Maya (Book #3)

Chapter 55

@mmmMumy said a storm was coming and they were right. 😈  Enjoy. 

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

"Mind if I run to the bathroom?" I asked Asher under my breath. He smirked at my secretiveness and nodded.

"Go for it. It's straight inside next to the kitchen, just before you get to the front door," he said, before leaning his head to the side. "Want me to show you?" he asked. I shook my head and told him to have fun with his family.

"I'll be right back!" I told him, scurrying inside, and trying to stay out of the way of guests who had just arrived. I closed the door softly behind me and listened to the chatter from everyone outside. It was clear everyone was having a great time. And as much as I loved being a part of it, I really enjoyed listening to the laughter and talking through the thick windows. It was beautiful background noise.

I walked through the house slowly, examining the objects and furniture around me more closely than before. I admired the large brick fireplace and observed the family photos that littered the tops of tables. I got closer to a couple of them and picked one up out of curiosity. It was a picture of Asher as a child, with brown spiky hair that was gelled into a sharp point on the middle of his head. I could see all the features that made him so attractive beginning to develop in a too-large-for-his-face nose and bright eyes. The other pictures on the walls were much different. Many had exotic locations like islands, cobblestone paths with large colored houses, and sparkling skyscrapers. The pictures were mostly of Asher's parents, and I wondered how lonely that made Asher feel. I reminded myself to be kinder to him in the future and reach out if his parents were on vacation.

I blushed as I wished that I could stay here with him alone for a while. Memories of the kiss we shared in my bedroom came flooding back to me and I could feel my skin grow warm at the memory. I remembered how he leaned down on top of me, and my breathing quickened. I picked up speed and raced to the bathroom, hoping to discourage the thoughts before they left my control.

I wandered beside the front room of the house and found the right door, thankfully, before slipping inside. After doing my business and washing my hands, I looked at myself in the mirror. I typically avoided mirrors because I never felt like my mind matched my reflection, and it gave me the oddest feeling of someone I'd never met before watching me.

Today, I felt remarkably normal as I examined my body and features. I felt like the mature girl with curves and a height my younger self couldn't imagine. I even mentally complimented my eyes, which were a dark brown that nobody seemed to pay attention to. They were nearly black they were so dark, but you could make out my pupil as if there was a light burning behind them that was struggling to break free. The important thing was that I liked them, and the mascara that rimmed them only made me more appreciative.

I exited the door with a spring in my step, surprisingly eager to return to Asher and his family.

As I pushed the door open and stepped out, I nearly crashed into someone coming through the front door. The man who towered over me nearly crushed me as he fell, but he caught himself, straightening up with a chuckle. He was wearing formal pants and a large black jacket zipped up as if he had just come from work.

"That could've been bad," he declared accusatorily with an amused tone, as if he was reprimanding a small child and not a teenager that he had nearly crushed. I apologized profusely as he hoisted his container of glass beer bottles up to show me what the damage could've been. I noticed that one was already missing from the back, which was also evident by the odor coming from his lips. He breathed down on me and then cocked his head to the side, rubbing his chin with one hand as he gave me a once-over. I looked up to see his face and my body locked into place. Whatever I was saying fell from the tip of my tongue as my breathing cut off completely. The badge and nametag sparkling on his chest weren't needed for me to identify who it was.

Officer Walker, my uncle's old friend. My other abuser.

His eyes glowed and a sinister smile spread across his face.

"Little Maddie," he breathed, eyes crinkling as he looked me up and down. He seemed to like what he was seeing because his breathing became huskier, and his eyes grew dark. I saw the monster beneath the surface transform his good looks and turn him into the man I remembered.

"Y-you've got the wrong girl," I stuttered, pulling back to get closer to the party. I needed someone to walk in, refill a soda, or grab another plate of food. I needed someone to see what was happening so that I wasn't alone in this again. Nobody came and the sounds of laughter and cheerful conversation continued, muted, just like I was. 

"I don't think I do," he said, leering at me as if I was a woman in a bar dressed in next to nothing and not a child at a party wearing a dress, hoping she could impress her boyfriend's family. How could I have been so stupid? I was never free. I would never be free.

I wanted to faint, or fall over, or die at that moment. He seized my wrist and his fingers clenched down forming an iron grip as he pulled me closer to him. I wanted to pull away or escape from his grasp, but his thumb was squeezing my pulse and I felt an inch from death. His large hand released me to grab my face and throat as he angled my head so he could whisper in my ear. His breath was pungent, and his breathing was ragged as he told me what to do. I squirmed but he simply squeezed tighter, hurting my throat, and making it impossible to take a complete breath.

"You shouldn't be here. You better leave quick, little girl," he threatened, hurting my chin, and unwittingly scraping my neck with his nails. Suddenly, my brain slipped, and I felt my younger self take control once more. My body relaxed and simply wait for him to be finished. He released me as he recognized that my will to fight was gone and I was obedient as I always had been before.

I faced the floor with my eyes trained on his dirty black boots, relief from his release of my throat the only thought in my head. He tapped one foot, waiting for an answer. I nodded my head, still scrutinizing his boots and waiting for the release. It wasn't his grip I was escaping from this time; it was his control. He laughed a bellowing laugh as he realized I was going to do exactly what he said without complaint. 

"You're not going to tell anyone you saw me," he said slowly as if I was caught in a trance and these words would inevitably make me comply. "You're not going to mention me at all, even to your family. If you do, I will find your family and where you live. The Kelly's know, right? I could always ask them. If you care about your family at all, you will go home right now and be silent, like a good little girl."

"Yes, Maddie?" he pressed in a deep but slow voice. Hatred for myself flushed my body as I stiffened and grew worried, knowing that neither a yes nor a no would please him. I had to be honest in case he knew that wasn't my name, and he was trying to catch me in a lie. He'd hurt me if I lied. They always did. 

 "M-my name is Maya," I said, shaking. He stopped for a second and I waited for the hit to come before he burst out laughing, the kind of laugh that shakes your stomach and echoes out from your body. I shut my eyes to tolerate the sound like it was a scratch on a record that wouldn't stop playing. 

Okay, Maya," he emphasized my name as if it were a joke that only we knew. "Go." His fingers clenched onto the front of my dress and yanked forward, sending me flying towards the door and throwing rhinestones to the floor. I nearly fell face-first onto the hardwood floor, but I caught myself on the doorknob and twisted it hard, ripping open the door and flying into the street. I breathed in the air that had grown colder and looked left and right, not knowing what to do or where to go. I sprinted down the lane to the right and then continued running another block and another, thankful that I had opted for close-toed shoes on the off chance that I would need to run. This was why I prepared myself as I did. You never knew when the hit was coming, and it was my job to be ready for it.

My head pounded and images of carpet and bedroom walls and dark sheets as he hurt me swept through my mind like they'd been waiting to smell his putrid breath and see his face once more. I felt pain in my crotch and a tickling sensation that made me nauseous. I was disgusting. What did I do?

I tried to tell myself that my thoughts weren't my beliefs, they were just what I'd been conditioned to believe, but it was no use. I pulled my phone out of my pocket as I continued my run and pressed one on speed dial, needing an answer to survive this. 

He answered on the second ring.