What the little girl did not know, as she struck her first match, is that there was

another soul nearby. A

young police officer, under the name of Darius MacManic, was out on patrol. He would not have been, but
his boss told him that, ¨crime does not rest, so neither should we.¨
Darius was wandering the streets when he saw a light out of the corner of his eye. He turned to see the
telltale glow of a fire. He did not know a single person who would be out on this cold New Year's Eve night
and not in the company of family and friends. Being suspicious of the light source, Darius decided to
investigate. No sooner did he take a step forward did the light go out. Thinking it was nothing but his
imagination playing a trick on him due to the cold, he stared for a moment longer and turned away, so he
could continue his patrol route.
The second time Darius saw the light though, he knew that it was real. I was as if he could feel the heat of
the light source, even though he was a considerable distance from it. He slowly and carefully approached
the dark alley that was being invaded by the dim light. When he reached the mouth of the alley he found
that his hand had subconsciously wandered to his pistol. He had it due to being an officer, but never has
had to use it; hopefully he never will either.
Darius took a step inside of the alley and saw the silhouette of the little girl’s shivering figure. It took him
a moment to figure out what he was looking at, but when he did, he took action immediately. He threw off
his mantle and wrapped it around her body, accidently knocking her match into the snow, putting it out
instantaneously.
Then little girl was ripped from her peaceful daydream as soon as the light when out. When she realised
that someone she couldn’t see was touching her, she began to panic. Darius, realising the little girl’s sudden
distress, made an attempt to soothe her, “It’s okay. Ya’ are okay. Jus’ relax. I’m gonna to ‘elp ya’.” Being
overwhelmed with all of the unfamiliar sensations and her fatigue, the little girl passed out.
When she came to, she was sitting in a warm room with a cloak around her and still hot, steaming tea next
to her. She looked around the room and saw quite a few papers hanging in frames along the walls: however,
she didn’t know what they said. A door creaked open the direction opposite of where she was looking. Her
head whipped around and spotted a man that looked to be in his early twenties. He had dark red-brown hair
that was kept nicely quiffed back. The freckles that were sprinkled across his nose gave him the appearance
that he is younger than he actually is. His blue eyes twinkled as he gazed at her and smiled, creating
dimples in his cheeks. It was at that moment, she realised she had been staring at him for quite a while.
“‘ello,” he greeted her calmly, letting his head fall to one side and his smile widen, “I’m Darius MacManic,
teh man who brought ya ‘ere. What’s ya’ name?” he asked her face not dropping a single second the whole
time. She did not answer.
“Don’t wanna ‘alk right now? I undastand. Ya’ must still be recovering. It’s quite cold out ‘ere, and ya’ are
a bit undadressed. Teh tea’s fa’ ya’ by teh way. Beh ‘areful not ta burn yaself,” he had a little skip in his
voice. It was like he was giggling. Was he laughing at her? She pouted and looked away. “Aww, don’t be
like ‘at. I’m only messin’ wit’ ya’,” his face finally returned to one more comforting and less cheesy. With
that one look she felt more comfort than she had in awhile.
“Ya’ll ‘ave ta ‘ell meh eventually, ya’ know. If ya’ want meh to ‘elp ya’ get ‘ome, of course,” Darius’
accent was getting thicker as he continued talking to her. So thick, in fact, it took her a moment to realise
what he said. She slowly shook her head back and forth. His smile dropped to a saddened look, “No? Don’t
ya’ wanna go ‘ome? Be wit’ ya’ family? They’re probably worried ‘bout ya’,” she shook her head again.
His face just kept dropping as she shook her head. The only reason the look he gave her was different from
all of the other looks she gets is, because his was one of concern, not pity.
He sighed, “If ‘at’s teh case, why ‘on’t ya’ come ‘ome wit’ meh? Hmm? No on’ should beh by ‘emselves
on New Years’,” Darius offered. His kind smile returned to his face, but instead of it replacing his look of
concern, it joined it. He reached his left hand to her. The little girl’s eyes widened at his proposal. Go home
with him? Why should he trust a girl like her? Her eyes flickered to his outstretched hand and back to his
eyes. He raise his eyebrows at her in anticipation. She reached forward and took his hand. His smile got
even brighter and toothier and she thought that she was going to go blind from how white it was.
They crossed the threshold of the room into an equally as warm hallway; the only major difference between
the two, besides one being a hall the other a room, is that the hall had many more people; thankfully she
wasn’t forced to interact with any of them.
They walked out of the building and into the very early morning. She could tell that it must only be a little
after midnight, because a few lights were still on, a sign that those select few were celebrating the new
year, but most were out. They walked in comfortable silence for a few minutes, with him still holding her
hand. The little girl finally realised that she was still wearing Darius’ mantle. She looked up at him
questioningly and gave his hand a slight tug. He glanced down, still guiding her through the darkness. He
smiled at her yet again, but when didn’t he? “It ‘on’t beh much longa, ‘till we’re ‘ere.” she shook her head
and pointed to the cloak on her shoulders that was much too large for her. Seeming to understand what she
meant, he shook his head, “‘on’t worry ‘bout meh. I’ll beh fine.”
His cheeks had gotten so pink that his freckles stood out even more than they did before, so she doubted he
was full comfortable, but seeing as she still hadn’t gotten the courage to talk to him, she would have to be
okay with it. They both stopped and continued to look at each other. It had been so long since someone had
treated the girl with so much love and kindness, and Darius had only met her meer hours ago. Oh, but how
those seemed like forever ago now. Things were finally starting to look up for her, and she couldn’t wait to
see what to future had in store for them.
“MARY ELLEN!!!” a shadow from the distance shouted shattering all of her happy thoughts. Only one
person besides her grandmother called her that name. She instantly went to cower behind Darius. The
figure started running towards them. After the initial shock of hearing the voice, Darius started putting the
pieces together. The little girl’s name was Mary Ellen, there was an angry man looking for her, and she
wanted to be as far away from the man as possible.
Darius placed his arm in front of her acting as a shield from the other man. When the man was a reasonable
distance away from them, he asked, “Can I ‘elp ya’?”
The man ignored Darius, calling to his daughter, “Mary Ellen! I have been worried sick! You’ve been gone
for hours! I couldn’t find you anywhere!”
When the man kept approaching them and Mary Ellen huddled closer to him, Darius tried to talk to him
again, “Is ‘ere ‘omethin’ ya’ need?”
This time, though, Darius got a response, “Yes, there is something I need. You have something that belongs
to me! AND I WANT IT BACK!!!” the man says, pointing to Mary Ellen. Darius couldn’t believe what he
just heard. Did he just call Mary Ellen a thing? And that she belongs to him? Why would someone say that?
From their appearance, I can assume that this is her father. He knew far too well what is was like to be
controlled by people. Mary Ellen didn’t belong to anyone! For the first time that Mary Ellen had seen,
Darius was not smiling. He actually looked mad. No, not mad… furious.
Darius took a step forward away from Mary Ellen, and towards her father. He got up in his face and could
smell the alcohol on his breath only fueling his rage. He lifted his hand that was once shielding Mary Ellen
and jabbed it into her father’s chest, “‘ow ya’ listen ‘ere. Ma’y Ellen doesn't belong ta anyone. ‘nd I ain’t
gonna give ‘er back ta teh like a ya’!” He punctuated each sentence with a jab to the man’s chest, getting
harder every time. The man’s face turned sour before he grabbed Darius’ wrist. Darius went to pull away as
the man twisted it, creating a stomach-turning crack. Darius didn’t call out though. He grabbed his pistol
and hit the man upside the head with the thick handle, successfully knocking him out.
With Mary Ellen’s father knocked out cold on the ground, Darius grabbed Mary Ellen and hoisted her up
into his arms, only after he tied the man to a light fixture. He ran back to the station with Mary Ellen to get
backup and potentially put her father behind bars. After all of that was said and done, he finally got back to
Mary Ellen. “Ya’ okay?” he asked with the look of concern returning, from earlier, to his face. She nodded
her head and tried to piece together in her head, what just happened.
Darius had protected her and stood up for her. For the first time in a long time she really felt loved, so
much in fact, she started crying. It started out a few tears, but soon became sobbing. She leaned forward
and embraced Darius, crying into his chest. Seeing that she wouldn’t be stopping soon, he wrapped his arm
around her. It was the same one he has used to shield her and stand up for her; this only made her sob
harder. She felt so safe and secure in his arms. “It’s okay. Ya’ are okay. Jus’ relax,” Darius said like he had
earlier. She remembered him saying this and that he would help her. He had carried through with his
promise. Now, with all of the loose strings tied, she knew, for sure this time, that thing were finally starting
to look up for them, “Let’s ‘ead on ‘ome,” and she really, really couldn’t wait to see what the future had in
store for them.