Toxic

Chapter 9: Redeem

Strike
Meredith

"Garrett, please. Not in front of the kids this time. I'm begging you.", I exclaim as I try to shield myself this time.
He slaps me in the face even harder than any of yesterday's hits. I've lost count of how many times he's hurt me since we were paired together. It started the night we met during our marriage assignment. I wouldn't "pleasure" him so he hit me and pushed me down the stairs when I resisted him. Luckily, he had left right after that. Now, he sticks around to make sure I don't tell anyone, especially my Dad. I want to tell my Dad how he is treating me, but I'm terrified Garrett will do something worse to me, so I haven't yet. I'm trapped.
"You can't do anything right! You need to do as I say. I'm tired of you thinking that you have a choice. I'm the one who makes the decisions in our relationship. I work for your dad, and you work for me. When I want you to get dinner for me, you do it. When I want you to wash our clothes, you do it. When I want you to watch the stupid kids, you do it. When I want you to have sex with me, you do it. I'm tired of you saying no. I'm not tolerating this shit anymore!", Garrett yells at me.
The twins are watching from outside of our bedroom terrified, crying, and screaming.
"Stop it. You're hurting Mommy! I hate you!", Scar yells at him.
She's a strong girl for being so young. Garrett doesn't tolerate the kids one bit. He forces me to lock them in their rooms at their bedtime of 8:00PM, which is too early for my liking. After 8:oo PM, it all gets worse. That's when he usually starts to hit me. This is the first night I forgot to lock the kids' doors, so they got out of their rooms after hearing the screaming from our room.
"You don't talk to me like that.", Garrett says to Scar as he goes up to her and smacks her on the behind.
Scar starts crying. Junior jumps on top of Garrett and starts hitting him. Garrett doesn't like that. He smacks Junior in the back of the head. He's abusing us all and there's no way out. I don't have anyone to tell about this, either. I try talking to Rachel when I see her in the cafeteria from time to time, but she refuses to rekindle any relationship we once had. She barely talks to me. I also found out Blake was also somehow brought to Hawaii and revived by the reset transmission. He refuses to talk to me as well. I always see Blake and Rachel together. I'm sure they both realized I fabricated the truth and manipulated them when they had their car crash. That has to be why they both hate me so much, on top of the fact that I killed Rachel and left Blake behind with Anthony. I don't have anyone. I did this to myself.
I even tried pulling Rachel aside and telling her that I'm being abused. She didn't even want to acknowledge me talking to her. I didn't have any proof, either, since all my bruises go away within minutes because of the vitality vaccine. I don't know how to get my friends back. It's already been a few weeks in this society and I already can't take the abuse any longer.
This was the first night he touched the kids. I didn't think he had it in him. He's evil. Why would my father pair me with such a horrible human being. I cry myself to sleep every night after Garrett leaves. Thank god he never stays the night in my house. If he did, I'd have no freedom. I feel like my world is ending. This isn't the fresh start I wanted.
I've been refusing sex for him for as long as I can, but the more I refuse, the more furious he gets. I can tell he's almost at his breaking point. I'm genuinely terrified for my life. I can't live like this anymore. I'd rather be back with my alcoholic mother in Hershey living a boring life with nobody. In a perfect world, I'd be with Owen if he were still alive. I can't believe I thought even for a second that Garrett would be better than Owen. Nobody compares to him. I'm missing him a lot right now. He treated me amazingly. Now, everyday, I fear for my safety every time the clock strikes 8:00 PM every night. Someone, please help me.

Spark
Owen

"You know exactly how to treat a woman, 'Josh Davis', I'm impressed. I wish we had discovered this a lot sooner. Would've saved us both so much trouble.", Rachel says to me flirtatiously.
"I couldn't have asked for a better wife. I wouldn't trade you for anyone, Rachel. I know we didn't do anything in college but I'm sure it would've happened eventually. I can tell we're meant for each other.", I respond.
"Me too, Owen. I know it's only been a month, but It's been the best month of my life. You make me feel like I'm on top of the world. You treat me like a queen. You're my king. I love you.", Rachel says.
We continue to make out after having a romantic candlelight dinner. We wanted to have a picnic date, but we knew that would be too risky. Rachel totally understands what I'm here to do. She's fine with helping me hide from Blake and Meredith. Well, I'll reveal myself to Blake at some point, just not right now. My Dad doesn't think it's time yet. Apparently, Blake has asked Rachel if she has seen me. He knows I'm here somehow. I'm guessing Anthony may have communicated with him by leaving him a message of some sort. We'll be able to get Blake on board, I'm sure about that. I'm willing to totally leave Meredith in the dust. Rachel is totally on board with helping the Ascension, too, which is awesome.
Rachel and I have spent so much time together since we were paired. She was extremely mind blown when she saw me in meeting "Josh Davis" for the first time. I explained to her everything that I went through and everything I'm here to do. I told her all about how my Dad leads the Ascension and our goal for the world. I told her about how evil the Descension is.
Despite being the elite in this society, It's still corrupt. I hate having the gray-wearing lower class doing everything for me. Unlike Garrett, I treat the lower class with tons of respect and as if they're equal, as they should be treated. I do all my chores. I don't let anyone do personal work for me. That's just straight up bullshit. Nobody deserves to live solely for the purpose of serving someone else. I know, I'm kind of hypocritical in saying this, since I work for Marcus. But really, I don't. I've been undermining him this entire time and he has no clue. It's amazing. The plan is gonna work out perfectly, especially once we get Blake in on it, which will be soon. In the meantime, I have to keep waiting and getting information from Marcus. It also gives me more time to spend with Rachel, so I'm not complaining one bit.
I didn't expect to fall in love with her, but holy shit I'm so glad I did. She's amazing. I know she may seem a bit snobby and arrogant like your typical blonde rich girl. However, I don't see that in her. I see an amazing woman who fights for what she wants, wants to help others, and wants to create a life for herself that's worth living. Yes, she has had some ups and downs, but we all have. That's all in the past. She's an amazing woman. She's not only beautiful, but she's kind hearted. She's selfless. She's caring. She's romantic. She's loving. She's trustworthy. She's dedicated. She's mine.