NEARLY Trilogy

by Ashley, Devon

  “It won’t be the last time they come,” she warned slowly, clearly, despite the lowness of her tone. “A good day here is when just one comes to grab you. Better hope you don’t get someone who pays. They play out sick fantasies they can’t do elsewhere.”

  I wasn’t even going to ask her to explain that. Enough said.

  My lower body automatically contracted, making me tuck even tighter. Everything hurt down there, and it was way worse than any period cramps I’d had before. I felt bruised. Torn. Fucking used and abused.

  I remembered Megan saying that. Used and abused. Hearing it was nothing like experiencing it. I felt compassion for her when she opened up about some of her experiences. Now I just wanted to take her into a hug and never let go. Because I truly felt the horror of those words now.

  I wondered if I’d even be able to hug her ever again. Was Friggs right? Was taking me enough to draw her out of witness protection? Did they even know I was gone? Even if my work reported me, I worked under a different name now. Would my new name trigger something if it was entered into the system as a missing person? I never thought to ask because I never thought something like this would happen. Who the fuck would plan for this?

  Megan, I supposed. No wonder her head was also so obsessed about the tiniest details. I understood her at the time, but I guess I never really understood. Not really. Now it was something I wished I never learned.

  “Where are we?” I asked, unable to make out shapes in the darkness.

  “Basement. Dungeon. Hell. Whichever you prefer. The only exit is blocked and locked. No one gets out without an escort.”

  “So you’ve tried?”

  “Me? No. But I saw it attempted once. After what happened to that girl, I won’t try it myself.”

  “What happened to her?” I asked fearfully, my mind too tired to even imagine.

  She was silent for a moment. I wasn’t going to press. Maybe some things were best filed under don’t ask, don’t tell.

  She sighed into the darkness. With a hesitant tone, she replied miserably, “They raped her hard with a thick metal pipe. More as a warning for us, because they shot her dead afterwards.”

  My mouth opened wide as my forehead rolled into the ground, my lower body pulsating painfully at just the thought. I didn’t want to know anymore, so I didn’t ask. Thankfully, she didn’t tell, and I slowly drifted off to sleep again.

  My dreams were confusing and abrupt, making for restless sleep. Not to mention the stone hard floor. I woke several times but it was always in darkness. Once it was because someone threw a roll at me, which I chucked back into the darkness. I’d rather starve myself to death than stay alive and let them keep doing this. Another time it was because a girl shrieked somewhere in the room. I thought she was having a nightmare – until I realized she was being dragged off by two guys. I shrank even further into myself, scooching even farther backwards until I was in a whole new area than the one I was originally dumped in. No sense in letting them find me so easily.

  I was asleep again when light suddenly shined in my eyes. I snapped awake in panic, slithering backwards upon impact. “Get away from me!” I cried.

  “Shh!” It was told forcefully. “You were supposed to leave. Not go crying to Friggs.”

  I shoved the light out of my eyes, trying to overcome the blindness. His voice was familiar, and not one of the ones who forced themselves on me. “I didn’t know,” I admitted dejectedly.

  “Well, you do now. You ready to go yet?”

  “What?” I asked with confusion, thinking I didn’t hear him right.

  “Come on,” he said, avoiding explanation. “You’d rather stay here? I seriously doubt it.”

  He had a point.

  He grabbed my upper arm and pulled me up, but I immediately bawled and folded back over. So, so much pain beneath my belly. Tears wetting my eyes, I groaned as I crashed onto my knees. “I can’t,” I croaked, blowing breaths like a woman in labor, hoping to ease the unrelenting throbbing ripping through me. “I can’t…”

  “Shit,” he muttered. Then he scooped me up and carried me off, keeping my body bent at the waist. I wasn’t sure if I should be going with him, but fuck it. Anywhere was better than this cold ass black hole. I found some comfort in the fact that he didn’t know his way around, having to backtrack twice to find the stairs out. Several times he lit up a girl sprawled out on the floor. Most scampered farther into the darkness, but some were at the point where they just didn’t care. Or were incapable of moving. Most seemed drugged, and right now I envied them for that.

  When he got to the door, he banged on it with his foot. I could hear buzzing within the door itself, then a final kick got it to swing wide. My eyes squinted shut from the brightness of the room, and I couldn’t help but wonder if that was on purpose, just another way to stun us immobile. A gruff voice was none too happy to see me. “She’s been released to stock, Sir.”

  “Make an issue. I dare you,” the young man carrying me threatened. The other guy said nothing. I didn’t even know what he looked like. Not wanting to make waves, I kept my eyes closed, my head resting against his shoulder. We went up an elevator in silence, then down the hall on the third floor. The halls were gracefully dimmer, so my eyes were beginning to adjust to light again.

  How long was I in the darkness? I didn’t even know. Not long enough to stop hurting, that was for sure.

  He carried me up one flight of stairs, down a few halls, up another partial stairway and finally through a door down the last hall. I really didn’t understand the layout at all, but then again, maybe it was meant to be confusing. Friggs had his own little House of Horrors here.

  It was another suite like the first one, with its own kitchenette. He carried me through the living room and into the bedroom. My heart panicked when he placed me on the bed, and my new instinct was to crab-crawl out of reach, my untrusting eyes refusing to look anywhere but him. I didn’t even care how incredibly painful and awkward it was to retreat.

  He lightly put his hands in the air. “I’m not going to hurt you. If I wanted to do something, there were rooms on the bottom floor for that. I know it’s hard to accept, but I promise you’re safe here.”

  “No one’s safe in this place. I saw them drag away a girl earlier. Kicking and screaming.” I choked on my words as I added, “And after what they already did to me? Fuck no I’m safe.”

  His eyes closed for a moment as his head bowed. He might’ve appeared empathetic, but hell no I was letting my guard down.

  “What happened to you…” He swallowed when he paused. “That won’t happen in here. I don’t do that, and they know they’re not allowed in this room.”

  “What makes you so special?”

  “You probably don’t want to know that answer.”

  “Trust me, I really do.”

  “No, you don’t.”

  I could feel my temperature rising, feel the anger and annoyance building. Because of him. Because of this place. Because of what those fucking assholes fucking did to me. I might’ve been groggy and exhausted, but I had more than enough energy to be pissed.

  “You want me to trust you? Then tell me the truth.”

  His lips scrunched together, supposedly growing frustrated with me as well. “Fine. My name is Finn.” When he didn’t continue, I gave him a look that screamed so what? With reluctance, he added, “And Friggs is my uncle.”

  That boiling feeling inside me exploded like a fucking volcano. I shot all the way out of bed. Muscles tore and ripped and stung. Now on the opposite side of the bed, I growled, “Get the fuck away from me you son of a bitch.”

  I had to admit, the way he yelled, “I am not him!” kind of threw me. Like he was disgusted and pissed to even be compared. But he was Friggs’ nephew. He lived in the same damn house. Did he seriously think I could disassociate the two? There was a strong family resemblance with the dark wavy hair, dark eyes and olive skin tone. Even his face was similarly structured.

  “I am
nothing like him,” he bit, his cheeks becoming flushed. “What he does here disgusts me.”

  “Yeah?” I challenged. “Then what the fuck are you doing here, huh? What are you? In your twenties?”

  I was yelling now too, and I was sure anyone in the neighboring rooms could hear and understand every one of our words clearly.

  “I have no choice. I’m trapped here right now. Just like you.”

  “Not just like me! I don’t see you getting fucking gang raped by any of these fucking assholes! I can hardly fucking move! And all I want to do is shrivel up in the corner and die! So get the fuck away from me!”

  My breaths were heavy, and at some point during that I ripped the shade off the bedside lamp and gripped the stand as a weapon, ready to swing away. It was a puny stand and probably wouldn’t cause much damage, but he seemed a little stunned by my move anyways. After a few seconds of nothing, he left the room.

  But not the apartment. Instead, I heard him turn the lock. I relaxed my stance and returned the lamp, immediately feeling the effects of what I just did to my body. I keeled over and slid down the wall until I hit the floor, feeling every ache and sting. I gasped when I looked down. The first thing I noticed was all the dried blood, so much my inner thighs were stained pink. My arms and legs were blotchy with fingerprint bruises in shades of red, blue, purple and black. My skin had scratches and red marks where they gripped too tightly in all the wrong places.

  And that was nothing compared to what I was feeling inside. All of a sudden I could feel every single fiber that had been stretched, torn or bruised. Everything pulsated, as if what happened continued to echo throughout my core.

  I could see every one of their disgusting faces – the creepy smiles, getting off on what they were doing. My tears gushed, flying downward at a rapid pace, gravity all too eager to strip them away. I covered my mouth to muffle the sobs, but it didn’t do any good. All I did was obstruct my air flow, and with my sinuses clogging up my nose, I could hardly breathe. Not that I cared. I didn’t want to be here anymore anyway. Didn’t want those monsters to come find me again. I just wanted it to be over with. I just wanted to be home. Just wanted my mom to hold me and rock me like she did when I was little. But a part of me began to fear I would never see home again.

  And Megan. Was she really out there looking for me? Did she really come out of hiding? As much as I wanted to be rescued, I prayed she wouldn’t be a part of it. She wouldn’t be saving me, only trapping herself in this hell for the rest of her life.

  When I awoke some time later, I was slumped over against the wall, back in the fetal position. The room was darker, but light still glowed along the edges of the dark curtains. I heard the TV in the next room, but nothing seemed different in the bedroom. Somehow, I managed to fall back asleep rather quickly, every part of my body traumatized and exhausted.

  The next time I woke up, the light was gone from outside and the bedside table lamp was dimmed on a low setting. I freaked when I noticed the blanket thrown over me and I shot to a sitting position. Forgetting my injuries, I immediately shrieked in pain.

  Something crashed in the darkness next door, followed by heavy footsteps running across the room. They softened once they passed the bedroom door. My eyes were closed and I was doing labor breathing again, waiting for the pain to cease, but I could still hear him quietly moving closer. “Stay away from me!” I grunted through closed teeth.

  “Just sleep in the bed already. I’m staying in the living room.”

  “Go. Away,” I said slowly on separate breaths. My left ovary was what was kicking my ass now. Every breath was followed with a sharp pain from that general area, but I was pretty damn sure it was my ovary. It was like a knife repeatedly stabbed me there.

  “I can give you something for the pain.”

  “No.”

  “God, you’re stubborn.”

  “Just leave me the fuck alone! You want me to feel safe? Lock me inside this room and don’t come in unless I let you.”

  “I do that and I’ll have to leave the apartment just to go to the bathroom. It’ll leave you defenseless.”

  “I. Don’t. Care!”

  “Fine!” he bit, barely holding his hands in the air before flicking them down in anger. But I got my wish. He stormed out, clicking the lock on the handle before slamming it shut.

  I forced myself to my feet, but I had to stay hunched over to minimize the pain. I peeked outside. God, I was at least three stories up with nothing to grab onto even if I could physically climb down. There were a few cars parked off to the side, but the lights on the house only highlighted so much of the darkness, so I was blind to my true surroundings. Feeling defeated, I collapsed back onto the floor and succumbed to sleep once more.

  “Please stop groping my ass,” I commanded, half asleep in bed, but not so far gone I couldn’t feel Zander’s hand on my skin.

  “Relax. I’m changing the bandage. And it’s time for another pill if you want one.”

  I moaned pathetically. Was it wrong I just wanted to close my eyes and go back to sleep again?

  “How’s it look?”

  “As well as it can. How’s it feel?”

  My lips curled into something sour. “Like I let some guy cut into my ass.”

  “Imagine that,” he replied dryly.

  My head lifted with curiosity. “I’m sorry. Was that sarcasm? I didn’t think you were capable of that.”

  “I am full of surprises once you get to know me.”

  I put my head back down and remained silent while he finished up. Our conversation had been so casual it hadn’t struck me that I was actually on the verge of getting to know him. Why the hell did I let my defenses down so easily with him sometimes? It made no freaking sense. And he wasn’t even manipulating me to do it. This was all me.

  “Anything on Thea and Friggs?”

  “No.”

  I couldn’t even put into words how much that disappointed me.

  “Can I have the phone? I need to call Nick.”

  “When I’m done, yes.”

  I took the pill he brought me and rolled onto my side to talk to Nick. My butt was definitely aching but I could sense the improvement. Hopefully I could get up and really walk around tomorrow.

  I dialed Nick’s number and waited five rings. I thought for sure it was kicking me off to voicemail when he picked up on the sixth. “Megan?”

  “Yeah, hey,” I greeted softly, sweetly. “How are you?”

  “Peachy,” he sassed. “I can’t sleep, can’t eat. My heart’s so fast you’d think I did nothing but drink energy drinks all day.”

  “I’m sorry. I love you.”

  That seemed to put him at ease. “I love you, too. What’s the word on Thea?”

  “Nothing yet. It’s not like we can run a newspaper ad, you know?”

  “So long as he’s doing what he’s supposed to and only that.”

  My eyes kicked up with acknowledgement, but I wasn’t going to voice anything that led to another discussion about me and Zander and what truly lied between us in the future. “So what’s going on at your end?”

  “I’m at my Mom’s. Felt it was time to come see her.”

  “How is she? I miss her,” I replied forlornly.

  “She misses you too.”

  “Yeah,” I mocked. “I bet by now she rues the day you met me.”

  “My mom loves you, Megan. Nothing that’s happened is your fault.”

  I didn’t necessarily disagree with him, but it sure felt like my fault at times. Like right now. No one put a gun to my head to get me here with Zander. Yet here I was again, and apparently causing endless grief throughout our families.

  “Have you checked in with my parents?”

  “They called a few days ago. I told them you were asleep. Why aren’t you calling them?”

  “Chicken shit, I guess. I don’t want them to know where I am.”

  “Call them. Even if you decide to tell them the truth, after everything you’ve
been through, they’re not going to judge you.”

  Yeah, maybe. At least not to my face. But really? How could they not judge my actions in some way? The person I’d become, the things that I did… I was a far cry from the daughter they raised.

  “When this is all over, we need to spend some serious time with our families.”

  “Agreed,” he replied.

  “’I’ve got to go, Nick.”

  “No, you don’t.”

  “Zander will move us if I don’t stick to the limit. And it’s kind of nice here honestly. So please don’t fight me on this. I’m okay here.”

  His response was a loud, heavy sigh. He reluctantly said goodbye to me, then I lay there staring at the phone. I dialed my mom’s number before I had the chance to talk myself out of it. Why I was nervous, I didn’t know. Maybe it was shame I was feeling.

  Mom’s number rang and rang and rang. A recorded voice finally came on telling me the line’s owner never set up a box for voice mail. I frowned, then tried my dad’s number. Same exact thing with his. Why the hell wasn’t anyone picking up? I shrugged it off, actually kind of relieved that I didn’t have to face them yet.

  Tomorrow. I’d tell them everything tomorrow.

  I awoke feeling better the next afternoon. I couldn’t believe I had slept that long, but it seemed to be exactly what I needed. My butt hurt some, but once the pill took effect, I could move around pretty easily. Even sit on the sofa without any problem.

  My mood vastly improved. Like the weight of everything I’d been feeling was beginning to ease, like my body was coming to the realization that no matter how dire my situation might become, there wasn’t a whole lot I could do about it. So why put so much pressure on myself? Why clog up my mind with scenarios and issues I couldn’t control? It was a relief, really, and for some reason I began to feel safe again. Even though I was living with Zander.

  Weird, I know. But I wasn’t going to fight myself on how ridiculous that was.

  I had the TV going when Zander came through the living room the first time. He wore nothing but mesh basketball shorts, his skin glistening from sweat after his workout on the equipment in the garage. He merely lifted his brows at me when he passed, making his way upstairs to shower. I was watching some old movie from the fifties. I kind of wish my life was as simple as the movies back then. Boy and girl find love, boy and girl find small G-rated obstacle to overcome, boy and girl live happily ever after. Bada-bing, done.