Swiped: A Romance Thriller

The Locking Pin

The knife was dull at the sides. No reflection would come from it. It was a knife with stories behind the handle—a knife that had switched hands one too many times like a dollar bill. Angelica really had no choice but to remove the leg. But with choices came time for action, and she knew that there were a million ways of doing any one thing.

If the leg was coming off, it would come off slowly. Time was her best friend right now. With each second she would purchase herself a new idea–a new thought of strategy, of escape.

She already had the worst scenario built out in her mind: RAPE.

Rape by this loser.

"Let's go. Take it off."

"Ok," Angelica replied. She would take it off. Slowly. She registered the small room. She would be raped in this strange place. In a damn rental. In a foreign home with a stranger.

If ghosts existed and could be sensed watching you, they would be Phillip's eyes. Angelica felt him. She could also feel his impatience rising as she fiddled around. The movements were too slow that even her own body recognized a feeling of impatience.

"Why are you taking so fucking long?"

"This one is newer. The attachment is difficult to undo at times. I'm supposed be getting it examined. They think the fitting was off or something." Angelica lied. She looked up. He was buying it. Maybe.

Phillip bent over her leg. He looked around at her hands, working the prosthesis.

"What if I cut here." He angled the knife.

"You can't cut it. They won't fix it then." Angelica lied again. If only he got a little closer, she could try to wrestle the knife from him.

"I don't care about fixing it. that's what you have rich parents for, darling." Phillip moved closer; his eyes aligned on the prosthesis.

This was it; it was coming off.

He aimed the knife at no particular section, but he had intent. At least he didn't know how it worked. A knife wouldn't do. Unless he sawed away for hours at the locking pin. But common sense kicked in. Phillip was showing interest by feeling around and seeing how the prosthesis worked. The only thing that poked out was the locking pin–a dead giveaway.

Angelica could feel the wet of her palms over the bed. The corners of her head attracted her hair to stick.

Without the prosthesis she would be hopelessly unbalanced. She would be stricken to the same circumstances...to the same circumstances as Gentz.

Fucking hell. Why did Gentz have to slam her mind right now? It's been years since they've talked. What was Gentz even doing right now? It's been years since it happened, but what was Angelica supposed to do?

High-school Reputation. Fucking reputation, man. That stuff will keep you silent like the life of a slug. Angelica knew what she should have done. Angelica was supposed to stop it. Open her mouth was all she had to do.

But instead Gentz was overpowered by three of those drunk fucks. The music covering all her pleas. The music overpowering the vibrations of her voice. She was nothing that day. And Angelica was even less as she stood there watching.

CLICK.

"Got it." Phillip blurted.

"No-no, that's for something else."

"Stop the shit. I may be poor, have no college background, but that doesn't mean I'm not a human being, sweetheart." Phillip bolted closer to her face. "I'm not a damn ape. Anyone can figure this shit out. It's just a locking pin—see. And now I just pull."

All that remained was the gel liner on her limb.

Gentz may have forgiven her, but whatever higher power existed, it was delivering a clear message: Angelica will pay for what she didn't prevent. Today, she would feel the shame and worthlessness that Gentz felt so many years back.

Phillip pushed her back. He climbed on the bed and began to remove her cloths roughly. Angelica struggled to prevent her clothes from disappearing off her body, but he was too strong and she was way off balance.

She heard something crash against the wall. The knife.

As if his hands were a makeshift braw, he covered her breasts. Feeling her small nipples and pressed her curves into his palms. Snatching her breasts like packed dirt. That's what she felt like. Dirt.

She was lost. She lost.

This was not how it was meant to be. She let her arms loosen to the side of her thighs. She loosened her body. No need to fight now. There was nothing left but to let him finish.

What? Wait... the gel liner. It was still attached to her limb. That meant the protruding pin was still at the end of the gel liner.

A weapon.

It would be unsolid, but with a tight pull on the gel liner, the pin would become taught and stiff, enough for her to poke a good jab at his torso.

It was her only shot.

Phillip moved back to undo his pants. He had worked himself a stiff one.

He worked his zipper. Angelic tugged at the sides of her gel liner. She pulled hard as ever.

His pants came down, unrealizing.

"Mother fucker, fuck you!" Angelica thrust her limb at his torso, but it was too short and arced down swiftly. She missed.

But the whole house broke down in agonizing pain. Phillip spilt lines of saliva while holding his nut sack together.

The bed was covered in blood.

Phillip tipped to the side like a bowling pin and scrunched his body together.

She raced to the floor, leading herself with her hands and elbows. Passing her prosthesis on the way to the knife.

Angelica seal-walked back over to Phillip's broke body, his back to her.

The knife stuck bone as she thrusted it to his ribs. She clutched the sheets as she hung at the end of the bed. The sudden pain jerked Phillip so that he faced the ceiling.

She pushed herself up and over. Angelica dropped her face over his. "This is for Gentz, you piece of shit." She took his limp dick, pulled it hard, and sliced right through. Powering her movements was pure anger. She jammed the flesh into his mouth, finger-crowding it as far as it would go. He choked hard. Chest pulsing with jerks, until there was nothing else but his blank stare.

"What the fuck?"

Angelica turned. Tears let loose at the sight of Stevie Ark.

She kept it cool. How much he saw, she didn't know. But weakness was not an option. She would not beg for a hug. She would not beg for Stevie to take her far away from what just happened.

Today she was givenfreedom to continue the work for Gentz. This was for her and for all the otherswith untold stories. The silent ones.