The Sanctuary✔️

36

"And what did he say to you? Did he ever tell you that he wished ill on you?"

"There were a few times where he would threaten to...to kill me. He would threaten me and my friends. He...he would tell me that he would take me away from everyone. I always took that as kidnapping, that he really would take me away from my life here and force me with him."

Nodding Gina kept pacing, "Ms. Nicholus, can you tell me when the physical abuse started with you and John?"

Ashley sighed and closed her eyes, "Around three years ago."

"What did John do to you physically?"

"It started with a slap when I was taking him home one day. He was drunk again and upset at me for coming to get him. I walked in on him cheating on me, and I took him home. He slapped me that night and forced me to sleep in the bathroom, because his friends had come over again afterwards and took over the living room and our room. That was the first time he touched me abusively. It kept up with just the slaps, not continuously though. Once and a while he would do it if I upset him. Again, he would only do it in a drunken state, then not remember in the morning. If he had remembered what he did he would baby me for days and take care of me, not letting me leave the house and doing everything for me."

She continued, "Over the year after that it got worse. He...he would start to get more aggressive and hold me down by my arms and yell. It caused a lot of bruising and welts. He would do this at least one a week. It got to the point where he would slap me or a part of me causing cuts or bruises on me. Everything always left a mark of some kind. My friend, Danny, would take me in when he could, for days i would pretty much hide from John but it just happened all over again and it was like a cycle. It...It got to the point where John would..."

Do they need to know this? They don't need every personal detail. I dont wanna talk about it.

"Ms. Nicholus? What did John do?"

"He would s-sexually...he would touch me inappropretly, never with my consent. He would overpower me and use me sexually. He left horrible marks everywhere, I wouldn't be able to walk around for a day or two and he would force me to stay home. He would take away my phone afterwards and lock the apartment doors so I wouldn't be able to leave. When he would give back my phone I would call Danny and he would take me for a day or two, to stay at his home for a bit again."

"Thank you for sharing this with us. Your honor, i would like to share some these pictures that Ms. Nicholus had submitted to the police department roughly a month ago when we had gotten a court date settled. These images show the markings and bruises John McAllen had left on her."

"Continue."

Gina had gotten a remote and a projector from somewhere in the room displayed a white screen and then a picture.

The picture itself was Ashley in a mirror, her right eye bruising alone with her cheek and a cut on her nose. It wasn't the worst thing Ashley had seen on her body, but she grimaced at the image. Looking down for a moment as Gian spoke.

"This is the earliest image tht Ashley had submitted, the date reading back to July 12, 2019. The bruising on her face was evident that only a person could cause that harm." Gina spoke before she continued with the next picture.

Picture after picture, Ashley's eyes teared up just by looking at them. They were hideous photos of her. They all showed her physical damage and pain.

Pictures of her arms, legs, ribs, face, neck and chest. Bruises, small cuts, bite marks, finger and hand prints. They littered all over the photos Ashley had to take to keep her sane, to make her feel a bit Safer in her world.