Page 107 of Like A Moth To A Flame

“I found him,” I said simply, turning to look at her with a shrug.

Giving me a sad smile, she gently pulled my mask up and off my face.

“Yeah?” she said

“Y-yeah.”

“Did you get a good look at him? Who is he?”

I shook my head.

“I didn’t get a chance.”

She looked visibly saddened, and tears welled in my eyes. I let her down.

“So…” she trailed off. “What happened?”

I swallowed hard and looked away. Maybe I could say it if I didn’t look at her.

“He… he found me,” I whispered, my voice barely a whisper. “We were alone in the tower, and he kissed me, and I just—”

“Did he hurt you?”

“No. Nothing like that.” I shook my head. But was that the truth?

He hadn’t hurt me… really. Not in the way she must be thinking.

But it was a different kind of pain. A seed of fear, of powerlessness, and the looming reminder that I had failed. I didn’t know how to process it yet.

Why was I upset?

I didn’t know, really.

I knew that I was terrified, but I couldn’t be mad at him, or even upset. After all, he’d only done the one thing he’d warned me he would do all along, and I had not only gone along with it, I had urged him on.

“Vanessa, are you sure? You can tell me. I promise not to judge you,” Amelia said softly, putting a comforting hand on my shoulder. “Did he hurt you?”

I felt a pang as I met her sincere expression, and honestly, I didn’t know how much more I could take.

“No. I mean, yes? No! I don’t know. I don’t know what happened.” I shook my head, tears forming in my eyes. Reaching up, I ran my fingers through my hair, shaking fingers finding every one of the bobby pins and pulling them out, one by one. I needed something to keep my mind occupied.

“Start from the beginning. He took you to the tower?”

“Mhmm.”

“And he kissed you?”

I sighed, still working on taking my hair down. I nodded, and she continued.

“And then he used his fingers, and he ripped out my IUD, and then he fucked me, and left me there,” I said, the anger in my voice so thick it was palpable.

Her reaction was exactly what I thought it would be.

She gasped, her eyes widening in shock.

I could see the disbelief in her eyes, the realization as everything I said hit home.

“Vanessa,” she whispered, her voice shaking. “I’m so sorry. That’s… that’s rape. You know that, don’t you?”

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