Trigger warning: Physical assault
It was pitch-black when I reached the area. I had not given the driver the exact address that Brad had texted to me because I didn't want to directly arrive at his door like an Amazon parcel.
"Uh, are you sure about this, kid?" asked the middle-aged cab driver, his eyes uncertain as he took in the dilapidated buildings. The street was deserted and had a distinct air of menace. A single streetlight loomed at the beginning of the road, flickering sinisterly.
"Yes, I'm sure," I answered, with false bravado, not convinced if I was assuring him or myself.
After paying the man, I climbed out, my hand tightening on my purse. Pulling out my phone, I made a quick call.
Then, I slowly walked down the street, reading the numbers in my head: 30, 29, 28...
As the headlights of the Uber disappeared, the street returned to its inky state. I rummaged in my bag for my phone, turned on the flashlight and kept walking: 27, 26, 25...
The buildings looked abandoned. Some were old warehouses, others decrepit lodgings: 24, 23, 22...
I stopped, turning off my flashlight. As I waited for my eyes to adjust to the darkness, I took in the rundown house with its boarded-up windows and crumbling roof. My heart seemed to have hidden somewhere in the vicinity of my throat as I tried to swallow. I had never prided myself to be a brave person. But the thought of sweet Rose alone with my pedophile of an uncle forced my feet forward.
Clutching my bag, I tiptoed around the side of the house, trying to look in any gaps I could find. The house seemed dark and uninhabited. Did I have the right address?
Just as I rounded a corner, an arm grabbed me from the back, a cold hand covering my mouth roughly. "Hi sweetheart," said a deceptively honeyed voice. "I've missed you."
I struggled frantically but he was too strong. No! This could not be happening! Where had he been hiding?
"Did you think I would give you the address where I was keeping the kid? I'm disappointed in you Aria."
My obscenities were muffled by his hand. But he seemed to get the idea.
"There's no need to get all testy. We are all alone here. No one to disturb us for miles." His arm that was clutching me around my waist disappeared for a second. A second was all I needed as I bucked hard, my head bashing against his jawbone.
Swearing, he gripped me again. But this time, he had a cloth that he pressed to my nose. A cloyingly sweet odor assaulted my senses and my vision swam.
"Good," he hissed. "Sleep now."
Then everything turned black.
"Aria! Aria! Wake up!" A stream of consciousness filtered in before I jolted awake. My head pounded with a pulsing beat when I realized Rose was shaking me as hard as she could, her tiny face tearful. "Aria, are you okay?"
"I'm fine, Rose," I spoke thickly, my mouth like cotton. "Are you okay?" I sat up gingerly, and ran my hands over her body, my fingers trembling. Thankfully, she was wearing her clothes—a smudged white t-shirt and pink shorts—but that might not mean anything. I prayed that this child had not suffered like I had. "Did the bad man touch you?"
Rose nodded, and my blood turned to ice in my veins. "When he forced me to sit inside his car, he hurt my arm."
I let out a lungful of air. "Any-anywhere else?"
"No," she muttered, looking confused. "He gave me a burger and some water but he wouldn't let me talk to my mom. I told him I wanted to tell her I'm okay."
I gasped out in relief as I hugged her to me.
She sniffled. "I'm fine, Aria. I'm just scared. Can we go home now?" A fresh tear tracked down her cheek.
"I know you're scared, Peanut," I said, running a soothing hand down her hair. "We'll go home soon. Your mom is waiting for you."
That made her cry harder. I squeezed her close, rubbing her back. We were in an empty room, the door shut. I knew if I pulled on it, I would find it locked. There was no furniture in the room, only a dusty mattress that I had been lying on.
"We need to be strong, Rose," I said, gripping her arms and pushing her away for a moment so I could look in her eyes. I needed to assure her before searching the room for anything I could use as a weapon. "I'm here now and I won't let anything happen to you. You don't have to be afraid."
At least we were alone.
No sooner had the thought materialized that I heard his oily voice as the door cracked open. "Are you awake now, sweetheart?"
Bile rose up my throat at his continuous endearments. As Brad stepped in the room — his black eyes glittering like the snake that he was — I stood up, dragging Rose up with me. "Stop these games now, Uncle. You have me. Let Rose go. You have no need for her."
He rubbed his chin. "That's true. Although she's a beautiful girl too."
My stomach dropped. "Don't do that. You have me," I repeated. I had no idea what my plan was. I didn't even know where I was. Was I in the same house that I had been instructed to arrive at? Somehow I didn't think so. Brad was a scumbag but he was wily.
"I know I do, sweetheart." He stepped further in the room. "But in order to stop you from disobeying me, Rose here would be a good incentive. I know you'd do anything if she's... threatened." He grinned, his teeth flashing in the low light.
"What about Aunt Kelly? Your children? What's going to happen to them if you go down this road?" All I knew was that I needed to keep him talking so that he wouldn't step closer to us.
At the mention of his family, Brad's eyes hardened and his smile vanished. "It's all your fault. Kelly is going to file for a divorce, taking everything from me. My children, my reputation. I have nothing to lose here, sweetheart. At least when I go down, you'll be down there with me." His eyes flitted to the child half hidden behind me. "Well, you, me and little Rose there."
Swift panic rose in my chest. He was insane. If he had nothing to lose, he was not going to stop or be guilt-tripped. Think, Aria. You need time.
"How is it my fault?" I cried. "I did not press charges against you nor was I planning to, even after you propositioned me in my kitchen and my mom found out. You were the one who started this chain of events."
Brad's eyes narrowed. "Is blaming me really the best course of action here, Aria? You have no idea what I have done to build my name. My marriage. My perfect family. And because of you, I lost everything in one. Fell. Swoop." I flinched at the venom in his voice. I stepped away until the wall behind me pressed into my back, Rose shaking next to me.
"Please, Uncle. I'm begging you."
"Good," he sneered. "I like it when you beg."
He had taken one more step closer, when there was a commotion just outside the door. Brad swiveled, standing stock-still.
I trusted my instincts and I screamed. Brad hurried over to me to shut me up but it was too late. The door flew up. "Get down on the ground. NOW!" Several uniformed officers ran in, their guns aimed at us.
Brad raised his arms, his eyes wide but not with fear. Then he turned to me. His eyes flickered, one of his hands clutched in a fist. I did not have time to react when he drew his arm back and punched me hard on the face.
Stars flashed before my eyes, as I crashed on the mattress. There was a muted noise before a loud thud. Someone was screaming. Disoriented, I realized Rose had tripped too since I'd had an arm around her.
Again, I ran my hand over her. "Are you hurt?"
"No," she replied, sounding dazed.
Then two policemen were helping us up. I turned my head to see several officers hovering over Brad who looked like he was shot and was bleeding copiously. The cops led through the musky house and out the front door and I blinked as several bright lights assaulted my senses.
It was all a blur as the police asked us a steady stream of questions. I did not let go of Rose for even one second. Once the police assured us that they would collect our statements with our guardians present, the paramedics swooped in to check in on both of us.
No sooner did the paramedics give us an all-clear—both Rose and I huddled in warm blankets on the back of the EMT truck, which still did not dispel the chill that seemed to have permeated my bones—a car screeched to a halt behind the police tape and before we knew it, Luke and his family were running up to us. There were lots of hugs and kisses as Rose was reunited with her parents and brothers.
After squeezing the life out of his baby sister, Luke turned to me. His eyes hardened as they ran over the bruise forming on my jaw. "He hit you?"
"I'm fine," I replied. My head felt like it was splitting with a migraine. The medics had given me something for it but I just wanted my bed so that I could sleep forever.
Luke pulled me in his arms. "Why?" he whispered, pain evident in his voice, his warm breath coasting on my neck. "Why did you have to do that?"
"I needed to help save Rose," I muttered.
Luke pulled back, cupping my face delicately in his hands. "I could have lost you."
"But you didn't." I leaned in his touch. "When he called me at your house, I didn't know what to do. I just..." I shook my head, imploring him to understand. "I just wanted Rose to be safe."
"I know." He helped me down the truck so we could get some privacy from the huddle that was Rose and her family.
"When the police left," I told Luke, as we sat on the sidewalk, "I took a picture of Detective Bell's card when no one was looking. I'm sorry I left you alone in such a difficult time."
"Honestly I was a bit hurt but then I thought maybe you needed space. Rose is like your sister too."
"She is my sister. I could die for her."
"Don't..." he said, shaking his head. He changed the subject. "So, you called the police when you went home?"
"No, I called them when the cab dropped me off. I told Detective Bell to track my phone because I had no idea what he would do to Rose if the police arrived at the location he had given. And I was right." I looked around. we were in a different neighborhood that the one he had texted me. "He drugged me and moved me when I turned up."
"And they told you to go ahead?" he asked, sarcastically.
"No," I scoffed, a tired smile playing on my lips. "Detective Bell told me stay put and let the police do their job. But if the police had arrived before I did, he could have... hurt Rose and I couldn't risk that."
Luke gritted his teeth, his teeth narrowing. "How did you know he wouldn't just dump your phone the minute he had you?"
I smiled. "He did exactly that. I knew that my mom kept an old flip phone in her study. I charged it, inserted my SIM in it, and hid it in my bra. My actual phone was in my bag so I knew he would discard it." I looked away as an uncomfortable thought crept in, not for the first time that evening. "If he had taken my clothes off, he would have found it."
Luke cursed, turning away. "There were so many things that could have gone wrong, Aria. He could have—"
"I know, Luke. But don't you see? This was the only way to get to Rose. He wasn't willing to negotiate with the police or your parents. He wanted me."
He swore again, running both his hands in his hair and pulling at the ends.
"I'm sorry," I murmured. "I know how hard this must be for you."
"You have no idea."
I sighed. "I'm fine, Rose is fine and Brad will never be able to hurt us again."
A muscle worked in his jaw at my uncle's name.
A thought occurred to me. "I was wondering. How did you find us so fast? Did you follow the police?"
"No. Your mom called us telling us you had left the house to go somewhere. When we finally got hold of the detective, she gave us this address."
My mind reeled. "How-how did my mom know?" Had she somehow put a tracker on me or something?
"Funnily enough, Mrs. Nellie from across the street called her. Beats me how she found out."
I stared at him for a second before letting out a relieved laugh. "She saw me leave. Figures." Again, an intrusive thought dawned. "Wait a minute. Did Mrs. Nellie somehow find out we were dating? Is that why my mom came back?"
The idea made Luke grin. "That does sound plausible."
I groaned. "To be the gossip highlight of the neighborhood, right?"
Luke chuckled. "That means your mom had an eye on you the whole time. She cares about you in her own way."
My heart warmed. "I think she does." Then I inhaled with a shudder. "You can't imagine how relieved I am that it's all over."
Luke's eyes softened as he took my hand again. "It is."
"You were right, Luke." I closed my eyes, as Luke ran a finger over my knuckles.
"About what?"
I opened my eyes to gaze into his emerald ones. "I should have reported him from the get go. Then he wouldn't have gotten his hands on Rose and nothing would have—"
He pulled me close, shaking his head. "Shhh. You can't think like that. You can't blame yourself. He's the one who is at fault and no one else."
I sighed, my heart heavy but at the same time relief washing over me. I felt calmer than I'd felt in a very long time. "Luke?" I threaded my fingers with his, soaking up his warmth and strength.
"Yes, Doll."
"I love you."
He rested his forehead on mine. "I love you too. More than I love anyone."
Author's note:
Everyone loves a happy ending, right? Let me know your thoughts. Only one more chapter to go!
Question: Which song lyrics speaks to you the most?
Please do comment and vote, dearies.
Love,
Thunderbird