Page 10 of Shattered Secrets
“Does your father know what you’re doing?” I ask, dropping the pretense. “Does he know I’m locked up here? He’ll be ashamed of you.”
Michael laughs. “Be ashamed of me? Maybe he’ll finally be proud of me. He always thought I was too weak. Do you know what I went through after you ran away? Do you have any idea? ‘Michael can’t even keep his wife. How will he keep my company?’” he says, imitating his father’s voice. “I’ll prove to him I’m not weak. I’ll show him how I taught you a lesson. How I educated you.”
I swallow. “He wants to run for governor, right? Isn’t that what you said? He’ll never be able to run if they find out what you did to me. You’ll ruin his career. He’ll never forgive you.”
Michael’s grin is filled with bitterness. “But no one will find out. As far as the public is concerned, you’re in a psychiatric care unit after having a mental breakdown. I have all the documents.”
“The police will search for me. Ethan will search for me.” Although I didn’t tell him why I left, I’m sure Ethan will do the math and figure it out. He’ll not give up easily.
“The police have already bought the story I sold them. Piece of cake. And your boyfriend? You can say I’m counting on him coming to my house. I can just see it now.” He takes a gun out of his pants and waves it in my face. “Oh my God, come quickly, someone broke into my house. He has a weapon. And I shot him in self-defense.” Michael grins wider.
He unzips his pants and rolls them down. My eyes widen. Oh God, please, no.
A sob escapes me against my will. I squirm and thrash, trying to pull my arms, trying to break free. “No, please, no,” I shout.
“If you make any noise, I’ll have to gag you.” He stops what he’s doing and shrugs. “There’s no one here to hear you, anyway. Save yourself the bother.”
But I can’t stop, and I’m screaming as loud as I can.
He takes a piece of cloth from the bedside table. “Too bad. But I don’t like the noise. It bothers me. So…”
I watch in horror as he approaches me. I try to kick him, but he keeps his distance from my legs and shoves the cloth into my mouth.
I’m suffocating. I have no air.
“Calm down. You can breathe through your nose.” He continues to speak in a calm voice and climbs onto the bed. I kick, trying to aim, and hit him between his legs. One of my kicks strikes its target, and Michael recoils in pain.
Yes!
He pulls out a knife. My eyes widen, and I freeze, examining his intentions.
“Are you sure you want to do this? I can bind your legs, too.” His eyes narrow, and he brings the knife closer to my neck while resting one knee on my chest. I groan as the air leaves my lungs. I can’t breathe. I try to move my head a little, and he presses the knife into my skin.
I recoil at the sharp pain, and warm liquid flows down my neck.
I don’t move anymore.
I’ve lost.
He tears and cuts the clothes from my body and climbs onto me. The heavy weight of his body hurts my bruised ribs. I might have internal bleeding. I’ll die here from my injuries with no one knowing. Without Ethan knowing what happened to me.
I whimper as he leans all his weight on a tender area, but I don’t dare move, not with the blade still on my neck.
Why can’t I be braver? I have to resist him. I’d rather he kill me than what’s going to happen.
He rubs himself on my breasts and between my legs. My body reacts with violent tremors that betray the fact that I’m not as brave as I claim.
“I hate you,” I try to whisper without success.
He smiles in response.
And then the burning pain of the penetration. I’m as dry as a desert, and even though I know I need to relax so that it hurts less, I can’t. The pain is unbearable. The blows I took from him before only increase the intensity of the pain. I want to scream, but even that ability has been denied me.
Tears flood my eyes and wet my cheeks. I try to look away, not to feel, to close myself off from everything. But he presses again with the knife, and I freeze.
“Don’t close your eyes. You wanted a real man, right? I want you to see what a real man looks like.”
He thrusts into me again and again. The burning sensation increases, and he moans in pleasure. I can’t stand it anymore, I can’t... And then he pulls out of me and rubs himself until he comes on my chest. I feel contaminated. Violated. Empty.
