🚨Warning! Sexual abuse will be thematized in this chapter.

"This is it," I say as we get out of the Uber in front of my family's house.

"It looks nice," Zach states and looks around.

It really is a beautiful neighborhood here with mainly colorful terrace houses and a lot of grassed areas. Only with Logan being a psychologist, they were able to afford this light blue gem of a townhouse with white windows and a white wooden terrace. It was a big dream coming true for my mom, as she always wished for a house like this.

"Come on, let's go!" I grab Zach's hand and pull him towards the building.

When I ring the doorbell, I catch Zach taking a deep breath.

"Relax, babe. I'm sure they'll love you!" I wrap my arms around his waist and squeeze him soothingly.

Zach gives me a thankful smile and places a soft kiss on my temple. Right in that moment, the door opens, and my mom appears in the door frame.

"Livie baby. Come here!" She grabs my hand and pulls me into a long and tight embrace.

"Mom! I missed you too, but please let me go," I pant breathlessly after a minute of getting squashed by her. My mom pulls away and smiles at me with bleary eyes. Her caramel brown hair is messily tied back into a low bun and quite a few lose curls frame her friendly face.

"You're glowing, darling," she states, patting my cheeks, and then turns towards Zach. "You seem to make her happy, young man."

She holds out her hand for him, "Hi, I'm Callie. It's nice to finally meet you."

Zach gives my mom a charming smile and shakes her hand, "Zach, hi. Nice to meet you too! Now I know where Olivia got her bright eyes from!"

My mom eyes him from head to toe and then gives me an appreciative nod.

"Damn, he's charming and much prettier than you described him, honey!" she whispers into my direction, causing me to blush.

"Mom!!! He can hear you!" I roll my eyes but can't help giggling at her statement.

Zach is also chuckling next to me and gives me a teasing wink.

"Come in, you two!" my mom orders and steps aside, letting Zach and me pass.

We enter the narrow hallway and slip off our shoes. I breathe in the familiar scent of home and close my eyes for a second. Even though, this was never my real home the smell here is exactly the same as in our old house back in Calgary. The house where I grew up.

"Well, well! The little one arrived! Come here," Logan, my stepdad, comes up to me with open arms.

"Hi, Logan! So good to see you," I retort and hug him tightly for a moment. When we break away, he faces Zach with a critical look. For a second, I'm worried he will make any sharp comment, but then his face turns into a masculine grin and he holds out his hand. "Zach, I suppose?"

Zach grabs his hand and looks a little surprised when Logan pulls him closer and pats his shoulder.

"Uh...yea. Hi. Nice to meet you," he mumbles with an awkward smile.

I supportively wrap my arm around his waist and smirk up to him. "Come on. I want you to meet my brother. Is he upstairs?" I ask directed to my mom who nods and smiles at Zach and me with a transfigured look.

"I'm so happy she finally found herself a man. It's about time!" she whispers in Logan's ear, but Zach and I can hear every single word. I roll my eyes. That's so typical mom!

With a giggle, I pull Zach upstairs and stop in front of Jude's door. I knock stormily, but wait for a response, because you never know what a sixteen-year-old teenager is doing, right?

"Come in," my brother's voice rings out. I don't hesitate to tear open the door, and find my brother lying on his bed with one arm behind his head and his phone in his hand. He looks up and his eyes light up when he sees me.

"Sis!" he jumps up and pulls me into a short, brotherly hug.

"I missed you so much, Jude!" I state and place my hands on his shoulders. His dark brown hair is tousled and falls into his forehead, and he has this slightly irritated look which is typical for teenagers. I notice he's changed a lot since my last visit in July and looks more grown up than before.

"You better stop growing or you'll tower over me soon, little brother!" I state with a playful frown, and ruffle through his hair.

Zach, who is still standing in the door frame, chuckles deeply. "That's not difficult at all, dwarf!"

I turn around and face him with my mouth open. "You did not just call me dwarf, didn't you?"

Jude, who is lightly laughing at Zach's snippy remark, steps forward and holds out his hand.

"I think I already like your boyfriend, Liv. I'm Jude, hi."

"Zach. Nice to meet you, dude!" Zach shakes his hand and tries to hide the broad grin on his face as he notices my glare.

"Glad you found an ally in him," I state mockingly, but then laugh along. In truth, I'm happy as it seems like they get along well.

Zach's arm sneaks around my waist and he places a light kiss on my hair.

"I'm only joking, baby," he whispers lowly, so that only I can hear him.

"Alright, guys. I kindly ask you to leave my room. This is a non-romance area!" Jude calls out and eyes us with pubertal disgust clearly visible on his face.

"Okay, we're going!" I giggle and walk out of the room. "See you downstairs!"

I lead Zach into the living room where my mum is already setting the table.

"You've got a nice place here!" Zach remarks and looks around.

He's right. My mom did a good job with furnishing this room. Or the whole house, as a matter of fact. It's mainly kept in country style and spreads a cozy and warm atmosphere wherever you look. The living room, where we are right now, is furnished in light colors, mostly white, beige, and light blue. The highlight, at least for me, are the two off-white, super cozy sofas in the middle of the room. Loads of cushions make them to the most comfortable couches I've ever sat on. The open kitchen area on one side of the room invites you to have nice cooking evenings with the whole family, and the generous windows makes everything seem pleasantly bright.

"Oh, thank you, Zach," my mom retorts with a radiant smile. I know how happy it makes her when anyone compliments her beloved house.

"Liv, darling. Could you give me a hand?" she then asks, pointing at the half-laid table.

"Sure, mom," I retort and walk over to the cupboard where the plates and glasses are stored.

"And Zach," my mom turns to Zach. "Maybe you could help Logan in the kitchen?"

Zach raises his eyebrows, but nods with a friendly smile.

"Of course," he replies and walks towards Logan who is wearing my mom's floral apron and buzzes around with a wooden spoon in his hand.

I can't help but giggle at the sight of him. Usually, he appears masculine and powerful, but right now he looks more like an elderly grandpa who's utterly under the thumb of his wife.

I turn around and continue setting the table.

My mom keeps quiet for a minute, but I can tell by the sneaking looks she's giving me she's got something to say.

"Spit it out already, mom!" I chuckle and place the last plate on the table.

"Is everything okay?" she asks with a worried sigh. "You know, after what happened a few weeks ago with that stepbrother of Zach, I'm thinking you might need someone to talk?"

"Mom, I'm fine. Thanks. Zach helped me immensely to get through that tough time, and I feel much better already," I reassure her, but she doesn't look very convinced at all. I can clearly spot the sorrow in her eyes as she watches me intently.

"Olivia. I know you're in love with him, but you should be careful. I don't want anything like this happening to you again," she pulls me into a tight hug and starts caressing my hair. "Promise me, you will take care of yourself, honey!"

I sigh and spot Zach watching us with an inscrutable expression. When he notices me looking at him, he quickly turns around. I'm sure he's heard every single word. Great! Of course, my mom had to say all those things when Zach is in the same room. As if he's not insecure enough already about him being my boyfriend.

"Promised!" I mutter and hope she'll drop this topic now. I'm tired of talking about it. In fact, I don't even want to think about it anymore. It's over. T is dead, and nobody is going to harm me anymore.

"Good! Now get your brother. Dinner is ready any minute!" My mom kisses my forehead and smiles at me with bleary eyes. I smile back and leave the room to get Jude.

Why do mothers cry all the time?

~

Two hours later, we're gathered on the cozy sofas with good wine and soft jazz music in the background. Even though, we agreed on not buying us anything for Christmas I have a little something for my mom. Since she's always complaining that she never gets an actual photo of me, I drew a sketched self-portrait of myself for her. It's only on a torn-out page of my notebook, but I framed it and I think it looks quite nice that way. My mom was beside herself with joy. At this point, I need to mention that she always told me what a pity it is that I stopped drawing, because in her eyes I have great potential which should be promoted. I'm not quite sure about that, but anyways, she was moved to tears and loved my present. Of course, she got something for me too. She always does, regardless of our agreement. This year, it's a little poetry book which I love right away. I can already see myself sitting on my windowsill with my morning coffee in one hand and this book in the other. My mom definitely knows how to make me happy.

As the evening goes on, we keep chatting about anything and everything and have a relaxed, heart-warming time together. I notice Jude seems quite impressed by Zach's poker-lifestyle as he is asking loads of questions about the gambling industry, whereas Zach is trying his best to tell him that there's nothing cool about being a gambler at all. Jude doesn't want to hear that though. Well, he can be quite stubborn at times. Just like all teenagers, I guess.

Quite a few times, I catch Zach glancing at his phone, and I watch as a more and more concerned expression is forming on his face. I don't say anything as I don't want to cause any unpleasant argument in front of my family, but I surely will confront him once we are back at the hotel.

It's nearly 1am in the morning when Zach and I slip in our jackets and say our goodbyes.

"Honey, promise me you won't stop drawing again!" my mom whispers when she hugs me a last time. "You're so good at it. It would be wasted potential if you'd stop!"

"Promised, mom!" I retort with a big smile.

"And call me when you're back in Calgary, okay?" she adds when we break away from each other.

"I will," I reassure her and pull my brother into a tight embrace.

"I'll miss you, little brother!" I mumble and fight back the tears.

"I'll miss you too," he replies and frees himself out of my arms. "You're suffocating me, sis!"

I roll my eyes but laugh and ruffle through his hair one last time.

My mom and Logan both hug Zach goodbye, whereas Jude offers him a fist bump which Zach retorts with an amused grin on his face.

"See you, bro," he states, and Jude gives him a casual nod.

With a chuckle, I grab Zach's hand and we walk towards the waiting Uber.

"Zach?" I ask as we're lying in bed freshly showered and both deathly tired.

"Mmh?" Zach hums with closed eyes.

"Who was bothering you throughout the whole evening?"

"What do you mean?" Zach faces me now with a puzzled frown.

"You constantly glanced at your phone. Why?" I explain with raised eyebrows.

Zach sighs and rubs his eyes with his fingers.

"Nothing for you to worry about, baby," he than states and plants a kiss on my hair.

"Zach...," I whine and sit up, even though I barely can keep my eyes open anymore.

"Don't Zach me right now. I'm tired and I don't want to talk about any bullshit going on in my life. Just for once stop asking fucking questions," Zach retorts in an annoyed tone and when he notices my confused look, he quickly adds, "Please?"

I huff and turn away.

"Fine. Have it your way then. Good night!" I snarl and lay down again, pulling the blanket up to my nose.

After a minute, I feel Zach turning to the other side.

"Good night!" he sighs lowly.

Honestly, I'm getting tired of Zach trying to keep his problems to himself. I mean I'm already deeply involved in this entire shit. At least, I got to know several of the assholes Zach has to deal with, and obviously they like torturing me as well, so I think I deserve to know what's going on.

I wonder how that beautiful evening could turn into a goddamn fight in less than five minutes?

After at least half an hour of tossing and turning, I drift off into a restless sleep.

~

Two strong hands roaming over my body are waking me up again. Something's covering my eyes. I can't see anything. A surprised chuckle leaves the depth of my throat as the hands find their way to my naked breasts under my t-shirt, and a well-known tingle creeps into every inch of my body as suddenly something wet covers one of my already hard nipples.

When I try to move my hands into the hair of the person giving me so much pleasure by just caressing me with his tongue, I notice I can't move them. They're tied to the bed, I guess.

"Zach?" I ask as a sudden worry overcomes me.

"Hold still, baby!" a deep voice mutters against my aroused breast.

Wait! That's not Zach's voice. It's an ugly, throaty voice and sends ice cold shivers down my spine.

Suddenly, the blindfold is being ripped off my eyes and I gasp as a way too familiar face comes into my sight.

I want to scream but I can't. Not a single sound leaves my throat. I'm completely dumbfounded.

Panic washes over me, makes me shake and I start writhing under the beefy body which is laying heavily on top of mine.

"Stay still, you stupid slut!"

My t-shirt is being ripped off my body and my panties are forcefully pushed down.

"Terrence. Let me be the first one to fuck this little bitch. I wanted to do this for far too long!"

My face snaps to the direction where that other voice came from.

"Jack?!" I gasp and notice with relief that my voice has returned into my body. "What the fuck are you doing here? Where am I?"

My brain is not able to process what's happening right now. This just can't be true.

"And why are you here?" I shout directed at Terrence. "You're supposed to be dead!"

Terrence utters a roaring laughter and lifts his meaty body off mine. I try to calm my breath. To stop my body from hyperventilating, but I can't. I can't believe what I'm seeing.

"Well, you were supposed to think I'm dead, honey!" he counters with a smug smile on his ugly face. "And now shut the fuck up!" he then screams and kicks his knee into my center.

I can't take this right now. It's too much. This situation feels way too familiar.

I start feeling dizzy and Terrence's and Jack's faces slowly blur as the all too familiar darkness begins to capture me once again.

*****

Phew. That was an unexpected turn, wasn't it? 🤭

What do you think about it?

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Katie🤍