BK 3 - Chapter 36 - Superhumans
The ride to the hotel was quick, just as Wesley had said, but Mindy fidgeted the entire time. She felt ridiculous for throwing herself in Wesley's arms like she had at the hospital. He had held her until she was ready to leave without saying a word.
When they got to the hotel, he helped her out of the car and continued holding her hand as they headed toward the door. Her body hurt all over, but she didn't want to take any pain medicine they gave her at the hospital until she was near a bed.
"Are you okay?" Wesley asked, noticing her nerves. He lightly rubbed the back of her hand with his thumb.
"I'm not really in the best shape to meet people," Mindy answered softly, already feeling like people were judging her. They probably blamed her for what happened, just like she blamed herself. Wesley stopped before they went inside.
"Out of everyone in the world, my family is the last to ever criticize someone. Several of the women in there have been through what you experienced. The only thing you need to fear from them is how much they're going to want to take care of you." Wesley saw the uncertainty on her face. His family really was a special group of people. He pulled her inside before she had too much time to think about it.
Kitty had cleared everyone out just as she had said. She was there with Aiden, Cat, Trey, Janel, Thatcher, Melanie, Saxon, Jade, and the cubs. He felt Mindy squeeze his hand as she looked at each of them.
"Does your family have some sort of super genes or something? Why does everyone look like they should be movie stars?" She whispered. Wesley chuckled next to her. Mindy felt out of place next to everyone else there.
Mindy watched as the four women made their way to her. Once they were a few feet away, she felt a warmth wash over her, making her nerves disappear. For some reason, she looked at the smallest woman in the group with long shiny black hair and pale blue eyes. She gave Mindy a smile that made her feel like she was hugging her.
"I'm Cat. It's so nice to meet you," Cat held her hand out to the young woman, who took it shyly. She felt Mindy's pain and fear seep into her body as soon as their hands touched. She absorbed as much as she could.
Mindy didn't understand what was happening. One second, her body was hurting so bad all she wanted to do was lie down, and the next, she barely hurt at all. The fear she had of her rapist finding her and of being alone was suddenly taken away as well. She looked down at Cat's hand in hers and then met those pale blue eyes. Was this family made of superhumans or something?
"How did you do that?" Mindy asked Cat softly. She winked at her with a small smile but didn't say anything.
"I'm Wesley's big sister Kitty, and this is Janel." Mindy shook their hands. Although she wanted to laugh when Kitty said big sister, she was tiny like Cat, and Wesley was well over a foot taller than her. The last woman approached her with children next to her.
"I'm Melanie, and these little ones are Lisa and Alex. Would you like to come with me, and we can get you settled?" Mindy felt the same warmth from Melanie as she did from Cat.
"That would be great, thank you. It was nice meeting you all." Mindy said quietly, waving slightly. When she began to follow Melanie, Wesley stopped her.
"I'll check on you in a little while, okay?" He said, and she nodded. Mindy wanted to hug him again but was afraid it would seem strange for a victim to hug the agent trying to help her. She went to the elevators where Melanie was waiting for her. When she glanced back to the lobby, she caught Wesley's eye before the doors shut.
"She's a sweetheart, but she's going to need you soon," Cat said, staring at the elevators.
"What do you mean?" Wesley asked her. He knew Cat had tried to take on some of Mindy's pain, and he was grateful.
"She's still filled with fear and hasn't dealt with what happened yet. When it hits her, she's going to need someone she trusts by her side. There's something else there too. Something she doesn't want to face." Cat looked up at him, and he nodded.
"I'll be there when she needs me. Where is everyone?" Wesley wanted to get to work so they could catch the bastard that raped her, not to mention all the other things he'd done.
"We had them go outside to the courtyard. What do you want to do?" Trey asked. He, Aiden, and Thatcher had worked with enough abused children and young adults to know Mindy needed space. They had stayed back when Wesley brought her in so they wouldn't scare her.
"We're going to blanket the city. I want everyone walking the streets, checking every hotel and restaurant in the area. I want no stone left unturned. What we have on our side is that Raul isn't a shifter, so he can't pick up on those who are." Wesley looked at each of them.
"We'll go to the other hotels and get everyone on the streets," Trey said before he, Cat, and the other two couples left. Wesley looked toward the elevators fighting everything inside him from going upstairs to check on Mindy. Instead, he went to the courtyard to tell everyone out there what they needed to do. Once they were gone, he went to a desk in the lobby and sat down. He was going to work on finding local associates of Raul. There had to be someone in the area who knew him. Wesley didn't believe Raul went to Sacramento blind. He was going to find the person who was helping the snake.
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Melanie watched Mindy out of the corner of her eye as they rode the elevator. She could feel so many emotions coming off her; it was quite intense. When they reached the top floor, they took her to their suite.
"We wanted to bring you to our suite rather than a regular room. That way, if you needed time away from everyone, you could go into one of the bedrooms without being completely alone." Melanie told her as she opened the door. Saxon had been quiet, trying to keep his distance as much as possible, not wanting Mindy to be frightened of him. He decided to introduce himself so she didn't think he was some kind of weird creep when they entered the room.
"I'm Saxon, Melanie's boyfriend." He said, glancing at Melanie quickly. He'd almost said mate, but that would have caused some unnecessary questions.
"It's nice to meet you. I'm assuming this little one is Jade," Mindy said, looking at the most beautiful baby she'd ever seen. Jade had black hair and striking green eyes with skin like porcelain.
"Yes, this is my little sister," Saxon answered. It was still weird for him to say that, but he loved the little vampire, and she made his parents happy.
"You look like you need a bath. Come with mommy and me; we'll help you. Alex and Daddy can take care of Jade." Mindy had never seen a child that spoke so well. Lisa seemed like a miniature adult. She took her little hand and let her pull her into another room. Melanie shut the door behind them. Lisa continued leading her into the large bathroom with an enormous tub.
"I have some Epsom salts to help with the pain. You're about my size so I brought you some clothes. I figured you'd be more comfortable in pajamas or something comfortable." Melanie spoke softly and saw the second Mindy was getting ready to collapse. Her face fell as the weight of everything she'd been through came crashing down on her. Melanie grabbed her and lowered them both onto the floor.
Mindy held onto Melanie as she sobbed. Something about their kindness made the pain that Raul caused her come in full force. Melanie held her gently while stroking her hair as she cried. Lisa came over and gently rubbed her back, trying to comfort her.
"Why did he have to show up? Why me? I can't do this again. I can't." Mindy said between sobs. She had never told anyone about her past, but after what Raul had done, she couldn't keep it in any longer. It was weird, but she felt like Melanie was absorbing some of her pain so she could free her mind.
"I know you don't know me, but you can talk to me." Melanie encouraged her. She saw Mindy glance toward Lisa and knew she didn't want to say anything she shouldn't hear. "Unfortunately, my daughter has seen some of the worst terrors you can imagine with her own eyes."
Mindy felt sick thinking about what the little girl had witnessed. No wonder Lisa acted older than she was. She had probably already lived a thousand lifetimes in her first five years.
"I don't know if Wesley told you, but Raul raped me. I don't want to get into the details, but it triggered something from my past. I moved to Sacramento from Tennessee a couple of months ago. My mom had married a man that mistreated her. When I turned thirteen, he started showing an interest in me. He forced himself on me every chance he had. I ran away when I was sixteen and lived on the streets for about six months. After checking into a teen shelter, I returned to school and earned my high school diploma. I graduated a couple months after my eighteenth birthday. I left the shelter that day, ready to go out and change the world. That is until my stepdad found me a block from where my graduation had been held. He'd been waiting and keeping tabs on me all along. He took me back to their house, tied me up, and raped me repeatedly for almost a week. When he was done with me, he threw me into an alley and left me to die. Someone found me, and I ended up in the hospital for two weeks from all the injuries he'd caused."
Melanie rocked her back and forth while she spoke. Lisa continued to stroke her back with her little hands. Mindy took comfort in their touch before continuing. It was all tumbling out of her, and then she said the thoughts that crossed her mind more than she'd like to admit.
"When I was attacked last night, it brought all that back. It will always haunt me, no matter how hard I try to push it down. The bad thing is I don't know if I can survive it this time. What if all I want to do is die?"
