Page 158 of Petite Fleur

Shelby laughs next, and I hear her stumbling further into the apartment. “I know, right? I didn’t even have to spike his drink to get him into bed.” She bragged.

What the heck?

Is Shelby in on whatever they’re doing?

They’re raping people. That’s sick!

Carlie laughs next, and I have to crawl around the couch so they don’t see me as they make their way into the kitchen. “Yeah, but Sean would’ve never gotten a turn if we hadn’t spiked his drink. Sucks that it made his dick limp after about an hour, though.” She says.

Oh my god.

They're all in on it…

How did I not see this?

How did I live with Carlie and Sean for years and never notice what they've done and how they are?

I feel the weight of every one of their victims on my back; I feel their pain and their torment; I hear their voices shouting in my head about how I'd let them down, how I'd abandoned them by not seeing this sooner.

I have to shake the thoughts away and tell myself that this isn't my fault.

I didn't do this to those people.

I didn't rape Abby or any of the others that I may never know about, but the voices in my head tell me that silence is complacency, and I was silent for years.

The voices are telling me that allowing these three to live is saying that I'm okay with what they've done.

I'm not, but Sean is my only target.

Sean is the attacker, right?

I need answers before the voices start screaming and everything else is drowned out in a mess of noise that I can't escape.

Why do I feel like this? It's haunting.

Okay, showtime.

I stand up and clear my throat, smacking a metal baseball bat in my hand that Leon had grabbed for me.

I feel powerful with this, but I don't feel like me.

“What the fuck?” Sean says when he sees me.

It's sad and funny that they don't look or act nearly as drunk as they did a few seconds ago.

Is this all a part of their act?

Is this a routine that they've practiced and perfected?

I wonder if they’ve always faked it just to take advantage of people. I wonder if they had ever planned to take advantage of me…

‘Sit.” I say sternly to the three.

Shelby barks out a laugh and wraps her arm around Carlie’s shoulders. “You sit.” She demands.

The voices in my head get louder, shouting, “kill,” until I can't focus on anything else, and I have to shake the noise away to get a moment of peace.

“That doesn't work on me anymore.” I say with a chuckle.