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Rosie nods, her expression crumbling. “Yeah, that’s right. I laughed it off, trying to not act suspicious. As soon as you were out of sight, I grabbed my phone, ready to call the police.
“Jamie, the lad who is always hanging out with Logan, grabbed me. He took me to his room down the hall, laughing about me being a fighter in the bedroom to people passing by. He was so drugged up and drunk. When we got inside his room, he kept rambling about it whilst hitting me over and over again. I thought I was going to die.”
Her words become too much. “It’s okay,” I tell her, my chest heaving. “It’s okay.”
“He told me everything about him and Logan. I don’t think he meant to,” she whispers as her tears continue to fall.
“I’m so sorry that happened to you,” I tell her, my heart breaking. “Did he… Did he rape you?”
Her face crumbles and she begins to sob hard. “I was a virgin. I remember it hurting so much I blacked out for a minute. I did it a few times, the pain too much to bear. Then I just shut down, unable to fight anymore. I didn’t want to survive, and I prayed he would kill me,” she weeps, glancing away from us.
All of us begin to cry at her words. I can’t imagine what it was like for her. After the tears subside, we sit in silence for a moment, absorbing everything she said.
“What did he tell you?” Allie asks gently, treading lightly. It’s a question I wanted to ask myself, but I didn’t know how to approach the subject without hurting her by bringing it all up again. It’s killing me inside having to talk about this. I’d do anything to be able to take away their pain.
“Jamie and Logan do this for kicks. They did it for money. It’s a running bet they’ve had going between them for years. They get so many points for each girl, all of whom need to be unwilling participants. Virgins get the most points, unavailable or unattainable are next.”
I physically gag. I have to lean forward, shoving my head between my knees to breathe through the sudden nausea. How could I not know what kind of a monster he was? Just thinking about him makes my skin crawl. Every memory I have of him is now tarnished. I’ll never be able to look back on my younger years and remember a good time, because all of it will be filled with him. It makes me sick that I’ll never be able to get him out of my life.
A thought occurs to me as I get myself together. I turn to Becca. “You said to my friend that you hadn’t seen her since Friday. What did you mean?”
Becca shares a look with Rosie, her expression downcast, like she’s reliving another nightmare all over again. Instead of Becca answering, Rosie does, her voice getting weaker.
“He left me unconscious in his room. If I’m honest, I believe he kept me there for his amusement, because I couldn’t tell you how long I was there. It’s all a blur to me.
“I woke up in the early hours of Monday morning, or maybe late Sunday? I’m not sure. It was still dark out, so I’m not even sure what time it was. I used what little strength I had to grab my clothes and get dressed. I got out of there and called a taxi. I must have passed out in the back because I don’t remember any of the drive.”
“They need to be stopped,” Allie grits out, her face like thunder. I feel her pain.
“You said you have a plan?” Becca reminds us, hope flickering in her eyes. We do a quick run through of our plan and neither girl argues or interrupts us. It’s only when we get to the end that I start to see doubt fill Rosie’s eyes.
“I tried to do the exact same thing. Look how well that turned out. This happened,” she reminds us, and my stomach sinks. She’s right.
“We aren’t alone anymore, and we know what we’re getting ourselves into this time. All you need to do is let us take evidence and a statement from you both. They won’t even know that you talked to us until it’s too late. I promise."
“I’ve already had tests done and given the police my statement. But then Logan came around here threatening us,” Rosie explains, and I hear the fear in her voice. She’s utterly petrified. Out of all of us, she’s had it worse. She wasn’t drugged or unconscious. Instead, she was awake during the whole attack. She felt everything being done to her. I can’t even imagine what she must be feeling. It kills me to admit that I’m glad I was drugged. I don’t think I could have moved forward if I hadn’t been.
“I’ve done the same thing, though I was stupid and showered. I just wanted him off me,” I admit with a shudder, and feeling like I somewhat let them all down.
“Do you have a pen and paper? I want to give you our numbers. We’ll also give you Liam Cole and CJ’s numbers. They’re our friends,” Allie states.
“When Rosie’s healed, do you want to meet up? I know talking about what happened is hard and you won’t want to keep reliving it, but it would be nice to just talk to someone. We don’t know anyone here. Our families live in Manchester,” Becca reveals.
She looks so worried I’ll say no to her that it breaks my heart. I have trouble keeping it together. My throat is sore from the constant lump lodged in it.
“We’re friends now and it’s always good to have new ones, even under these circumstances. Just call us anytime, day or night. We have our own place, so feel free to come around anytime you want to. You’ll be safe. I promise.”
“I’ll write our address down too,” Allie announces as she concentrates on writing our details down on the pad Becca handed her, her tongue hanging out the side of her mouth as she jots them down.
“Thank you. Thank you so much. You didn’t need to come here to help us, especially when it’s all my fault,” Becca whimpers, guilt written all over her face.
“No, it’s not,” Rosie declares, looking sad for her friend.
“She’s right,” I tell Becca, needing her to know that none of this is her fault. None of us asked to be drugged and taken advantage of.
“It is, though. If I had just gone to the police, or hell, even the hospital, Rosie wouldn’t have gone to that party and you would have known who he really was,” she chokes out, guilt consuming her.
I shake my head, disagreeing. We’re all blaming ourselves in one way or another instead of placing the blame where it actually belongs: with the two people who are guilty.
