TO THE STARS

Chapter 22

Day 34

     The moment was very well expected, yet there I found myself pertrified, terror-strucked. The fear of talking had never struck me up until that moment.

"Miss Andrea? " I unconsciously had my head bowed and my fingers knotted tightly around each other. "Are you okay? " Miss Abigail asked.

"No one will ever believe you, you know that don't you...

     My mouth had a similar characteristic to that of a desert; dry. I wasn't able to alter a single word, no matter how I tried. "Ehm. I-I, " I choked out.

     Miss Abigail quietly stood up and retrieved a bottled water from a nearby table. "Here you go dear, " she said, stretching the bottle over to me. I humbly accepted it and drank as much as my throat allowed me to.

     The worrisome look she spotted, didn't go unnoticed "Whenever you're ready dear. No pressure."

     I took a deep breath, cleared my throat and gave it another try. "I- I was rap-" The word got trapped in my throat. I took another deep breath, closed my eyes and tried again. "I was raped by someone I thought was my best friend, someone I trusted. A person I grew up with, shared things with and loved like a brother." I realised that it was easier with my eyes shut, so I kept them that way. "It was a late evening on June 30th and I had just retired for the night. I laid on my bed, thinking. Thinking about Bryan and if he made it safely to his uncle's house. He had dinner at my house that night and before he left, he informed me of his plans to go visit his uncle who lived an hour away. I always closed my windows every night, because sometimes it gets too chilly. For some reasons, I forgot on that very night." My head was slowly starting to ache and I was finding it hard to breath properly. I could feel tears rolling down my cheeks as they escaped from behind my closed lids.

"No one will ever believe you, you know that don't you...

     With a stuffed nose, I continued. "I- I really didn't know when he came in. I- I didn't hear a sound and come to think of it, the evening was awfully quiet; no crickets chirping and not even the blow of the wind." I drew in yet another deep breath; in and out.

     I felt a bit lightheaded. My nose was starting to run. Miss Abigail was quick to react and reached for the tissue box beside her, stretching it out to me. I thanked her with a little nod, pulled out one sheet and dabbed underneath my nose, pushing the tissue a bit in. I've always been conscious about blowing my nose on public. "I- I felt a pressure near my feet, the kind you feel when someone sits on a bed you're on. I thought it was all in my head, because I didn't hear anyone come in, you know. Then I felt a presence above me. The person's scent was really familiar. At this point, I knew it wasn't a dream, so I opened my eyes and there he was." I was full blown sobbing, having zero care to how I looked.

"No one will ever believe you, you know that don't you...

     I blew my nose in the most graceful way possible and gulped down the remaining water from the bottle I still held. "It was- it was Bryan," I cried out. " He- he was hovering over me and- and I just froze. My mind went completely blank and my body felt so stiff, like it was glued to the bed." I blew my nose again. "I mean, I didn't know what to do. He was meant to be at his uncle's house, yet there he was, over me. He had this strange look in his eyes. He didn't resemblance the person I knew and grew up with." My hands were shaking and I could feel a trail of snort running down my nose. I took another tissue and wrapped it off.

     My throat was quite dry and sore from crying and talking at the same time. My eyes were hurting, every blink more painful than the former. "He held me down, his hand wrapped tightly around my mouth. I didn't feel him undressing me." I paused, to let out a hysterical laugh, mocking the word "undress". What he did was far from undressing, it was degrading and inhuman. He practically ripped the clothes off my body. "I snapped out my frozen state the moment I felt the restriction of the band of my panties pressing against my waist. He ripped- he ripped it out of me and I- I- I didn't know what to do. I felt so small under his sadist gaze. I started screaming, scratching, kicking, pulling, basically anything I could think of. "