by J. L. Drake
I could hear the car shut off, then Steve’s footsteps on the gravel outside of the house as we breached a small opening that opened into the kitchen. How did this get here? Why is there a bunker underneath the kitchen counter? Garrett set me in a chair as he sealed the entrance, making it invisible at a glance, to anyone who didn’t know it was there. That explains why I didn’t see it before.
Garrett turned on his heel and pulled me out of my seat as Steve’s footsteps got closer. I could sense Garrett’s fear as Steve started turning the doorknob of the front door. We were going to get caught and we’d both be dead.
Garrett slowed his pace as he got to the stairs, knowing they creaked under any pressure. I heard him take a deep breath to relax himself and then he looked pleadingly into my eyes, begging me to stay quiet as he started to walk up the stairs. The stairs seemed to extend forever as we slowly walked up them, trying to get out of sight before Steve got in.
We were half way up the stairs when there was a sudden pounding on the door, like someone was trying to force their way in. Garrett saw my expression change; I was hoping someone had found me, but he killed those hopes quickly. “Move faster Garrett!” I whispered as I pushed myself into him. I needed the comfort he gave me as the pounding on the front door got more forceful. God, I hope there are people looking for me.
“I’m trying!” he whispered urgently so his voice wouldn’t alert Steve. There was another loud thud on the door as Steve slammed his body into the door again.
“We can’t be seen together. We have to split up,” I said as we made it back to the main room upstairs. Garrett set me down carefully on the couch and gave me a look of sorrow before he spoke.
“Do you think I don’t know that?” he asked with pain and annoyance dancing in his eyes. It looked as if I was tearing his heart out.
Garrett lightly ran his fingers down my cheek as tears started to escape from my eyes. He placed his hands around my face, cupping my face perfectly in his rough hands. I could see the pain in his eyes, even at such a small action. It made me wonder if he could see the small spark of hope in my eyes that he gave me.
Anna, why are you doing this to yourself? I couldn’t place it, but there was a familiar spark, and suddenly I felt as if I owed Andy an apology
“Hey, hey look at me,” Garrett whispered as I threw myself into his chest and hugged him to me tightly. I could hear his heart rate pick up as he pushed me away gently and looked me in the eyes with pain and sorrow shadowing his fears. “I need you to be strong.”
“I can’t...” I sobbed loudly, unable to control myself through the tears.
“Shh, please be quiet,” Garrett said letting the fear take over his face and actions as he slapped his hand over my mouth momentarily. “Please be quiet. Just tell me about you, that will calm you down. Let’s start with your name, you know mine, but I don’t know yours.” He said in a panicked frenzy.
“It’s Anna, you already knew that!” I choked out as another loud bang came to my ears. I felt my chest heave as another strong fear started to strangle my heart.
“Shh, it’s okay. I’ll protect you as best as I can,” Garrett said hugging me to him again momentarily.
“You sound like Andy.”
“Who’s Andy?” He asked as I sobbed forcefully, pressing myself against him tighter. I listened to his heartbeat and counted them as I tried to calm myself down enough to answer him.
“He’s my boyfriend.” I heard Garrett groan slightly as he held me tighter to him. “Steve killed him because he tried to protect me and stop Steve from taking me.” I cried as the door finally burst open down stairs sending Garrett as far away from me as possible.
“I’m sorry, I will see you again really soon. I’m sorry that I can’t stay with you. Please, just get into your room, look sick. He always takes it easy on girls when they are sick,” Garrett instructed with a serious tone, but a torn expression on his face. He couldn’t decide whether to stay with me or hide from his father.
“Kelly, I’m home!” Steve called from down stairs as the door slammed shut to seal it back into place. Garrett made a split second decision when he heard his father call up to me. He ran toward me and lifted me off the sofa and quickly put me in my room on the bed.
“Look sick. I promise, it will make it easier.” He flicked his eyes between the stairs where his father would be coming up any second and me. Garrett was afraid to take his eyes off me.
When he finally turned to leave I called out, “Don’t leave me alone with him.”
“You have to stay quiet. Remember my rules as well as your own. This is hard for me too,” he admitted as his light brown eyes widened with sorrow. I knew he had rules that he had to follow too, but I couldn’t let him just leave me. What was I going to do without his help? I didn’t know what to do. I couldn’t remember any of my rules, what was I going to do?
“Please don’t leave me.”
“I have to.” He grimaced slightly as he held his hands toward me to tell me to stay in bed. He tried to hide it as he went to his room, but I could see the pain he was going through leaving me alone. Before he shut the door he looked back at me, “I’m sorry.”
I sat, stunned silent for a moment and tried to remain calm, but when I heard footsteps walking up the wooden stairs I couldn’t. The clunk of boots hitting the hardwood floors sent me into a terrified panic. I quickly laid down on the bed and tried to look sick. Each step gave me a new surge of fear, making my heartbeat quicken, tears race down my cheeks, and memories of Steve’s advances toward me.
“Kelly, I’m home.” He repeated from outside my door sounding angry about my lack of response.
Was I supposed to answer that? What was I supposed to say? I gripped on to the bed sheets and prayed silently that Garrett would think of something to save me. He said he would protect me, but what about now? Where was he when I needed him the most?
“Kelly, I’m home!” Steve called a little louder as he banged on my door. My confusion doubled, what was he expecting me to say? If I said the wrong thing would he hurt me? If I didn’t answer would it be worse?
”Welcome home?” I asked more than stated, unsure if that was what he wanted me to say.
”Kelly, you know when I come home you meet me at the door!” He roared as he burst through the door and caused it to slam on the wall behind it.
I coughed, “I’m sorry. I just don’t feel well.”
“Are you okay honey?” Steve asked, suddenly concerned for my health. My stomach clenched as he walked in and sat on the edge of my bed. He lightly laid his hand on my forehead to check for a temperature. “You’re hot, Kelly, and not in the way I like.”
“I’m sorry?”
“It’s not your fault. We can’t control when we get sick. How about I make you some chicken noodle soup and get you a warm blanket?” He asked politely, as if he genuinely cared about how I was feeling.
“That would be great,” I said in shock as he got up from my bed without making any advances toward me and walked to the door. He was going to leave and allow me to be alone.
“I want you to get well as soon as possible.”
“Why?” I asked, unable to help myself from asking the question.
“So I can welcome you home the proper way,” he said with a tingle of laughter as he gave me a smile and walked out of the room.
What the hell did he mean? As he walked away, I had a feeling that I didn’t want to be welcomed home. Something told me that it wouldn’t be in my favor. It was ghost quiet in the house other than for Steve’s movements. He didn’t have to worry about making sound; it was Garrett and I that had to worry. We couldn’t get caught or we’d be punished.
There was a squeak as Garrett stepped into the threshold of the room. His presence brought me a sense of relief for a moment before I caught a look at his expression. His face was ashen, pale and seemed as if he was on the verge of tears. He couldn’t find the words to speak and it was obvious that he was pleading with me to
understand what he was trying to say.
“What’s wrong?” I whispered, trying not to attract any attention to us while Steve was downstairs. Garrett didn’t answer for a while, he just stood stunned in the spot with fear and sorrow in his eyes. I could see that he was trying to shake away the emotion but he couldn’t.
“Garrett, what’s wrong?”
“You don’t get it do you?” he asked, breaking the silence with a low sorrowful voice.
“What do you mean?” I asked, confused by his question.
“It will be really bad at first, I won’t lie to you. Every girl has agreed that it’s really difficult at first, but it will get easier,” Garrett suddenly blurted out as he took two big steps to be by the side of my bed. He was biting his lip as he took a moment to think, and his hands were trembling.
“What are you talking about?” His fear was making me hyperventilate with anxiety. What was going to happen to me? What was going to be bad? How was it going to get easier?
“You’re going to be welcomed home,” he stated, repeating the phrase that his father had just used, but I still didn’t understand what he meant.
“What does that even mean, Garrett?”
“It means you’ll be made his. I’m sorry Anna, but I can’t stop him and sadly, I can’t protect you. I can only give you advice, and that’s just to pretend he’s someone else. It got a lot of girls through it, constantly, and depending on how often it happened they learned to just accept it.”
“Accept what, Garrett? You’re not answering the question,” I almost yelled by accident as anger built up in me.
“I can’t. It’s too bad to describe. It’s hard for me, but definitely harder for you. I won’t even try to say it’s not.”
“Garrett, answer the question! You’re not making any sense!”
“He’s going to rape you. He’ll make you a nice dinner, like a date he had with my mom when they were younger, and then he’ll take you to the back room. He’s going to do it to you a lot while you’re here, and if you fight it will just happen more. He will try to relive his life with my mom with you, and I’m sorry I won’t be able to help you,” he said sadly, letting a single tears slide down his cheek.
My stomach retched again, at the grotesque mental image Garrett had just painted into my mind. I hadn’t even thought of that as a possibility of what would happen to me here. Why didn’t my parents tell me this could happen if I wasn’t careful? It wouldn’t have been a comfortable conversation, but I wish I could have known and maybe been more prepared.
“Why not, why can’t you help me?” I asked through tears.
“I will be locked in my room, or a different room, but I will be out of reach and I won’t be able to help you. I’m sorry.”
“When will this happen?”
“When you’re at your weakest,” he said sadly as he took my hand in his. I threw him a confused look, and then he elaborated on his previous sentence. “Tonight, after you’ve been physically sick.”
“Why did you tell me to pretend to be sick then?” I asked, ripping my hand from his and pulling away from him.
“Because he takes pity on you when you’re sick, trust me this will be a lot easier. He’ll let you go to bed alone, in here, leave you alone the next morning. It will be a better experience, just trust me, most of the girls agreed it was better,” Garrett explained, but I couldn’t understand. He just set me up to be taken advantage of by a psychopath and he knew it. I couldn’t decide whether or not to be angry, because from what he had told me, I knew it would have happened eventually.
“Most?”
“Some didn’t make it long enough to find out,” Garrett said as he took my face in his hands and tried to get me to look in his eyes.
I felt tears start streaming down my face, my breath got short and wheezy, and it was difficult to control. Garrett wrapped his arms around me and hugged me tight, and for a moment I even forgot the horror I was in. I forgot the pain and suffering I was about to endure, that is until Steve called me down for dinner.
“Kelly, I have dinner ready. Come on down and we can make this a special night.”
Chapter 6
Garrett helped me out of bed as he tried to help me get through tonight. He told me everything he found out from the other girls, but right now my head was spinning so fast I couldn’t retain the information. It all seemed like I was watching someone else’s life. It felt as if I was disconnected from myself.
He led me toward the stairs and nodded his head to tell me to go. I couldn’t hide upstairs or that would just make Steve angrier, and Garrett said that was something I didn’t want to happen. I slowly made my way downstairs, each step caused a stair to creak under my weight and gave me a new sense of the word fear. I was constantly looking back at Garrett, hoping he would somehow be able to stop this.
Of course, I knew he couldn’t, no matter how badly he wanted to. All he could do was offer me a timid smile and hope that it gave me a sense of comfort, but I knew it was fake, a sham to fill me with false hope. Tonight will easily be the worst night of my life, I thought, with tears in my eyes.
“It will be fine...” he whispered softly to avoid alarming Steve to his prohibited actions. It wasn’t going to be fine, so why was lying to me? He knew this was going to be horrible, but he just stood there and forced me to follow the directions, but what other choice did we have?
My heart was beating so fast as I descended down the stairs that it felt like it would burst out of my chest any second. The sensation gave me a curious thought, though; which would be worse, dying or living through this insanity? I’m not exactly sure how to feel about the choices, neither is particularly great, but those were the only two I had. I didn’t see escape as an option, unless Steve died suddenly.
That thought brought a smile to my face, but when I turned the corner to go into the kitchen, I caught glimpse of a candle lit dinner with rose petals all over the ground and the smell of a pasta dinner. That certainly wasn’t chicken soup for my sick stomach.
“Kelly, come here. It’s time for our dinner.” He pulled out a chair for me to sit at the table. There was an odd smile on his face. It didn’t seem menacing, but something about it sent chills up my spine.
I took a tentative step forward. Steve’s demeanor had changed, and it was nerve-wracking. How was I supposed to act when he was like this? What was the safest route for me to take? If I did something wrong, he would go hysterical and beat me like he had done with Garrett, or I would be let off easy since he seemed happy. I felt my stomach clench, I was in uncharted territory and I was going to have the worst night because of it.
“That’s it Kelly, come on, I’m not going to hurt you. It’s time for dinner.”
“Shouldn’t I take Garrett his dinner?” I asked in a meek voice, jabbing my thumb behind me to indicate where I was hoping to go. I just wanted an excuse to run back upstairs and lock myself in the cement room away from him. I didn’t even think about the fact he would eventually come looking for me and I wouldn’t be safe from him in this house.
“No, I’ll take care of him,” Steve said as he leaned over the table to put the plates down before walking over to me. I held my ground, afraid to make him angry again, but it only encouraged him. He planted a few light kisses on my cheek and then a few down my neck, making my skin crawl with distaste.
I stood in fear as his footsteps walked up the stairs toward Garrett. He was going to lock Garrett away so he couldn’t come help me. I needed to hide, but there was nowhere to hide except Garrett’s hiding spot. The only problem was that I couldn’t remember where it was. I heard a loud thud from upstairs, as if something fell to the ground and then footsteps. How did I get into this mess? Out of all the girls, out of all the playgrounds! Why me? Why did he have to pick me?
“Kelly?” Steve called as he walked back down the stairs to meet me again.
“Yes?” I answered to the pseudo name as I acted, as if I had been waiting for him at the table the ent
ire time. I plastered a fake smile onto my lips as he put his hand on my shoulder and started to kiss my neck again.
“Eat now,” he said as he pushed himself away from me and sat down across the table. His eyes focused on me with a smile, but that soon disappeared as I saw a glint of anger come into his eyes. I instantly looked down at the food in front of me and picked at it with the fork he had given me.
“Kelly, you have to eat,” he said as he slurped up the pasta from his fork.
I just kept aimlessly playing with the food. I almost didn’t even hear him until he growled at me to get my attention. “I’m not hungry. I don’t feel well,” I said quickly, remembering what Garrett had told me about him taking it easy on girls when they were sick. I could only hope that he was right and he wasn’t just tricking me. I swear Garrett, I better not be some sick game to you too or I’ll find a way to get even.
“You’re not hungry?”
“No.” I shook my head as I pushed the plate away. It smelled delicious, just how my mom used to make it, but I had been so sick today that I couldn’t bear the thought of having to taste it twice. I knew it wouldn’t taste as good the second time around, or look as good.
“Then I’ll save it for you tomorrow and we can move on with the night.” he said as he finished his plate and took mine away from me.
He swept his fingers over my cheek as he took my plate away and went to wrap it up so I could eat it later. I swallowed so hard I thought he could hear me from how he glanced back at me afterward. There was a steady stream of anger surging through his eyes that sent my stomach into a frenzy of fear.
“You don’t seem pleased about this,” he said quietly as he put my food in the refrigerator and glanced back at me.
I didn’t answer him. I wasn’t sure how or what he meant by the statement. What was I supposed to be pleased by? I certainly wasn’t pleased with the fact that he had taken me. Why did he want me? What did I do wrong?
“Kelly! Answer me!” He yelled so loudly I jumped out of my skin slightly and pushed the chair back in fear.
