Chapter Ten
Sadie
Five Days Later
All week, things have gone smoothly at work. Once we managed to get into the building. Yesterday, we finally got the police to get the media out of our parking lot, so the day went by much smoother. We’ve had issues with people approaching me in public, but I never leave the house alone anymore.
The police positively linked the camera back to Alex, and the video was uploaded to the internet from a device under Angela’s home WiFi. They were arrested on Wednesday morning and are being held without bond.
There has been no word from my parents since I talked to them last weekend.
I know that won’t last forever. I expect them to call any day now.
There is no way they will stay away forever.
They like to try and control me too much to stay out of my life.
However, the fact that they are so quiet makes me think I actually did hurt their feelings this time.
I shouldn’t care, but I do for some reason.
“I’m so tired,” I complain as I sit in the grass and lie back on the ground.
“Why are you so tired?” Todd asks.
“Yeah, Sadie. Why are you so tired?” Lance asks with a grin.
“You shut it,” I say, pointing at him. “This is your fault.”
“No… It’s your fault for continuously saying ‘make me’ when we ask you to not do something,” Lance says as he lies beside me and props on his elbow.
“I am an adult,” I say.
“An adult that I will fuck to tears every single time you say something bad about yourself and refuse to be open to redirection from your negativity,” he says coolly.
“Is that how you deal with her shitting on herself?” Todd asks, laughing.
“Yeah,” he smiles. “She can’t think about the stuff that makes her feel bad about herself if I fuck her so hard that she forgets her name.”
“All three of you are monsters. Y’all fuck like the Hulk smashes. It’s unforgiving and relentless,” I say, and everyone laughs.
“Ready to go eat lunch?” Dean asks, putting his hand out for me to take.
“Yes,” I say as I grab his hand, and he pulls me up to stand.
“Hello?” Todd says as he answers his phone. He steps away to talk as we gather our belongings and walk to the parking lot. Before I can get in the truck, Todd shouts at me. “Sadie!”
“What? Why are you yelling?” He grabs me by the shoulders and smiles brightly at me. Everyone stops and watches, unsure of what’s going on.
“They pled guilty,” he says, grinning.
“What? Really?” I ask, clapping my hand over my mouth when a sudden wave of emotion hits me.
“Mhmm,” he says. “They pled guilty and will get three years per charge.”
“Six years?” I ask as tears roll down my cheeks.
“Yeah,” he says as he wraps his arms around me. “It’s over now, Sadie. The judge is placing an order of protection upon their release, and they are banned from contacting you all while in prison.”
“That judge didn’t fuck around,” Dean says, rubbing my back as I sniff back my tears.
“Not at all,” Todd says as he pulls away and wipes the tears from my face.
“I don’t know why I’m crying,” I say.
“It’s a lot to take in,” Todd says. “Let’s go eat and celebrate.”
When we pull into the parking lot of the diner, I feel rejuvenated knowing that Alex and Angela are being held accountable for their disgusting actions.
I hop out of the truck and wait for the guys to get out.
The rest of our group, minus Leo and Billy, is here, also.
Leo had some errands to run, and Billy had to go to his shop and work on something for a customer.
“It’s a good day,” I say as I hug Mason.
“Don’t be so sure,” he says softly as he squeezes me.
“What do you mean?” I ask as I pull away to look at him.
“Don’t let them bully you, Sadie,” Mason says as he points behind me. I turn, and it feels like all of the air has been sucked out of my lungs.
“You’ve got to be fucking kidding me,” I huff. They are standing outside their car, looking at the car beside them. I am confused as to what they are doing until I see him get out.
“Who is that with them?” Dean asks.
“Oh, no… No, no, no. There is no fucking way they would do this to me,” I say as I back myself against the truck.
“What? Who is that?” Lance asks.
“That’s Paul,” I say flatly. “They brought Paul with them.”
“What the fuck is wrong with them?” Todd asks. “I highly advise you three to keep your mouth shut and don’t touch him.”
“Why?” Dean snaps.
“It’ll just make it harder on me,” I say. “As long as he doesn’t touch me, I can handle him.”
“He touches you, and he’s dead,” Mason growls.
“Why are you here?” I ask my parents when they get close enough to hear me.
“That is no way to greet your parents,” Mom frowns.
“Fine,” I say. “Hey, Mom. How are you? Have you been okay? I’ve been good. You know, just being a harlot and all.”
“Do you always have to be so sarcastic?” Dad asks with a disapproving tone.
“Yes,” I deadpan.
“I think the four of us should sit down and talk without the rest of your little group around,” Paul says. I ignore him and look at Mom.
“Well, you all go on and eat without us,” I say.
“You just got here,” she says.
“I’ve suddenly lost my appetite,” I say.
“Are you going to ignore me?” Paul asks. I ignore him again and continue to look at Mom.
“Why are you being rude, Sadie?” Mom asks. “You’ve ignored him twice now.”
“Because I have no interest in talking to him,” I shrug.
“Will you stop being a child for ten seconds so we can have a conversation?” Paul asks. I snap my glare at him, and one of the guys touches my back to ground me.
“I thought kids were your thing, Paul? I was eleven when you forced yourself in my mouth,” I say with an eerily calm voice. “Do you remember that? Do you remember forcing me to swallow because that’s how sinners repent?”
“Sadie Marie!” my mom gasps. Paul smirks slightly, and that simple gesture strikes more fear in me than his death glare that follows.
“Oh… Right… I was a little temptress,” I say. “I was practically begging him to make me bleed for literal days from forcing his fingers into me. I should have known better than to be so suggestive with almost a grown adult. Shame on me for being such a slut.”
“You are being dramatic,” Dad says. “Lying won’t get you anywhere.”
“Lying?” Dean snaps.
“I don’t think we asked for your input,” Paul says to Dean with a cold tone.
“Don’t you dare fucking talk to him,” I growl. “I am not that weak little girl anymore, Paul. I don’t know what the fuck you are doing here, but I’d advise you to get back into your car and go home.”
“We are offering you a way to repent from all of this nonsense,” Mom says seriously. “A fresh start.”
“This should be good,” I laugh. “What? What is your offer?”
“You marry Paul,” Dad says. I stare at him blankly before chuckling and shaking my head.
“You two have lost your goddamn minds,” I say simply.
“You really just sat here and told me I should marry the person who sexually assaulted me at eleven so I can have a fresh start. All because you don’t like the fact that I have sex with my boyfriends.
Men that you two had no problems with until that video. ”
“If you go back to the original sin, you…” Mom starts, but stops when I put my hand up.
“I didn’t sin. I was assaulted. I was a fucking child who was forced into a cabin with a fucking psychopath for six weeks, then was blamed when I ended up needing to go to the doctor. You knew he did wrong because you fucking lied to the doctor,” I say simply.
“This is a chance for both of you to start fresh, Sadie,” Mom says.
“No,” I say simply. “I don’t understand why I still put myself through this. I have no idea why I continue to keep you guys in my life. You bring me nothing but stress.”
“Will you at least consider it?” Dad asks.
“She can’t get married if she’s already married,” Lance says. He slips his arm around my waist and pulls me closer to him. I smile up at Lance, thankful for the support. The look of horror on their face is fucking perfect.
“What? You didn’t,” Mom says.
“I did. It was a last-minute decision,” I say. This means we might actually have to follow through with this because they will definitely make sure to check. Maybe this will get them to leave me alone if I get married.
“How could you do this without telling anyone? Do you understand the position you have put us in?” Dad scolds.
“Oh, are you sad that you can’t marry me off to my abuser to rid me of sin for being a temptress as a preteen?” I ask with feigned happiness in my tone.
“Will you stop saying that?” Mom asks, raising her voice.
“He’s not even fucking denying it, Mother!
” I yell. “He hurt your only child, and you’re defending him.
You lost five pregnancies before me, and when you finally get a baby, you support her fucking rapist. That’s what he is.
He orally raped your daughter over and over.
And over. You get that, right? He did it so often that I learned how not to throw up on him within a week.
By the sixth week, he didn’t hold back anymore when he would aggressively face fuck your daughter.
Throat training for the Lord. This doesn’t even include everything else he was doing to me.
And here you are, defending him yet again.
Surely to God, it’s a sin to be this fucking stupid. ”
“You are a disrespectful little girl,” Paul says simply. There is a warning in his tone that sprouts a fear that I haven’t felt since the time I spent with him in the cabin.
“And what the fuck are you going to do about it? This isn’t summer camp anymore, Paul.
You can’t just banish me to my cabin so that you can work up the nerve to rape me,” I say with venom and hatred in my voice.
“Fuck you and fuck my parents. I’m washing my hands of all of you.
I refuse to pretend to be the happy little daughter while knowing that my parents are supporting a fucking rapist.”
“You can’t be serious,” Mom says tearfully. “We are trying to save you, Sadie.”
“I don’t need to be saved,” I shout at her. “Lance, Mason, and Dean saved me a long fucking time ago. I don’t need this, and I don’t need you. Get the fuck out of my face.”
“Sadie,” she says with a broken voice.
“Go!” I scream as tears slip down my cheeks. Lance turns me to face him before wrapping me in a hug. I bury my face in his chest and try to fight off the sobs.
“You’re not welcome here,” Dean says calmly. “Just go.”
“I’m not leaving my daughter,” Dad says.
“You lost the right to claim her as your child when you brought him here in an attempt to force her to marry her abuser because he has you convinced that this is the way to salvation. You’re all sick in the head,” Dean says, still calm.
“If I have to repeat myself, none of you are going to be having a good day.”
“Is that right?” Paul says with humor in his tone. I look up to see Dean go nose-to-nose with Paul.
“Dean,” Todd says softly.
“Understand one thing for me, Paul,” Dean says, ignoring Todd. “It may not be today. It may not even be tomorrow, but you will pay for what you’ve done to her.”
“Looking forward to it,” Paul says with an ominous smile before he averts his eyes to meet mine. “Be good, Bunny.”
Paul steps back from Dean and nudges my parents.
Before they all walk away, he grins at me and chuckles.
I stare at them as they walk away. Hearing that fucking nickname brought back the feeling of what it was like to be trapped like prey, stuck in that cabin with him at night.
He is the reason I still sleep with a light on in fear of something touching me when I cannot see.
When they are back in their vehicles, Mason grabs my face and makes me look at him. “Why did he call you that? Why did he call you Bunny?”
“That’s what he would call me when he would touch me or make me do things to him,” I say quietly.
“He would say that he was the wolf and I was the bunny. I didn’t get it then…
but right now… I know he meant that I was trapped because that’s what happens to prey.
We get trapped and consumed by the predator. ”
“Well, you’re done with all of them now,” Lance says. “It’s over now.” I nod in agreement, but it’s not true. It’s not over until Paul says it’s over. Will I ever truly be free from him?