Page 53 of Deliria

I start fighting again. Starting using everything I have, my arms, my legs, all of me. I’m fighting for my life right now. Fighting for survival.

But it’s two against one here - I never stood a chance.

Alex smacks me around the face again. And again.

I fall in a heap, back on those same luxurious sheets and this time, I’m too dazed, too overpowered to fight anymore. My body feels like it’s made of lead, like I’m physically incapable of doing anything anymore.

“Lie still, and take it like a good girl,” Vincent says, pulling my legs around, manoeuvring them to an angle that leaves me spread wide open and fully accessible.

“No,” I croak, my voice now as useless as the rest of me. “No,”

But it doesn’t matter what I say, what I do. I don’t have any power here. I don’t have any say.

And as my husband holds me down, my father-in-law starts forcing himself into me, starts taking a part of me he has no right to claim. And then he’s grunting, groaning, thrusting away as Ishut my eyes, as I plead with what awful drugs they gave me to take me away now, to take me far away.

I’ll take ignorance. I’ll take anything beyond being here, enduring this, knowing that this is what my life has become, this is what my husband is allowing, is enabling, is using me for.

Scarlett

The road is a blur, as is the scenery rushing past us at almost lightning speed.

Rain hammers down so hard that it’s hard to see out the front and though the wipers are going full speed, they’re no match for it at all.

My heart is beating frantically against the cage of my ribs.

Sebastian’s flannel shirt is a poor shield against the chill that’s seeped into my bones but I wrap it tighter anyway, wishing the soothing smell of his aftershave could calm the uncontrollable fear inside me.

I can’t tear my eyes away from the rearview mirror, where the pursuing headlights are growing larger, brighter, looking more and more like a predator’s eyes in the darkness.

“Faster, Seb, they’re catching up.” My voice is a whip cracking through the silence. The panic rising like bile in my throat.

Sebastian’s hand finds mine, his grip firm, reassuring. “I’ve got you, Scarlett. I won’t let them take you.”

His words are a balm, but they can’t soothe the terror that’s taken root in my soul.

I’m crying now, tears stream down my face, mingling with the cold fear that’s drenched me to the core.

The wipers are a metronome, ticking away the seconds of our lives, their rhythm hypnotic against the furore of the storm.

“I’m scared,” I whisper. It’s a confession, an admission of the vulnerability I’ve fought so hard to hide.

Sebastian’s thumb strokes the back of my hand, making a silent promise that he’ll keep me safe.

“I know, Scar. But we’re going to make it. I swear it.” His voice is low, determined, and for a moment, I believe him.

The headlights behind us are blinding now, a terrifying closeness that makes my heart stutter. I can almost feel the hot breath of our pursuers breathing down our necks.

“Sebastian...” I choke out his name, my eyes locked on the mirror, on the inevitable collision that looms closer with each passing second.

“I’ve got this.” Sebastian says. “Trust me, Scar, I’ll keep you safe. I won’t let them…”

Something solid, something colossal slams into us. The impact throws me forward and the seatbelt yanks me back with a brutal unforgiving force.

The car careens off the road, tires screeching, the smell of burning rubber filling the air.

I want to cry out, to tell my brother that I love him. That I know he did his best. That it doesn’t matter that he failed. That at least we’ll die here, together.

But I can’t say those words.

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