freak|adam banks ¹

nineteen: we have some news

TRIGGER WARNING: TALKING ABOUT RAPE, SUICIDE & SELF HARM LATER IN THIS CHAPTER. please do not read if this will trigger you. I love you<3

Jae:

After seeing the movie, everyone came back to my house. We were sitting when my parents came downstairs to the living room.

"Oh hey everyone, Jaelyn I didn't know everyone was coming over." My mom says. She was playing with her hands and she looked nervous. This caused me to become nervous.

"Mom, I asked you yesterday if everyone can sleep over tonight." I remind her as I stand from my place in between Adam and Charlie on the couch.

"Oh yeah, um I remember now." She says. My dad places a hand on her shoulder to calm her down.

"We have some news. Do you want to speak with us privately or are you comfortable with them knowing?" My dad asks.

"Tell me, they would now eventually anyway. They're my best friends." I say looking around the living room. Connie grabs a hold of Guy's hand, Jordan snuggles closer to Josh, Adam and Charlie exchange nervous glances, Goldberg and Averman scoot closer to each other, and even Luis looks nervous. We were all on edge as we waited for the news.

"While you guys were out we got a call. It was saying that Matthew is being put on trial for his sentence. They asked if you could make it, it's being held here. Some of the girls are-"

"Yes," I say plainly. Everyone looks at me, the room quieter than ever. Everyone looked so shocked by my response. "I need to. I need to let him go. I need to forget him. I need to see my girls and make sure they're okay. They were once under my control, I was once their protector." I turn to see Adam staring up at me. He looks like he's about to cry. I reach down and grab his hand.

"The trial is set for Sunday at four. I know it's such a short notice. Some of your friends are staying here, I got in touch with some parents that can't afford a hotel." My mom says. My eyes widen and despite my now sad mood, I smile such a bright smile.

"Who?" I ask.

"Sarah Plakinson, Mia Plakinson, Jasmine Spencers, and Scarlett Rose." My mom says. When she says those names I smile like an idiot.

"They're my best friends," I say with a small laugh. I felt Adam squeeze my hand. I turned around and smile. "When do they come in?"

"They will be arriving tomorrow morning."My mom says.

"Those Plakinson girls, are they twins?" Averman asks. I knew he was trying to get with them and it was disgusting.

"You're gross. Mother and daughter actually." I say.
Some of the people gasp.

"Daughter? How old is she?"  Jordan asks.

"She's sixteen now, she was thirteen when she had Mia. I watched it happen." I say cringing.

"Was it Matthew's?" My mom asks from the stairs.

"Yeah, he was the only boy that lived there. The only time there were other boys is when he had clients." I explain. Only Josh and my parents know what I mean.  Everyone else looks confused so I continue.

"He ran a music company. He had people come in and record songs. That's how Scarlett was taken, she was a singer. A really good one too, she taught me how to sing. We used to sing to Mia at night to calm her down." I say.

"I wonder how he was never caught," Guy says out loud.

"We were kept in his basement. Sometimes I walked around the whole house so I have seen them." I explain.

"Will you guys come with me?" I ask all of the people in the room. Everyone shakes their head but Luis sits there looking down in his lap. I let go of Adams' hand and bend down in front of Luis.

"Please Luis. I still need you there." I whisper to him. He looks up with me with the saddest eyes. He looked broken and I don't think it was the news. I could see tears forming in his eyes. So I hugged him.

"Are you sure you can do it, I'm worried about you." He whispers to me. I let go and kiss him on the forehead.

"I'll be fine," I say. He smiles at me.

"I'll go." He says. He hugs me one last time before I walk back over to Adam.

"Well on a happier note, Jordan and I have a present for you," Josh says standing up and walking up the steps. My parents smile at him as he walks by. Moments later, Josh comes downstairs holding a large box. He hands it to me carefully. I gently open the box, revealing the cutest thing ever. Josh and Jordan had gotten me a kitten.  I smile and excitedly hug both of them, thanking them a hundred times. The kitten made my bad mood go away, I've always loved animals.

"Can you tell us stories?" Connie asks. She would always ask me to tell her stories about what happened. I nod and smile as I sit next to Adam and Charlie with my new kitten in my hand. 

"What did you mean by you were the protector?" Averman asks, coming closer to me. Everyone then came closer to me, even Luis.

"Well, I was the first. I was the first girl he ever took. I was the oldest too so I was basically the mom. They came to me for advice. When they were you know uh, cutting I helped them through it." I say. I never told anyone about the cutting.

"Cutting? Did you?" Luis asks. By now my parents have left the room so I felt more comfortable telling them. I let my head hang low, I trusted them but didn't want them to think different of me.

"Well, I used to. When I was fifteen. I kinda stopped." I say looking down at my lap. The truth was I didn't stop. I didn't stop until I met Adam. I felt Adam place a hand on my thigh, where the scars are buried. Adam putting his hand was a normal thing for us but this time my skin felt on fire and it wasn't because of Adam.

"Even Ashley did, she was only twelve then," I say sadly.

"I remember you telling me about her," Connie says. She looked sad. Ashley's story was not a pretty one.

"What happened to her?" Goldberg asks. His eyes that were always filled with laughter and happiness looked dull. Averman's playful smile had disappeared. 

"Well she didn't want to live the life she was living anymore, so she stopped living," I say. I was somewhat crying. "She committed suicide because of him, and I didn't get there in time to stop her." Adam wrapped an arm around my shoulder.

"Can't he be charged with that?" Jordan asks. I nod my head.

"Yeah, he's got a lot of things on his plate." I say, "Rape, torture, manslaughter,  and kidnapping."

"Jae, you don't have to talk about all of this if it's too much," Josh says. 

 "No, I want to. I need to get this off my chest. Besides, you guys deserve to know. I trust Y'all." I say with a smile.

"Have you been with Dwyane?" Luis asks sarcastically, laughing. We all laugh.

"What's so wrong with my buddy Dwyane?" I ask, attempting to talk with a southern accent. 

"Never do that again," Luis says laughing. We laughed, cried, and I told them stories through the rest of the night. They all fell asleep a few hours later but I didn't really sleep that night. I was nervous and was filled with anxiety about this weekend. I finally started to fall asleep.

i wrote this chapter so you could have an understanding of what happened during their captivity. sorry this was so bad lol