Page 107 of Abyss

“What the fuck?” I growl, my heart racing at the images playing out in front of me. Rage settles into my bones, and all I want is to wrap my fucking hands around these monsters’ necks and squeeze.

“I tried to get out, but I was stuck in there for hours until a maintenance person saw blood pooled outside the door.”

This time, my body stiffens. All I can hear is the roar of blood inside my ears as my pulse quickens out of rhythm. “Blood?”

A tear trickles down her cheek and she quickly wipes it off, as if offended by its presence. I want to applaud her for the strength she’s trying to display, while wrapping her up inside my arms and telling her she never has to in front of me, but I stay quiet, letting her tell her story.

“I tried to feel my way through the small space because I couldn’t see anything, and my head was fuzzy and pounding.” She rubs her lips together, and I notice the slight loss of color on her face. “I’d thrown up on myself, too, based on what I remember. But, somehow, in the process of hurling myself against what I thought was the door, I threw myself against something sharp and metallic. I guess it was hard enough that it literally broke my forearm, lodging itself into my bone.”

A serrated breath cuts through my chest as my stomach turns. I try to swallow back the bile terrorizing my insides.

Squeezing my eyes shut at the image of this beautiful woman enduring so much pain, I lay a kiss on her temple, even as my ire liquifies into molten lava inside me at the thought of someone hurting her.

“I tried to dislodge it,” she continues, trapped inside her memories. “But I think I made it worse somehow, because when I pulled my arm off it, it ripped my skin further.” She heaves in a shuddering breath. “The pain was so excruciating, I passed out in a pool of my own blood. Sometime later, I was rushed to the ER, where they surgically fixed my broken arm.”

I hold her to me, kissing her face—her cheek, her forehead, her lips—hoping she doesn’t feel the tremble of my lips. Hoping to comfort in any way I can.

It explains so much. Why she wakes up screaming in the middle of the night, why she’s still scared of small dark places, why she had such a visceral reaction to one of her students’ situation at home, and even why she went on to become a therapist for kids.

I tenderly cradle her arm in my hand, running my thumb over her scar. “Didn’t anyone ask how you got into that closet?”

She shrugs. “I was told, in no uncertain terms, that if I told the truth, something would happen to my brother.”

My fingers freeze over her skin. “Jesus, Kav.”

Her lips quiver. “I told them I’d decided to explore the basement and got myself stuck inside the closet.”

“What did those assholes do to Nathan?”

There’s no part of me that wants to know more than I already do, but every part of me wants to carry this with her just a little bit.

“They killed him,” she states hoarsely in finality. “They took him to these cliffs and made him jump. I know because what they told the police was they all jumped, but he was theonly one who never came back up. But I know for a fact that Nathan wouldn’t have done something as reckless as that. He wasn’t like that.”

Did they push him off or did he voluntarily jump? I guess it doesn’t fucking matter—the poor kid died, either way.

“The authorities found Nathan’s body in the water yards away from the cliffs, and the autopsy confirmed he hit the water hard.”

I swallow. “Did you ever tell the police your side of the story?”

Kavi’s hands find her face, covering it up before a strangled cry emits from her throat as sobs wrack through her body. I tangle my arms around her as she mumbles incoherently into her hands.

My heart cracks down the middle.

“Hey,” I whisper into her ear, rocking her as I plunge my nose into her hair. “It’s okay, baby. I’ve got you. We don’t have to talk about any of this, okay?”

She shakes her head, her words garbled and her voice laden with guilt. “I couldn’t tell them what had happened because I knew Vance would hurt Neil. The entire school, even the principal, knew what it meant to go against Vance, his cronies, and their powerful families.”

Her lip trembles, tears streaking down her cheek. “I didn’t sleep, didn’t eat, didn’t function for months after. My guilt ate at me for the fact that I hadn’t sought out justice for my best friend. What kind of fucking friend was I? While he was buried six feet under, these assholes ran free, getting only minor punishments for trespassing in a restricted area where the cliffs were.”

“So, you never confided in anyone? You’ve carried this all by yourself?”

She swallows, wiping the tears from her face. “I told my parents what really happened a few days after the incident,but the truth is, everyone knew how dangerous and influential Vance’s family was. My dad made the decision at the time to take me out of that school and move forward with our lives. We even moved into a different home, and my parents put me in therapy . . . even though it cost them a fortune. The therapy helped, but I couldn’t tell my therapist everything, you know?”

“God, I’m so sorry, Kav.” The words don’t seem like enough, but I’m not sure what else I can provide besides reassurance that I understand.

She runs the back of her hand over her red nose before playing with the ring on her thumb. “But my mom was always there for me.” She chuckles, finding some of the lightness back in her expression. “She’s quirky and can’t keep an appliance working to save her life, but she was my rock. She knew the weight I was bearing by not telling the police, but she also knew that doing so would put our family in danger.”

My frown deepens as my heart sinks. “So the assholes got away with it?”

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