Page 95 of Serena
“What the fuck is going on?” I turn to my cousin, who’s grinning.
“You have quite the woman here.” He walks away without saying another word. I turn to face her.
“Serena, what the fuck is going on?”
“I’ll show you, but don’t get mad.”
“I’m already mad.” She places her hands on my chest, and I immediately start to calm down. Her touch soothes me, and she wraps her arms around me.
“Don’t be mad,” she repeats. “Remember, I love you.” She knows how to calm me. She can do no wrong. My cousin, on the other hand, has some explaining to do.
“Ian, before we go inside, I need you to take a picture of me.” She hands me her phone with her camera ready to go. She pulls her shirt up and exposes her scars. “Make sure they are all in the frame.” I do as I’m told. She takes my hand and leads me to the hidden dungeon, as my cousin likes to call it.
“Serena, what the hell is going on?”
“Please just wait, you’ll see.”
I enter the dark space. In the center of the room, Byran Carson is hanging, shirtless and gagged. I turn to look at Serena, who’s staring at the man. There’s so much hate in her eyes, but when she looks at me, I see a sparkle. Next to Byran is a plastic container. I walk to it, and I see shards of glass with what looks to be protective gloves.
I turn to Serena. “Explain, now.”
“I can help with that.” I hear a familiar voice and turn to see my uncle.
“Isaac, what the hell are you doing here?”
“I was given instructions to help this beauty. We gave her the drug necessary to knock this piece of shit out, and we picked him up and brought him here. It seems like Damon and I did our part.” He turns to Serena and smiles. “Let us know when you need to clean up.” On his way out, he turns. “Family dinner nextweekend.” I look at my brown-eyed beauty, and she’s smiling. What the fuck?
I see Damon appear from the shadows. “Have fun.” Then he follows after his father.
Ineed to hurt him. To make him feel like I felt all those years ago. He was the spark that lit the match.
“Serena, why didn’t you come to me?” I knew he would feel this way. He would think that I don’t trust him enough, but it’s not about him.
“I knew you would do it for me, but I need to be the one to do this. Please understand. I need to take back the control that he took away from me.”
“I could have helped.”
“You’re going to help. I can’t imagine doing this with anyone else but you.”
I approach Byran, and he looks at me like I’m unhinged. I get to the point.
Turning to Ian, I say, “You see, the summer I was attacked, Byran and I spent it together.” I turn to the man hanging in front of us. “He told me he loved me, and I gave him the one thing I was holding on to. My virginity. I actually thought he loved me.When he left without a word, I was devastated. I felt used and unlovable.” I close my eyes at the memories. “My friends and I decided to have a girls’ night, to help with the heartbreak. That was the night of my attack.” I look back at Byran. “Now I know that it wouldn’t have mattered whether it was that night because if it wasn’t, it would have been another. You’d already put a target on my back.”
No response.Coward. I look at Ian; his eyes are on Byran.
“Did you know I was at the bar that night?” He’s crying like a little bitch. I remove the piece of tape that’s covering his mouth.
“Yes, I didn’t think they would actually hurt you.”
“Did you know that Stephan Lars has been following me for months?”
“No, but I knew he was going to look for you. He came to the center and told me he thought he saw you. He showed me a picture of you visiting the bar. Serena, he threatened my family. I tried to warn you. A couple of weeks ago. I was outside your office, but I chickened out.”
“Are you fucking kidding me, Byran! For years, I drove myself crazy wondering why me. My parents blamed me. People victimized me. I lived with shame. Blaming myself. I never thought it’d be because of you.”
“Ser—” I cut him off.
“Do you know what it’s like to have a piece of glass removed from deep within your skin? To feel the warmth of your blood drip from your neck? To beg for mercy? To think you did something to provoke your rape and mutilation? No, you don’t.” I pull out my phone and show it to him.
