Page 13 of Extracurricular with Mr. Abbot
He grins at me, the sadistic look on his face has my heart hurting. He acted so nice, he pretended to be my friend. “I’ll finally have what I want,” he snarls at me. “You shouldn’t have denied me, Erin.”
“No,” I shout once again, raising my leg and kicking him in his knee. He grunts as he goes down on it, his hands reaching for my throat, pressing hard against my windpipe. He’s blocking my air supply.
I try my hardest, I use every piece of strength that I possess to fight him off me, but he’s too heavy, he’s too strong. My vision starts to blur as his hands on my throat tighten.
It’s no use, I can’t breathe, my body starts to lose its fight as the darkness takes me.
* * *
I wakeup to the sound of Gary’s voice. My brother is angry, he’s bossing someone around. But why is he here?
“Gary?” I say as I open my eyes. The sound of my voice is hoarse, and I wince in pain. It feels as though I’ve swallowed sandpaper.
“Fucking Christ,” he growls. “Oh, Erin,” he whispers as he frames my face.
Pain erupts at his touch. “Ow,” I cry. “Gary, what’s going on?” Why the hell do I hurt so much?
“Ms. Chandler,” I hear a woman say, she sounds nice and sweet. “I’m Detective Mason. I was wondering if you would be up to speaking with me?”
I glance at my brother, he’s staring down at me with such sadness and worry that my heart hurts just looking at him. My gaze darts around the room, and I realize that I’m in a hospital room.
“What happened?” I ask.
“Ms. Chandler, that’s what I’d like to speak to you about. Do you remember what happened?”
I stare at her blankly.
She gives me a reassuring smile. “That’s okay, let’s go back. What did you do yesterday?”
I close my eyes and think back, trying to remember what happened. My mind fills with memories. I was speaking to Stasi, then I saw Jared. God, the happiness I feel when I’m with those two is by far the best thing I can feel. Then it hits me. Danny.
My breathing starts to deepen, and I’m clawing at my throat as the memories hit me, it’s like a movie reel, everything replaying in my mind over and over again.
“What’s going on?” Gary growls.
“She’s remembering,” Detective Mason tells him. “Erin,” she says a little louder than before. “Open your eyes and look at me.”
I listen to her voice and do as she asks. I open my eyes and see that they’re both staring at me.
“That’s it. You’re doing amazing. Can you walk me through what happened?”
My gut tightens as bile crawls up my throat. I don’t want to, but I know that I have to. If I don’t, he could hurt someone else. I retell everything that happened, my body bucking with sobs. Gary reaches for me and holds me tight, my tears soaking through his tee.
“Thank you,” Detective Mason says, her voice thick with emotion. “I know it must have been really hard to tell us, but you’ve done a great job, Erin.”
I glance up at my big brother. The man who’s been my shoulder to lean on forever. “Did he rape me?” I ask, needing to know. I begin to sob again, unable to hear the truth, but I need to know.
“No,” he says vehemently. “Someone heard your screams. They got help; they stopped him before he could. But he beat the fucking shit out of you.”
Relief courses through me. He didn’t do it. He wasn’t able to hurt me. My screams were heard. “Thank God,” I sob. “Please tell me you’ve found him?” I ask the detective.
She nods. “The people that helped you, they detained him until we arrived on the scene. He’s currently in lock-up at the moment. His parents are pitching a fit, but he’s not going to be able to hurt you again.”
Gary nods, a growl rumbling in his chest. “He’s not going to get away with this. You’re safe, Erin.”
I nod against my brother’s chest, so damn relieved that he’s here and that I’m safe. My eyes begin to droop as I listen to Gary and the Detective talk.
“Hey,” Gary whispers when I wake up. The detective is gone, and it’s dark outside. “How are you feeling?”
