Page 7 of Letters to the Lost

his secrets yet?11:07 AM

The messages continue to come in, my phone buzzing in my hand incessantly.

“Is it Ellie?” Atlas asks.

“Um… no,” I mutter under my breath, realizing I need to tell them all the truth, that Jane will never truly leave me alone, even after everything she’s ever done to me.

“Who is it, Princess?” Zander asks me.

“Um…” I trail off, debating the best way to bring this up to them all.

“Cupcake?” Dominic asks, his tone concerned “Cupcake, who is messaging you? You’re shaking.”

Gripping the covers, I look away, willing the tears to not fall.

“J-jane.”

As soon as her name leaves my lips, shouts echo around the room, everyone talking over one another.

“I’ll fucking kill her!” Dominic's voice booms over the others, storming over to my side, he grips my chin and turns my tear-soaked face to look at his stony one. His bright blue eyes are manic, his chiseled jaw is set, and my gorgeous, unhinged boyfriend looks terrifying right now, like he’s going to go on a mass killing spree without a care in the world. He brings his face closer to mine, our lips only a breath away.

“Did she make you do this? Is she the reason?”

All I can do is nod.

My words fail me.

“I’ll kill her for you Cupcake, just say the word.” Repeating words similar to the ones he used when I wanted another puppy.

“Word,” I whisper back to him, looking him in the eyes as I give the man who has brought so much lightness into my life permission to end my mother’s life.

Dominic pulls back looking at me in surprise.

“Seriously?” he asks me “Like seriously?”

“Yeah Dominic, seriously.”

“Can I see the messages, Sunshine?” Sebastian asks me, his hand already out waiting.

“Um... there’s a lot.”

“How long has this been going on for Babygirl?” Tobias inquires.

“A while…” I swallow hard, “I need you all to sit and listen for this, can you um… maybe take a seat so I can get all of this out? I want you to understand why I did this.”

“Sure, Little Monster,” Dad tells me, motioning for the others to all sit down again. Doc offers to leave, but I tell him to stay, needing him to hear all this too.

“Go ahead, Autumn,” Atlas tells me, taking my spare hand in his, Dominic holding my other in a death grip, cutting off the blood supply but I don’t mind, the pressure reassuring me that I’m still here, that I’m still with them.

“Jane started abusing me a few weeks after we left, more than just smacking me too hard until I couldn’t sit down. She also started drinking more, daily, from morning to night. The drunker she was, the worse the abuse. Then she met Charlie, Chloe’s dad, when I was nearly nine. He was nice to me, always sticking up for me against Jane, tending to my wounds after Jane beat my back with her belt, but then his touch started to linger, he would make me stand in front of him naked until he said I could get dressed again. Then one night, I can’t remember how old I was, he came into my room with a knife and raped me. It’s how I got the scar on my throat.”

Taking a break, I look around at everyone, their faces contorted in fury. Brenn’s chest is heaving, his face red with anger.

“Did he go to jail?” Brenn seethes, clenching his fist in his lap.

“No. Jane found out and threw him out, but she blamed me for it. She said it was my fault, that I was a slut, and that I threw myself at him.”

“Seriously?” Dad asks incredulously.

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