Page 104 of Unspoken Truths

“Sometimes, I have to shove really big emotions into a box so I can function,” she murmurs. “I started doing it after the rape. It doesn’t always work, which is why I was still cutting. Ignacio enjoys incessantly asking questions until I start answering them.”

“Dude, you really need to start respecting the closed door situation,” I complained to him.

“I didn’t think about it,” he huffs. “I didn’t know she was going to shower, and I wanted to talk to her.”

“Fucking knock!” I yell. “Why is that so difficult?”

“It’s not,” he mumbles.

“The better question is why he refused to leave after he found me naked,” Rachelle mutters. “Creeper watched me shower.”

“Hey, I saved you from your scrubber thing,” Nacio says, making me wonder what the hell happened when she was upstairs.

“You mean her loofah?” I ask him. “Such a big, strong man, you.”

Rachelle smirks, shaking her head as Ignacio pulls into a warehouse. It’s almost one in the morning now, which means the warehouse appears as if it’s looming against the darkened sky. There’s no street lights here, so I’m on edge as we get out and are hustled inside by Nacio.

Mr. Emil walks out from the back of the warehouse, appearing angry, though immaculately clean. His short hair is messy though, which means things haven’t gone smoothly.

“Rachelle,” he says with a heavy sigh. “I thought this was a case of a rival fucking with me, but it’s not. It appears to be worse.”

“Worse how?” I ask, eyes wide.

Rachelle’s hands are fisted at her sides as she gazes at her stepfather, waiting for him to tell her. She’s deadly still, shields up as high as possible.

“It’s Colton,” Mr. Emil murmurs. “The asshole joined a gang in prison to save his ass. Prison isn’t typically very good to those who hurt children, but he’s been telling everyone who will listen that’s not what happened.”

“Dad caught these two on our property earlier today,” Nacio says. “Apparently kidnapping was on their to-do list.”

“So he’s trying to hurt me from prison?” she whispers. “Once he was put away, that was supposed to be it. I was done.”

“The gang leader got a message from him that he wants to apply for parole, but as long as you’re alive, they won’t let him,” Mr. Emil says. “I looked into it, that’s a lie, Colton apparently wants to fuck with you.”

“So we’re killing them for their efforts,” Ignacio says. “I don’t know if it’ll help, but…”

“You need to see the light leave their eyes,” Mr. Emil growls. “No one fucks with my daughter and lives. Come with me.”

There’s nothing we can do but follow, and I can feel the tension in Rachelle’s body. I can only imagine what she’s thinking as a door opens to our right, revealing a long room with a drain in the middle of it and two bodies hanging from chains.

Each of them are naked outside of their boxers, and they both have cuts and burn marks on their skin. My father stands to the side with a scowl, brands heated and at the ready so we can send this scum back to their boss.

Hiding or destroying bodies isn’t needed when they want to prove that fucking with Rachelle and I is an expensive hobby. I also can take myself out of the equation, since I was only in the school parking lot because I was with her at the time.

Rachelle was the target all along, and that makes me fucking livid.

“Mija, these are the pieces of shit who believe Colton,” Mr. Emil says. “Would you like to explain to them why I’m going to make them an example?”

“Colton is in jail for rape, because that’s what he did to me,” Rachelle says clearly to the men in front of her. There’s no inflection, no anger, merely a monotone of information. “I’m not responsible for his inability to understand from prison, that forcing yourself on someone who screams ‘no’ the entire time, is wrong.”

One of the men gazes at her for a moment, swallowing hard.

“He said you wanted it,” he rasps. “You’re just some girl who flirted with him and then made her mom think you were a victim he says.”

“I’m not the one hanging and full of holes about to die,” she says. “I’m not a victim anymore. I guess that’s one thing he’s right about.”

Picking up an electric rod, Mr. Emil hands it to her.

“Consider it therapy,” he mutters. “I’m going to do my best to deal with Colton. We don’t currently have anyone in the prison he’s in, which makes it difficult to get information.”

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