Secret Torture (Student/Teacher) - COMPLETED

Chapter Thirty One: The Relapse

James wasn't in school. Georgia's art class had a substitute teacher, and mural work after school had been cancelled. He was missing. Presumably sick, she said. I had other suspicions.

Once lunchtime arrived, I made my way to the most secluded part of the school I could find - out back, behind the gym. As I arrived there, I was struck with a memory I thought I had completely forgotten. The last time I was here was at the school dance. 

I slid down the brick wall and sat on the cold concrete, remembering myself doing precisely the exact same thing the night of the dance. Only that night, I was accompanied by a little-too-eager Vince, and a bottle of vodka.

I took out my phone and dialed James' number. It rang out. I redialed, only for it to ring out again. He wasn't answering. I tried his house phone. Again, no answer. 

I tried to swallow my fears. James was probably fine. He probably was sick. It was flu season - maybe he had caught the bug. 

Or maybe something had gone terribly wrong. Maybe he wasn't okay. At all.

Consumed with worry, I leaped off the pavement and walked straight out of the school grounds. The last memory I had of James was that of last night's cold and hostile kiss. He wasn't okay then, and maybe he wasn't okay now. Either way, I had to see him. I couldn't stay in school for another two and a half hours.  I didn't care that I was skipping school, and I didn't care if anyone saw me. I just had to go to him. Now.

It took me almost forty minutes to get there. When his house finally came into a sight, a sense relief should have washed over me. Instead, a wave of fear drowned every hope I had once had. There was a second car parked in his driveway - and another memory I had thought was lost returned to the surface of my mind. 

Erica was here.

I couldn't call to his house - not while she was there. My feet were just about to change directions, when I saw something else. The door opened, and Erica walked out of the house. 

I froze in place, unable to look away. 

Her long, thick black hair was billowing in the wind as she made her way to her car. The door had been shut behind her. She was alone. She climbed into her car and pulled out, driving away down the road, away from me.

My feet immediately began their march towards James' house. I wasn't sure what had just happened, but I was going to find out.

A smarter girl would have turned right around and gone home. A smarter girl would have kept her nose out of his personal business with his ex girlfriend, and his son's mother. A smarter girl would have ran away the second she sensed something was wrong. 

I did none of these things. 

I knocked twice on his door and waited. When he answered, he was clearly very surprised.

"A-Allison?" he asked, unsure of himself. "What are you doing here? Did - did she see you?"

"No, I don't think so-"

"-You don't think so?!" he hissed, eyes wild and raging. My arm was grabbed and I was pulled into the front hall. The door slammed shut, shutting out the daylight, enclosing us in darkness. I caught sight of myself in the mirror on the opposite wall. I didn't look very frightened, but in truth, I was terrified.

"What the fuck are you doing here?" James asked once more.

I suddenly became a quivering mess as fear overcame me. One time thing, I reminded myself. He will not hurt me. He will not hurt me.

"I - um - I was worried - you weren't in school - and I-"

"-And you thought it befitted you to come here, completely unannounced, and show up on my doorstep mere seconds after Erica was here?"

I was speechless. "I-"

"You what?" he snapped. "She already has enough shit to take away my son from me - her finding out that I'm dating a fucking eighteen year old student is not going to help me. At all. I can't believe you. I can't - ARE YOU EVEN LISTENING TO ME?" he bellowed, and my body was taken into the grasp of his hands.

I nodded my head immediately. "Y-yes, I'm listening, I'm-"

My words were cut off by a burning pain. He grabbed hold of my wrist and twisted it so far that my knees gave out and tears sprung to my eyes.

"S-stop, please… James, please," I begged, whimpering, my eyes burning with hot tears.

He roughly pulled me upright by the scruff of my tshirt. I kept my gaze faced downwards, refusing to look at him.

"You need to learn. You need to realize that what you do affects other people. Do you hear me?"

I opened my mouth to speak, but nothing came out. My mind was racing with thoughts, but not one of them told me what to say. I stared down, silent. There was a deafening smack as he whacked his palm against my cheek. 

"Do you hear me?" he repeated, his words slow and full of anguish.

I nodded my head quickly. 

He grabbed my chin and forced me to face him.

"You deserve this," he told me, throwing another slap at my stinging cheek. I stumbled, losing my balance, but his arms held me in place, keeping me upright.

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw something move.

"Daddy?" a tiny, feeble voice said. My eyes went over James' shoulder, and saw Leo's tiny frame standing at the top of the staircase, watching us with eyes just as fearful as my own. 

"GO TO YOUR ROOM, LEO!" James screamed, never turning away, his eyes never leaving me. 

I watched as Leo retreated away without question. 

I had hoped that the interruption had somewhat distracted James, but it did not. As I attempted to shrug away from him, his grip grew tighter and his eyes darkened.

"Don't you try to walk away from me - I'm not finished yet," he growled. "That is disrespectful. You need to learn respect - You need to stop acting like a child, Allison."

I felt tears tumble down my cheek. "I - I'm sorry-"

"You're not sorry. I know you, and I know when you're lying, Allison. How dare you - HOW DARE YOU LIE TO ME!"

He drew his hand back, and I immediately screamed.

"STOP! STOP!" I pulled away from him. "Please," I sobbed. "I'm so sorry - I mean it, I swear. I'm so sorry. I love you, and I'm sorry."

Slowly, I turned my face back towards him, as I slowly became reassured that he was not going to hit me. His hand dropped back down, falling by his side. He let go of me and stepped back. He ran his hands through his hair and sighed.

"I, um - I'm going to leave… I need some fresh air," he mumbled, walking past me. He opened the front door, and left.

The second the door shut, I felt my knees give out again - and this time it was also because of unbearable pain - but a very different kind of pain. I slumped down onto the ground and pulled my knees up to my chest, sobbing uncontrollably.

I couldn't get my head around what had just happened. All I wanted to do was see if he was okay - all I wanted to do was help… 

I buried my head in my knees, desperately trying to stop crying - and desperately failing.

When I felt something touch my leg, I instinctively jumped away - but when I saw Leo's wide and worried eyes looking down at me, every fear I had vanished. 

"Ally, why are you crying?" he asked.

I wiped my eyes dry and forced a smile. "It's nothing," I said. "I'm fine."

"Did daddy hurt you?"

"No," I immediately replied. "No, no - daddy just got a little angry, that's all. I'm fine, I promise."

Leo sat down next to me and held my hand, knowing, despite my lies, the real truth. His tiny hand was so small that I could completely enclose it in mine. I held him close and shut my eyes, unable to halt the tears this time.