For Love and Vengeance

by Theresa L. Henry

  Josh just shook his head and rolled his eyes at Jason's comment while Jake gave him a hard look of disapproval.

  Jason had stopped paying either of them any attention after he had spoken. His interest was firmly locked on the time as the minutes ticked towards the ten minute mark. With exactly thirty seconds to spare, he pushed back his chair and left the room without comment.

  Chapter 8

  Aviva paced the confines of the room, her thoughts in a jumble, not wanting to relive what she’d been through but knowing she had to. By nature, she wasn't a vengeful person, but those men, every last one of them, needed to pay for what they’d put her through and how they’d treated her. In the short space of time she had been with them, they had managed to terrorize and erode her of her self-worth. But she’d fought on, held on and survived.

  Now she’d have to relive it all over again when all she really wanted to do was forget. But she also knew that Jason had meant every word he had just said. He wanted answers.

  Aviva heard the soft rap at the door before it was opened and Jason stepped inside, closing it firmly, the sound of the click decisive. The time had come, no more delays, no more excuses.

  “Have you settled in okay?”

  Aviva could only manage a simple nod.

  “Why don't we sit down and make ourselves comfortable?” Jason suggested, indicating a loveseat that stood off at one side of the room. Aviva's eyes followed the direction of his outstretched hand and she immediately knew that there was no way she could be in such close confines with him and say everything she needed to.

  “You go ahead. I'll sit on the bed.” Not waiting for his compliance, she scurried over to the bed, her ungainly gait still apparent and gingerly sat down.

  Aviva could feel Jason watching her every move and she was sure he could see the difficulty of her movements, even though she tried to hide it.

  Jason made his way to the loveseat and sat down, forearms resting on his knees, his large frame seeming to dwarf the seat. His whole persona gave the outward appearance of relaxation as he patiently waited. His clasped hands, however, were the telling factor. His knuckles showed white and Aviva knew he was only just managing to hold it together.

  Aviva could feel his eyes roaming over her. She knew what he expected just as she also knew that he wouldn't say another word. It was now her turn to speak. Focusing on one of the larger flowers on the wallpaper to Jason's right, Aviva began to speak.

  “After I left you, I did some shopping. I remembered this little boutique from the time I lived in New York. They did fabulous swimwear that I knew would be perfect for our trip. I’d only seen it in passing and couldn't remember exactly where it was. I decided to just get out of the cab and walk around until I found it or gave up looking.

  “I eventually found the store and the lady who owned it was so nice to me. Some of the pieces I selected needed to be altered. When I explained that we were leaving for vacation the next day, she kindly agreed to stay late and finish them for me.”

  Jason wasn't really interested in any of this stuff but knew she had to tell it in her own way, and this preamble was her way of working up to what he really wanted to know.

  “She was so nice. Oh, I said that already. Well, while we were chatting, I must have mentioned that I needed to get my hair braided and so she called her cousin who owns a salon and booked me an appointment. What a nice family. Tottie, that was his name, the man who owns the salon, he looked after me so well...he was so kind and funny. Did I tell you how funny he was? No...maybe later, I'll tell you all about him later.

  “Anyway, they kindly called me a cab when my hair was done. I still had daylight left and I wanted to do some more shopping. I wish I had just gone back to the house. Maybe then none of this would have happened.” Aviva's suddenly stopped speaking, rapidly blinking as though pulling herself back from the possibilities of maybes.

  Jason's heart broke a little more at her last words. It was obvious she had been enjoying herself, looking forward to their trip when her world had been torn apart.

  “I was walking down the street when someone, a man, bumped into me. We both apologized and I walked on. After a few minutes, I began to feel strange, sort of light-headed. Everything around me started to lose focus. I panicked. I knew I needed help, that I was going to pass out. I stretched out my hand and there he was. A lifeline, someone to hold on to, to keep me from falling.

  “He took my bags and wrapped his arm around me. Somewhere in the back of my mind, I didn't like the way he made me feel, but I was too weak to do anything about it.

  “The next thing I knew, I was in a dark place. I didn't understand where I was, but I could feel my surroundings radiated malevolence. I thought I was in a dream. I felt as though I were having a nightmare and I wanted to wake. But as sometimes with the way of dreams, I felt as though my eyes were wide open, like I was awake, but no matter how much I tried to move…I just couldn't.

  “Then I heard it, the sound. It sounded like...footsteps getting closer and closer. I could feel, smell the presence, near me, above me...but I couldn't see it. I tried to scream, but I couldn’t make a sound. I had no voice. I panicked, tried to move. I needed desperately to awake up from the nightmare. That's when I realized I was awake, restrained, gagged and blindfolded, and that someone was actually in the room with me…standing over me…watching me.

  “The person didn't speak. But I felt the restraints loosened and I was helped to my feet. I couldn't stand on my own so I was propped up by this other person. I could tell it was a man. He was strong, and he didn't lift me, even though, from what I could tell he would have been more than able to. Rather, he sort of pulled me along. My legs refused to work and sort of dragged along behind me on the ground. I had lost my shoes somewhere along the way, I don't remember where.

  “I heard a voice. I heard your name. I heard ‘Angel.’ The man wasn't alone. I could sense others in the room. I don't know how many, they were so quiet, but I knew they all watched me. I could feel their eyes boring into me. I remember the smell of that room, it smelled unused, cold, yet the odor from their bodies and the smell of liquor, cigarettes and cigar smoke all hung in the air. I heard a man say something like 'listen carefully' and I did. Only he wasn't speaking to me. Someone grabbed my hand and held it out, and at the same time ripped off the gag, that’s when I felt it…the pain, it was so painful. That's when it all clicked into place. You were on the phone. He wanted to send you a warning. I tried not to cry out, honestly I did, I really tried…but it hurt so much, Jason.”

  Jason exploded to his feet in an instant and rushed towards her. His sudden movement belied the gentleness with which he took hold of her hands. Turning them over, he hesitated, although he knew he had to look down. He had to see what they had done to his Angel. There it was, in the middle of her left palm, was what had caused her to cry out in so much pain. The bastard had extinguished a cigar in the middle of her hand, and it went deep. This scar she would carry for a lifetime.

  This was what she had been hiding from him. This was why she had clasped her wrists when she was seated behind him on the bike.

  Lifting her small hand to his lips, he kissed the evidence of her pain. Wishing that his touch alone could be the balm to wash away her hurt. He could feel her pulling away from him and he wanted to resist, but she was insistent.

  “Please...I have to get it all out. I can't stop. If I stop, I don't think I'll be able to do it...do you understand?”

  Jason didn't trust his voice so he nodded and backed up until he felt the backs of his legs hit the seat he had been occupying, so great was his reluctance to take his eyes from her. The shaking of his legs gave testament to his guilt and his ever increasing rage. But for now, he would hold it in. His time for venting was coming and he would show no mercy.

  With a quick glance from below her lashes, Aviva could see that Jason had again taken his seat. Satisfied, and with a subconscious nod of her head, she continued.

  “I'm n
ot sure what happened next, I must have passed out. The next time I became aware, there was someone standing over me. I had been restrained and gagged again, but I could feel that the blindfold was gone. I could only make out a shadow, the room was so dark. He had both of his hands inside my clothing. One on my breasts and the other inside my knickers. It was the same man who had taken me from the room. I could smell him!

  “I thought I was going to be sick. The bile rose up in me so quickly I only just managed to hold it in. I knew if I were sick, I would probably choke and I wasn't taking the chance that this would be the way I left this life. I refused to go out with some perverted bastard groping at me while I suffocated on my own sick.

  “So I turned my head, closed my eyes and prayed and tried to push all thought from my mind. I endured while he groped and grunted. When his hand left my breast, I knew what that meant. I heard him spit on his hand just before he began to work on himself. I thought I had shut down before, but I was wrong. I was aware of his every movement. Then I felt it...he ejaculated on my face.”

  Jason began to pant, his breaths coming out short and hard through his mouth. But he didn’t say a single word. He had been the instigator. He had been the one who had insisted on knowing everything. Now he was getting what he had asked for and it was killing him, but he didn't say a word nor did his expression of blank concentration change.

  Aviva wasn't looking at him and probably wouldn't until her story was told, maybe not even then. He understood the feelings of shame associated with sexual abuse. He had lived with it for a very long time. The sound of Aviva's soft voice pulled him back from his thoughts, his concentration once again locked on what she was saying.

  “Did you know Mr. Drake was there? No, of course you didn't. He came into the room just after the man finished and started shouting about abusing women and that he wasn't going to stand for it. I remember thinking it was ironic that he didn't associate his part in my being held captive as the abuse of a woman.

  “There was some shouting back and forth between them for a while, but I tuned them out. They moved away from me and went out the room. But someone else had taken their place. It was a woman, don't ask me how I initially knew, I just did. It was funny, she didn't smell of anything. Every person I have ever met has had a smell, whether good, bad or indifferent, they had a scent. This person didn't. I remember thinking it was the strangest thing.

  “Then a rag was put over my face. It happened suddenly, as though she had been observing me, waiting to see my reaction to her presence. I felt a prick then another cloth. This one was wet as it moved across my face, washing away the evidence of semen. Then whatever had been administered to me must have kicked in…then nothing.”

  Aviva stopped speaking for a moment and sat in silent contemplation of her scarred hand before she spoke again.

  “Jason, do you think you could get me some water please?”

  “Of course, Angel,” Jason said, immediately rising from his seat and heading towards the door. Although she had been speaking for a long time, he could tell she not only needed water but a few moments to herself. He felt the same way.

  ~~~~~~~~~~

  As he closed the door behind him, Jason took a few steps before he came to a halt and pressed his back against the wall for support. Blowing out and then pulling in a deep breath, he counted to ten as was his way when he needed to regain his calm.

  With his control tentatively in hand, he made his way down the stairs and into the kitchen. His brothers looked up as he entered. Seeing the set of his face, they remained silent, watching his every move as he located the refrigerator, opened it and withdrew two bottles of water. He set one bottle down and twisted the cap off the other, held it to his mouth and took long gulps until it was empty. Then he crushed the plastic in his hand and slammed the distorted bottle on the counter top.

  Jake spoke for them both. “That bad?”

  “Worse. And she's only half way through.”

  “Are you going to be okay?” Josh wanted to know.

  “What choice do I have? I didn't have to live through it. I asked, no I insisted that she tell me everything that had happened...and yet again, I got my way. Don't you know by now that I always get my way?” Jason's voice was full of self-deprecation. Yet he knew for him, there was never a question of not wanting to know the full story. If the hearing of it hurt this much, how much worse was the reliving of the telling.

  “What can we do?” Josh asked.

  “Nothing...for the moment, nothing.”

  His brothers gave him a nod of understanding as they saw him visibly square his massive shoulders as though fortifying himself for round two of a fighting bout. He picked up the bottle of water and was again gone from the kitchen.

  ~~~~~~~~~~

  Aviva had used her time alone to one-handedly splash her face with cold water. When she finished, she looked down at the angry raw skin of her palm. She had spent so much time attempting to hide it, her finger protested at being straightened. She was thankful she no longer had to keep her fingers curled up. Maybe one day she would be able to look at her hand and not be reminded of the lengths a man was prepared to go, to once again be free to indulge his perversions.

  Aviva was again seated on the bed when Jason came back into the room. She took the bottle of water he held out towards her and looked down at it for a few moments. Only then did Jason realize she would struggle to open it with only the use of one hand.

  Mentally kicking himself for his thoughtlessness, he retrieved the bottle and unscrewed the top before handing it back to her.

  “Thank you,” Aviva said with a small smile meant to reassure him that she knew his actions had not been an insensitive act. Taking a few swallows from the bottle, she placed it on the bedside table within easy reach should she need it again.

  Before Jason had regained his seat, Aviva began to speak.

  “When I next regained consciousness, I had no idea how long I’d been out or where I was. However, nothing had changed. I was still restrained and I was surrounded by darkness. Only this time, there seemed to be a difference. I couldn't feel anything over my eyes, but it didn't matter. I was still experiencing total darkness. I never really knew that total darkness existed until that moment. No matter where I looked, there was nothing…just darkness.

  “I thought I was scared before, but I was wrong. The feelings I’d experienced before, in no way compared to the feeling running through me in that moment. It was also eerily quiet…unnatural, as though I had been entombed and this was my final resting place.

  “Then I felt it, a stir in the air, something or somebody was with me. It was benevolent. I could feel it flowing over me, raising the fine hairs on my arms, the back of my neck. Then it was gone, as quickly as it came it was gone. That's when I started to shake. I shook so much I imagined my skin would rupture, unable to contain my bones. I was scared, Jason…so scared…so alone.

  “I started to pray. I asked my momma to watch over me, and I was sure I felt her. She told me everything would be alright. I would just have to pull on all she had taught me as I grew up. That’s when I became resolute. I was going to get out of there alive. I didn't know how, but I would get out. I had too much to live for. I had just met you, and I wanted to spend a lifetime getting to know you, and bossing the mighty Jason King around. I wanted to have your babies, grow old with you, sit in our rocking chairs and glory in our grandchildren as they played around us, knowing that at the end of their wonderful time spent with us, there would just be the two of us. I tried, Jason, honestly I tried to be strong.

  “I heard a movement. Out of nowhere, a face was looking at me, staring right at me. My mind was so jumbled, I couldn’t understand how I could see the face in the darkness. Just as quickly, it was gone. I couldn't keep it in, I screamed. Then I heard the laughter. It seemed to be reverberating around the room. I couldn't tell where it was coming from. Then another shift of air passed beside me...the face appeared again, it was smiling, laughing a
t me. It was too much. I passed out.

  “The next time I awoke, I didn't want to open my eyes, I was afraid of what was waiting for me. Little by little, I realized I could detect light.

  “The man knew I was awake and told me to open my eyes. I didn't want to but I complied. He was real, this I could deal with, anything was better than the uncertainty of the darkness.

  “My God, he was a talker. He told me all about knowing you as a child and the things that he’d done to you. I couldn’t help thinking he desperately wanted to hear my response to what he had to say. But I remained silent. Refusing to say one word or even utter a cry, even though his words broke my heart at what you had suffered. I knew he was a coward who drew his strength from those weaker than himself and I stopped being scared. Instead, I spit in his face, and I was glad that I’d done it…my error was showing him my fear of him had gone.”

  Jason felt sick to his stomach, as though a vice were wringing his intestines into a tight knot. He wanted the story to be at an end, but he knew there was more. “Do you need to take a break, Angel?”

  “No, I need to get to the end.

  “He hit me in the face for spitting on him. Yet, somehow, I didn't feel the pain, or maybe I just didn't care because I knew I’d do it again and worse if I could. He was filth and I’d treat him as such.

  “I was watched constantly by at least two men. I don't know what they expected me to do, I was tied up on a hard bed, and they had replaced the filthy rag in my mouth. My God, they even watched me as I used the bathroom. They didn't give me much food, just water and some noodles in a pot that they had poured boiling water over. It was disgusting.

  “Every time they removed my gag, I cussed them out. It was as though every cuss word I had ever heard had been stored up just for them, and came spilling from my mouth. My mother would have been ashamed of me if she could have heard me.

  “My disrespect as they called it was the start of the burning. The one that smoked would lift up my top and put out his cigarettes on my back. One perverse bastard thought it was amusing to piss on the burns, saying he had heard that urine carried enzymes that alleviated the symptoms of burns. It was just one big joke to them. I wanted to die, just as much as I wanted to live to kill them all. The pain was excruciating.”