Inferno Part 4

~75~ Did I Do This?

Trigger Warning still in effect ❤️

Emma's POV

As the party goes on, I'm so glad that I threw it. Even though Jake will never admit it, he's floating. Everybody needs to be the center of attention once in a while, and I truly think Jake needed this.

Once he opens his presents, Wes walks up to me and Trace. "Can I talk to you guys?"

"Sure," Trace nods as he sets down his beer and looks at his dad.

"How's she doing?"

Trace blows out a breath and shrugs. "She's messed up, dad. She needs help."

"What kind of help?" Wes asks as he straightens his back.

"Honestly? She needs admitted."

"Why do you say that?"

"Dad, just trust me. She's a complete mess, and she thinks she hates you right now."

Wes is quiet for a minute as he mulls that over. "Are you afraid she's going to hurt herself?"

"I have no idea....."

"I have no idea what's going on, Trace. You have to give me more than this....What's wrong with your sister?"

"Dad, please don't make me tell you. It's going to do you NO good to know."

"She's still my damn daughter, Trace. You have no right to pick and choose what to tell me. Tell me now."

"Dad....."

"TRACE......"

"SHE WAS RAPED!" He says way too loudly, and everyone in the house hears and goes completely quiet.

Wes' face flashes a pain I didn't know the human body could endure, and shakes his head in complete horror.

"She..."

"She was raped, and that's why she started prostituting."

"When?" he gets out after a long moment, his breathing labored and choppy.

"Don't make me give those details to you, dad. Please just take the horrible facts and leave the details alone. Please? I'm begging you."

"Trace Nathaniel, right now....." he says as he clenches his fists and his nostrils flare.

Trace closes his eyes and bends his head. "She ran out of gas and didn't have money to get any. She stopped at a bar to borrow someone's phone to call you......"

I immediately understand why Trace closes his eyes—So he wouldn't have to watch his dad react to this news. I thought the last look he had was inhumane, but I was wrong. I am watching a man burning at a stake, and I almost feel his hell.

Trace keeps his eyes closed and I take his hand. He squeezes my hand just once, and doesn't move.

"Tay?" Wes finally gets out over his shoulder.

"Yeah buddy?" Dad asks with so much emotion in his voice, it's evident that this isn't just affecting the Greene's. Every single person is burning right along with Wes.

"Is he telling me that I'm the reason my daughter got raped and started prostituting?"

Dad walks up behind him and wraps his arms around Wes, while Wes stands completely still. Trace finally opens his eyes to look at his dad through flowing tears. When I look over, both Sarah and mom are holding Megan, who is on the floor with her head between her knees.

"This isn't your fault, Wesley," dad whispers in his ear, holding him as tight as he can.

Wes finally comes back to life as he wiggles out of dad's grasp. When dad lets him go, he looks over at Jake.