Chapter Twenty
May 2016
Missy’s sister Heather was fixing her hair, putting it up high in a complicated weave which included four tiny braids, all held in place with pins and clips which glittered. Their mother Julia called from downstairs and said, “Missy, Jeff is here now and John called. He has Claire and will be back soon. He says Mark and Alice are on their way here also. We have to get photos of everyone before you all leave in the limo.”
“Okay, Mom. Is the limo here yet?” She looked at herself in the mirror as Heather stepped back. Her red prom gown had large puffy sleeves over her shoulders, hiding her scars; only the ones on her back were visible and those were mostly covered. The gown was cut low in front, revealing quite a bit of her breasts and deep cleavage. With her pushup bra, the effect was stunning. She wasn’t used to looking so glamorous and had to admit she was enjoying this. She was also glad she had a shawl, so she wouldn’t be quite so exposed the entire evening. She could wrap that around herself, covering up whenever she wanted.
She headed out, with Heather following her, and went down the stairs. When she walked into the living room, Julia and Jeff both told her how fantastic she looked, while her Dad and Patrick looked on from the kitchen. Patrick made funny faces and swooning gestures, which cracked her up. “I’ll get you for this,” she told her brother. “Just wait and see what I do to you! My revenge will be so awesome!”
Just then Mark and Alice came in and everyone ooh’ed and aah’ed over the two of them, making appropriate comments about how great they looked. Jeff came up and helped her slip a lovely corsage onto her wrist. He was six-two, with broad shoulders and a very nice smile. She preened at what he’d brought her. His eyes were sparkling and his attention was now focused only on her. “You’re the most beautiful girl on the planet, Missy,” he whispered in her ear. This really made her blush and she kissed him on the cheek. They had sort of been dating over the past couple of months, ever since she’d agreed to go to the senior prom with him. He wasn’t an athlete and could be a bit of a nerd. But, like Mark Mathews, Jeff Johnson was one of John’s best friends and she’d known him all her life.
Outside, a sleek black limo pulled up in front of their house. A moment later, John’s car pulled into their driveway. John and Claire got out and everyone went outside to join them. Julia got dozens of photos, as they all posed for her during the next ten minutes. Then John announced it was time to go, so they all climbed into the limo. After a few more photos were taken, they finally were headed off to the hotel ballroom where their prom was being held that night.
Claire McKenna, like Alice, was a junior and had only been dating John a couple of years. She was a vivacious and bubbly girl, very sexy and outgoing, with dark brown hair and brown eyes. They had been pretty much exclusive for the past six months during which Missy got to know her pretty well. Claire had moved to Salem from New York three years earlier, right before Missy went missing, so they’d never actually met until John brought her over last November. Since then, they’d become close friends and it was Claire who had convinced Missy to accept Jeff’s invitation. She giggled as she whispered in Missy’s ear, “Look how handsome Jeff looks in his tux, Missy! The two of you make such a great couple. And, he really has the hots for you. I heard him telling the other guys how bad he’s had them ever since you returned. He hasn’t been able to hardly look at any other girls.”
“Oh, I know, I know! John’s been telling me the same thing. And, it’s been fun going out with him. I just don’t want to get serious with anyone, you know?”
“Yeah, I know. But, you can give the poor guy a little, right?” Claire laughed at the way Missy blushed. Then, she leaned over to snuggle up to John, grabbing his head and pulling it down while meeting his lips with her own in a long, leisurely kiss. This dragged on for several seconds and John finally came up for air, laughing, “Mmmmm! What did I do right to deserve that, honey? I want to know so I can keep doing it, whatever it is!”
They all laughed and Claire squeezed closer to him and said, “Oh, just you being you, John! I’m only making sure you know who you’re bringing to this dance. Just in case your eyes start to wander when you see how nice all the other girls look. I’m sure they’ll all be making plays for you studs, so Missy and Alice and I are staking our claims now, before we even get there. Right girls?”
“Oh, absolutely! You better believe it!” Missy and Alice exchanged looks and it made Missy feel really great, knowing how well Alice was doing now. She’d been seeing Dr. Susan Thomas, the psychologist Missy’s parents had actually wanted her to meet with when she’d first come home from Virginia. Missy had gone to her twice, in November, but not for herself. The first meeting was to make sure this doctor could help Alice and the second was when she’d brought Alice. This was after that night she’d confronted Tony, getting him to move out. And, since she’d anticipated he might be having some second thoughts, she’d actually gone over to see him two days later at his restaurant. After she’d laid it all out for him, all over again, he’d agreed to everything she’d wanted.
And, so far, Tony was keeping his end of the bargain. He’d met with Thomas Mooney, the lawyer representing Alice’s mother, and had signed all the necessary agreements. Missy’s Dad had recommended this particular lawyer, who was a friend of his, when Missy explained about Alice’s parents splitting up. No one knew anything other than that and even Alice’s Mom was still trying to understand. The fact that Tony was taking care of things financially was still a mystery to her. He’d not been all that generous while they’d been together. She figured he had to be guilty about something but thought it must be related to his restaurant business. She could understand how he’d do anything he thought necessary to protect that.
A month after Tony had left, Alice’s mother had admitted to Alice there’d been almost no sex life and she really didn’t miss Tony at all. Their marriage had mostly been for the financial security and since that had actually worked out better than she ever would have imagined, she was really very happy now. Alice told Missy, “The part about no sex life was certainly not a surprise to me since the bastard was forcing himself on me all this time instead. If Mom only knew! And, you made me realize he’d done that to his own daughter earlier.”
Dr. Thomas had helped Alice a lot and it showed in how comfortable she and Mark were with one another now. Mark still didn’t know any details but he knew Missy had somehow worked some miracles. She’d only told him to be patient a little longer with Alice and things would work out. And, they had. All the talking to Dr. Thomas about everything had really helped Alice. That, and having Missy as her friend. She couldn’t stop thanking Missy for everything and the two of them had grown really close.
Alice would occasionally ask Missy about the secrets she knew Missy was keeping. Wouldn’t that help Missy if she could share any of them? After all, she’d completely bared herself to Missy, right? And, talking had helped so much once she did. She now could tell both Missy and Dr. Thomas anything, sharing all the details about the horrible things she’d experienced, and it had made all the difference. Alice didn’t know if she’d ever be able to talk to her Mom. But, someday, she hoped she could tell Mark. She was really falling in love with Mark and he seemed equally crazy about her.
Whenever Alice had asked about her secrets, Missy had assured her she was good. Finally, she’d said, “I know you want to help but my secrets are just things I can’t explain or talk about. They’re all in the past. And, I’m making great progress getting my life back on track, right?” Alice had accepted this; she knew how hard Missy worked at everything and acknowledged that Missy actually seemed more solid and together than even Dr. Thomas. Was it all the martial arts workouts? Should Alice join her at the gym? They laughed about that. And, Alice actually did join her at the gym.
Chapter Twenty-One
May 2016
The prom was the first time Missy had really gone out in public, all dressed up and looking so spectacula
r, since her return home. Usually, she was either in jeans or something casual with her hair in a ponytail or braids. Other times, she was in her karate or judo gi. But, tonight, she was in this formal gown wearing four inch heels with her hair and makeup perfect and she looked like a supermodel. The way the gown flowed over her curves, accentuating how fabulous her body was, combined with the way Missy moved? She was a sensation.
A lot of people took notice of her that night. This was no little girl, the way most remembered her being described in all the stories. Here was this tall, elegant, gorgeous young woman. She looked all grown up, even though not yet sixteen. Her presence was dazzling. And, she seemed to be very comfortable out there with a lot of friends all around her, having a wonderful time. For most, any residual thoughts of Missy as a victim were completely banished. All the months which had gone by had helped dampen most of the speculation about her. While they were still very curious, and probably always would be, the fact that nothing further was being published in the news tended to make everything fade away. Missy was home and things were back to normal. End of story. They were pleased to see her there, being so happy.
For some, however, there was jealousy. And, for a few, in addition to envy there was resentment. To those who only knew the negative things they’d heard about her, hearing others say anything good or nice now only made them suspicious. Why was Missy so special? Why should she deserve all the attention? Seeing her appear at the prom that night, looking so fantastic when they believed she was really just damaged goods? It rankled them. Why was she worthy? What really had happened during those two years, anyway? It was probably only human nature for a few to be there, resenting her. Add to that some alcohol and drugs, and not surprisingly, some nasty confrontations were inevitable.
There was plenty of both alcohol and drugs and, being at a hotel, there were rooms which had been booked by many of the attendees. Groups would come and go from the dance, sneaking up to these rooms where they could drink or snort or get a fix. Or, have sex. Some of the girls who went up there had no intention of getting drunk or high. But, after a few times up in these rooms, with enough drinks or perhaps some pills, they’d end up getting really drunk or stoned. And then they’d find themselves having sex. Sex with their date or sometimes, sex with a stranger.
Missy had thoroughly enjoyed herself for the first few hours. Jeff was great and their group of friends had constantly been getting out on the dance floor. They’d get really worked up during a few of the fast dance songs, dancing like crazy, only to return back to their tables and collapse, feigning complete exhaustion. Five minutes later, after a lot of laugher and bantering back and forth, they’d all venture back out all over again. Missy danced with several guys but saved all the slow dances for Jeff. They did, of course, take a lot of breaks when they’d go off to either grab some refreshments or step outside for some fresh air. And, the girls would always head to the ladies room in a group.
It was during one of the visits to the ladies room with just Claire along that Missy overheard several of the other girls talking about room 323. These girls were in a large group of more than a dozen and several had been drinking heavily. Now they were arguing amongst themselves and things were getting very heated. While some were trying to explain what a great time it was, going up to the rooms where all the drinking was, three girls were yelling that someone had to do something about room 323. One of these girls named Janie had barely made it out, after stopping in with her date for a drink. It turned out there were several rooms all together in a large suite at the end of the corridor and 323 was merely the entrance. Once inside, the party was pretty wild with lots of drinking and various other things all going on. There were a lot of guys in there and some looked much older than just high school. And, things in there just weren’t right.
Janie had seen right away that her date wanted to get her into one of the bedrooms and she’d bolted. Had she waited to have a drink, she might not have managed escaping. Her date had already been pretty drunk and she was explaining to the group how that probably had saved her since he was so horny and so stupid, he hadn’t even waited but had tried to rush things. She didn’t know the guy all that well and was quick to get the hell out once she realized he was looking to have sex. It was very obvious, looking at some of the girls in there, that lots of sexual activity was definitely going on. She suspected roofies were being used or else these girls were just so stoned or drunk, they didn’t care.
The problem the group was discussing now was because Janie and her two friends knew about two other girls who had already gone up to that same room a half hour ago. Knowing what was happening up there had them very upset but they didn’t want to go up there themselves and were arguing with the group what they should do. If they called the cops, would their friends get in trouble just for being in there? But, if they didn’t, would their friends get into even more trouble? Maybe even get raped?
Many in the group were yelling back at them and saying if anyone called the cops, there’d be hell to pay. These girls had boyfriends up there that they wanted to protect and since they themselves had been in and out once or twice, they didn’t think it was any big deal. Just because Janie’s date had turned out to be a pig was no reason to call the cops. Things were escalating on up from there.
This whole discussion had just taken place and Claire wasn’t able to hear much of it. But Missy heard every word. She told Claire, “Hey, go back without me; I need to go help out a couple of girls that I know and I’ll be gone for a few minutes.” She looked over at the other group as she explained this.
“Okay, I guess. I didn’t know you knew any of these girls. I think they’re mostly seniors or else they go to a different school and so I don’t even know any of them.” Claire then headed back out.
Missy walked up to the two girls with Janie, pulled the three of them away from the group and asked, “What are the names of your two friends and what are they wearing? I’ll go up there but … can you describe them for me so I’ll recognize them?”
Just then, one of the other girls from the group noticed this and she came up and confronted Missy. “Aren’t you that Missy McCrea everyone’s buzzing about tonight? What do you care? What can you do up there? You’re only going to make trouble! Leave us alone.” She was one of those who resented Missy and turned to the others and started to really bad mouth her. Right away, more of her friends all crowded around. They joined in with derogatory comments and soon there were jeers and some very vulgar language was being used to describe what a slut Missy really was. The emotions had already been running high and many were also quite drunk, so Missy’s offer to help had somehow ignited a firestorm and the big group was quickly getting out of control.
Many of these girls were from a different school, attending the prom as dates to the boys in this school. Since there was already an existing rivalry for these girls with the girls in this school, Missy’s interference was just a perfect excuse to raise hell. Marcia Newton, the one bad mouthing Missy, was the leader for these outsiders and she knew just enough about Missy to really stir things up. “Missy doesn’t even go to any school, so she’s obviously not just a slut who runs away from home, but she’s a really stupid slut, right?” She and her friends got more and more abusive.
Finally, ignoring the group, one of the girls Missy had approached turned back to Missy and said, “Our friends are Nancy Bailey and Evelyn Striker. Can you really help us? Nancy has blond hair and her gown is blue, with silver showing where there are pleats. Evelyn has a pink gown. Pink with some white, too. Her hair is a little darker, sort of a dirty blond, you know?” She stared at Missy with very mixed feelings. “You can’t be serious about going into that room, though, can you? I mean, did you hear what Janie has been telling us?”
Several of the girls were now gathered in front of Missy and started all talking at once. Some were arguing it was a total waste of time discussing this with Missy while others were asking if she really could do anything to help
. A few spoke up saying they’d get their boyfriends to go up there. Others said that was stupid and they’d better get the cops. It seemed these girls wanted the cops to raid the place but not if their two friends would be arrested.
Missy held up her hands and said, “Hey, I’ll only be a couple minutes, okay? I’ll bring your two friends out and then you can have the cops raid the place. Nancy and Evelyn, right?” She held the hand of one of the girls, pulling her to come with her and motioned to some of the others to follow. “Come up with me but then just wait out in the corridor. Let’s go.” And, leading the way, Missy walked out and headed for the elevator. Several of the girls followed after her while Marcia and her gang continued to rant and rave with more and more threats. A couple of the girls stayed behind but called out for someone to text them once it was time to send up the cops.
Missy stopped the girls that came up with her when they were several doors away and she went on alone, quickly slipping inside room 323 when the door was opened. Any girl, all alone, was more than welcome to enter, no problem. Once inside, she quickly moved through the crowd and started checking out each of the rooms. She was able to scent what was happening in most of the rooms without even needing to look. And, she was able to see clearly in rooms where the lights were turned down. She was moving very fast and no one was paying that much attention to her until she entered a bedroom in the back. The lights were very low but she saw a girl was struggling with a huge guy over on the bed. Her blue gown was already half off and he was tossing her bra on the floor. He didn’t notice Missy come in but he had a friend there who did. The friend was trying to watch the action on the bed but was also guarding the door. He noticed when Missy opened the door and he turned, trying to block her way. Missy could see the girl on the bed had to be Nancy and, slipping easily past the guy at the door, she rushed over and yanked the other guy right off her. He was shocked to find himself being thrown against the wall and had no idea what had even happened. Missy asked the girl, “Where’s Evelyn, Nancy? Get up. We’re getting you out of here.”
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