Struggle!

Chapter 6

The next day I rushed to school without eating any breakfast so as to avoid Ben or Karen. I felt distraught. Just when things had started being better, my life began to crumble beneath Ben's feet. I could tell no one that was certain. The whole morning passed by as a blur and I found myself back home in no time. Again, I skipped lunch and locked myself in my bedroom.

I spent the whole day lying in my bed, dreading the late hours. Around 8, someone knocked at my bedroom door. 'Alene, you missed dinner! Are you okay?' It was Karen. I breathed a sigh of relief and opened the door for her. To my horror, standing on her side was Ben, holding a box of pizza and a bottle of coke in his hand.

Karen smiled broadly. 'Look, Ben ordered you a pizza. Go on Ben, hand it over.'

Ben swiftly crossed the threshold of my room and placed the box and the bottle on my bedside table. 'Bring her a plate, sweetheart.' Ben said to Karen, his voice dripping with fake syrupiness.

Karen left. Suddenly, the look on Ben's faced changed from a smile to a grimace. 'Don't you dare keep that door locked again. Understand?' He moved forward and caught me by my shoulder. 'If I ever see such a behavior again, keep in mind, you'll be sorry!'

His words were harsh and cruel. I was immobilized by his ferocity. I had no way out. Karen returned with a glass and a plate. She placed it on my bed and beckoned Ben to join her. 'Eat. Isn't Ben just lovely?' I didn't respond and turned towards my bed pretending to open the pizza box. I heard the door shut behind me and breathed a sigh of relief to see the two of them gone.

I threw myself on the bed again, crying. I had no idea how many hours had gone by till I heard the bedroom door creak open. It was Ben.

His eyes roamed around the room and landed on the untouched box of pizza. 'You didn't eat?'

I kept my eyes firmly averted from his glare. 'I wasn't hungry.'

Before I could turn my head to see his reaction, Ben reached the edge of my bed in a single stride and wrapped his fingers around my hair and pulled. 'If I tell you to do something, you must always listen!' He growled. I was wriggling beneath his hold as pain shot through the veins in temple. His grip was too rigid.

'Now eat.' He pulled at my arm and pushed me towards the end of the bed, finally letting go of my hair. I was trembling from head to toe. I wanted to scream out loud, but I was too scared to do so. With a trembling hand, I pulled a slice of pizza from the box and took a bite.

His face changed. He was smiling now. He kicked off his shoes and settled onto the bed beside me, wrapping an arm around my waist. I felt sick. My throat felt stuck, but I continued to bite pieces off that slice. He started rubbing my arm with his free hand, inching closer and closer.

After I was done with my slice, he ordered me to eat another one. When I told him I was full, he grabbed a slice and started shoving it into my mouth. I gagged but he was livid, his eyes were rolling in anger. He grabbed the bottle of coke and holding my chin, he thrust the bottle to my lips. I was choking but nothing mattered to him. The drink spilled down my front. I was sticky and I wanted to run away.

My breathing was loud, as I was gasping for air. 'I told you to listen to me.' Ben spoke menacingly. He stopped. 'Shh, don't cry. I don't like to see you cry. You are my little doll.'

Ben spent a few more hours sitting by my side. I had my eyes closed and tried not to feel the way his cold hands caressed my bare arms. His each touch left me with a burning desire to die.

...

'Stop please! I'm sorry.' I resurfaced from the re-living of the days of dread. Peter was sitting right in front of me, his face ashen white and his eyes melting with concern. 'I don't want to know any more of it. I'm sorry that I made you tell in the first place. I had no idea...' His voice trailed off into nothingness. I had been too occupied in the story that I hadn't noticed the trail of tears running down my face. I was trembling again.

'This went on for months.' I continued. 'I got bullied by Ben. He would hit me whenever he wanted to. He would make me do things I don't even want to remember let alone tell. Karen would often wonder how I ended up with bruises. She thought that I had a problem adjusting at my new school and got into fights. Yet, it was my school where I felt the safest. I didn't have to worry about Ben there.'

Peter still didn't move. He seemed to be scared to come any closer.

'How did you get here?' His voice was a mere whisper.

'Ben threw me out. He had even poisoned Karen against me. He kept telling her that I wasn't what I seemed to be. I even think that he told her tales of how I tried to flirt with him. Karen's behavior with me began deteriorating in days. She wouldn't let me eat at the same table as them, not that I minded though. I was more than happy to be on my own. Ben didn't give up any soon. But the more I stayed in his close proximity, the more I learnt about his dirty secrets.'

Peter's eyes widened. 'What kind of secrets?'

Now that I was speaking, I felt that there was no point in hiding anything from Peter. These were the things I hadn't even told Hannah.

'For once, I wasn't the only girl he tortured. I was probably his favorite toy, but not the only one. Besides, the company he owned didn't only export cars. He was also involved in smuggling of drugs. Though I have no idea how, but he was pretty neat with his work because no one ever suspected a thing. He even had his men stationed in the police to keep him warned. He was very well-connected.'

'What? Alene you can be a witness for all this and get him arrested, can't you?' Peter seemed hopeful. He didn't understand Ben. Ben wasn't the guy who could be turned in behind bars because of what a seventeen year old witnessed. He would be even more eager to kill me if he knew that this thought had even crossed my mind.

'You don't get it, Peter. Ben Thomson is a huge name. Plus, I don't know who to trust. What if I end up telling any of Ben's own men about all this. Then he'd be able to kill us all much faster.' I rolled my eyes. 'Unless...'

I paused. I wasn't sure if telling Peter about my plan was a good idea. 'Unless what?' He asked quickly.

I sighed. 'I do want to bring him down. But it won't be easy, Peter. I'll have to go on my own. Leave Jess and Hannah behind. I'll tell them I found a job in Philadelphia. I haven't thought of how but I'll make sure Ben knows that so that he leaves Jess and Hannah alone. I'll make him pay for everything he has done till date.'

Peter stood up suddenly, startling me. 'Don't you ever even think of doing such a thing! If you so much as mention this again I'll go straight to Hannah and tell her about this. You'll get killed! Think about Hannah at least before you do something stupid.'

He was so angry that I recoiled into my seat. 'But...'

'Stop it! Just stop. Don't say anything else now or I honestly won't waste a second in telling everything to Hannah.'

I was dumbfounded. What had gotten into him? He had never shouted at me like this before.

Someone cleared their throat from behind. I turned to see Jess standing in the doorway, eyeing us warily. How much had she heard? 'Um ... Is everything okay? Why are you yelling at her Peter? I just came over to tell you that Hannah wants you both home in an hour for lunch.'

She stood in the doorway, still uncertain of what was happening. 'I'm coming right now.' Peter picked up the dish of waffles and the two bowls and moved to the kitchen. Before I could answer Jess's unspoken question which she had asked by raising her eyebrows questioningly, Peter was back.

'Kindly lock the door when you come.' His voice was excruciatingly formal. He looked at me forebodingly as if trying to remind me of what he said and then walked out of the house. Jess and I exchanged looks of shock before I stood up and strode to the door, locking it behind us. The two of us followed Peter back to our home. This was a totally unexpected turnout of events, I thought apprehensively. What in the world was I going to do now, with Peter being on my guard to stop me from my plan?

AN: Argh! I hate Ben! And I love Peter. Do you think he is right to stop Alene? Whats going to happen next? What will our Ale do?

There is still a lot more to her story! Stay tuned to catch up ;)

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