing.

"That's fucking disgusting man, put it away" I said.

"Don't act like you don't do it all the time... expecially with a girlfriend like that" He said, smirking smugly. I took a deep breath and tried to shake off his comment.

"She's not my girlfrie-" I started but was cut off by Brandon jumping out of his bed. After adjusting himself, he walked towards me slowly.

"You act like all you wanna do is protect her and hold her hand... don't lie to me and tell me you haven't thought about going into her room in the middle of the night, pinning her down on the bed and just-"

"Shut up Brandon, I don't want to fight with you"

"Well if she isn't your girl then I can say whatever the hell I want about her" He said, clearly trying to test how far he could go before I blew up.

"I do have to say though.. she's too pretty to be here. It's not safe for someone like.. her. Some guys might get the wrong idea" He said, sitting back down on his bed. I calmly walked over to him and decked him. He fell over on his bed, unconscious with blood pouring out of his nose.

And with that I walked out. I don't know the reason I walked in there. Maybe I did want to fight but if I did, I controlled myself a lot better than I usually do.

**

When I got back to my room and closed the door, I knew I was in deep shit for this. They saw me walking into his room on the camera. They probably saw that I broke his nose and gave him brain damage.

I had to do it though. He's a weird perverted kid who would do anything to get what he wants but he couldn't have Erika, ever.