Only One (23 page)

I wanted to scream, kick and cry, but nothing happened. His hand ran through my hair. “It’s okay, Anna, go take a shower, and I’ll be waiting for you.”

I got up and did as he asked, taking as much time as I could before I knew he’d come looking for me. The window inside the bathroom was boarded up, so it was no use to me. I could try to pull the wood back, but he’d hear.

“Let’s go, Anna,” he yelled out after five minutes or so.

“Be out in a minute,” I answered as I looked at myself in the mirror. “You can do this, Annabelle,” I told myself. “You’ve been with this man before, just go through the motions and then grab the gun and shoot him,” I murmured low, drying my eyes with the towel. I figured he was going to want to use both arms, which gave me at least one chance to go after his gun.
One chance and one chance only.
I took several deep breaths and then opened the door.

My heart plummeted when I stepped out to a naked Aaron waiting for me on the bed.

“Damn, I forgot how beautiful you look naked.” He placed the gun down on the table beside the bed, but I pretended not to notice it. He instructed me to lie down, which I did a moment later. I lay in the middle so he didn’t worry about me reaching over just yet as he stripped down to nothing.

He looked over to the gun and then tossed it inside the drawer.

Damn it! No.

“Jesus, babe, I cannot wait to be inside you again.” He slithered up my body, his gross lips kissing his way up until he reached my mouth. I tried to kiss him back and tried not to flinch, but I couldn’t do it at first. I exhaled and inhaled, trying to pretend it was a job, and that I had to act the part. I could do this.

“If you don’t open that mouth you’re going to regret it,” he hissed. Immediately I responded and kissed him back, afraid. I could tell he was getting lost in the moment by his moaning and the way his hands roamed over me. “No one will ever love you like I do, Anna. Not even that fucking punk quarterback. He can’t give you what I can.”

Tears fell at the mention of Cole’s name and Aaron noticed.

Whack! He slapped me right across my cheek. “Don’t you fucking cry for him.” He grabbed my face as I tried to bite back the pain.

“I’m not,” I pleaded, trying to keep any more tears from coming.

“Turn over. I don’t want to see tears for him.”

“What?”

“Anna, I’m about to do something to you that I hope you like,” he muttered as he sucked on my earlobe. He pulled out a bottle of lube from the drawer and rubbed it all over his cock and then flipped me over. A minute later I felt his finger circling my anus and now I knew he was going to ruin me forever.

“Oh, god, please no, Aaron,” I begged.

He grabbed my hair and yanked hard, whipping my head back. “I want to hear you cry out my name when I make you come.” His tongue slithered down the side of my face. “Trust me, Anna, you’ll love this.”

My head turned to the side, staring at the drawer with the gun inside. I just needed five seconds to get it out and shoot him. Five seconds.

“No,” I yelled.

“Sorry, I didn’t hear you, Anna.”

“I said no. I’m not letting you.”

“Is that right?” he asked before his hand came down so hard on my backside that I screamed in pain.

He flipped me over and hit me again, but this time my face. He reached over and grabbed the cuffs just as I went for the drawer, but he was too quick at yanking my arms back over my head. He flipped me back on my stomach before securing me to the bedpost. I started crying hysterically. I’d lost my chance.
Oh, god, Cole, I’m so sorry
.

“Stay still.”

I heard him rustling in the closet and tried to turn my head some. When I did, I gasped. He was taping this. Oh, my god, he was taping this.

“This one is for my library. I have others of us you know,” he admitted. “Sorry for never telling you, but I love to watch you fuck.”

I stayed stoic and quiet, listening, hoping it gained me some more time, when really I just wanted to throw up.

Aaron set up the recorder and I could tell he was back by the dip in the bed and the smell of his cheap ass raunchy cologne.

His hands came down, gripping my hips and hauling me up onto my knees. “Now, Anna, if you are a good girl and stay in this position, I won’t hit you. If you move, I’m not going to be happy.”

I swallowed and stuffed my face into the pillow, knowing I had nothing else to do but wait for it.

His hand tauntingly caressed my behind, and I closed my eyes, trying to pretend I was somewhere else. I felt his finger circle my anus several times, making me drop to my stomach in fear.

“What did I tell you?”

I heard the sound of his belt as he pulled it from his pants on the floor. I braced myself. The loud crack of the leather struck my backside once made me flinch. Then he brought the belt down a second time, stinging me.

I screamed out in agony as he hoisted me back up and started to push into me. I could feel him at my entrance, but he hesitated a second. The cuffs pulled on my wrists as I fidgeted and I felt the blood trickle down from the tearing of my skin.

“It’s going to hurt, Anna, but I don’t want to hear anything but pleasure from you.”

I squeezed my eyes so tight and said prayer after prayer that I could make it through this. I closed my eyes and shut down, waiting for the assault to begin.

A loud bang sounded like the door was being kicked in. “Get your fucking hands off my daughter you piece of shit,” a voice hollered.

I collapsed onto the bed, letting all the tears come out at the sound of my daddy’s voice. I felt Aaron being yanked off forcefully from the bed, but couldn’t look.

A minute later Daddy was un-cuffing my hands, and he was crying. “Jesus Christ, baby. I’m so sorry. Jesus, I’m so sorry.” He pulled me to him and I could hear Aaron screaming, and Uncle Josh’s voice talking to someone on his phone.

Daddy wrapped me up in the blanket from the bed, but I wanted my clothes. Josh was muttering how he wanted to put a hole in Aaron instead of waiting for the cops, but there was no sound of a gun going off.

“My clothes. Can you please get my bag? I want my clothes.” I stared off, feeling vacant inside, like I was listening to someone else speak.

He broke free from his tight grip, rubbing my arms up and down. After I dressed Daddy kissed my forehead for a long couple of seconds.

I sensed all this, but my heart felt numb. My brain registered cops and Aaron being taken away, it even registered question after question that they peppered me with, but I couldn’t speak. I didn’t know what to say. My head wanted to explode, and my brain wanted to shut down.

“Belly,” I heard my name, the familiar voice I loved saying it. “Oh, my god, Belly.” I heard it again as he came closer, so I turned in my daddy’s arms.

It was like an out-of-body experience that I couldn’t come back from. They talked around me like I wasn’t here, because mentally I wasn’t, and I knew this. It was all registering, but not making any sense.

“Can I please hold her?” I heard the strain in his voice, but I didn’t feel his arms, so I assumed my daddy said no. “Please, Dane,” he begged.

“Baby, Cole’s here.” He stopped and sighed before swiping my hair back. “He wants to hold you, honey, do you want him to?”

I looked up. “What?”

“Cole is here,” he said again.

“Jesus Christ,” I heard Uncle Jason murmur as he looked at me.

Cole took a step closer and I wanted to go to him, but I was afraid he was going to see the marks, see the damage that had been done if he looked in my eyes. “Belly,” he said so quietly, I could hear the hurt is his voice. “Please come to me, Belly?” His hand came down and lifted mine in his. I felt daddy start to slip away, so I turned to look, but he just nodded for me to listen. When I looked back around Cole was right in front of me, his eyes pleading with me, but no words were spoken. I felt his other hand pull at my waist so slowly and softly as he lured me into his embrace. I heard him exhale and hold me, tucking me in close as his mouth kissed the top of my head, thanking god a thousand times over as he broke down.

Cole

The only way I knew how to cope right now was to hold on to Annabelle and not let go. There was a fucking cop barking about getting answers, but Jason wouldn’t let him near her. Dane was clenching and unclenching his fists, trying to rein it all it, while Josh was in the other room venting his anger. I didn’t even know how many holes he punched in the wall in the other room. I lost count after seven loud hits.

Even though I was holding on to her, she wasn’t holding me back, and it frightened me. She was just standing emotionless in my arms, providing me the comfort that I needed, while this whole time I was trying to nail down how to comfort her.

She shivered and snuggled her head in closer but kept her hands to her sides.

“Annabelle,” I whispered.

She stopped shivering, listening.

“Baby, please say something, anything.”

She shook her head briefly, but then stilled in my arms. “I want to go home, Cole. I want my daddy.”

And after she said it, I realized I couldn’t comfort her right now. She didn’t want me, for whatever reason, but I couldn’t really process it, even though it was sitting there screaming at me.

I called Dane over and she shifted from my grip into his arms. That was when I saw it. When her shirt pulled up a few inches I saw the bright red laceration that ran across her lower back. Rage slammed into me. If I couldn’t comfort her, then I was going to get my revenge on the fucker who took her away from me. I stormed outside to find that piece of shit while Josh and Jason screamed after me. I searched cop car after cop car until I spotted a man sitting in the back of a cruiser with his head tilted back.

“Don’t do it, Cole,” Josh yelled as he came up behind me, but I didn’t stop. Two cops saw me gunning for the back door and yelled for me to step away, but I didn’t. They were going to need to shoot me if they wanted to stop me. The asshole’s eyes flashed to mine as I opened the door, and he grinned. He fucking grinned.

“Son, step away now or we’ll be forced to stop you.” I heard them prattle on and on as I watched this fucker in the back seat, smiling and taunting me. In the back of my mind I heard Jason and Josh talking the officers down. I took a quick look over my shoulder and saw they’d stepped back, so I hauled him out by his shirt.

“You. Piece. Of. Fucking. Shit.” I slammed my fist into his face with each word. Blood shot out immediately, coating my knuckles and his face.

He spat on the ground, laughing. “You must be the quarterback. You can thank me later for loosening up that tight ass of hers.”

“Motherfucker!” I screamed as I slammed him to the ground and pummeled his face over and over, until someone shouted my name and ripped me off.

“Cole, let it go. He’s done. He’s out cold,” Josh told me, but I hadn’t even noticed him passing out while I was hitting him. I just kept beating on him and beating on him, picturing him touching her, hitting her, doing what he said he did.

I heard one of the officers tell Jason that I needed to stick around in Florida in case he wanted to press charges. I spat on the ground, listening to this asshole. “Are you kidding me? He fucking beat her and raped her. He’s lucky I didn’t fucking kill him.”

“Cole,” Jason came over just as I saw Annabelle coming out of the house leaning on Dane. “Dane got here in time. He didn’t get the chance. They got here it time, do you hear me?” He shook me, trying to get me to listen and calm down.

“Yeah,” I frowned, wondering why he had taunted me like that, but relief washed over me.

Josh and Jason exchanged a few words, and from what I heard, Josh wanted to stay behind with me to face any charges that may incur. The entire time I watched Annabelle as Dane placed her inside of his truck and laid her down in the backseat.

He came back over to us. “She’ll come around, Cole. She’s just in shock right now.”

“Yeah,” I agreed, hoping he was right.

“Well, seeing that Cole just beat the shit out of that fucking prick, I’m staying here with him to see this through. Take Jason with you, and I’ll see that Cole gets home as soon as possible.”

“You’re gonna take care of her, right?” I asked.

He slapped my shoulder. “Yeah, Cole. I got her,” Dane said.

Everyone left but Josh and me. I sat inside the rental car in silence as he went on and on about what had gone down and how it all had happened. Apparently Annabelle had been hit several times and was tied up when they got to her. She was coherent enough to tell them about the microchip that Aaron cut out of her make-up bag to take down Jorge Garcia and any associates who were implicated. They were all going down with him. The FBI had everything they needed.

Josh took me to the station where Aaron was being held, to find out that he did want to press charges. I spent a few hours behind bars, wishing I killed him instead of just beating him. Just after dark they opened the doors and called my name. I was granted bail, which Josh happily paid with a smile.

I walked out, my head hanging low.

“You ready to go home and see her?”

“I don’t think she wants to see me, man. You should’ve seen her face. But, yeah, I want to go home, just in case.”

“Listen to Dane for once, will ya? Annabelle is a tough girl. She’ll pull through this, and when she does, it’ll all be okay. Just give her time. She was just put through the ringer, man.”

I knew he was right. I just had to wait it out and hope that he hadn’t ripped out all the love and good that she had inside her. I prayed that she’d be able to move on.

Annabelle

I felt Cole’s presence as I lay in bed. He didn’t say anything. He just sat in the chair and watched over me. And I ignored him, hoping he’d go away. Part of me didn’t want him to see me like this—broken--defeated. Another part of me wanted to reach out and tell him to hold me and erase everything that had happened to me, but I couldn’t seem to find the words or the strength.

He stayed for three days before Daddy forced him to leave. For three days he never left my side, three days that I silently begged for him to go back to school and play football where he belonged. I needed him to go back and finish his dream. Aaron had taken so much from me over the course of those twenty odd hours, but I wouldn’t allow him take anything from Cole.