by M. S. Willis
I instantly hated hearing my name on his tongue and my stomach rolled as he spoke. When his hand ran up the inside of my thigh, my body shuddered in disgust. I continued to glare at him in refusal of showing him anything other than anger. He was looking for fear and I was too stubborn to give him that satisfaction. His face continued to hold that horrendous smirk and he began to cut away at my skirt. He drove a line starting from the bottom of the material and slowly sliced as he moved his way towards the top.
Once he was done cutting off the skirt, he started at my top. It took everything I had within me to hold still while one end of the scissors scraped up my torso. I could feel wisps of blood leak out from the scratches he was inflicting on my skin. My glare never left him and, if that was the only victory I had in this situation, I was going to hold that glare on him for as long as I could. He was obviously intent on taking my body, but I would be damned to let him break me emotionally in the process.
My shirt broke free and I was almost completely exposed to my attacker. He stood back to admire his work and then tsked when he saw how the scissors had marked me. The scissors dropped from his hand to the floor and he moved closer to continue looking me over.
“I knew I was right when I said I would enjoy this.” A nasty grin broke out on his face as he leaned down and took one of my breasts in his mouth. He bit down hard on the tip and I couldn’t keep from crying out from the pain. He lifted his head again and laughed when he saw a tear that had escaped my eye.
“Oh yeah, baby, I’m going to enjoy this more than you can even imagine.”
His movement was quick when he grabbed me and flipped me over. His hand came down on the back of my head, pushing my face into the mattress. I could barely breathe and I turned my head slightly in a struggle to keep from losing oxygen. He used his other hand to remove the remainder of my clothes until I was left in nothing but my underwear. His hand slapped against my ass hard and the combination of the sound and the sting caused my body to jump in surprise.
“Look at you. It turns me on to see you writhing in wait for me. Try to be patient, baby, I plan on taking you slow.”
My body recoiled every time he touched me and I had started to give up hope. I wanted to believe that there would be a way out of this, but my optimism failed when I recognized that the likelihood was slim that my friends and I would survive.
Chris began to rub his hand over my ass and then used his finger to pull the material aside. He pushed his fingers over the center of my core, but didn’t apply enough pressure to penetrate me internally. I bit down on the gag still tied around my mouth to keep from screaming. The only triumph I would gain would be a complete lack of response to his actions.
“Oh, baby, you feel so fucking nice. My dick is rock hard just looking at you. This is definitely more impressive than Annie.”
My adrenaline kicked in again at my anger of what he had done to Annie. There was no staying still for this, regardless of his threat against my friends. My body bucked up to try to dislodge him and I forced myself over to face him. My sudden movement must have taken him by surprise because he momentarily stilled. I took advantage of his brief shock and used both of my legs to kick him in the face. I saw blood burst from his nose and he fell backwards from the force of the kick.
“You fucking Bitch!”
Chris pushed himself from the floor when we heard two car doors slamming in the parking lot. I heard my name being called and my relief was palpable. Chris balled his fists when he realized that somebody was coming. He punched me in the head repeatedly and a cracking sound echoed within my head with each hit he gave me. He was running out of time, and he glanced over to my window to look for a method of escape.
Someone was slamming into the front door and I could hear the wood splintering as they came through. “Paige?!” “Annie?!” Two voices; there were two men trying to force their way into the apartment.
Determining that he was now outmanned, Chris ran to my window and threw it open with such force, the glass shattered. I watched as he climbed out and jumped to a tree limb just below the outside sill. He was out of my sight by the time I finally heard the front door crash open.
A familiar voice bellowed, I’m assuming when he caught sight of the condition of my house. I heard my bedroom door slam open and Daemon came into my vision. My thoughts were scattered from the beating Chris had delivered to my head. The only thing I could think when I saw Daemon was that he really did look like a white knight from the illumination of the candles. He ran to my side and quickly looked for a way to untie me.
“Paige?! Oh my god, Paige. Talk to me. Please, talk to me.”
I must have taken a few more hits to my head than I realized because I chuckled at the irony that he was asking me to speak while I was gagged. Daemon quickly took notice of that issue as well and he reached behind my head to untie the gag.
I’m not quite sure what happened next as my awareness fizzled in and out of focus. I could feel Daemon cutting at the bindings on my feet and when he broke through, blood rushed to my toes causing a pins and needle feeling. He started on my hands and I could feel more tears stream down my face from being released from those cords. When he finished removing the bindings he grabbed a blanket from my bed and covered up my naked state. His face was strained with concern and he didn’t look sure about where he could touch me.
“Paige? Paige, talk to me, tell me he didn’t…” His voice wavered as he imagined what had been done to me. “Please, just tell me he didn’t hurt you like that.”
The blackness was creeping up on me and I couldn’t keep my eyes open much longer. Daemon’s words became muffled and I felt like I was traveling down a tunnel of some sort. No matter how hard I tried to communicate with him, either through words or a simple motion of my head, my body and voice would not cooperate with my efforts.
Daemon looked directly in my eyes for the last moment I could keep them open.
“Paige?”
And then…there was darkness.
~
Three months had passed since Buddy’s mom left The Center. It was my sixth birthday. I missed my friend so much. When I last saw him, he had promised me that he would see me again.
Because it was my sixth birthday, my parents decided to take a rare day off to celebrate before I had to start homeschooling. I woke up that morning to my mother cheerily singing Happy Birthday while placing a small present on my bed next to where I still lay cuddled with my stuffed animals and other toys. I eyed the box while laughing at my mother’s dramatic rendition of the birthday song. As much as I loved my mother for her beauty in and out, even I had to admit the woman could not sing. But that was just one more thing that made her special. Rather than shying away from singing along, she would accentuate just how bad she was without shame. She sang any song loud and clear, so pitifully out of tune that anyone near her would have to laugh after cringing at the first couple of notes. She finished her song and then nudged the small package over to me. I grabbed the present and tore into the shiny red paper to discover a white velvet box inside. I removed the top of the box and gasped when I saw the small dragonfly necklace it contained. The necklace was simple for the most part, but the head and tail of the dragonfly looked likel rubies that reflected the light streaming in from my bedroom window. I jumped out and threw my arms around my mother. Momma laughed while pulling the necklace from the box. After sweeping my long blond hair from around my shoulders, she fastened the clasp behind my neck.
“Your daddy and I saw this in the store a month ago. As soon as we saw it, we knew it was made for you. I’ve never known a little girl who spent as much time as you chasing dragonflies and collecting lizards and all the other critters that come your way.” She hugged me to her and sighed into my hair. “I love you my little Paige. Now hurry up and get dressed! Your father and I are taking the day off and we are going to give you the best day of your life.”
“Where are we going, Momma?” My mother gave me a sly smile and then
tapped me lightly on the head. “Now if I told you that, it wouldn’t be a surprise. But you will need your bathing suit, so be sure to pack a bag.”
My mother walked out of my room and made her way to the kitchen to cook my birthday breakfast. I jumped from the bed, knocking my favorite stuffed cat to the floor. I picked it up, placed it back amongst its friends and muttered a small apology for having knocked it down. I ran through my room and collected my bathing suit, a towel, and got dressed in a pair of cut off shorts and a t-shirt. I made my way to the kitchen and breathed in the delicious smell of the bacon that Momma was frying. The bacon popped as it cooked and I would laugh every time my mother dramatically jumped away from the pan so that she wouldn’t get burned by the flying grease.
Daddy walked into the kitchen and whistled when he took a look at Momma. Even with her hair up in a messy bun, and wearing nothing more than a pair of shorts and a baggy t-shirt, my father couldn’t keep from picking her up and swinging her around before planting a kiss on her lips. “Good morning, Mrs. Stone. As usual, you have put the sunlight to shame by your beauty. I’m not sure how it’s possible, but I think you are more beautiful today than you were yesterday.” Momma’s cheeks flamed red as she laughed at Daddy.
Daddy turned around and saw me at the table. He ran over to me and picked me up and hugged me so tight I could barely breathe. “And if it isn’t the little birthday girl. Are you excited for your surprise?” I looked up into my daddy’s face and couldn’t contain the joy about having a full day with my parents to myself. I laughed when my daddy flipped me up onto his shoulders and I wrapped my arms around his head.
“I am excited, Daddy. What is my surprise?” Momma tsked and looked at Daddy in such a way as to remind him that he wasn’t allowed to spoil it by telling me where we would be going. “Come on, Daddy, you know you want to tell me. You never could keep a secret for long.” My father let out his deep laugh and held my legs while he spun me around.
“I would tell you my sweet Paige, but if I did that I would have to deal with your momma later, and she can be very scary. I think I’ll just wait and let you find out when we get there.”
We packed all of our supplies into the car and then began our road trip to my “surprise” destination. My parents never admitted where we were going, and since Florida has so many different water related choices I had no idea where they were taking me. Momma cranked up the radio that was playing some old southern rock tunes and she and Daddy sang along to the songs that reminded them of their youth. Daddy would poke fun at Momma for her awful pitch and out of tune singing, but he caressed her arm and kissed her hand while doing so. Momma wasn’t shy, she just kept on singing with the rest of us.
When we were thirty minutes into our drive, Momma’s cell phone started ringing. She picked up the phone to check the caller I.D. and then shrugged. Daddy looked at her in silent question of who had been calling. “Must be a wrong number. The caller ID only says ‘private’.” She put the phone down and had just removed her hand from the device when it started ringing again.
Daddy turned to Momma. “Guess you should answer it honey; if for nothing else but to let them know they have the wrong number.” Momma shrugged again and then answered the phone.
A look of concern came over Momma’s face. “Oh my God, Kristi?! Honey, what’s wrong?!” Daddy glanced over to Momma. “Kristi, sweetheart, where are you? Can we help you? Where’s Buddy?” As soon as Momma uttered those words I knew that something was very wrong. I looked to both of my parents and started chewing my lower lip, worried that something had happened to Buddy and his mommy. “Kristi, tell me where you are. James and I will be there to get you. You just have to tell me where you are.” Momma was silent while she pulled paper and a pen from her purse. She scribbled down an address and quickly handed it to Daddy. “Kristi, we are on our way, just stay where you are. While you wait for us, you need to call the police. Please Kristi, promise me you will call them. Just hang tight, we are on our way.”
Something had to be terribly wrong because Daddy made a U-turn and then started speeding back in the opposite direction of where we had been heading. Momma turned to me and began to apologize. I held up my hand to stop her and said, “Momma, if Buddy needs help, I don’t care what day it is. We need to help Buddy.”
As we were driving, Momma and Daddy began discussing where they could drop me off before rushing to Buddy and his mommy. They quickly decided that there just wasn’t enough time to find someone to watch me.
We arrived at a run-down apartment complex in an area of town that I had never been to before. “What is this place, Momma?”
Momma gently put her hand to my mouth to shush me. “Don’t worry, Baby Girl. We are going to get Kristi and Buddy and then we’ll be leaving. I just need for you to stay quiet and calm until we can leave, ok?” Even though my head was screaming with all the horrible thoughts I had about what could have happened to Buddy, I nodded my head. “That’s my brave girl. We’ll be out of here before you know it.”
When we arrived at the back portion of the complex I saw Buddy’s mommy running, screaming down a flight of stairs. Buddy followed closely behind her and even from a distance I could see the tears that ran down his face. Momma quickly instructed me to stay in the car and then she and Daddy jumped out and ran towards Buddy and his mom. As my parents reached them, a man started coming down the stairs. He was waving something in his hand and screaming words that I couldn’t understand from where I sat. I moved to the front of the car to get a better look at what was going on.
The man approached my parents and hit Buddy’s mom with whatever it was he held in his hand. Momma grabbed Buddy and pointed to our car. Buddy began running to where I was while Momma quickly got on her phone to call someone. Daddy got between Buddy’s mom and the screaming man right as Buddy threw open the car door and climbed inside. I turned my attention to Buddy and threw my arms around him and held on as tight as I could. Buddy didn’t say anything but just kept crying and shaking. I held him silently and tried to comfort him.
Two loud blasts happened; one a couple of seconds after the other. Buddy jumped up and started to scream when he saw what had happened. “Mommy!” he screamed over and over.
He tried to open the door to the car and run over to his mom but I grabbed his arm and held him in. “Please, Buddy; Momma and Daddy are there, they’ll take care of it, just please stay in the car with me.” I looked out the front windshield and I didn’t understand what was going on. Buddy’s mom and the screaming man were laying on the ground and my momma was crying while wrapped in Daddy’s arms. There was a dark liquid quickly pooling around the area where Buddy’s mommy was lying down.
Buddy started crying again and I pulled his face up to look at me. “Buddy?! Why is your mommy sleeping on the sidewalk? Why did we have to come get you if she’s tired?” Buddy grabbed me then and climbed into the back seat of the car, pulling me with him. “Don’t look, Paige. Just don’t look over there. We just need to stay here and look at each other, okay? Promise me you will look at nothing but me.” Buddy’s voice wavered on his last words and I knew he was trying to protect me from something.
“Okay, Buddy, I won’t look.” He hugged me to him and we buried our faces into each other’s shoulders. Within seconds we heard sirens approaching. Lights flashed as cars started pulling into the parking lot. Buddy and I continued to hold each other while police officers jumped out of their vehicles and ran to where our parents were. We were still holding each other when the ambulances arrived.
After a while, Momma came over to the car and opened the door to find us huddled in the back seat. She had something dark splattered all over her clothes. “Buddy? Paige? I need you two to stay in the car a little longer. I’m going to start the car so I can turn on the air conditioner for you, but you have to promise me you’ll stay right where you are and not touch anything.” Buddy and I looked to Momma and nodded our heads. Momma turned the key in the ignition and then turned the controls
until cool air blasted onto our sweat soaked bodies. I didn’t realize how hot it was in the car until my skin met with the chilled air. Momma shut the door and walked away.
“Are you coming back to The Center, Buddy, is that why we came to get you?” Buddy shook his head and didn’t respond. He began to cry again and I tried to wipe the tears from his eyes but they were falling too fast for me to wipe them all away. After a few moments, Buddy looked at me. His blue eyes shown even brighter when outlined by the reddened skin around his eyes. “I don’t know where I’m going, Paige, I don’t know anything anymore.”
He shifted his position so that we were sitting side by side. He looked out the front windshield and quickly turned back to me. “I know I promised to come back, Paige, but I don’t know if I can keep that promise. I don’t want you to be let down if I can’t come back.”
I shook my head profusely, refusing to hear what he was telling me. “No Buddy, when you and your mommy left the Center, you promised you would see me again, and look, you kept that promise. I see you right now. Just keep promising me that we will see each other again, and I know that no matter what, it will happen. Just promise me Buddy!”
“I promise, Paige. I promise that we will see each other again.”
It felt like hours that Buddy and I sat in silence as we cried and held onto each other. Momma and Daddy would alternate coming back to the car to check on us, but as soon as they saw we were okay, they would turn and go back to whatever it was that was going on. Thoughts flew through my head about what could be happening. I settled on the idea that Buddy’s mom must be sick, really sick, and that’s why all these people were here to help her.
The sun began to set when Momma and Daddy returned to the car. Their heads were hung low and they held on to each other to keep themselves standing. Buddy and I had fallen asleep, but woke up when we heard Momma and Daddy pulling things from the bags in the trunk. Daddy used a towel to wipe off his skin and Momma did the same. While Daddy changed into a new shirt, Momma came around and opened the door. She handed drinks and sandwiches to Buddy and me and promised that it would only be a little bit longer before we could leave.
