Be My December (45 page)

January was bitterly cold. As I stepped onto the sidewalk, the air swirled around and a thick chill forced me to pull my coat tighter.

I rushed down the path with a spring in my step toward the diner desperately aware that my morning hot chocolate and complimentary chocolate chip muffin that Carole would always give me was only minutes away.

I pulled my phone out of my pocket as the sudden urge to text Ky hit me.

Eden: You left without saying goodbye this morning. Not even a good morning kiss?

Ky: You seemed so peaceful that I didn’t want to wake you. I definitely kissed you. You even made that cute little noise you make.

Eden: I wish I had felt it.

Ky: Have you thought about what I asked last night?

Eden: It’s the only thing I’ve been thinking about.

Ky: Stay with me baby. I can’t lose you. I’ve just got you back.

I looked at my watch and debated on whether to go to Anderson Publications. I wanted to talk about this now. It was eating away at both of us. My feelings for him were insurmountable to anything I had felt before but could I really live here?

My internal battle was halted by the vibration of a new text message coming through. My heart race increased at the thought of what Ky would say now. I loved seeing Ky like this, Ky Crawford in his purest and honest form. The smile left my face the moment my eyes fell to the screen.

Unknown: Ready to go for a ride Eden?

Panic reared within me as every hair on my body rose in fear. My head swung around, back and forth, looking up and down the crowded sidewalk trying to locate the culprit but I also knew that evil always hid in the shadows.

People surrounded me, going about their day, talking in calm conversation, completely oblivious to the terror taking over my body.

In the distance I saw the safety of the diner and something within me told me that I needed to get to the security of those four walls as quickly as I could. My feet began to take me and my hands shook as I pressed Ky’s number into my phone.

I needed my protection. 

He picked up after two rings, and I didn’t even give him a chance to speak.

With a rushed panic voice I whispered, “Ky, I got another message. It said did I want to go for a ride. I’m so scared I’m at the__”

My desperate pleas halted the moment my phone was snatched out of my hand. A strong hand gripped the back of my neck halting my movements and paralyzing me instantly. I was pulled against a stone like body and instantly I knew who had me.

“Guess who’s about to take your pussy for a ride.”

My heart twisted painfully in my chest the moment I heard the voice I wished I’d never hear again.

Jeremy Davis.

The frightening sound of the call ceasing shattered the air, and I knew Ky was gone. The pressure on my neck subsided and Jeremy slithered around until he stood in front of me with an evil smirk dripping with vindictiveness. Fear froze me as my eyes took him in.

My need to escape beat inside me, but my legs wouldn’t move. 

“Do not move. Do not scream. Do not look at anyone, and I swear to fucking God if you say a word you will never speak again. Do you understand me?” Jeremy hissed into my ear.

I nodded in response.

“We are about to start walking and head toward my car, do you understand?”

Once against I nodded. 

The air suddenly felt thick and wet and my lungs squeezed tightly in my chest as breathing became a chore. I stumbled, tripping on pebbled stones and the cracks in the uneven sidewalk as Jeremy held me close to his side, locking me in with his arm. His fingers dug viciously into my hip as he forced me away from the safety of society, away from a chance to run, and into a darkened alley that felt like a hallway leading to hell. 

We reached a silver Honda complete with blacked out windows that sat hauntingly at the end of the alley. My brain screamed at me to run, but my legs felt like an endless weight held them down, planting them firmly to the dirty ground below.
This couldn’t be happening.
  My veins pulsated with fear, dread, and anger as the winter air swirled around me, stabbing my skin tauntingly; making me realize this was now my reality.

“You can’t do this again,” I seethed. My hands came up to his chest and with all of the strength I could muster I forcefully pushed myself away from his rigid body. His eyes flickered with fury at my blatant attempt at rebellion. A liberty I should never have taken. The force of his hand connecting with my cheek sent me stumbling. My back slammed into the car door and the edge of the metal pressed violently into my spine. I gasped in agony as a pain-induced haze immediately clouded my vision.

His body pressed against mine locking me in and flicks of spit hit my face as he roared, “I will do whatever the fuck I want, now get in the fucking car.”

He shoved me into the backseat of the car, and I landed on my hands and knees with a thud, thrown around like I was a piece of trash. I didn’t know whether it was his hand or foot that pushed me until I smacked into the opposite door with my face. I groaned and shifted until my back was against the leather seat. Jeremy slid in beside me, and the clicking noise of the lock sounded through the space; I was locked in with no escape. Confusion swam through my turbulent mind. Why was he in the backseat? I looked toward the front of the car at the same time the person sitting in the driver’s seat twisted around and my eyes met evil.

Chris Edwards sneered back at me.

“Surprise!” he taunted, maliciousness penetrating from his every pore. I sat there frozen, the ability to breathe, to think, to acknowledge escaped me as his eyes narrowed in on me.

The seat dipped beside me, and Jeremy’s body was soon hard against mine. Chris’s eyes shifted between both of us before he turned around and the roar of the engine startled me. My hands twisted in my lap, my fingers entwining, weaving their way together as I always did when I was nervous.

“Where are you taking me?”

Jeremy twisted to face me and with his finger and thumb he pinched my chin and forced me to look at him. I whimpered in pain at the death grip he possessed and tears pricked in my eyes. The monster looking at me had absolutely no life in his eyes and that was what scared me most. 

“We are going to have some long overdue fun.”

••••

After a short drive filled with an unnerving silence, Chris pulled into the familiar parking lot of the motel I had stayed in when I first arrived. It was like a devastating case of déjà vu. 

“Don’t you fucking say a word when we get out of this car. One word comes out of you, and I’ll fuck you twice as hard when we get inside. I will rip you to kingdom come.”

“You are a monster,” I hissed as I was vehemently pulled out of the car.

“Monster is a bit harsh don’t you think? I’d prefer to be called your worst nightmare.”

Jeremy slipped a threatening arm around my waist as we stepped through the entry doors of Hotel De Luca. My eyes darted around for someone familiar, but all I found were strangers going about their day. I thought we would head to the elevator, but I was shocked when we turned to the left and headed down the equally familiar hall toward the room I had stayed in, the very same room that had been broken into. 

“Look familiar?” Jeremy spat as he pushed me through the door with a violent hand to my back. I stumbled forward, colliding with the corner of the wall and smashing my face. My cheek throbbed and my eyes watered as pain shot through me. Suddenly, I was jerked back with brutal force causing me to stumble and fall face first onto the unmade bed.

I flipped over quickly, wanting to keep my eyes on my predators. Chris lingered by the window, his focus on the outside world. Jeremy stood at the end of the bed, his hands clasped behind his head as if he was attempting to shove a sense of determination and fear in the air. A determination I refused to allow him to have, a fear I didn’t ever wish to feel again.

“Chris, tie her up. Hands behind her back,” Jeremy instructed.

I tore my gaze from Jeremy and watched Chris stalk toward me. Every step he took was heavy with arrogance and purpose. His hands fell to his belt buckle, and I swallowed the bile rising from the pits of my stomach as he fumbled with the clasp and pulled it so slowly out of the loops. He snapped it violently as he stood beside the bed and smirked at his grand prize.

A grand prize which was me.

“Fuck I am going to enjoy this,” he hissed brutally into my ear. His unforgiving hands ripped at my wrists and pulled them behind my back. My shoulders screamed at his force. The leather of the belt dug into me, burning the top layer of my skin as I fought the restraints. I shuddered as his tongue speared along the rim of my ear and along my jawline. My eyes remained fixed on the wall mounted television all the while chanting to myself.
I will not break. I will not break.

“Back off asshole,” Jeremy growled from the end of the bed.

Chris pushed off the bed and took his position by the window again.

I didn’t know how long the standoff between Jeremy and I lasted. I sat back on my heels glaring at him, and he didn’t flinch. He made no attempts to touch me, to speak to me, to engage with me. I could see Chris hovering in the corning of my eye, but at that moment it was Jeremy who was in my sights.

I flicked my wrists behind me which only intensified the burning on my skin.

“Do your fucking worst Jeremy,” I hissed between clenched teeth, the standoff finally getting to me. The waiting and the anticipation of pain that was coming mixed with the confusion as to why he was pacing the room and preying on me like a rabid infested animal.

I was propped up against the head of the bed like I was some kind of fucking trophy and the longer he kept me waiting the quicker delusion set in.

Any fear I had escaped and now raw anger seethed through my pores. The thought of him touching me couldn’t become a reality. Just the thought of it forced me into protective mode, and a will to fight overcame me.

Finally I had something good happening in my life; I was finally on the path to living again. I had someone worth fighting for.

“You’ve gotten a backbone since I last saw you.” He stalked toward the bed and I noticed the gleam from the knife he had clasped in his hand. My breathing stilled. The thought that this could be how my life ended finally opened the doors and all of my fears and regrets trampled through.

Every single regret I experienced was at the hands of the man in front of me. That one act, four years ago, had put my life on a path of no return. I didn’t live. I was breathing, but I wasn’t living. I hadn’t been living until Ky came into my life. Just at the thought of him, I felt my emotions bubbling over. Ky was now my world, and I might not ever get the chance to tell him. He had spent the past four years in a world full of regrets and this would kill him. Jeremy didn’t just have the potential to ruin my life in his hands, but he had the potential to completely destroy Ky.

I needed to stop thinking about Ky.

Thinking about him would only distract me.

Jeremy hovered at the side of the bed where I sat. Suddenly I felt claustrophobic, as if the air was being sucked out of the vents and my attempts to breathe were halted. The moment he forced me into the car, I became his possession, yet it was his unpredictability that frightened me the most. I focused entirely on the sharp edge of the knife as Jeremy stalked threateningly toward me. My gasp rang through the room the moment the cold tip hit the skin on my jaw. With slow precision, he ran the knife back and forth along my jaw before it landed on my neck. The slightest of movement from his brutal hands would end my life.

“What do you want from me?” My voice came out weaker than I had anticipated, my façade fading fast. He immediately relished in my fear.

“What do we want from her cousin?” Jeremy sung out to Chris, his eyes never leaving me. Immediately my hands struggled for freedom, but it only tightened the belt. Chris now stood in the corner of the room, leaning against the wall closest to the window.

“I want her pussy.”

The air in the room suddenly became extinct as Chris’s words repeated over and over again in my head. I refused to break eye contact with him. I needed to find any strength I had left in my body as it slowly began to shut down and go into protective mode.

Jeremy took a step away from the bed as he unleashed his request into the room. “Undress her Chris. Down to the lingerie that I know the little slut is wearing.”

I felt my stomach churn.

“I enjoyed the set of your panties that Chris brought me as a gift when I left prison. I am surprised you didn’t miss them. I jack off to them every single fucking night. I cannot wait to pay you back for putting me in there. Do you understand what it was like? Four fucking years of my life gone because you couldn’t handle my fucking cock.”

“You raped me!” I screamed with the full power of my lungs. My body thrashed around the bed as rage pulsated through my veins. Screaming was now my defense mechanism, if I screamed loud enough someone would have to hear and come and find me. “Somebody! Anybody! Help! Get away from me you asshole!” I begged until my voice was hoarse.

“Shut your fucking mouth.” Jeremy’s hand pressed tightly around on my throat stealing my ability to breathe. I gagged as I desperately searched for air. My pulse beat frantically as my vision started fading in and out as unconsciousness swam toward me.

As I fell down the final steps to oblivion, Jeremy released my throat and I gasped as air flooded my craving lungs. “Strip and gag her,” Jeremy demanded to Chris.

Chris stalked across the room, his hungry eyes locked onto my breasts, until he stood at the foot of the bed.  My heart pounded urgently and my chest heaved as a constant reminder that I was still alive, and that I needed to fight. The moment his clammy hands touched my skin and ran over my bare arms, I roared to life. I couldn’t go down like this. Not again. I couldn’t be that girl for the second time.