Page 35 of Has-Been
The part that hit me first, hit me harder, was the mess of her clothes. Her hoody was sliced open, and her t-shirt torn apart. Her jeans were undone and partway down her thighs, and she was desperately trying to drag them back up with her tethered hands. There was blood. There was blood on her fucking thighs.NO.
Elise
Icouldn’tmakemymindfocus on anything, but when the door was pulled open and I saw my brother, I instantly wished for someone else, and then there he was. My frantic attempts to cover myself up were forgotten as I tried to reach for Has-Been.
I needed him to hold me like he always did. I needed him to tell me that everything would be okay. I needed him to tell me that he’d still want me.
“Fucking hell. Get these fucking cuffs off her.” Has-Been knelt beside me and I instantly tried to crawl to him.
“Easy, darlin’. Let’s get you out of here without hurting you more, okay?”
“Help me, Has.”
He caught my face in his hands, and leaned his forehead against mine.
“I got you, darlin’. I’ll get you out of here.”
“Here.” I dimly heard my brother’s voice, and then they were using something to cut through the chain holding the cuffs to the van floor. There was a brief hissed argument between them, but when my brother reached for me, and I moved closer to Has-Been, Seth’s face fell, and then he groaned.
“Lift her carefully, and we’ll find a way to-”
The van’s engine suddenly roared to life, making me scream with panic, and Seth and Has cursed.
“It’s okay, it’s just easier to get her back home now than wait for another van.” I heard Ice’s voice from somewhere near the front of the van, but it took me a moment to recognise it, because for a horrible, terrifying moment, I thought the monster was back.
“I need something to cover her with.” Has pulled back briefly, shedding his cut, and lifting off his long sleeved t-shirt. He tucked it around me, covering my half-clothed appearance from everyone else, making me comfortable in his embrace.
“That’s better, right, darlin’?”
I nodded, wishing my voice would work so I could thank him.
“Fuck’s sake. I’m trusting you to get her home safe, both of you. Doc will be waiting when you get there. Sweets, I’m gonna be right behind the van, okay? You’re safe now.”
I nodded, leaning closer to Has-Been and pressing my face against his warm, bare chest. Finally I was pressed up against his skin, and I was too numb and freaked out to even appreciate it properly.
“She’s always fucking safe with me,” I heard Has mutter at Seth. My brother replied by slamming the door of the van and banging on it twice, the van starting to move immediately. I didn’t want to still be in this horrible van, where that monster had held me trapped.
If Has wasn’t holding me so tightly, I’d be screaming and begging to be let back out of it. His scent was helping to remove me from where we were, by filling my senses, and calming me somewhere deep down inside.
“I’m so fucking sorry, babe. I let you down.” I wanted to disagree with Has-Been, because he didn’t know the monster was there, did he? My voice was still lost somewhere inside me though, so I had to settle for shaking my head, pressing even closer to him, as his arms tightened around me.
Twenty-Three
IfeltlikeI’dbeenstabbed in the gut, because she was too quiet and too clingy, all things that were setting red flags literally on fire in my mind. I’d been there, hadn’t I? I’d been forced into things I didn’t want and had no power to prevent, and I knew it left you either desperate to never be touched again, or just as desperate to feel safety in the arms of someone you trust.
If that bastard had raped her, I’d make sure I did the same to him. Even thinking that made me feel ill, but killing isn’t always enough for some people. Sometimes they needed to understand exactly the degradation they’d forced on their victims first.
As Elise started crying quietly again, with her face buried in my chest, I felt tears on my own cheeks. For every second of her pain and suffering, I was dying right there with her. I wasn’t worthy of touching her before this, and now I’d failed her and let this happen to her? Maybe once I avenge her, I should follow that bastard into the fucking void. I deserved it for letting anything bad near this fucking angel, who had always been too good for me.
The van had stopped, and I didn’t even realise until the door was wrenched open, and I let out a threatening snarl at the intruder, before I even recognised him. Stitch looked shocked as hell, and lifted both hands, showing me he wasn’t a threat to her.
“Let’s get her inside, man. Doc needs to check her over.”
I didn’t want to let go of her, and she definitely didn’t want me to let go, because she let out a scream when I even tried to release my tight grip on her. I also didn’t want the fucking doc touching her, but I knew she needed help.
“Has, please. Help me get her inside.” I let Stitch and Ry drag me out of the van, but I refused to let go of her, or let them take her from me. How could I simultaneously know she wasn’t meant for me, and at the same time be so certain that she was mine?
The warring thoughts were tearing my mind into shreds, because all of my usual defences were down. Her fear and her pain had blasted through the last of them, and I didn’t want them back up, because I didn’t want anything between the two of us. Ever.
