3. Trespass

All scared and cried out, her limbs violently trembled as she held the wooden baseball bat they had lying around the house close to her crouching body like holding on for dear life. Listening. Waiting for the tiniest sound or sign of an unwanted presence.

Her bated breath cut through the deadly silence in her hallway, counting down the seconds as she prayed for someone to come and save her from this living nightmare. Never in her entire life had she ever thought that she would end up in such a scary situation. She had always been so pampered and protected by her parents and pretty much everyone else around her, never having to worry about the dangers lurking around the corner.

Yet here she was now, terrified out of her mind and completely shocked by what was currently happening to her.

There was a guy outside, possibly a psycho pervert who was about to break into her home and have his way with her.

And there was nothing she could do about it. The chances were so slim of someone hearing her desperate screams. No one else was home around the neighbourhood and she knew it. He probably knew it too. She didn't possess any fighting skills or at least a powerful body either. No, she was just a scared and fragile girl. All alone. Thrown at the mercy of a probably deranged male with evidently cruel intentions. He was peeping on her. And once he realized that he'd been caught he didn't even try to hide or run. Any sane person with at least an ounce of shame would.

But he didn't have any. Not since he'd appeared so determined to come over. Straight to her front door.

She didn't even know if he was the new neighbour who had moved in a couple of months ago or just a random thief who happened to notice her prancing around like that whilst in the process of robbing her poor neighbour's home. She never got the chance to meet him, so she had no idea what he looked like. She didn't even know if he was young or old. She only knew that their new neighbour was male. That was it.

So what if this really was a criminal she was about to deal with? What was she going to do? How could she defend herself from a person like that? She'd never fought anyone, ever. She was so scared. One single sound and she'd wet herself from the fright. She was so sure of it. Her heart threatened to explode from how fast it was beating, her face wet with tears and snot. And she was still wrapped up in that small and flimsy towel, her butt half-bare. Easier for the psycho to get her naked and have his way with her.

A small and vulnerable sob escaped her lips at the thought of that, her fingers unclenching from the bat to slap a hand over her mouth. Right before the sounds of a wailing police siren could be heard in the distance.

Her eyes widened a little, hesitating as she listened. The sounds were getting louder and louder. It was approaching.

She let out a desperate cry, swallowing her hiccups. And with shaky limbs, she unsteadily rose herself into a standing position.

"Lydia!"

Another wail escaped her at the sound of her mother's distant but unmistakable voice. Crying out her name with so much horror and angst. She quickly let go of the bat, breaking into a fast run all the way towards the front door and outside her home.

Just in time to come face to face with the peeping pervert. Her almost-violator. Her breath hitched within her throat, freezing in her spot.

Black. He was all dressed in black. Black skater shoes, black jeans. A black workout tank that showcased the dismal array of tattoos covering his corded arms, his firm pectorals. His face however remained hidden from her view as he wore a black baseball cap, his chin dipped.

His palms were up, frozen into a surrendering position. Close. So close that he could almost reach out and grab her, had he wished so.

A police officer slowly approached from behind, making her softly gasp as she noticed the gun in his hands, pointed to her dark tormentor's back.

"Sir, I am going to ask you to remain right where you are, with your hands where I can see them,"

The male complied and remained completely still, however covertly tilting his head to peer at the girl from underneath his baseball cap. Watching as she stood there stiff as a board, lightly trembling like a frightened little lamb in that flimsy towel.

"Lydia, oh baby!" Her mother rushed right past him and went to hold her, crying out in relief as she peppered kisses all over her flushed and wet face.

"Are you okay baby?"

"Sir, I need to see some ID," Another police officer asked the tattooed perpetrator as the first one expertly grabbed his wrists and restrained him with a pair of cuffs, firmly holding him from behind.

"I have my wallet in my right pocket," He calmly answered with a voice that made Lydia's gaze unconsciously trail right back to him. Surprise flickering in her green eyes as she fleetingly glanced at him.

Officer number two however warily eyed him from head to toe for a moment, no doubt thinking that he definitely must be some sort of criminal, judging by his entirely black outfit, multiple tattoos covering various parts of his arms, thumb rings and other accessories adorning his tall and lean frame.

And then wasting no more time, he carefully searched the said pocket and pulled out a black leathered wallet, taking a thorough look inside.

"Julian Hale. 2340 Lavender Lane, Chesapeake Hills. Okay, let's see what you got, mister Hale," Officer number two said with another glance at the young male, making Lydia's heart do a sudden flip at the sound of all that. This was the address that belonged to the house right next to theirs! He really was their new neighbour!

Her eyes remained wide and unseeing, absently watching officer number two walk back to their police vehicle with her neighbour's ID card in his hand as he was probably about to run him through their database.

Oh my god.

"Miss, did this man assault you, physically and/or verbally?" Officer number one adressed Lydia as he still held Julian all cuffed and secured, the girl blinking a few times in confusion as he had obviously taken her by surprise.

"Uh...No..." She weakly answered after a few beats of silence.

"Did he break into your home?"

"N-no..."

He didn't get to. They'd thankfully been fast enough to get here just in time. Freakishly so.

"Did he steal anything?"

"N-no, but..." She let out a long and irritated exhale as this man was already starting to overwhelm her with his pressing questions.

"H-he scared me! Okay? He was staring at me like a total creep from his window and I was completely naked! I thought that he was going to break in and rape or murder me!" Her lips quivered. This guy -her new neighbour, apparently- just scared the living crap out of her and yet she was the one being questioned? How was this even fair? What were these people thinking? She was already so traumatized by what happened! She sniffled and swallowed a sob, instinctually pressing herself closer to her mother's comforting body.

"Young man, what do you have to say in your defense?" The police officer turned to ask him upon witnessing all that.

Julian remained silent for a few seconds, gazing from beneath his cap at the visibly frightened girl standing right in front of him, her teary eyes barely daring to give him a glance beneath her wet lashes as her mother held her close.

"You are right. I have no excuse for what I did. I'm sorry that I scared you. I just wanted to apologize for what I did, that's why I came over. I may have looked like a total pervert but I didn't mean to," He watched as her large and glassy green eyes slowly rose to look at him before his attention momentarily averted to her mother.

"Ma'am, I didn't mean to scare your daughter and I'm sorry,"

"You're just very beautiful and I couldn't help myself," He sincerely said just as he shifted his gaze back to Lydia, noticing that deep red quickly tinting her cheeks, her full lips parting to express a small gasp.

"He's clean," The second officer said just as he had returned from their service car, earning a nod from his colleague.

"Miss, if I may ask, how old are you?" The first officer then turned to ask Lydia.

"T-twenty," The girl blurted out, barely aware as she was still stunned after this scary and tattooed guy's shameless confession.

"So you're not a minor. Okay," The officer noted, swiftly turning to her mother instead.

"Ma'am, I'm afraid we cannot intervene in this situation. By law standards, he didn't do anything wrong aside from scaring your daughter. He doesn't even have a criminal record. We can only give him a warning, but that's all,"

That immediately drew Lydia's attention, eyes wide as she turned to stare at the officer in pure disbelief.

"W-what? No! B-but he violated my privacy! He's a total pervert! I want a restraining order with his name on it! I don't want him anywhere near me!"

Much less right next to her own home!

He was a total pervert and a freak! He belonged nowhere but in prison! They couldn't be serious about this! They couldn't let him live here, right next to her!

"Miss, I am afraid we cannot do such thing. Like I said before, he doesn't have a criminal record. Not even a damn parking fine. The best you could do is buy some damn curtains or move out," The officer quickly bit back, evidently feeling a little bit aggravated by the girl's rather childish overreacting.

Great. So they weren't going to do a damn thing about it after all.

"If you dare go anywhere near my daughter again I'll rip your balls and shove them down your throat, you hear me?" Lydia's mother suddenly pushed forwards to threaten Julian, much to everybody's utter surprise.

But the young male continued to gaze down at her, completely unaffected even whilst one of the officers had subtly moved closer to intervene if the situation escalated.

"Ma'am, I am going to ask you to keep it civil," The officer calmly requested of her.

"Civil, my ass! You people are useless, you hear me? Useless!" The woman angrily shouted in his face moments before taking her daughter by the hand to guide her back inside their home.

"Have a nice evening, ma'am!"

"Yeah yeah, fuck you too!"

The officer could hear her shouting from behind the door before finally releasing Julian from his handcuffs and politely asking him to walk with them to their car to receive his written warning.