Page 47 of No, For An Answer
I’d been watching him for months before I followed him to that bar the night before I was enrolled at Brown. I played my part perfectly well. I also knew from watching him that he had a thingfor young women. I guess, I just missed Fran and the fact that he was fucking Maisy too.
The dirty bastard loved going to that same bar to meet with younger girls, take them back to the grimy little hotel room and fuck them. I knew exactly what I was getting myself into the moment my friend gave me that fake ID. What I didn’t expect was for the sex to be so good, that it engulfed my mind daily. Sure, I fuck him any chance I can get but that means anything.
I’d trade everything in, if it meant I could have Maisy back. If I could smell that sweet honeysuckle perfume she used to wear. Sex means nothing to me, it never has. Most people think sex is something that can make or break a relationship. I, however, see it as a means to get what I want, when I want and exactly how I wanted it. And boy did I get everything I wanted. There’s no way I’m going to get to Jesse without his fucking brother being there and unfortunately, I don’t look like The Rock.
So, I need another way. So, I figured why not trust someone for once. Why not go to someone who could do something about it. Someone who might be able to help me in a way that’s a little more legal.
That’s why I’m on my way to Nathan’s office. The ugly bitch who works at the front desk has finished for the day by the time I make it into the admissions office. The minute I push through the door I freeze. My hand hanging between me and the handle as I listen to the voices inside.
“What did you think that would fucking achieve, Jesse!?” Nathan shouts. “Saying something like that to her. For what? To make you feel big that you got away with it!?”
What the fuck are they arguing for?
“Got away with it?” Jesse responds, laughter in his tone. “Let’s not forget you were fucking my girlfriend for the better part of a year… All while fucking that stupid Maisy chick behind her back.”
“Yeah, well, at least shewantedto fuck me, Jesse. She begged for me to fuck her day in and day out. You… you however raped her on her bedroom floor.”
He knew?
“Yeah, and you fucking helped me cover it up!” Something smashes against the door, and I scramble back. “Big fucking deal.” I can’t move as Jesse begins to laugh. The echo of his voice permeating my eardrums and deafening me. I’m frozen in time and all I can hear are the words they share between them. My eyes burning with unshed tears as the pain in the back of my throat constricts my airways. My nose burning as I try to stifle the pieces of my broken heart as they begin to crack further and further.
“I raped Maisy, you fucked Fran and sadly enough, I fucking caught you. So, remember… before you decide to do anything, thatyouhelped me, Nathan. You!”
The air is sucked out of my lungs as I slap both hands over my mouth to stop myself from making a single sound. I slowly step back as tears roll down my cheeks and pool at the crease where my hands meet them.
“You helped me do it!” Jesse screams again. “You help me hide it!” The words ringing in my ears as they snap me out of my trance.
“Get the fuck out of my office!” Nathan bellows. His voice fills the room, causing me to back up further and further.
“I’ll leave. That’s fine. Just remember your fucking involvement in that shit!”
Then I run. I run as fast as my legs will take me. The soles of my trainers slapping against the linoleum flooring as I speed through the hallway. My chest heaving and my heart beating a thousand times per minute. I feel sick. There’s no way I could’ve missed that. How did I miss that? There was nothing in her diary that mentioned Nathan by name.
Not a single fucking page.
Not like the others.
Holding my arms out I run into the front doors to the school and immediately turn left. Hugging the brick wall as I drop to the floor. I’m hyperventilating. My chest is in agony. Smashing my head back against the brick wall, I scream the tears from my eyes. That’s when it hits me. My mouth fills with moisture. Crouching onto my hands and knees, I retch. Vomit spreading onto the grass below as I cry through it. My sobs the only thing I can hear. The only thing that’s choking me. Two black boots move into my eyeline, and I look up from the floor.
Please help me.
Crouching down to eye level he grasps my shoulders, pulling me to stand, wrapping me in a tight embrace. I can’t breathe. I can’t think… I can’t even speak the words. All I can do is feel.
“Tell me what you need, sweet girl.”
Ashley
I’ve never asked for help in my life.
Whatever I need to do, I’m quite capable of doing it myself. Nice and easy. Without having to owe anyone anything after. This is the final act. The last night before I reveal everything to everyone. There’s no room for mistakes and absolutely no time to lose. So here I sit, in a dark and musty warehouse with a serial killer roaming somewhere in the darkness.
After yesterday’s revelation, and the first breakdown I’ve had since Maisy, I’ve had time to get my shit together. I asked him for help, and he so willingly gave it to me. I made a deal with the devil that if he just gave me tonight, if he helped me finish, every single ounce of help he could muster up, that I’ll willing get on my knees for him to take my life.
All he did was smile and say; ‘I’m at your service sweet girl.’ And to his credit, he has been absolute perfection since. What does it matter if I die after all this? Maisy’s gone, my mother hasn’t bothered to reach out to me since we came here last month, and the police have no fucking idea that I’ve committed all these heinous acts of violence.
So just like Maisy, I guess nobody cares about me either. The groaning in front of me drags me from my dissociation and I blink a few times to clear the dancing things in my eyes that you get after staring for too long. I cross one leg over the other and watch as Marcus Richmond comes to. Rolling his droopy head to the left, he finally locks eyes with me.
“What… the fuck?” He coughs a few times to clear his throat and I watch as the realisation hits him that he’s tied to a chair. His arms behind his back, his ankles tied separately to each chair leg in front. Rope wrapped around his torso and one around his throat. He’s completely naked and looking at his shrunken cock, it’s not bad.
