Page 126 of The Hunt

“Yeah.” Rhett rubbed his jaw again. “Had them every night.”

“I’m so sorry,” I murmured, squeezing his hand again.

He swallowed thickly. “By the time I was eleven, I’d finally realized it was her fault. Not mine. So I decided to confront her. I psyched myself up for it as much as I could, and I told her I didn’t want to do any of the stuff anymore. She didn’t react well.”

“What happened?”

“She told me we couldn’t stop. She was still ‘training’ me, in her words. She was angry as hell that I even brought it up,” he replied. “She said if I ever brought it up again, something would happen to my dog.”

“Holy shit,” I said under my breath.

“I’d really psyched myself up for this confrontation, so I felt pretty brave. I told her I didn’t believe her. She wouldn’t really hurt an animal. Shelovedanimals. So I told her again—I didn’t want it anymore, and we needed to stop.” Rhett looked down, brows dipping again. “The next morning, she brought me my breakfast with my dog’s collar on the edge of the tray.”

Nausea rose in my throat as horror twisted my stomach. “Oh my god.”

“She didn’t actually kill him. Turned out she just took his collar off to scare me. And it fuckingworked,” he continued. His voice had turned hoarse, like gravel was scraping the edges of his throat. “After I cried for an hour, thinking he was dead, she told me I was lucky this time, but the next time I opened my big mouth, she’d really get rid of the dog, along with my little sister too.”

“You must have been so frightened.”

“I was. By that stage, it was just constant mental abuse on top of the rest. Like, if we went for a swim, she’d look pointedly at my sister, and then she’d make a quiet comment to me about how we needed to be careful, because it’s so easy for little kids to drown. Shit like that.”

The lump in my throat grew thicker. I wanted to pull Rhett into my arms and squeeze him in the tightest bear hug imaginable, but I knew I couldn’t. Not when he was still telling his story.

“When I was thirteen, I finally came up with a good plan to make her stop,” he said. “At least I thought it was good. But I was a kid, so what the fuck did I know?”

“What was the plan?” I asked in a small voice.

“Well, I already knew she didn’t like it when I said I didn’t want to do anything with her anymore. So I thought I’d reframe it. Instead of telling her I didn’t want it, I’d tell her that her work was done, because I had a crush on a girl at school and was finally ready to take everything she’d taught me and apply it. She’d finished preparing me for other girls, just like she said she would all those years ago. I even—” He stopped abruptly, face contorting in a grimace. “I even told her Iappreciatedall her lessons. Really fawned over the bitch. I figured that way, it would seem like it was all her idea. Something she should be pleased about.”

“And then?” I asked, heart hammering in my chest.

“She didn’t want to lose me.Ever.But she could tell I was done, and I wouldn’t take it anymore.” Rhett fell silent again, for a long moment. Then his dark eyes met mine, and he spoke without flinching or looking away. “She flew into a rage and stabbed me sixteen times. Then she stabbed herself in the neck.”

I gasped, one hand flying to my mouth. “Oh my god.”

“I didn’t die, obviously. Neither did she,” he said bitterly. “I was lucky. My dad came home early that day and found us. If he hadn’t, I probably would’ve bled out. Jessica would’ve, too. So for a very fucking long time afterwards, I didn’t feel lucky. Instead I wished Ididdie that day, just so she could’ve died too.”

“Rhett…” My voice broke as I whispered his name, and I reached for him instinctively. My hand hovered just above his arm, trembling, before finally settling over his wrist. The weight of his pain radiated through me, and tears blurred my vision, hot and insistent.

He closed his eyes and dragged a hand over his face, as if trying to wipe away the memories. His shoulders stayed hunched, tight with tension, and his hand shook as he dropped it back to the bed.

I didn’t know what to say. I hated that someone had hurt him like this, but I couldn’t think of any words that could properly convey the depths of my sorrow, along with the horror I felt.

“I’m so sorry all of that happened to you,” I finally murmured. “But I’m really glad you’re still here. So, so glad.”

“I’m glad I’m still here too,” he said, squeezing my hand.

“What happened to Jessica in the end?” I asked in a tentative tone, unsure if he was okay with continuing the discussion about her. “Is she in prison?”

Rhett gave a low, bitter laugh. “She went to prison for a while, but not long enough. Three years.”

“That’s all?”

“Her lawyer claimed she had previously undiagnosed mental issues that shaped all the abuse, culminating in the murder-suicide attempt,” he said. His jaw tightened, and he looked away again. “Part of me gets that, you know? I mean, of fuckingcoursethere was something wrong with her. No sane person wants to do all that shit to a kid. But at the same time, all I could think was:Fuck her.I didn’t care that she was sick in the head. She put me through fuckinghell.”

“I understand,” I said, keeping my voice soft, as if that could somehow ease the storm raging inside him.

Suddenly, something hit me, like a puzzle piece finally snapping into place. This wasn’t just about what happened to Rhett. It was about what itmadehim.

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