Fraternizing (51 page)

The walk home was
slow and quiet. The desert air was still warm, but the few gusts of wind here
and there were welcomed, cooling down my sweat covered body from the hot and
humid gym. When we reached the barracks, I looked inside the duty room again,
seeing Riley sitting inside with his A-duty—a young, but built Private. He
gave me a slight wave, putting a smile on my face. I loved how loyal he was to
Alex, and in turn, how accepting he was of me.

“Hey, maybe
tomorrow we can go swim or something,” Dalton said, holding on to my shoulder.

“Yeah, I’ll text
you in the morning.”

I gave him a hug,
then turned and jogged up the stairs. The music coming from inside my room was
loud and thunderous, assaulting my ears the closer that I got. Angelica was in
there, and it would be an almighty fight to try and get her to show a little
consideration and turn it down now that I was home. I just figured I’d shower,
then
head off to grab a bite to eat and hopefully stay away
from her until it was time for quiet hours.

I fiddled with my
keys, my sweaty hands slipping as I tried to get a solid grip. When I finally
did, I placed the key inside the hole, turned the knob and pushed the door
open. Just my luck, Angelica was in the shower already, so I’d have to wait
until she was done. I exhaled a breath of frustration and started to walk
inside when a large, thick hand flew around my mouth, the accompanying body
equally large and pressing hard up against me, sending me crashing down to the
floor. I tried to scream, but it was in vain. My sounds were completely muffled
by the hand covering my mouth.

Fear shot through
every inch of me as the bulky physique pressed me down into the hard floor,
pinning my arms underneath me. My wrists were firmly pressed onto the cold,
tile floor, and the bone crushing weight of my assailant sent my bones
fracturing, causing pain to ripple up and down my arms. The butterfly charm on
the end of my necklace jabbed into me, sending sharp pains through my chest as
I was reminded that Alex was nowhere around to protect me. My mind flittered to
him, thinking about where he was and how he would react to what was happening
to me at this very moment.

The big hand
grabbed the back of my neck, bringing me back to my horrendously, painful
present. It gripped and tore away at the necklace, then squeezed and pinched
until throbbing pain shot up to my head and down my spine like a razor scraping
away at my bones. I lay on the ground, kicking and trying to scream, growing
physically exhausted by the second as a stiff erection poked into the back of
me. He shifted, and I took my opportunity to try biting again, this time able
to get a grip on his finger.

“Fuck!” he yelled
out, briefly letting go.

I tried to move
away, but my exhaustion didn’t allow for sudden movements and he caught on to
me, one hand pulling me back by my hair and the other once again over my mouth.
My head ached with fierce agony as he gripped my hair so tight that I thought I
could feel the hair follicles pulling out of my scalp. A sudden and intense burn
hit my head, sending tears streaking down my face. He pressed my face down onto
the hard floor, and my nose smashed against it, making it difficult to breathe.
 

I began to choke,
muffled coughs leaving my body as the hand grabbed tightly onto my shorts,
trying desperately to pull them down. I squeezed my cheeks tightly together,
trying to keep my shorts up since there was no doubt in my mind what was coming
next. If I could fight him off, and get some help, I could save myself the
humiliation of being penetrated in the most violent and invasive of ways.

He moved up my
body a tad bit more, resting that big, hard erection just below my ass. I
continued squeezing, prompting him to squeeze my neck, putting added and
agonizing pressure on my pressure points, causing me to flit in and out of
consciousness.
 
My couple of seconds
of weakness gave my attacker just the right amount of time he needed. He moved
one leg in between mine, now prying my legs open. He forcefully took hold of my
shorts, the seam rubbing so harshly up against my waist that the friction of
the material violently rubbed up against my skin, sending an incinerating burn
wrapping around my hips, scalding and tormenting me with every tug he made. He
laughed, a deep, haunting laugh as he tugged and yanked furiously, tearing the
waistband of my shorts, and yanking them down and over my ass.

The warm air from
just outside the door caressed my skin, now exposed as he jabbed his fingers
under my thong and easily tore through it, leaving me ripe and bare for him. Tears
pricked my eyes, and I found the strength to scream out, making a bit more of a
sound, but still stifled by the hand holding firmly over me.

“You’ve fucking
ruined everything for me, you bitch. I told you I’d make you pay,” the voice hissed.

My eyes shot open
as I realized it was Allen. I began kicking with all of my might, hoping and
praying that I would land even one and get him to loosen his grip on me. It was
of no use. He was much too large, much too strong. I lay underneath him, uncovered
from the waist down, crying as he held tightly to my mouth. I tried biting at
him again, but I couldn’t get a grip.

He lowered his
shorts and slid his erection along the crack of my ass, whispering, “Consider
this my fucking parting gift.” I tried turning my head, hoping that I would get
him to somewhat loosen up on my mouth, but he only grew more agitated, slamming
my head down onto the floor below. I was met with a shattering thud as my head
hit the tile, full force, with obscene amounts of hatred behind it. My flailing
ceased as I lost the ability to think straight. My body was hurting, burning,
and exhausted. I couldn’t think of anything else to do.

I tried closing
my legs again, but his large frame lay there, making it physically impossible for
me to do so. He took his free hand that wasn’t constricting my
air flow
, and skimmed my waist, running his fingers down my
ass cheek then stopping at my entrance, rubbing the lips of my core. I didn’t
want this to happen. I didn’t want him invading the most intimate part of my
body and turning it into something horrid and dirty. I tried again and again to
bite his hand, but he moved it just a step ahead of me every time, leaving me
no angle to latch on to his flesh. He rammed two large and heavy fingers into
me, sending a pulsing pain filtering through my core. I screamed, gathering
every ounce of energy left in me and went for broke. The roar of Angelica’s
music made my screams fall on deaf ears as nothing and no one could hear me
over the loud, throbbing bass exiting the speakers.

Allen was intent
on hurting me, and I was desperate, desperate to keep him from escalating and
going to the next level. He would take my soul if he accomplished that feat.

My body went numb
as I came to grips with the reality that Allen would get his revenge on me, and
there was nothing that I could do about it.

Chapter 31

Alex

Friday night with no one home was boring the piss out of
me.

Riley was stuck
on duty and Cassie...well, after everything we’d been through, I just needed a
minute to sort through my own convoluted head. I didn’t want to be without her,
but being with her was killing me just as badly because it was like a tease,
knowing that within a few days she’d be gone. I knew that not spending time
with her was stupid as fuck, but I couldn’t shake the hurt.

I also couldn’t
face it.

I’d promised
Riley that I would bring him some food and a few other things to help him get
through the night. After I sorted through my bullshit, I showered, then headed
back to base, stopping at the mini mart and grabbing him some Red Bull, snacks,
magazines, and a couple of sub sandwiches. He probably wouldn’t eat half of
this shit, but it would be good to have some choices. Twenty-four hour duties
got long and tedious, especially in the wee hours of the night.

When I pulled up
to the barracks, I could hear the bass of music coming from one of the rooms. Fucking
Riley. Why he was allowing that shit I had no clue, but it was his duty night,
so if he wanted it, then I guess the students could have it. When I walked into
the duty room, he was sitting there, magazine in hand, fully engulfed in
whatever he was reading. I sat the bag down on his desk, sliding it in front of
him to catch his attention.

“Hey, man. Fuck,
I didn’t even know you were here,” he said, partially startled.

I laughed at him,
finally getting a glimpse at his
Hot Rods
magazine.

“Yeah. You’re in
such a fucking trance with that magazine that you can’t even hear the club
happening upstairs.”

“Oh, I heard that
shit. I just sent my firewatch up there to tell whoever that is to turn it
down.”

“Yeah, I was
thinking you were being all extra lenient and shit.” He gave me a questioning
glance which
I laughed at even more. “Anyway, here is enough
shit to get you through the night. There’s enough Red Bull to replace the blood
in your veins, some snacks, more magazines that you obviously don’t need, and a
couple of sandwiches. Enjoy!”

He rummaged
through the bag and smiled as he pulled out a Red Bull. He popped open the top,
taking a long swig.

“Thanks for this.
I hate fucking duty.”

“You and me both,
brother.”

Riley started
going on and on about needing a break as soon as this class graduated, wanting
to take a boating trip to Laughlin, when the frantic voice of the firewatch
came blasting through the radio. We were deep in conversation when it started,
and Riley picked up the radio, shushing me, holding it up to his ear.

“Sergeant Riley,
female being assaulted on third deck, female being assaulted on third deck.”

I was out the
door before anything else could be said. I didn’t know for sure if it was
Cassie--I wasn’t sure if she was even home, but I knew that she lived on the
third deck and I wasn’t about to take any chances. I ran fast, heart pumping
furiously, blood moving through my body like a streak of lightening. My gut was
telling me that this wasn’t good, but I kept moving as fast as my feet would
take me, hoping that I was wrong. The more steps I took, the more steps seemed
to magically appear, making it seem as if I would never reach the top.

As I reached
second deck, a sickening feeling began to weigh me down as I could hear where
the music was coming from. It was coming from the direction of Cassie’s room,
and I just continued to pray that it was not her actual room where the assault
was taking place. Sweat began to dampen my face as I breathed hard, still
propelling myself up the stairs, trying as best I could to get there and
hopefully put my mind at ease.

When I reached
third deck, I turned the corner and my heart sank as I saw the door to Cassie’s
room was left open. The music was definitely coming from there, so I hurried
along, praying for the best but expecting the worst. I looked inside and found
the firewatch in a scuffle on the ground with a half nude Private Allen. His
shorts were pulled down, displaying his hard dick, puzzling the fuck out of me.

Then it hit me.

My heart
shattered and crumbled into a million fucking pieces.

I took one look
to the right and found Cassie-- huddled up with a towel clad, dripping wet, Ruiz--red
faced, her hair an absolute mess, and naked, from the waist down. I lunged for
the guys, pulling the firewatch off of Allen and pummeling him in the face and
anywhere on the body that I could connect. He was kicking, while shielding his
body, but I had lost my mind. It was like an out of body experience as I fell
to the ground, repeatedly punching him in the face, connecting several times,
square with his nose, feeling the crack of the bridge up against the throbbing
pain of the bones in my hand. Rage and adrenaline fueled me as I continued
pounding his face in.

I wasn’t exactly
sure what had gone down between him and Cassie, but none of the details fucking
mattered. She was half naked and crying, and he was getting his ass beat by the
firewatch. Nothing else fucking mattered.

I realized that I
was situated in a good enough spot to knee him in his fucking dick, so I did,
repeating the move over and over as he howled in pain, sounding like a dying
dog that needed to be put out of its misery. He scrunched up, yelling out as
tears ran down his now blood soaked face. Seeing red sent me to another level,
and I just knew that even with what I had already done to him, it still wasn’t
enough.

I grabbed his
t-shirt, pulling him up to my face as his face contorted with all sorts of pain
and yelled, “You thought you’d get away with this shit, you fuckin’ bitch! Fight
a real man, asshole! Get up and fucking fight!”

His eyes swirled
around in his head and I thrust him back down, then got to my feet and began
kicking him relentlessly in the sides and on his back as he twisted and turned
from the bashing of my sneakers meeting his body with manic force. My foot came
down in forceful stomps, further knocking his head onto the floor. My heart
rate sped as my breathing spiked. There wasn’t enough pain in the world that I
could inflict to get even with him for whatever he had done to Cassie.

I stood,
breathing hard and ready to go another round on him when Riley came up behind
me, grabbing me around my middle and pulling me away. I wasn’t ready to let
Allen go just yet, but Riley held on tight, backing me away from him.

“Get the fuck off
of me, Riley! Fuck you!” I tried pulling my way out of his grip, but he held on
tight.

“Alex, calm the
fuck down. You’ve done enough.”

I turned and
looked at him, then looked down at my aching, bloody hands as my chest
violently heaved up and down. I spit on Allen, feeling unsatisfied that the
motherfucker was still breathing.