Unbreakable (25 page)

"Good question."

Katy sighed. "Let's go upstairs, get my bag, and go home."

Audrey nodded. "I–" she stopped when a small group of young men huddled around a table caught her eye. She lifted a hand and waved and called out, "Hi, Malcolm." She automatically started looking for Gwen, surprised that she wasn't seated next to him.

Malcolm reluctantly tore his eyes from his cards and spotted Audrey and Katy. He glanced at his watch and frowned. Gwen had been gone for more than 20 minutes. The faded sofa squeaked loudly as he stood and motioned the girls over.

"Didn't think you'd still be here," Katy said, moving to his side and plucking the cards from his hand to take a peek. With a dismayed look, she promptly folded on his behalf by tossing his cards into the center of the table.

Disgusted at his latest hand, Malcolm grunted his approval at her actions.

"Where's Gwen?" Audrey spun in a circle as she gazed around the room.

"Bathroom," Malcolm stated succinctly, taking his seat and waiting for the next deal. "What do you women do in there, anyway? She's been gone forever."

Audrey just shrugged, but Katy smoothly answered in a raised voice and with a Scarlet O'Hara accent, "It's because we're trying to make ourselves look pretty for you boys, Malcolm."

He completely missed the sarcastic edge that had entered her voice and nodded. "Will you tell her to hurry up?" His glance darted sideways for a few seconds before it reluctantly met Katy's. He lowered his voice and said, "I miss her."

"Awww…." the other poker players read his lips and began cooing and making kissing noises as Malcolm's cheeks began to heat.

Audrey and Katy gave Malcolm slightly admiring looks. Gwen clearly could have done worse.

"We'll bring her down with us," Katy assured him, impatiently nudging Audrey forward and leaving Malcolm to his game.

The second floor appeared abandoned. The hall lights had been shut off and cups and paper plates littered most of the floor, along with several unidentifiable, but nasty-looking, stains.

Audrey wrapped her arms around herself as a shiver skittered down her back. "It's creepy up here in this light." Only the faint golden glow from the stairwell lit the space, casting long shadows across the walls.

"Hmm. No line at the bathroom either… But yeah, it is a little spooky up here." Katy ran her hands along the edge of the wall at the top of the stairs until she found the hall light and flipped it on. They both squinted in reaction.

"Where the hell is Gwen?"

Katy tilted her chin towards the bathroom. "Door's shut. She must be inside. I'll check the room for my purse. You wanna wait for her to come out or look in the room with me?"

Audrey grinned, catching the hopeful note of Katy's question. "And walk in just in time to see some greasy guy's really hairy naked butt?" She blanched. "No thanks. I'll leave that to you. Just make sure that you don't get so interested in what's happening that you decide to join in and leave me here in the hall waiting."

Katy's blue eyes narrowed. "That was cold, Audrey."

"Yeah," Audrey laughed, completely unrepentant. "It really was." She made a shooing motion with her hands. "Go on."

Katy stood outside the door, drawing in deep breaths and fortifying herself before she loudly rapped on the door. "I'm coming in to get my purse." She covered her eyes with one hand. "If you're naked, crawl under the covers, for God's sake!" She cocked her head to the side. "Unless you're really gorgeous. Then speak up and I won't cover my eyes."

Audrey chuckled as Katy entered the room, her chuckle turning to an outright laugh when she heard Katy bump into something and let out a virulent string of curses. She turned and knocked on the bathroom door. "Gwen? Are you there? You're not sick, are you?"

There was no answer.

Audrey's forehead creased. "Gwen? Hello?" she called again, this time more loudly.

When her second effort was met with silence, she gingerly got down on one knee and looked under the crack beneath the door, seeing only darkness. "Huh. Guess Malcolm was wrong," she muttered under her breath, groaning tiredly as she pushed to her feet.

Audrey took a step to leave but was still curious. Something felt… she didn't know what. Wrong, maybe. Malcolm was engrossed in his game, but he didn't seem at all ambivalent about where Gwen was. Giving in to her curiosity, she tried the door handle, praying that it wouldn't be sticky like it was the last time she'd been in that bathroom. In contrast to the stifling heat of the house it felt cool in her hand and a slight turn confirmed that it was unlocked. Tentatively, she opened the door a few inches.

"Gwen?" There was still nothing. Audrey rolled her eyes at herself and began to close the door, only to pause when she thought she heard a whimper. When she pushed the door open a little further, what she saw caused the bottom of her stomach to hit her knees.

"Shut the door!" Gwen moaned from her spot on the floor between the toilet and the wall. "Shut it!"

Audrey blinked, momentarily frozen.

"Go away."

The rawness of that familiar voice snapped Audrey out of her momentary paralysis. She reached for the light. "Gwen?"

"Don't turn that on," Gwen begged. "Please."

Audrey's hand dropped from the switch and she rushed inside, her heart in throat. "Are you hurt?" She glanced around quickly, trying to figure out what could have happened. "Gwen, tell me what happened."

The taller girl began to sob, her face pressed tightly against her arms.

Audrey reached for her, only to have Gwen shrink back. Her entire body was shaking.

"Are you hurt?" Audrey asked again, this time more firmly. "Tell me, Gwen! I need to know if you're hurt."

"I-I-I–" Gwen buried her face again, nodding wildly.

"Did you fall?" Audrey cursed herself for leaving Gwen at the party after she'd had so much to drink.

Gwen swallowed hard. She opened her mouth to tell Audrey what had happened, but no words came out. Instead, she began to cry harder.

Just then Katy came to the door. "What's up?" Automatically, she flipped on the lights. "I found my– Jesus!" she blurted when she saw Gwen. Her mouth dropped open in horror.

The redhead's hair was disheveled and her face was bloodied from a gash on her forehead. Her cheeks were already sporting bruises in the shape of fingers, and she'd smeared blood down the sleeves of her blouse as she'd cried, leaving a series of startling scarlet imprints on the crisp, white cotton. Her pants were still down around her ankles and she was clutching a dirty towel between her legs. The towel was bloody, too.

"Oh, Gwen," Audrey said softly, closing her eyes.

Teary eyes lifted to meet Katy's, and Katy dropped to her knees next to Gwen.

"Gwen," Audrey said quietly, furious when she realized that her friend couldn't hear her unless she raised her voice. She swallowed around a solid lump that had formed in her throat. "You're hurt. You need to go to the hospital." She reached out to gently graze a purple cheek, her heart hurting when Gwen flinched before she even touched her.

Katy's hands balled into trembling fists. She wanted to murder whoever had done this. "We need to call the police," she ground out briskly.

"No!" Gwen shouted through her tears. Forcefully she tugged at her own hair as her mind raced. "You can't tell anyone. Not the police." Then her eyes grew round as saucers and she began to panic. "And especially not Malcolm!"

"Shh… C'mere." Audrey pulled her into a gentle hug, heedless of the blood on Gwen.

For a second, Gwen struggled. Then she let go of the towel and sank into Audrey's embrace, clinging to her desperately, her shoulders shaking as she cried silently.

Katy leaned forward and smoothed back a shock of messy red hair to place a gentle kiss on Gwen's head, her own tears dampening the pale skin. "Someone raped you?" From the state Gwen was in and the towel between her legs, she already knew the answer, but she had to be sure. Her chest clenched when Gwen weakly nodded. "Audrey is right. You need a doctor."

"No!" Roughly, Gwen pulled away from Audrey, fitting herself back between the toilet and the wall. She cried out when shooting pains shot through her arm as she lifted it to wipe her cheeks. "No one can know, Katy." Her eyes sparked. "I mean it."

Fearfully, Gwen's face snapped upward when she saw a shadowy figure in the hallway.

Katy looked over her shoulder and kicked the door shut with her foot.

"Hey!" an unidentified female voice yelled through the door.

"Go the fuck away," Katy barked.

Gwen jumped and Audrey shot Katy a warning glare.

Instantly contrite, she muttered, "Sorry."

Audrey's insides were quaking with a combination of grief and fury. "Who did this?" She grabbed a wad of toilet paper and tenderly wiped at Gwen's forehead. It was bleeding sluggishly. "I hate to ask this, Gwen. But was it Malcolm?"

"No!" Gwen shrieked, wide-eyed and horrified. "He would never! Never."

"Okay," Katy soothed. "We believe you."

But Gwen continued as though she hadn't heard her friend. "I couldn't see much. A man pushed me down. He came up behind me. It was dark. It wasn't Malcolm. He was too short." She swallowed and more tears streaked her cheeks. "I didn't do anything! This isn't my fault!"

Katy and Audrey both blinked. "We didn't–"

"I was just coming to use the bathroom," Gwen moaned, slapping the floor with both hands, furious because at herself for allowing this to happen.

Audrey took Gwen's hand and rubbed the back of it with her thumb. "Of course you were, Gwen. This wasn't your fault," she insisted gently. "We know that." She turned to her cousin, who was visibly trying not to burst into tears. "Right, Katy?"

"Hell yes, we do. It's the bastard that did this who's to blame."

Audrey nodded.

"We need to call the police," Katy said tightly. "This had to have happened only a few minutes ago. He could still be in the house."

"I won't talk to them," Gwen said stubbornly, lifting her blood-smeared chin. "You can't make me."

Gwen's eyes pleaded with Katy, breaking her heart and filling her with uncertainty.

"I think your forehead needs stitches," Audrey announced, taking the focus off of the police for a moment.

Gwen reached for her forehead wearily. Then let her hand drop. "It'll be fine."

"If you leave it like this, I think it'll scar," Audrey reminded her.

Gwen was silent, but she visibly recoiled at the thought. "You really think so?"

"I really do."

Gwen swallowed and closed her eyes, shaking her head "no." "Don't be mad at me." She began to cry again. "I just can't. Not now." She sniffed a few times. "Maybe tomorrow."

Audrey and Katy exchanged resigned looks, acknowledging that this was as much as Gwen was capable of at the moment.

Gwen wiped her chin with trembling fingers, the taste of blood in her mouth still making her feel like vomiting. "I don't want Malcolm to see me like this. I just want to go home."

Katy's gazed softened. "But Gwen–"

"Are you going to help me or not?" Gwen snapped, desperate tear-filled eyes glistening in the harsh bathroom light.

Audrey grabbed hold of Katy's arm, but addressed Gwen. "We're going to help you. Can you stand?"

Gwen's body instantly relaxed. "Thank you," she whispered. "I-I-I think I can stand."

Katy nearly bit her tongue through, every cell in her body on the very verge of protesting again when she let out a slow breath and hung her head in defeat. "I'll make sure Malcolm is busy while you two go out through the kitchen door. I'll meet you in the car."

"No!" Gwen shrieked. "You can't go alone." Her eyes strayed to the closed door. "It's not safe."

Katy stroked Gwen's hair. "We'll all three stay together until we reach the bottom of the stairs. There are still plenty of people downstairs. I'll be fine there."

"Okay," Gwen conceded reluctantly. "If we stay together."

"Gwen?" Audrey said, causing her friends' heads to turn. Her voice cracked as she spoke. "I'm
so
sorry this happened."

"Me, too," Katy groaned, covering her face with her hands.

Gwen gazed vacantly at the door and nodded slowly. She felt dirty and sick and a big part of her wanted to curl up in the corner and die. She let out a soft sigh, trying not to think about Malcolm and her parents or the man who'd taken more from her than she could fathom. "Me too."

*  *  *

Late Fall 1982
(Seven Weeks Later)
St. Louis, Missouri

The young women of the Mayflower Club were clustered in their pajamas on Gwen's twin bed, gathered there for a special announcement. A small lamp lit the corner of the room along with a hefty dose of starlight that shown in the bedroom window, closed tonight in deference to the cool breeze. Rain pitter-patted against the window, and a fitful breeze rustled the piles of moist leaves and slapped barren branches against the home's worn siding.

For the first time since the night of the party earlier that autumn, Gwen was smiling.

Nina let out a breath in pure relief. She'd been ready for the worst when Gwen insisted on making her visit to Planned Parenthood alone that afternoon. She'd missed her period after the rape, sending the entire house into a state of anxious worry. But this had to be good news.

Gwen drew in a deep breath, smiling when Jacie took one of her hands and squeezed it affectionately. She squeezed back. "Malcolm has asked me to marry him," she announced.

Three mouths dropped open.

"He… he has?" Jacie finally said, filling the awkward silence that had suddenly overtaken the room. She cleared her throat when she realized how she sounded. "I mean, he has?" she said more normally.

Beaming, Gwen nodded. She shrugged one shoulder as her cheeks tinted. "He loves me."

An enormous grin bloomed on Jacie's face while Audrey, Nina, and Katy smothered Gwen in a group bear hug. "He's a great guy," Jacie said honestly, her admiration showing.

"So things went okay at the clinic today?" Audrey asked, just to be sure. The girls were beside themselves all afternoon, regretting that they'd allowed Gwen's stubbornness to win out when she announced she intended on going to the doctor alone.