Chapter 10

CHAPTER TEN

HARPER

E veryone is sitting around on the chairs, Asher beside me. The rest are on the opposite side. I take a small sip of my soda, wondering how even to start this. Truthfully, I’m ashamed. I don’t want any of them to know what happened to me.

Their imagination is bad enough. I see how they look at me, the pity and sympathy in their eyes. They think they know. They know I was raped, but what they don’t know is I wasn’t just raped…I was tortured and raped multiple times by multiple men.

How do I even begin to talk about that? I’m not ready, not ready to share my story, but they need to know why they can’t go up against Deacon.

“When I was taken, they, um, knocked me out, I was injected with something. I remember Kyle putting a needle into my skin, but I think it wore off because when I woke up, I was in a van, and they were driving. I tried to move, but they had tied my hands up with cable ties. Every time I tried to move, they seemed to get tighter, and they started cutting into me. I remember looking down and seeing blood.”

I run my thumb over my wrists, remembering the pain, the terror I felt.

“They started laughing when they realized I was awake. I was screaming, kicking, trying to get away. Kyle was opposite me, and he pointed a gun at me, and um, he told me if I didn’t stay quiet, he would shoot me and dump my body at your doorstep.” I look at Asher. “I thought he was crazy; it was payback for us at the bar, but then someone told him that Deacon wanted me unharmed. I didn’t know at the time the reason he wanted that was so he could do it himself.”

I wipe a tear forming in my eyes. Asher’s fingers slowly stroke my free hand. “It’s okay, baby, I’m here with you.” I nod in response, taking a breath, knowing this is only going to get more difficult.

“This new guy, I think his name was Carl or something like that, the one that mentioned Deacon, he told me it was Asher’s fault I was there. That you were the reason I was taken. I thought you had arranged it.” I see the hurt in his eyes when I tell him that. “I don’t know, Ash, a lot of thoughts went through my mind, all those rumors I heard… I started to wonder if they were true.”

I pause, looking away from Asher.

“They blindfolded me after that. They put a bag over my head. I remember we drove past water—I could smell the salt in the air. Like the ocean, you know, and then, erm…well, the rest is kinda blurry except for a dirt road. I remember the feeling of the ground being different under the tires. I was trying to figure it all out, where I was. I thought maybe I could get to a phone and describe the journey or something. I know it was stupid.”

“No, baby, that was smart, really smart,” Ash reassures me.

“I was taken from the car, I was screaming and trying to fight them, but then I felt something, and I blacked out again. I think they drugged me again. I remember feeling woozy and then I was out—it happened pretty quickly.”

Asher slowly pushes my hair back, inspecting it. He looks at Jax who gets up, taking a look.

“What is it?”

“There’s marks where they injected you,” Ash says before turning his attention to Jax and shaking his head, “Could that do any lasting damage?”

“I don’t think so. It was likely a sedative.”

“I passed out so quickly, I couldn’t even describe how… My vision just went black.” Ash lets my hair go.

“It’s okay, I think I know what it was.”

“I woke up in a room. My hands were cuffed above me with chains or something, my ankles were cuffed, and the cuffs were bolted to the floor. It was like I was in a horror movie, I screamed for hours, but no one came. I was so weak from the drugs, and I couldn’t fight the exhaustion any longer. The next time I woke up, I saw him. Deacon. He was leaning against the wall opposite me, and he just smiled when I begged him to let me go.”

I don’t want to tell them anymore, but I have to keep going. They have to know why we need to run and keep running.

“He told me his name was Deacon and that you had upset him, that I was there to pay for your crimes. He smiled when he said that like he was happy about it. That he was glad he got to do this to me instead of you. I dunno, erm, there was another guy there. He was younger, maybe your age, Ash. He told him to leave, and it was just us again. He came toward me with a needle, and I thought he was going to knock me out again, but it was worse.

“I’ve never felt pain like it before. It was like the second that needle went in, my whole body was on fire. I screamed and he just pulled a chair in front of me and watched me. Eventually, the pain stopped. He asked me what I thought would be worse. To live in pain like this or die.

“I begged him to kill me, I tried to make him, but he just laughed. He injected me again and again for hours. I… I…”

“Baby, you don’t need to do this.” I look over at Asher as he squeezes my hand. I look at the others; they all look horrified but that wasn’t the worst thing to happen to me.

“Someone came in and whispered something to him. He left shortly after that but not before telling them what to do. There were four of them. They uncuffed me, but at this point, I couldn’t get my body to move. I couldn’t get it to respond. They used rope to tie me down on a table. One of them tore the bottom of my dress and used his fingers to…”

My whole body is trembling, and I squeeze Asher’s hand. I see Brooke silently crying, Chase’s arm around her as they listen in horror.

“More guys entered the room, watching him. They were laughing, egging him on. He tore my dress open completely and used a knife to cut my, erm…my lingerie away.

“I screamed, I tried to fight him off and then Deacon came back. He told them to have fun, that I was a gift for them, to make sure I was roughed up because I was going to be a present to Asher after. To show you what power he had and that you had none.

“They each…they…they raped me. All twelve of them. They beat me, and they raped me for hours. I was just a thing to them—one of them called me their property. That I, erm…that I belonged to them, and they could do whatever they wanted to me. After a while, I was too tired to fight. I couldn’t speak, I just laid there. I tried at first, Asher, I really did, I tried to fight them off, but I couldn’t,”

“I know, baby, I know, I don’t blame you. No one blames you.” He watches my tears fall, knowing he can’t stop them.

“It was like it wasn’t me anymore in my body—I wasn’t me. I was watching it happen, but I just stopped feeling it all. After a while, they all left, except him. He just stood there watching me. He didn’t talk, didn’t say a thing. He just stared at me and smiled. Like he was proud of it all.”

“Harper… I’m so sorry,” Brooke cries out. I look at her sadly, tears falling from her eyes. Chase can’t look at me, Jax is still beside me, and when I look at Asher. He doesn’t even look like he’s there.

“The next day, he told me he owned a business that sold women to different men, and he was sending me to a few of his favorite clients. He told me as long as I didn’t die before then, I could get to go home, but he couldn’t guarantee I would survive. These guys had certain fetishes, he called them, and most girls didn’t last the night with them, and if they did, they were put out of their misery soon after because they were of no use to him.

“Before I was sent away, he, erm…well, he took his turn. I thought the guys were bad before but he— He’s the devil. It hurt so bad, and I couldn’t fight him off. I tried to numb myself to try and drift off like before, but he noticed and every time he did, he made sure I could feel it and not leave again. After he was done, I was left alone for a while.”

“That’s when you were moved?” Jax whispers, and I nod my head in response.

“I was drugged each time. I woke up in a different room. There were two guys I was sent to, each worse than the other. And the last guy, Nate killed him, I don’t know about the other two. I…I can’t speak about them, though. Please don’t make me Jax.”

“You don’t have to, Harper; I’m not going to push you.”

I look at Asher. He’s lost in himself. His eyes are cold, like he’s not home.

“Asher…Ash.” He turns his face to me.

“I’m going to make them pay, Harper, for what they did to you…for…”

“You can’t, this man, this Deacon, he’s too connected… They had traffic cameras stop when we drove, I heard them talk about timing it right. One of the men I was taken to…he was a cop, I heard him on the phone. He was telling them how he took care of the last girl and how his team wouldn’t find her… He knows too many people.”

“So do we…” Jax speaks, and I turn to him.

“You don’t have the power he has, Jax. I want him to pay for what he did to me, but men like that get away with whatever they want to. You need to call Nate and get him out. He has to leave right now, and we all need to run. I’m sorry, but you won’t win this, not against him.”

Asher gets up from the chair. “I need a minute.”

“Asher, wait,” Jax calls out, but he doesn’t listen. Instead, he walks from the room, and I hear the front door close.

“Go with him, Jax. Please don’t let him do anything stupid.” Jax nods and runs out, leaving me alone with Brooke and Chase