Ghosts ✔

026 • Dana

. . .

TWO MONTHS LATER

. . .

Her eyes were glued to the synchronously moving bodies, merging into each other in one rhythm. She couldn't see his face; he was lying on top and kissing the girl, his fingers tangled in her hair, the muscles of his back and bottom tensing as he thrust inside her. Their moaning came from everywhere around her; even when she pressed her hands to her ears she couldn't escape the sounds.

Dana didn't want to look at them. She however couldn't look away either.

It had been that way for days – or even weeks. A few hours a day Maddox locked her inside this room, plaguing her with videos of Juice. 

The current one wasn't the worst – not by a long shot. With tears in her eyes Maddox had forced her to watch how Juice had been lying on the ground, too drunk to get up. She had seen his violent outbursts, his sudden cries. Twice she had even seen him overdose. Crying and screaming she had been sitting at the ground, her hands clawing through her hair, praying that someone would find him. And thank god, someone had found him. Both times the blonde girl had found him and called the ambulance. 

Without her, Juice would have been dead. 

Dana had learned to love that unknown girl, she had wished that Juice and she could build something beautiful, for he needed her. He needed the loving arms of a woman, the soothing whispers when he was having a panic attack. 

Two weeks ago Dana had seen them kiss for the first time. 

Today – or actually she was watching the video of last night – they had slept together for the first time. 

But no matter how badly she wanted him to be happy – seeing the two together still hurt. She wanted to lie underneath him, to feel his fingers glide across her skin, his lips on hers, he buried deep inside her. She wanted to look into his eyes as they made love, hearing his excited breathing, seeing that happy smile. She missed him so much that she almost seemed to burst out of her skin and there was nothing she could do about it. In fact, it only went worse, thanks to all the hours Maddox was locking her up. 

And still this was no torture. 

It distracted her from that deep, dull pain. That hole in her soul, her love for the little child that was no longer there. 

Tabitha. 

Her little miracle. Her little girl. Forever a dagger in her heart – and in Juice's.

The door opened. Dana didn't even look over her shoulder. Since he had killed her daughter, all appearances were gone. Just like in the days before she had met Juice, he was raping and beating her up whenever he felt the need to. She never resisted – not anymore. There was no point in it, there was nowhere to go and he could still hurt Kip if she was disobedient. 

"See? Your love doesn't mean anything. He already replaced you."

From the corner of her eye she saw that he leaned against the wall, his arms crossed. 

"He's trying to fill the void. It's almost a year since you took me away from him."

"If he had loved you, he would have stayed loyal. Like I did, when you were gone."

Dana turned towards him. "Is this supposed to break me? Watching him fuck another girl?" She let out a cynical laugh. "Actually it's giving me peace, knowing that he's reasserting control over his life . You will never let me go anyway. Did you think that I wanted him to be alone for the rest of his life? I love him – I want him to be happy. Even without me."

His jaws tensed, his eyes glowing as those of a predator. 

Dana didn't care. Provocatively, she looked back to the video that was repeating itself again.

"He doesn't love you, Dana! Can't you see it!" he snapped. "He doesn't deserve your love!"

"Oh and you do?" she answered fiercely. "You killed my baby. You rape me, you beat me. Where's the love in that?!"

"You think I enjoy that? I wish things were different too, but you're forcing me to treat you like that , just because you can't get that unfaithful prick out of your head. He replaced you, Dana. He's fucking another bitch and you can't convince me that you don't care."

Of course she cared – but she wasn't mad at Juice. How could she? She had done the same with Kip, she had also longed for a little bit of love and she would never blame Juice for doing the same.

"I do care," she answered, straightening her shoulders. "It does me good to see someone cares about him."

"You think that bitch cares about him?" Maddox scorned, taking a step towards her. "Where do you think those cameras are coming from? That whore works for me. She doesn't give a shit about him and the moment he thinks he's enjoying life again, she'll kick him back in that deep dark hole. You're mine, Dana." His dark eyes rested upon her, making her stomach cringe. "And he's mine too. She will slid his throat with a snap of my fingers. She doesn't care about him, she thinks he's just a pathetic mess of a man. And he'll know." His lips crept into a sickening smirk. "As soon as that heart of his is healed again, she'll smash it ruthlessly to pieces." Holding out his hand, he placed his cold fingers against her cheek. "And this time, there will be nobody to take him to the hospital when he overdoses again. He'll die there on the ground, all alone, wallowing in his own misery." His fingernails cut into her flesh. "And you will watch. You will watch while the last shred of life slips away from him."