AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“No one cared about what happened to us in there.” I let out a bitter laugh. “You know that. Besides, I refused to let him break me. To give him that kind of power over me.”
At least, that’s what I told myself.
Whenever Derek would sneak into my room and lie down beside me and start touching himself, I tuned him out. Focused on the things I loved—being at home with my parents or in No Man’s Land with Blake.
I went to another place, one happier and brighter and full of love and laughter. I never allowed myself to be there with him. I was an empty vessel, and he couldn’t hurt me.
Only Derek Freeman had hurt me in ways I wouldn’t fully realize until I left the group home.
“I should have been there.” It came out a whisper on the breeze.
But you weren’t.
I swallowed the words. Blaming Blake didn’t change anything. Just as it wouldn’t fix anything.
“What happened after… after he…” Blake gulped, pain etched into his gorgeous features. “After he tried to hurt you?”
“He got angry, roughed me up a bit, threatened me if I ever told anyone, then he zipped up his pants, and walked out of my room like it never happened. He didn’t bother me again.”
What I didn’t tell Blake was that I checked out after that. I only had a few months left before I aged out, so I kept to myself. Jessica was long gone, Amy and Gabriel too. I had no one. Nothing.
So I became invisible.
“I should have put that fucker in the ground when I had the chance.” The venom in Blake’s words didn’t surprise me. He had always hated our foster dad.
When Blake discovered Derek leaving my room that first night, I’d wrapped myself around him and begged him not to do anything stupid.
It wasn’t until Blake finally calmed down that I was able to pass on Derek’s message: Tell anyone, and he would ensure we never saw each other again. He used our friendship against us, holding us prisoner to his will, and it seemed the sick man loved getting off while lying next to young girls stroking their innocent skin.
Emotionally spent, I said the only words I could muster. “He’ll get his one day.”
I had to believe that.
One day, Derek Freeman would pay for his crimes.
“We should probably get back,” I said, hoping to snap Blake out of his own thoughts.
He shook his head and looked right through me. “Yeah, okay.”
As we walked back the rest of the short distance to cabin row, the distance between us seemed greater than ever.
Just as I had predicted, my revelations—the truth—changed everything. And as much as I tried to tell myself that Derek didn’t still hold power over me, this was proof he did.
The second cabin row came into view, an empty feeling washed over me. It was ironic, really, that what started as possibly one of the single best moments of my life would end this way.
Blake called me his lucky Penny, but I was all lucked out.
Had been for most of my life.
“This is me,” I said, turning slightly to Blake. He wasn’t here with me anymore, the moment between us well and truly over. The pit in my stomach churned wider.
How quickly things changed.
“Good night, Blake.” I started toward the cabin stairs.
My legs felt heavy as I took the first step. The truth was supposed to set you free, but all it had done tonight was ruin things.
When I reached the cabin door, I turned back. Blake was standing where I had left him. Rigid and unmoving. I couldn’t place the emotion on his face, but the way he stared at me sent a sinking feeling through me.
