For Love and Vengeance (7 page)

Aviva paced the confines of the room, her thoughts in a jumble, not
wanting to relive what she’d been through but knowing she had to. By nature,
she wasn't a vengeful person, but those men, every last one of them, needed to
pay for what they’d put her through and how they’d treated her. In the short
space of time she had been with them, they had managed to terrorize and erode her
of her self-worth. But she’d fought on, held on and survived.

Now she’d have to relive it all over again when all she really
wanted to do was forget. But she also knew that Jason had meant every word he
had just said. He wanted answers.

Aviva heard the
soft rap at the door before it was opened and Jason stepped inside, closing it
firmly, the sound of the click decisive. The time had come, no more delays, no
more excuses.

“Have you settled
in okay?”

Aviva could only
manage a simple nod.

“Why don't we sit
down and make ourselves comfortable?” Jason suggested, indicating a loveseat
that stood off at one side of the room. Aviva's eyes followed the direction of
his outstretched hand and she immediately knew that there was no way she could
be in such close confines with him and say everything she needed to.

“You go ahead.
I'll sit on the bed.” Not waiting for his compliance, she scurried over to the
bed, her ungainly gait still apparent and gingerly sat down.

Aviva could feel
Jason watching her every move and she was sure he could see the difficulty of
her movements, even though she tried to hide it.

Jason made his
way to the loveseat and sat down, forearms resting on his knees, his large
frame seeming to dwarf the seat. His whole persona gave the outward appearance
of relaxation as he patiently waited. His clasped hands, however, were the
telling factor. His knuckles showed white and Aviva knew he was only just
managing to hold it together.

Aviva could feel
his eyes roaming over her. She knew what he expected just as she also knew that
he wouldn't say another word. It was now her turn to speak. Focusing on one of
the larger flowers on the wallpaper to Jason's right, Aviva began to speak.

“After I left
you, I did some shopping. I remembered this little boutique from the time I
lived in New York. They did fabulous swimwear that I knew would be perfect for
our trip. I’d only seen it in passing and couldn't remember exactly where it
was. I decided to just get out of the cab and walk around until I found it or
gave up looking.

“I eventually
found the store and the lady who owned it was so nice to me. Some of the pieces
I selected needed to be altered. When I explained that we were leaving for
vacation the next day, she kindly agreed to stay late and finish them for me.”

Jason wasn't
really interested in any of this stuff but knew she had to tell it in her own
way, and this preamble was her way of working up to what he really wanted to
know.

“She was so nice.
Oh, I said that already. Well, while we were chatting, I must have mentioned
that I needed to get my hair braided and so she called her cousin who owns a
salon and booked me an appointment. What a nice family. Tottie, that was his
name, the man who owns the salon, he looked after me so well...he was so kind
and funny. Did I tell you how funny he was? No...maybe later, I'll tell you all
about him later.

“Anyway, they
kindly called me a cab when my hair was done. I still had daylight left and I
wanted to do some more shopping. I wish I had just gone back to the house.
Maybe then none of this would have happened.”
Aviva's
suddenly stopped speaking, rapidly blinking as though pulling herself back from
the possibilities of
maybes
.

Jason's heart
broke a little more at her last words. It was obvious she had been enjoying
herself, looking forward to their trip when her world had been torn apart.

“I was walking
down the street when someone, a man, bumped into me. We both apologized and I
walked on. After a few minutes, I began to feel strange, sort of light-headed.
Everything around me started to lose focus. I panicked. I knew I needed help,
that I was going to pass out. I stretched out my hand and there he was. A
lifeline, someone to hold on to, to keep me from falling.

“He took my bags
and wrapped his arm around me. Somewhere in the back of my mind, I didn't like
the way he made me feel, but I was too weak to do anything about it.

“The next thing I
knew, I was in a dark place. I didn't understand where I was, but I could feel
my surroundings radiated malevolence. I thought I was in a dream. I felt as
though I were having a nightmare and I wanted to wake. But as sometimes with
the way of dreams, I felt as though my eyes were wide open, like I was awake,
but no matter how much I tried to move…I just couldn't.

“Then I heard it,
the sound. It sounded like...footsteps getting closer and closer. I could feel,
smell the presence, near me, above me...but I couldn't see it. I tried to
scream, but I couldn’t make a sound. I had no voice. I panicked, tried to move.
I needed desperately to awake up from the nightmare. That's when I realized I
was awake, restrained, gagged and blindfolded, and that someone was actually in
the room with me…standing over me…watching me.

“The person
didn't speak. But I felt the restraints loosened and I was helped to my feet. I
couldn't stand on my own so I was propped up by this other person. I could tell
it was a man. He was strong, and he didn't lift me, even though, from what I
could tell he would have been more than able to. Rather, he sort of pulled me
along. My legs refused to work and sort of dragged along behind me on the
ground. I had lost my shoes somewhere along the way, I don't remember where.

“I heard a voice.
I heard your name. I heard ‘Angel.’ The man wasn't alone. I could sense others
in the room. I don't know how many, they were so quiet, but I knew they all
watched me. I could feel their eyes boring into me. I remember the smell of
that room, it smelled unused, cold, yet the odor from their bodies and the
smell of liquor, cigarettes and cigar smoke all hung in the air. I heard a man
say something like '
listen carefully' and I did. Only
he wasn't speaking to me. Someone grabbed my hand and held it out, and at the
same time ripped off the gag, that’s when I felt it…the pain, it was so
painful. That's when it all clicked into place. You were on the phone. He
wanted to send you a warning. I tried not to cry out, honestly I did, I really
tried…but it hurt so much, Jason.”

Jason exploded to
his feet in an instant and rushed towards her. His sudden movement belied the
gentleness with which he took hold of her hands. Turning them over, he
hesitated, although he knew he had to look down. He had to see what they had
done to his Angel. There it was, in the middle of her left palm, was what had
caused her to cry out in so much pain. The bastard had extinguished a cigar in
the middle of her hand, and it went deep. This scar she would carry for a
lifetime.

This was what she
had been hiding from him. This was why she had clasped her wrists when she was
seated behind him on the bike.

Lifting her small
hand to his lips, he kissed the evidence of her pain. Wishing that his touch
alone could be the balm to wash away her hurt. He could feel her pulling away
from him and he wanted to resist, but she was insistent.

“Please...I have
to get it all out. I can't stop. If I stop, I don't think I'll be able to do
it...do you understand?”

Jason didn't
trust his voice so he nodded and backed up until he felt the backs of his legs
hit the seat he had been occupying, so great was his reluctance to take his
eyes from her. The shaking of his legs gave testament to his guilt and his ever
increasing rage. But for now, he would hold it in. His time for venting was
coming and he would show no mercy.

With a quick glance
from below her lashes, Aviva could see that Jason had again taken his seat.
Satisfied, and with a subconscious nod of her head, she continued.

“I'm not sure
what happened next, I must have passed out. The next time I became aware, there
was someone standing over me. I had been restrained and gagged again, but I
could feel that the blindfold was gone. I could only make out a shadow, the
room was so dark. He had both of his hands inside my clothing. One on my
breasts and the other inside my knickers. It was the same man who had taken me
from the room. I could smell him!

“I thought I was
going to be sick. The bile rose up in me so quickly I only just managed to hold
it in. I knew if I were sick, I would probably choke and I wasn't taking the
chance that this would be the way I left this life. I refused to go out with
some perverted bastard groping at me while I suffocated on my own sick.

“So I turned my
head, closed my eyes and prayed and tried to push all thought from my mind. I
endured while he groped and grunted. When his hand left my breast, I knew what
that meant. I heard him spit on his hand just before he began to work on
himself. I thought I had shut down before, but I was wrong. I was aware of his
every movement. Then I felt it...he ejaculated on my face.”

Jason began to
pant, his breaths coming out short and hard through his mouth. But he didn’t
say a single word. He had been the instigator. He had been the one who had
insisted on knowing everything. Now he was getting what he had asked for and it
was killing him, but he didn't say a word nor did his expression of blank
concentration change.

Aviva wasn't
looking at him and probably wouldn't until her story was told, maybe not even
then. He understood the feelings of shame associated with sexual abuse. He had
lived with it for a very long time. The sound of Aviva's soft voice pulled him
back from his thoughts, his concentration once again locked on what she was
saying.

“Did you know Mr.
Drake was there? No, of course you didn't. He came into the room just after the
man finished and started shouting about abusing women and that he wasn't going
to stand for it. I remember thinking it was ironic that he didn't associate his
part in my being held captive as the abuse of a woman.

“There was some
shouting back and forth between them for a while, but I tuned them out. They
moved away from me and went out the room. But someone else had taken their
place. It was a woman, don't ask me how I initially knew, I just did. It was
funny, she didn't smell of anything. Every person I have ever met has had a
smell, whether good, bad or indifferent, they had a scent. This person didn't.
I remember thinking it was the strangest thing.

“Then a rag was
put over my face. It happened suddenly, as though she had been observing me,
waiting to see my reaction to her presence. I felt a prick then another cloth. This
one was wet as it moved across my face, washing away the evidence of semen.
Then whatever had been administered to me must have kicked in…then nothing.”

Aviva stopped speaking
for a moment and sat in silent contemplation of her scarred hand before she
spoke again.

“Jason, do you
think you could get me some water please?”

“Of course, Angel,”
Jason said, immediately rising from his seat and heading towards the door.
Although she had been speaking for a long time, he could tell she not only
needed water but a few moments to herself. He felt the same way.

~~~~~~~~~~

As he closed the
door behind him, Jason took a few steps before he came to a halt and pressed
his back against the wall for support. Blowing out and then pulling in a deep
breath, he counted to ten as was his way when he needed to regain his calm.

With his control
tentatively in hand, he made his way down the stairs and into the kitchen. His
brothers looked up as he entered. Seeing the set of his face, they remained
silent, watching his every move as he located the refrigerator, opened it and
withdrew two bottles of water. He set one bottle down and twisted the cap off
the other, held it to his mouth and took long gulps until it was empty. Then he
crushed the plastic in his hand and slammed the distorted bottle on the counter
top.

Jake spoke for
them both. “That bad?”

“Worse. And she's
only half way through.”

“Are you going to
be okay?” Josh wanted to know.

“What choice do I
have? I didn't have to live through it. I asked, no I insisted that she tell me
everything that had happened...and yet again, I got my way. Don't you know by
now that I always get my way?” Jason's voice was full of self-deprecation. Yet
he knew for him, there was never a question of not wanting to know the full
story. If the hearing of it hurt this much, how much worse was the reliving of
the telling.

“What can we do?”
Josh asked.

“Nothing...for
the moment, nothing.”

His brothers gave
him a nod of understanding as they saw him visibly square his massive shoulders
as though fortifying himself for round two of a fighting bout. He picked up the
bottle of water and was again gone from the kitchen.

~~~~~~~~~~

Aviva had used
her time alone to one-handedly splash her face with cold water. When she
finished, she looked down at the angry raw skin of her palm. She had spent so
much time attempting to hide it, her finger protested at being straightened.
She was thankful she no longer had to keep her fingers curled up. Maybe one day
she would be able to look at her hand and not be reminded of the lengths a man
was prepared to go, to once again be free to indulge his perversions.