The night had been filled with wide smiles, near obnoxious laughter and deep conversation until about eleven past midnight. I vividly recall his large, somewhat cold hand firmly grasping mine while the emotions behind his wide grin had changed. "I have an idea." He stated almost blankly, yet the grin remained. Only the tilt of my head had been a response, all verbal communication fleeting as he took my other hand in his. "You'll see, just follow me."
The films for the night had long since ended, with the front and back entrances of the theatre being shut and locked, dead bolted. That had meant the patrons and the employees who collected checks from the establishment every week had long since returned to their homes. This had meant there was not a single soul within a mile radius from him and I.
Being only sixteen at the time, the sight and scent of him were almost intoxicating. My age matched my naivete, my immaturity. Him holding both of my hands meant there was no escape from what was about to occur.
"I don't know about this, Levi. The guys are expecting me home any minute." I protested, attempting to pull my hands from his grasp. Him being eighteen at the time and his physique being no match to my own, his hands squeezed mine to prevent them from leaving his grasp. "What's wrong, August?" His smooth voice questioned, guiding me further and further into the darkness of the alley behind the theatre. Again, my being young and completely ignorant to the world at the time translated to a horrible situation being birthed.
"Levi, I'm serious. Jake is expecting me home. Are you even listening to me?" I questioned to no avail. It seemed as though his emerald green eyes had been glazed over with some new emotion I had never witnessed anyone display before; lust.
"Don't you trust me? How long have we been dating now? Jake will be fine." He attempted to persuade me. His momentary lapse of a firm grip allowed me to pull my hands free. Before I could storm off down the alley too far, his strong hands found my tiny waist. Gripping me firmly in his hands, he slammed me into the cold, damp brick that encased the theatre. The sudden impact caused me to cry out, with pain now radiating from my right cheek. A hiss seethed through my teeth as I felt his five foot nine inch frame pin me against the wall.
"It saddens me that you don't seem to trust me, sweetheart." His words spilled from his lips like venom, one strong arm wrapping itself around my waist, and the other gripping my throat tightly. The air in my throat hitched with his grasp, while his arm pulled my petite body to his lean, muscular figure. The bulge that I felt pressing against my rear end was prominent, and the feeling caused every one of my organs, reproductive and otherwise, to shrivel up and waste away.
"I trusted you until now, please, just let me go!" I pleaded, trying my best to not shove myself against his body, for fear that it would arouse him more. But it seemed as though the mere sight of my squirming in his hold was enough for him to proceed to fiddle with the zipper that started at the back of my neck.
"Levi, stop! Please!" I repeated, begging for my freedom over, and over. However, it seemed to only make the situation worse. Within seconds it seemed, my once favored red sundress had been gathered around my waist. The echo of his belt buckle echoed through my ears and within seconds, the under garments that I had definitely burned after that night had found themselves around my ankles.
Half of those fifteen to twenty minutes had been blacked out from my mind. Most of what I remember is his belt finding itself binding my wrists together behind my back, my throat becoming hoarse from my screaming and crying in pain, and the intense, radiating pain that started from between my legs and spreading upwards into my stomach and around my waist from where his fingers and their nails had dug themselves into my pale skin. Eventually, the sounds that escaped my throat ceased. Slowly, I had begun to accept my circumstances. This was happening, and I hadn't been able to avoid nor stop it. At only sixteen years old, I experienced something that no woman, or even man, should ever endure. I wasn't young anymore. I wasn't pure anymore. No one is ever going to love me if they ever found out I had been through this, I thought to myself both while it was happening and days, weeks, months and now years after it had happened. I'd never be loved by anyone, ever.
My vision had remained cloudy, spots of darkness flitting in and out of my sight. His low grunts and moans filled the alleyway and my ears. Disgusting words, slurs and insults followed from his lips as well, guiding themselves to my ears. They were words I still refuse to repeat. I vividly remember the feeling of a massive rush flowing through my lower regions, signaling his climax as his grunts and moans intensified. Tears had long since filled my eyes and the streams now stained my cheeks, paving ways through the makeup that I had pressed into my skin just hours before. Despite the fact that he had finished, he continued, only forcing his fluids and my own to continue to stream down my legs. Only the fluid that flowed from me was a bright crimson color that stained my skin, my under garments and the pavement underneath my feet.
What felt like an eternity later, it seemed as though he was finally finished. As soon as he removed himself from me, his exhausted panting and now soft groaning evolved into pained yelps and hollering. Through my pained, hazy vision, I witnessed a bright blue light illuminate the alleyway from where I kept my sights fixed on a brick wall at the opposite end of the entrance of the alley. I could feel my face had long been drained of color and emotion, and it remained as expressionless as ever as I finally felt his tight grip loosen, his pained cries intensifying.
However, because he had let go of my tiny figure, my knees finally were allowed to buckle, allowing my body to crash on the cold pavement of the backstreet. The brilliant blue illumination intensified through the area and so had his cries. They sounded almost animalistic, as if he was experiencing pain that no other human being had ever felt before. Internally, I was smiling a wide, psychotic grin because now, he was enduring an intense pain. Not quite the pain he had just inflicted on me moments before, but it would suffice.
"Let me find you violating her or any other female again, I won't be as gentle." I heard another being threaten. Through my haze of pain, I heard a cold, gravelly voice utter these words to my boyfriend turned attacker. All I could truly do was stare into the gorgeous night sky, speckled with the tiniest glints of light that were stars. As I continued keeping my gaze fixed onto the sky overhead, I continued blissfully listening to my now ex boyfriend's pained howls.
"Please, please, let me go! I'll do anything!" His words echoed through the alley, and out of my peripheral, I watched as he held one hand to his face and the other remained outstretched in front of him in a halting motion. He hadn't even had the chance to pull his trousers up to cover his exposed lower half.
"That's amusing. I vividly recall her requesting the same thing of you." The gravelly voice retorted, and following his words, the blue illumination grew in strength once more and more pained shouts escaped Levi's throat. "Honestly, with what you just did to her, you deserve to be only fuel for my flames. I shouldn't allow you to take another fucking breath." More words from the opposite male spilled from his lips like poison. After the end of his sentence, a final piercing animalistic scream escaped Levi's mouth, followed by the sound of hurried footsteps of someone who possibly exited the alleyway.
"Pity. He deserved to burn." The other male stated simply, as if no emotion ever seeped from his words. I felt a gaze turn towards my direction, followed by slow footsteps approaching me. Too terrified to even look another man in the eye again, I kept my blank gaze focused on the stars glittering in the sky. The sound of a garment being removed filled my ears and given what I had just experienced, a shiver of fear fluttered through my limp body.
Observing this, the male reassured me. "Don't be afraid," He whispered, lying a dark colored jacket over my half naked form. "I'm sorry..." He apologized, despite the fact that he had not been my attacker. "That wasn't supposed to happen." The words he spoke were sincere as he wrapped the coat around my now shivering body.
"I'm going to pick you up now. Is that alright?" The male inquired. I gave no verbal response, however. The only reply he received was a single stream of salty tears running down the side of my head, getting lost in the dark strands of hair that had been tousled in the assault. Pushing one arm underneath my shoulders, the male guided his other arm underneath my knees, with my under garments caught around my ankles, being stopped by my heels that had matched my dress. As I was taken into this man's embrace, an overwhelming yet calming warmth had also embraced me. Is he running a fever, I questioned internally as I still burrowed myself into his torso.
A small huff escaped his lips as he cradled me out of the alleyway. "I have very few soft spots. Somehow you managed to find every single one." He spoke to me, and by the direction of his voice, I could tell he was gazing down at me in his arms. However, to this day, I don't know the face of my savior. Even as he guided me towards the nearest emergency room, I didn't dare meet his gaze. Despite the fact that he had assisted me that night, I was still petrified of meeting his gaze. What girl wouldn't be scared? After what I just experienced, I wasn't risking looking at another man the wrong way and enduring a second round of the torture I had endured that night.
Through the entire walk to where I was assuming was the nearest hospital, I had been in and out of consciousness, only waking briefly whenever the man said anything. He never said a lot, but whenever he spoke, his oddly soothing, gravelly voice would soothe me right back into a pain filled slumber. Slumber, however, was an understatement; it was more like a comatose state due to the pain.
Perhaps the third or fourth time I had returned to the world, bright lights had invaded my vision. Despite the fact that the attack had long been finished, there were still some darkened spots that speckled my vision. Confusion filled my senses at the source of the new light, and upon further regaining consciousness, I realized the man's warm embrace no longer cradled me. Perhaps that was the reason that this time, flitting back into consciousness was so agitating.
Next, the sensation of pins and pricks into my skin began bothering me. Scrunching up my face, I attempted pulling my limbs away. All I had wanted was to be left alone. "No, no, sweetie. I'm sorry but we have to do this, it's for your health." A female's voice reassured me, followed by the feeling of hands gently grasping my thin arms. Realizing that there would be no end to people touching my body tonight, I allowed whoever was touching me to continue. At that point, I didn't care who touched me. As long as they eventually stopped so that I could rest, finally.
It felt like hours, perhaps days before I could actually keep myself awake long enough to have a sensible conversation with anyone. By the time I had legitimately kept myself awake, I found myself in a bright white bed, covered in a thin knit blanket. A thin hospital gown concealed my body from the world's view, unlike how I might have come into the facility. Someone had graciously pulled my hair into a messy bun atop my head, revealing a massive bruise across the side of my face from the brick wall. Both my eyes were also blackened, which might have been the explanation for my spotted vision. Upon taking a visit to the restroom, stinging and intense, searing pain flared through my nether regions. Upon further inspection, I observed severe bruising and swelling from a quite obvious source. Bruises littered my inner thighs and waist, causing aches without my even grazing the skin. There were also bruises ringing themselves around my wrists, obviously from the belt squeezing them together.
Perhaps, due to the trauma of the entire situation and my desire to forget everything that had happened, I don't recall my brothers' and Vanessa's reactions to first seeing me in the intensive care unit that next day. My thoughts mostly resided with the man that had come to my rescue. He hadn't even bothered to tell me his name. Maybe he thought that after tonight, he'd never see me again and I'd just go on my way, making an attempt to return to a hopefully normal life. But any attempt I could have made at returning to a normal life was shattered when just ten weeks later, I found myself sitting atop a closed toilet seat, hands shaking as if I had just drank fifteen energy drinks. My eyes remained glued to the positive pregnancy home test lying on the floor in front of me, and it remained on the floor. It was as if I were terrified of it splitting in half if I even thought of picking it up.