Unveil Mercury [#Wattys2017]

s a f e t y

CHAPTER NINETEEN

Sutton returned to the town hall. The police was out front and she saw all of her friends standing outside. They all looked petrified. She wasn't gone for long, only ten minutes. Noah was the only who would notice that she went off somewhere. She ducked in between police vehicles and came up behind Noah. He stood next to a bloody Alex. Dawn was leaning against a car while an officer spoke to him. Alison was comforted by Lola as she spoke to another officer.

"Where were you?" Noah hissed, his eyes covering her frame to look for any injuries.

"Alice texted me. I'll tell you later. What's going on?"

Noah's eyes softened, "Alex is being arrested for assault. And, Alison is talking to the cops about that night."

"What's going to happen to Dawn?"

Noah sighed, "They're taking him back to Mercury. He is going to be out on bail but they have enough evidence to persecute him."

"He'll get jail time?"

Noah nodded, "He drugged her, tied her up and raped her. He's getting time."

"What about witnesses?"

"Ava is missing. They'll announce it on the news. My parents called the police station. She's really missing, babe."

Sutton paled, "I'm sorry, Noah."

He smiled sadly, "I think you need to talk to Alison."

Alison was shaking in fear. Sutton left Noah standing next to Alex. Sutton came up to Ali and as soon as she saw Sutton, she pulled away from Lola and the cop and ran into Sutton's arms.

"He did it, Sutton. He raped me and lied about it. He kept doing it. He was the one who caused all the pain." she cried out in pain. Sutton could feel her dress being soaked in tears but she didn't care. Alison needed her. It seemed like everybody needed her.

"Shh..." she whispered softly. "It's okay. You're safe now."

"Promise?"

"I promise you're safe."

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Alison was resting her head on Sutton's lap. Her eyes were closed but tears still leaked out of her eyelids. Sutton combed her fingers through Ali's hair, comforting her. Alison only spoke to Sutton and she only felt safe when Sutton was around. She didn't want to talk to the police and she didn't want to talk to anyone else. Her parents were contacted and they were picking her up the following day. She was going back home. Sutton also wanted to go home. She just didn't want to deal with Alice anymore.

"You coming to bed?" Noah asked, his eyes bloodshot after the events of the night.

Sutton shook her head, "No, I think I'll stay down here with her tonight."

He nodded, "Okay, goodnight."

She gave him a small smile. She was emotionally drained.

"Sut?" Ali whispered.

She looked down at the broken girl, "Yes, hun?"

"Don't leave me."

"I promise I'm right here, okay?"

"Okay."

•
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•

5 August 2017

The next day Alison's parent arrived early at the lake house. Lola and Eli had packed all of her things and Ciara helped her out to the SUV. Alison was in no state to talk. She was just blubbering nonsense and she flinched every time someone touched her. Sutton didn't say goodbye because she had fallen asleep on the couch and Noah only threw a soft blanket on top of her. They left her napping for the rest of the day considering she was up all night consoling Alison. The rest of the group got ready for the party. It was too late to cancel and all of them needed to blow off some steam. Alex was incarcerated for the weekend. His parents were picking him up on Monday morning. Dawn was also taken into custody, he was still in Venus.

Most of them were okay with what happened. They already knew that Ali was raped. What really bothered them was that Dawn was in the house with them all the time. Hell, he slept next to Alison every night. The only ones who truly knew was Sutton and Ciara.

Sutton awoke to music blaring through the house. She saw that the den doors were closed and no one was inside the living room. She was covered in a wooly blanket. She pushed the blanket off of her and slipped off the couch. She opened the doors and someone passed her in the hallway on a skateboard. He was holding a blue cup in his hand. Girls in bikinis and guys without shirts were littering around the house. She stepped outside onto the porch and saw that there was a big party going on. There was a huge jumping castle nestled on the grass, there were a few boats with dancing bodies on the lake and jetski's racing around them. People were drinking and dancing and laughing. As if the last twenty four hours didn't happen. Sutton was still in her red dress and she felt like she'd been hit with a truck.

She returned to her room, chasing a couple out of her bedroom and locking the door. She decided to take a shower and scrub her skin till it hurt. She pulled on a yellow bikini with a sheer dress over it. She wasn't in the party mood. She couldn't think that any of them were in the party mood. So why were they still throwing one?

She found the group lying on blankets close to the lake. They all looked tired and exhausted. Noah stood up and went to hug Sutton. She rested her head on his shoulder.

"You okay?" Lola asked, looking up at her through her sunglasses.

"Could be doing better," she muttered glaring around her.

"They just showed up," Ciara said, drunkenly. She stood up wobbily and joined a couple of guys barbecuing some meat.

"Sorry about C. She's always drunk at these things." Eli apologised, taking a sip of her beer. Even Lola was drinking and she never drank. All of them needed a break.

"Let's just forget about what happened and take a load off. We all need it." Sutton announced plopping down on the towel next to Lola. They all cheered in agreement. Noah seemed to be relieved by her attitude.

"Amen to that." Lola said, staring out onto the lake. She seemed off today. Not only was she drinking but she looked out of sync. Something happened and she didn't know how to control it. Sutton looked at the tattoo on her wrist. It was a lie. Why would Lola want to be part of burying a body? Why would she deliberately want to put herself in a compromising position? Sutton was aware that she still needed to turn Eli in. She was aware that she only had two days left. She didn't know what Alice would do if she didn't turn it in. She hoped she could figure out who Alice was before she had to turn Eli in. She wasn't even sure if she was going too.

Noah handed her a red cup, "Relax a bit. You look stressed out."

She smiled at him as he sat down next to her, "I'm trying too."

She didn't want to tell him about what she had found. She felt like this was something she needed to do on her own. She didn't want to drag Noah into it as well.

"Thanks for looking after Ali, last night." Eli said, holding her cup up in salute.

Sutton nodded, "She needed me."

"I think we all do." Lola said, looking uninterested in the guys checking her out from the dock.

Izzy rolled her eyes, "If you hadn't been here, everything would've been a catastrophe."

"A royal fucking mess," Eli agreed.

Izzy and Lola both giggled, slighty buzzed by the beer, "Except for Ciara. She seems fine on her own." Sutton looked over at Ciara making out with a random stranger.

"She feels guilty." Sutton mumbled.

"About what?" Izzy asked, rubbing her stomach with sunscreen.

"Alison. Maybe she knew." Sutton only indicated that she knew. She didn't want them to find out how long she had known.

Lola sighed, "Summer is almost over."

"It was the worst." Eli said.

"It shouldn't have to be. I mean we have a week left." Sutton said, looking at them. They all could still enjoy it here. Dawn wasn't here anymore. All the secrets were revealed. Sutton was just dealing with Alice but that had nothing to do with the girls. 

They could still have the summer back.