|2| Trauma

Riley’s POV

“Chris,” I breathed once I figured out his face. He flashed me a devilish smirk, and I felt my heart drop in my stomach from fear.

“Leave, Chris, or I’ll call the cops,” I threatened, glancing at the phone in my hand and his eyes followed mine, landing on the phone.

“You are happy you fucked things up this morning,” Chris growled at me, his toxic breath mixed with alcohol was fanning over my face.

I clenched my grasp around the phone.

“I’ll call the police,” I repeated, and he grabbed my wrist, taking the phone from my grasp and tossing it on the floor.

“No one will help you, sweetheart,” he snickered, and I looked at him with disgust.

“What the fuck do you want from me?” I shouted.

I freed my hand out of his firm grip, but he was faster than me as he grabbed me by my wrists, pinning my hands over my head.

“Did you even love me?” I yelled at him, feeling the tears form in my eyes as he looked at me with zero emotions, the person I thought I knew wasn't there anymore.

“No, all I wanted was to fuck you over, get the promotion, and maybe really fuck the innocent virgin girl,” he sneered, lowering his face close to mine.

There. I heard the truth I wanted, the hurtful truth.

A bang of pain lingered in my chest as he said those words. I looked away, refusing to cry in front of him.

He held my wrists with one hand and with the other grabbed my face, forcing me to look at him. “You don’t understand how many men wanted to fuck you, and I was ahead of them, but you were hard to get,” he snickered.

“Help-” I was silenced as he smashed his lips on mine in a forced kiss, bruising my lips and shoving his tongue down my throat.

I tried to push him, but it was no use. Where are you, Athena? I asked myself, wishing for her to help me.

I felt violated as his lips hovered over mine, then his free hand traveled to my shorts. That’s when I tried to fight more, but he was stronger than me.

His lips traveled to my neck as he slid his hand in my shorts, then worked his way to the hem of my underwear. “I’ll show you what fun is supposed to be,” he hissed against my skin.

“Please don’t rape me, I’m sorry for what happened in the morning,” I whimpered and his hand stopped moving any further.

He pulled away, and I closed my eyes, sighing with a bit of relief. He got his hand out of my shorts, raising his hand to my cheek. “Why are you crying? I thought you wanted this,” the slurred words escaped his lips.

“You’re drunk, Chris, and you’re hurting me,” I said back, but of course, he wasn’t in the right mind to think.

“I know you want this. You don’t want to be that innocent virgin girl,” he whispered, brushing his lips near my ear. “It’ll be fast.”

I brought my knee up, kicking him right in his crotch.

“You fucking whore,” he said in-between his groans as he grabbed his crotch with both of his hands, finally letting me go.

I ran to the stairs as fast as I could, shouting at the top of my lungs, “Athena!”

I wasn’t lucky, as he recovered quickly and grabbed me by my ankles. I lost my balance, and fell on the floor, hitting my head on the first stair.

I blacked out, slipping out of consciousness for a few seconds. But I could still feel my surroundings. I just didn’t have the energy to fight him anymore.

So, this is it.

Chris pulled me towards him, hovering over me with his firm body.

“Please, no,” I whispered weakly, feeling the warm liquid trickling down my forehead.

“I won’t call the police, just let me go,” I sobbed as his hands molested my body.

“You owe me a good fuck for humiliating me this morning,” he hollered, tearing my shirt as he left sloppy kisses on my exposed neck.

A loud cry escaped my lips, and he brought his hand to my mouth, muffling my screams for help.

He pulled away, his eyes locked with mine. “You’ll have fun. Stop whining about it,” he whispered, and I squirmed underneath him, trying to get away.

No, I would not give up this easily.

“It’ll be quick,” he repeated, and my eyes widened as I heard the zipper of his jeans.

The tears gushed out of my eyes like a faucet. Maybe I could talk some sense into him. He wasn’t always this bad person, even if he was pretending to be nice. I refuse to believe he was this evil.

He removed his hand from my mouth, reaching for my shorts again. My sobs became higher, but it didn’t make him stop. He will just leave when he gets what he wants.

“Jesus, you cry too much,” he hissed against my skin.

“Chris, you are drunk. You don’t know what you are doing,” I whispered, and he halted.

He still had a firm grasp on me, so I wouldn’t escape, or be able to kick him in his balls again.

“You hurt me, Riles,” he murmured, bringing his hand to my neck, and tightening his grip around my neck until I was choking. I placed my hand on his wrists, trying to loosen his grip so I could breathe.

“You took my promotion, got the best clients. I lost the bet because of you… you made me a foul in the office.”

“I can’t breathe,” I grunted, but he wasn’t hearing me.

He was filled with anger and rage, too blinded by them.

“You’ll confess the fraud you did, save the agency’s name, and Stephanie’s name. Do you understand?” he barked at me, applying more pressure on my neck.

I never thought Chris could be this… toxic, and I fell for him like a foul, thinking he was a nice guy.

He had lost his mind.

I gathered my power and kneed him again in his crotch. His grip around my neck loosened, and I gasped in the air, coughing loudly.

“Fuck you, I won’t get back to you just for your bitch’s fucking reputation!” I shouted at him, pushing his body off me.

I was quick on my feet but got dizzy at how fast I got up. I grabbed my throbbing head, and he took my weak moment, grabbing me from behind.

My back was against his chest as he pushed me against the wall. His mouth was close to my ear as he whispered in a threatening tone, “I’ll make your life a living hell, no one will take you in their agencies if I testimony on the fraud, then I’ll make your sister’s life a living hell,”

The lights turned on and in the corner of my eyes, there was Athena, standing in a towel and a big knife in her hand, pointing it at him. “Leave her, you fucking asshole!” She shouted, and I sighed with relief, feeling thankful that she came.

His gaze traveled to her, and he finally let go of me. “Call the police,” she said to me once he moved away from me, strolling towards her.

I grabbed my phone and dialed 911. “Ahh, little Athena, what a way to ruin the fun,” he said in a bitter tone.

“I knew you were a sociopath the moment I saw your face, freak,” she hollered at him. My hands were shaking as the phone kept ringing.

My gaze was focused on him, and I saw his hand stuffed in his jeans, pulling out slowly a black gun. “Athena, he has a gun,” I shouted to her as he swung it up, pointing it at her.

His finger was on the trigger as he smirked at her. “You didn’t think your life would end quickly,” he hissed before laughing like a maniac.

He pulled the trigger and everything around me went slow. I watched as the bullet flew towards Athena, sending her body to the floor.

A loud silence fell between us. The blood froze in my veins as I tried to comprehend what was happening in my head.

“Shit,” he said, not believing what he had just done.

“I didn’t mean to shoot her,” he said quickly, moving towards me.

“911, what’s your emergency?” A lady’s voice blasted through the phone’s speakers.

I was stunned in my place, staring at Chris, who was still approaching me with the gun in his grasp.

I was shaking, and the tears welled up in my eyes as I glanced at Athena, finding her getting up on her feet with the knife in her grasp.

“Ma’am, are you okay?”

“Give me that phone!” he shouted before letting out a piercing scream. Athena stabbed him in the shoulder and he dropped the gun to his side.

“You missed my head, asshole,” she snickered, then knocked him out with the back of the gun.

“Ma’am, are you still on the line?” the operator asked, and Athena rushed towards me, grabbing the phone from my grasp.

She continued the call and once she was done; she placed the phone on the island, smiling at me warmly. “Help is on the way,” she reassured me.

I grabbed my head and looked at my bloodied hand. “I… I think I’ll pass out,” I murmured before falling on the floor, welcoming the darkness.