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"Alright. What happened then?"
"Then they realized I was awake," I said, my voice dropping a little.
"Did they say anything to you?" Reign asked.
I swallowed, pulling in my cheeks and biting into them hard for a long second. Out of nowhere, Duke's giant, scarred hand dropped down on my knee and gave a bit of a squeeze then just settled there after. I looked down at it for a long minute. I lifted my eyes to find his. Then I told it to him.
"They said, 'Now the ugly part begins,' and they started kicking," I admitted wincing at the memory, how each tip of their dress shoes brought a wave of pain so intense in my stomach and back that I thought I would vomit, how it seemed to radiate outward until it took over my whole body, until all I felt was pain. I had scrambled away, crying, begging, losing all sense of pride. I rolled, I tried to take my feet, I grabbed their feet. I even bit one of their legs through their pants. I was no hero and the most self-defense I knew was one Youtube video I watched that showed women how to effectively get out of 'rape position', advising women to never 'give up their back'. But I had never been in rape position and I had given up my back time and time again. I lost all sanity in those moments.
Pathetic.
That was how I felt about the whole ordeal.
Pathetic.
I knew it wasn't my fault. I knew that rape culture teaches women to feel like they needed to be fighters to fend off attackers instead of teaching men to never attack. I knew that random acts of violence happened all the time to better women than me.
But I felt weak because of it. I felt vulnerable and defeated.
And I knew down to a soul level that I never ever wanted to feel that way again.
I mentally made a note to look into local self-defense or martial arts classes.
Never again.
"Hey, hey," Duke's voice called, gentle but insistent and I snapped back to realize I had completely zoned out.
"Sorry."
"It's alright. It was traumatic," Reign said with a shrug. "After the kicking and, I assume, hitting..."
There was a lot of the hitting that followed the kicking. Most of it was to my face. The throbbing I felt all over it further proved it.
"Then I was on my stomach and I felt one of them drop down on my hips and pin me down. I thought, well, you know," I said, shaking my head. "But then I felt my shirt get sliced upward just a second before I felt the knife dig into my back. I, ah, screamed," I admitted. I wasn't entirely sure if I screamed from the pain alone. And there was pain, a burning, ripping sensation. But I think a big part of it was shock and disbelief and horror too. "And I didn't stop so the other one cursed and said they had to shut me up before someone heard me. Then one of them, I don't know which one, grabbed me by my hair close to my scalp, yanked me backward, then slammed me down and I was... out again. The next thing I knew I woke up here with... you," I said, looking at Duke, feeling my eyes get a little wet and annoyed at the weakness of that.
"Okay. That helps a lot, babe," Reign said, but I heard the lie in his voice. He turned to go toward the door and I found my voice stopping him.
"Am I in, ah, more danger?" I asked, making him stop.
He turned back and paused for a second. "Yes," he said with enough conviction that I stiffened. "I think you are. Which is why I really think you should resist your urge to flee and stay here for at least another day or two. We won't force you," he said and I could have sworn Duke stiffened beside me, but I hadn't been looking so I wasn't sure. "You're no prisoner here. But I don't think I need to tell you that you are safer here than you would be in your apartment. At least until we figure out the threat."
With that, he jerked his chin at Duke, turned, and left.
I watched the closed door for a long moment. "He's... intense."
Beside me, Duke let out a strange snorting chuckle. "That's one way to describe him."
I turned to him, already finding his gaze on me. "Do you think I should stay here?"
"I think you should go with your gut," he said, surprising me. I had figured he would jump right on Reign's bandwagon. "I get that this is all nuts and I would understand if you don't feel particularly safe here. Though I would strongly advise you not to go back to your apartment. If you have family or friends nearby, that would be safer."
