Page 61 of Grave Kisses
It’s probably close tomidnight by now, and the basement is dark as fuck. Archer has me wrapped in the blanket but back in the corner of the cot so he can sit in front of me. We have been listening to people upstairs for a while now, but it’s starting to get erratic. I think they are trying to find us, which terrifies me. If everyone thinks Archer took me, no one will know that I am literally in Alan’s fucking basement. I didn’t even know this was here. Archer explained that Alan was weird about wanting a place “off the map” for emergencies. It is honestly so fitting for him.
When Jeff came down earlier today and raped me, he took Tina’s dead body with him thankfully. It’s even better now that it’s dark because I can’t see all of the blood.
I have had a lot of time to think down here and annoy Archer with questions. I say I have annoyed him, but he has been very willing to answer anything and everything I throw at him. I am fully convinced that he is telling me the truth. Especially after what I heard.
I had fallen asleep after being raped. Archer sat on the floor next to the cot and held my hand. I woke up to the basement door opening, but I didn’t move. When Archer woke, he moved away from me right away. Archer literally begged Jeff not to touch me again.Begged. He said he would take on everything. Jeff said he would think about it, but he wanted Archer to get on his knees and suck his dick to convince him. Archer didn’t even hesitate. I slowly shifted so I could peek out to see what was happening, and what I witnessed was horrific.
Archer did suck him off for a while, but Jeff took over and brutally throat-fucked him until he vomited. He then put him on his hands and knees, shoved his face down into the vomit, and raped him anally. I have never heard anyone sound so goddamn broken before. At one point, Jeff noticed that I was awake and watching, and it made him go harder and harder. It got to the point where Archer was begging him to just kill him. Jeff just laughed and called him horrible names while raping him. Jeff got himself off, and I was hoping it was over, but no. Jeff wanted to humiliate him even further, so he made Archer lie on his back before proceeding to use what looked to be a pocketpussy to jerk him off. This went on for at least an hour or more. Archer was sobbing and reached a point where he was coming, but nothing came out. It looked painful, to say the least.
He eventually did stop and leave, but I resumed pretending that I was asleep. He never noticed that I was awake, so I thought it was best that he didn’t know I saw all of that. It was humiliating enough; he didn’t need to know that anyone was a witness to it.
He stood, went to the little bathroom, and cleaned up before returning to my side. I let him sit in silence for a while before I pretended to wake up. He fell right back into wanting to take care of me, promising me that he would get me out of here, and just doing what he could to help. I decided right then and there that he was forgiven. More than just forgiven, he became my brother.
Good people do bad things, and I think he is one of those people. I think he was given a shit hand in life but never really felt safe enough to reach out for help. I’m not saying what he did to me was okay, but people don’t always cope with trauma in the healthiest of ways. We might not be able to fix what we have done, but we can do better going forward. I do think a lot of people are capable of redemption, and whether he wants it or not, he has my forgiveness.
“I’m scared,” I whisper.
“I know,” he says, reaching back to rub my knee. I lay my head on his back, and he relaxes a bit.
“Archer?”
“Kendra?” he replies.
“I forgive you,” I say. He turns to look at me, and I can hardly make out his face, but I can tell he is crying. “I forgive you, and I know Alan would forgive you, too. You have kept me safe and proven to be just as protective of me as a brother should be.”
“Kendra, I don’t want to be forgiven,” he sniffs. “I hurt you… so badly.”
“Archer… I laid here earlier and watched him violently assault you so that he wouldn’t come after me… You are forgiven.”
“I knew you were a little faker,” he says as he sniffs back a small chuckle.
“I didn’t want to…” I start to say, but stop when the basement door comes open. Archer moves to tuck me in tighter behind him.
“You have got to be fucking kidding me,” a man laughs as light floods the room. “Chrissy. Decan,” he calls out.
“Stay the fuck away,” Archer snaps as the man moves closer. Archer is pressed back against me, and I am trying to make myself as small as possible.
“Kendra?” the man says.
“Don’t fucking touch her,” Archer yells at the man.
I hear the slide of a pistol being pulled back when someone else approaches. I abruptly jump up and pull Archer back so I canmove in front of him. “No!” I yell at Chrissy. “Don’t. Don’t shoot him. Please don’t.”
“Have you lost your mind?” Chrissy asks. “Move so I can put this fucker down for…”
“He has been down here since the fire. It was all Jeff and Tina. Please don’t,” I say tearfully.
“Kendra,” Archer says, getting me to sit on the cot beside him so he can wrap the blanket back around me.
“No,” I whimper. “I’m not letting anyone hurt you again. I won’t.”
Chrissy hands her gun off before coming closer. Archer is rubbing my back when she wraps me in a hug. “Bellamy is going to be so fucking jealous that I got to hug you first,” she mutters. When she pulls back, she looks me over. “Are you okay? Hurting?”
“I’m okay,” I say.
“She’s dehydrated,” Archer says. “She needs water and food.”
“We have a couple options here,” the other man says.
