CHAPTR TWENTY NINE

HIGHLY SENSITIVE CONTENT. RATED 18.

OLIVER

I stared into her eyes searchinng for any kind of expression. Her eyes held an undecipherable expression. She swallowed hard.

"What do you mean by that?" Her voice came out forced.

She is scared of me now. Somehow, the thought that she might hate me after this made me more stressed than what I was about to tell her. She stared at me expectantly. I sighed. I couldn't keep it a secret for much longer. I was the only one who knew what happened that night. But I couldn't bring myself to tell anyone. And the secret was killing me inside.

"October 14, 2004. That was when it all started." I swallowed hard as the memories flooded my mind.

I shut my eyes tight and clenched my fist as I tried to get the images out of my head. I can do this. I must do this. I can't let 'her' control me anymore.

Dallas drew closer to me on the couch. She took my hand in hers and stroked it in a comforting way. That little act helped me a lot. I opened my eyes and stared at her.

"You don't have to talk about it if you don't want to." She said softly.

But I wanted to. I have to.

I gave her a simple nod and cleared my throat.
"I was fourteen and had just graduated middle school. My mum and Dad were out of town so they couldn't attend my graduation. My father promised to be back the next day to take me out for dinner. My nanny was living with us then. She had been taking care of me since we were in Korea so my parents trusted her a lot. They brought her with us to America when we moved. Mandy used to-" I paused, my voice shaky and my breaths came out ragged.

Dallas squeezed my hand gently.

"When we moved here, Mandy started doing some things to me. She would touch me inappropriately. I didn't read much into it at first because, well, I'd known her since I was a toddler. It became more frequent over the years. My parents were always busy so I couldn't tell anyone. Even if I did, no one would believe me. She was always so nice and good to everyone."

I let out a scoff as I remembered how nice and charming she was to everyone. I remembered how Ethan would jump whenever he came to visit because of Mandy. How Suzy loved leaving both me and Ethan in Mandy's care then she'll go off on a shopping spree. How mum was always absent from almost every events of my life because she knew Mandy would leave me in her care. My father was the only one who cared enough to make time for me. She never did. It was always Mandy.

"On this particular day, Mandy suggested that we go out and celebrate by ourselves. I protested at first, but she ended up convincing me. She gave me some water to drink before we stepped out. The last thing I remembered was getting into the car and then everything went black. When I opened my eyes, I was in an old warehouse, tied to a chair."

My eyes darted to Dallas. She surprisingly kept a straight face throught out the narration of my sad story. By now, other people would have a look of pity on their face. My mum, Suzy, even the therapist that was supposed to help me with my emotions all followed the same pattern. Pity, sadness, and tears. It was more reason I didn't like telling the story to anyone. It was always so nerve-racking when they do that. But I don't think I'd mind if Dallas does it.

"I spent two weeks in the warehouse with her. She did a lot of things to me. She would give me blowjobs. She force me to suck her tits and do so many disgusting things to her. She forced herself on me multiple times. She told me she loved me and wanted me all to herself, but my parents wouldn't allow us to be together. She threatened to kill anyone who tries to separate us and that it was my fault that she fell in love with me. I hated myself a lot.

Despite everything, she never kissed me. It was almost as if she didn't want to feel bad about what she was doing. She knew it was wrong but she enjoyed so much that she didn't want to stop. Sometimes she would invite other women to join us. I never enjoyed it. Not even for a second. Every single day I spent in that warehouse with her, I wished that she had killed me instead of the daily torture. I just wanted it to end."

It was when Dallas wrapped her arm around my torso that I realized I was shaking vehemently. She pressed herself tightly onto me. The images were so vivid in my mind. It felt like I was back at the warehouse with Mandy again. It took a lot of deep breaths to convince my brain that I wasn't.

I relished in Dallas's body warmth for a few minutes till I was sure I could continue. I inhaled sharply. I was slowly getting to the worst part. The part I don't like to remeber at all. The part that marked me since then.

"It's okay, you're okay." She said softly and tightened her hold on me.

I could tell from her voice that she was on the verge of breaking down. But she managed to hold herself together.

"After two weeks, My father burst into the warehouse with some cops. Mandy had stepped out when they found me. There were two other women with me at the time. They got into a physical fight and there was so much shooting. There were so many men that I hadn't noticed since I was brought to the warehouse. The whole warehouse suddenly went up in flames. My father took me and we ran looking for an exit. Mandy aimed at me and pulled the trigger, but my father took the bullet for me. He fell on top of me and a piece of heavy metal fell on him. He died on top of me."

Drip! Drip!! Drip!!!

Blood. So much blood everywhere. I could remember how frozen I was under his cold dead body. How he struggled to get the metal of his back but couldn't till he took his last breath. The stench of blood and burnt flesh hit my nostrils, making it difficult to breathe. I gasped for air.

"A..are you okay?" She asked, her voice trembling as she spoke.

She hurriedly wiped the tears off her face. I didn't even know when she started crying. She placed her hand on my cheek and stared straight into her eyes. Peace. I felt absolute peace wash over me.

"Gosh, you're burning up again. Let's get you to the bed." She helped me up and I laid on the bed.

It felt like a huge burden had been lifted off my shoulders when I was finally able to tell someone. I had never revealed what truly happened in the warehouse to anyone. I guess I had always feared that she'd come back and fufil her words. The doctors ran series of test on me when I was found. They told my mother that I was raped. I couldn't tell anyone. Thankfully, I hadn't caught any diseases from them.

"I'll get you a glass of water." Dallas said as she stood up from the bed.

She had been trying so hard to avoid eye contact with me. She didn't want me to know she was crying. I was grateful for that.

I held her hand, stopping her from standing up.

"Just stay."

And she did. It was the first time I had slept with no nightmares for the past two decades. It was the first time I had truly felt alive.