CHAPTER FOUR: Raped

When Kevin opened his eyes, they were watery, and his throat was scratchy. The room was silent. He wasn’t sure where he was. Felt himself sitting upright in an iron chair and tried to get up, but couldn’t. That’s when he noticed something restraining his arms. Looked down and saw the belt that was wrapped around his wrist, anchoring his hands to the arm of the iron chair.

He moved his body, struggling hard to set himself free, but the belt was just too thick. Looked around the room nervously and noticed a long table at the corner of the room. Some bottles placed on top. He glanced up at the window behind drawn curtains high up the cinder-board wall. The curtains sealed out a partial trace of light. The room seemed empty and devoid of life.

A thin line of sweat rolled down his forehead and rested at the side of his lips. He took out his tongue to lick it off. It had a distinctive taste of sweat mixed in blood. That was when Kevin realized he was bleeding. The last thing he remembered was being knocked out with a shovel. He struggled to get loose, but then noticed he wasn’t alone in the room.

A figure sat at the dark corner far across the room, watching him from the shadow. It stood up and walked towards him, revealing its face in the light. Kevin noticed two things when he turned to look at him; he wasn’t wearing a mask, and he wasn’t the man that’d kidnapped him. The man standing before him was much taller.

“Who are you?” That was all he could think of to ask. He couldn’t understand why anyone would want to kidnap him. He wasn’t rich, neither did he have any rich relative, and as far as he was concerned, he hadn’t offended anyone.

“Where am I?”

The tall figure stood staring down at him with a straight posture and a neutral face, not uttering a word to him.

“What is this place?” Kevin panicked and was now sweating as he struggled to free himself.

His questions were met with a blank stare. The man took a rag from the table and walked towards him.

“What do you want from…?” Kevin asked just before the man stuffed the rag into his mouth, sealing his words away.

“You talk too much!” The man finally spoke, and then he walked away from him. Kevin wanted to call him back, but all he did was muffle noises through the gag.

“You can call me T-Rex, and it’s not you I seek after, at least not yet.” The man uttered coldly, walking towards something across the room which was still hidden in the dark. Kevin continued to writhe and groan before T-Rex finally hit the light switch, filling the room with bright fluorescent light.

Kevin’s eyes bulged when he saw what had been hidden in the darkness on the other side of the room. The love of his life was gagged and tied to a pole at the centre of the room, leaving him confused about what was really going on.

“Kevin? Kevin!” the voice was coming to him from far away, slowly dragging him out of the dream, “Bro, wake up!”

Someone was gently tapping his shoulder. Kevin woke from the terrible nightmare with a quick gasp, chest heaving rapidly. He turned to see a tall male standing at his side.

“Landry?” he called, his brows knitted. “I thought you’d gone home?”

“I did, but then I remembered something.”

Still panting, he glanced around, then up at the clock. Only forty minutes had passed. It was a long night, he observed. Each second seemed to go by as though they were minute, and each minute like hour. Then he returned his wondering gaze to Landry.

“How long have you been standing there?”

“Long enough to notice you were crying in your sleep, again.” he answered, picking a chair from the corner and sat facing him.

Kevin flushed when he noticed the tears on his cheek and quickly wiped them off.

“Having trouble sleeping?”

Kevin gave no immediate response.

“This is the sixth time this week I’m having the same bad dream.”

“Is it the one about the night of your kidnap?”

He nodded and looked away. “Every time I close my eyes, I keep seeing the events that took place that day, the horrible things he’d done to her,”

Landry moved close to him. “Look Kevin, the reason we all moved to this city is so we can forget what had happened in the past and move on with our lives.”

“Move on with our lives? How can we possibly do that when we both know he still out there— and somehow, he would soon find us?”

At about 9:25 pm, Tasha was hanging out with her friends in a bar. Dreda and Madelia were dancing to the hip hop music that filled the air. While Natasha sat at a lonesome corner, sipping from the straw of a bottle of juice. She just watched while others were dancing.

She suddenly found herself thinking about him, again. Something about the sadness in his eyes piqued her interest. She was eager to know what dark and sad tales was hidden behind that face, but then remembered his words.

Stay away from me.

They were condescending.

Her fingers cracked as she folded her hands in a tight fist, and every trace of pity she’d felt for him instantly vanished. She played an imaginary scene in her head where she was punching his face repeatedly. A satisfied smile graced her feature when she saw the bruises all over his face and the blood rolling down his cheek. She quickly snapped out of it when a guy came around and sat beside her.

“Heyyy” he slurred, raising his glass at her. “What’s a beautiful girl doing all by herself in a bar like this? You should be dancing too.” he raised an eyebrow. “The music is not your taste?”

Natasha snorted at the gesture, then smiled, shaking her head. “No, it’s not the music. I don’t fancy dancing when there are eyes watching. It just feels awkward.”

“Oh… you’re a shy one.” he smiled at her. “Well then, would you care to join me for a drink?” he raised his glass at her. “Bill’s on me.”

“No, thank you.” she turned him down politely.

“Feels awkward to have a drink when there are eyes watching?” he raised a brow at her.

She gave a nervous laugh. “I think I’ve had enough for the night.”

“Such a shame. Could have been the best night you’d ever have in decades.”

Natasha felt somewhat revolted by his remark. From the corner of her eyes, she saw him detail her outfit with predatory eyes. Then he walked away, almost stumbling after hitting a stool. His drink spilled on his shirt and he cursed voicelessly under his breath.

Watching him move like that forced a laugh out of her. “Drinking with a drunk…” she scoffed “… that will haunt me for the rest of my life.”

Some minutes after, she noticed her friends walking towards her. “Why are you sitting here all by yourself?” Madelia asked loudly over the music.

“What?” Tasha inquired, equally raising her voice.

“Come on, let’s go have some fun.”

“I’m just… not in the mood.”

Dreda chuckled “Are you kidding me? Not in the mood? You love dancing. Since when did you start being ‘not in the mood’?” she made funny gestures with her fingers.

“Of course,” Madelia gasped. “You’re thinking about him, aren’t you?”

“What are you on about?”

Madelia turned to Dreda and laughed mockingly. “She’s definitely thinking about the new guy, that’s why she wouldn’t join us.”

“No,” She denied it almost immediately. “Definitely not!” And again, she felt vaguely dishonest.

“You can deny all want, but the fact remains. I can see it all over your face. You are clearly thinking about this guy.” there was silent laughter in her voice. “And here I thought I was the flirty diva.”

“I decided not to dance just for one night and you girls are already getting ideas, unbelievable!” She went poker-faced. “Alright, you know what? I’m going to dance if that makes you two happy.”

Madelia swung her arms joyfully. “Now that’s the spirit. Let’s get down there and show those bunch of losers how it’s done.”

Just then, Natasha’s phone rang, and she quickly pulled it to see who was calling.

“Your Dad?” Dreda second-guessed.

“Nah, it’s Derik,” she said, stepping away from them. “I got to take this call. I’d join you girls in a sec.”

“Urgh! You better hurry.” Madelia said as they went back to join the others on the dance floor.

Natasha rushed out of the bar to pick the call. The music inside was too loud.

“Hey, Derik.”

“Natasha, I am at the mansion, and you’re not home. I met your brother a little while ago and he says your Dad’s at the office, but he doesn’t know where you are.” his voice trailed. “Wait… is that music I hear in the background? Are you in a bar?”

“Sorry, I forgot to tell you. I went out with Madelia and Dreda, but don’t worry, I won’t be out for too long.”

“Should I come to pick you up after?”

“No,” she said. “We’ll be fine on our own.”

“You sure?”

“Yeah, really, it’s fine.”

“Alright, be home soon, it is already late.” he hung up.

Natasha put her phone back in her bag. Felt her throat burn, then realized she was thirsty. Looked up and noticed a soda store right ahead.

“A bottle of soda, please.” she dipped her hands into her bag and fished out a dollar note.

Here you go miss.” the shopkeeper handed the soda to her.

“Thank you.” she quickly opened the bottle and gulped down its content.

In no distant time, Natasha emptied it and threw the container. Then she noticed how dark the street was. Glancing at her wristwatch, she exclaimed. “Shit! A minute past ten, it’s late. I better start heading back.”

Something about the dark street frightened her. As she walked to the bar, her fear intensified when she noticed a group of roughly dressed guys walking out from the shadows and several dark corners of the street.

She picked up the pace. The footsteps were getting closer, and she could tell the person—or the group–-were walking faster. She knew what they wanted, but wasn’t about to give it up. She soon found herself running, and she could hear the footsteps walking faster, chasing her.

A hand clutched her purse, dragging it from her. Natasha turned in fear and saw that she had been surrounded. Fear swelled inside her. They walked slowly, silently, smiling. She shuffled backward, away from the group, and backed into another.

Felt icy fingers on her arm, grabbing her from behind. She drew a quivering breath and struggled to break free, but then he swept her off her feet, pulling her off the street, into a dark corner.

“Leave me alone!” she screamed, wiggling her feet in the air, hoping that somebody would hear her and come to her rescue. But she was all alone out there with them.

They grabbed her arms and restrained her. Another covered her mouth with coarse and calloused hand. She felt an icy hand slid into her skirt. Her clothes split with a ripping sound. She let out a muffled scream, her body trembling. Panic struck her brain.

Suddenly, she heard footsteps, and they all stopped at once. The thugs parted and she saw, walking towards her, a man dressed in black. He shot an ungodly glance at her as he drew closer. And reaching her, a cocky smile crossed his lips, and his belt became loosened—at once his pant dropped.