All About You

Chapter Twenty Two

Past

This time he didn't let me finish because he hit me. The shock came after. I must have blacked out for a moment or so. A searing pain stabbed me right between my eyes. I tasted blood in my mouth. I blinked twice and saw Christian standing by me, and I was lying on the bed. I tried to move, but after a moment, I realised I was chained to the bedframe by handcuffs. My head spun and terror rolled over me like a tennis ball.

"Christian, what are you doing?" I asked, trying to sit up. He moved around the bed like a hyena in the desert, his eyes gleaming with fury. The throbbing pain made me dizzy.

"You lying bitch," he snapped. "Do you think I'm stupid?"

When I came to this room, I should have suspected that he would be violent all of a sudden. If Christian wanted something badly, he would do anything to get it.

"Of course you're not stupid, sweetie. Come on, it's not funny anymore." I tried to turn this game into a joke.

He ran his hand through his hair, taking a deep breath, and before I knew it, he was beside me, squeezing my face in his palm, hard, hurting me. "I've known since that day at school that my brother had a thing for you. He was always a freak of nature, so I jumped into an opportunity," Christian whispered, squeezing my face harder and harder. "All these years I kept you for myself, but I knew you liked him, too."

The tears rolled down my cheeks, and I cried out, terrified.

"You were probably fucking him behind my back, and now you're telling me you don't want to be with me anymore?"

He released me.

"Christian, please, it's not like that!" I cried, hoping he would give me a chance to explain.

"Don't lie to me, you cunt!" he screamed and hit me again, this time below my ribs. I cried out, trying to breathe, but it seemed as if my lungs had stopped working. "You were going to leave me for him, thinking I'd leave you two with my blessing."

This was the real Christian, the one without a soul. It was funny how fast people changed. I never thought he was capable of anything like this.

"And you're refusing to fuck me because you were fucking him... Don't be delusional, India. I was never faithful to you, but I wanted you."

"Christian, please, think about what you're doing," I pleaded, losing my mind and my strength. Oliver was supposed to be here with me. He was supposed to protect me from him. Why had this gone so wrong?

He slapped me again, this time harder, and then he stood in front of me, beating my stomach with a stick. I screamed, but the music thumped so loud in my ears. No one could hear us. I couldn't remember how many times he hit me, but it was always in the stomach, the places where no one could see the bruises. He smiled as he hurt me.

After I was half conscious, he brought out a sharp, small knife and made two cuts just below my abdomen. I screamed when I saw the blood, but he shoved something in my mouth. My mind was clouded with pain. Christian laughed through the whole process, showing me I truly meant nothing to him. He told me who he really was. He confessed his deepest secrets. He admitted he had been sleeping around whenever he had a chance. The only reason he was with me was because he wanted to hurt Oliver. He blamed him for his mother's illness.

"This is just the beginning, India, just the start of what I have planned for us tonight!" he said

And then darkness overtook me.

Present

I sit on the sofa, looking at the wall. Tears pour down my face. Dora has been quiet through this whole story, and that's fine. I don't expect her to understand. She idolised Christian through high school, like most people in Gargle. My mind feels like a sponge soaked with all the lies I've been keeping away from everyone I care about. When I revealed the truth to Oliver's mother, I felt happier, not like today. After all, Mrs. Morgan learned everything about what happened to me that night.