Arianna's Tale: The Beginning (7 page)

“I need to know what happened, Arianna… I
know it’s difficult, but take your time and tell me…” she prompted
while I wadded the Kleenex into a ball and unfolded it
repeatedly.

“Mark was at the door… he told me to keep
quiet, but I screamed… that’s when he… he hit me.” My hand
involuntarily darted up to my left cheek, “He threatened Mom and
Jason… and shoved his tie in my mouth to keep me quiet… I remember…
it tasted like sweat… it was gross… unnecessary after he threatened
Jason…” I paused again and took another deep breath, showing her
the bruises on my wrists, “He pinned my hands above my head… I have
bruises on the inside of my thighs from his having to pry them
apart… and then he just… God it hurt… I blacked out for a minute
which was scarier than anything else….”

“What was he wearing? Did he completely
undress? Did he undress you?” she asked the questions without pause
and I had to think harder.

“He was wearing what he always wore… black
slacks and a white button-up shirt for work… the tie was all that
ever changed… it was…” I paused to focus harder, “The green one
with the blue-plaid design on it… He… usually wore that one on
Wednesdays… it’s kind of weird that he was even in his work outfit
on a Saturday….” My mind focused almost completely on that for a
long time until I made myself look back at Detective Gaines. “He
only unzipped his pants… he ripped off my nightgown completely….”
My gaze fell to the balled up Kleenex again. “There was blood and…
semen… all over my sheets… Jason had thrown them out… but he and
Dad went back to get them today….”

“I’m going to leave the room for a while… I
want you to write out and sign a deposition… think about what
you’re writing, put in as much detail as you can remember,” she
instructed before pushing a notepad and pen across the table to me,
“Take as much time as you need. I’ll be back to check on you soon.
I’m going to talk to Austin for a minute.”

I took the notepad, but my eyes darted up to
her curiously with that last comment.

“Why are you going to talk to Austin?”

She hesitated at the door and looked back at
me, “It would help if he’d confirm your information about his not
letting you have a boyfriend… any corroboration will be helpful… it
will make the situation easier, more believable if there are more
people involved… that’s all.”

It wasn’t
all
, but I wasn’t about to
argue with her and instead only nodded and started writing. Just as
I was finishing up, she came back with Austin beside her and I
scrambled to flip the notepad over and cover up the writing.

“I’m not going to look, Anna,” Austin
assured, sitting back in the chair beside me but spinning it to
face me, “I never thought my wanting you to myself would end up
being anything helpful… but I guess stranger things have happened
before….”

“I think it would be good to have Austin
follow us to the hospital and wait outside of the exam room so he
can take you straight home afterward,” Detective Gaines included,
but my focus remained on Austin and I lifted a single eyebrow at
him; I knew what he’d done, but still.

“Okay… but can you leave so I can finish
signing this?” I requested and Austin spun his chair away from me
to face the detective.

“I called Mom and got the number for
Arianna’s gynecologist. I’ll have to let Dad make the call to
request the paperwork, if we’re keeping this all quiet, that is,”
Austin recited while I flipped over the notepad, re-read my three
pages of scribble and signed and dated the bottom. I loudly slammed
the notepad back on the table facedown, making even myself jump
before I looked up at Austin and the detective wide-eyed.

“I’m ready,” I announced, sliding the
upside-down notepad across the table to the detective and she
discreetly flipped it over and read over the three pages quickly
and I spotted her chewing on her bottom lip.

“All right, I’ll meet you two out in the
parking lot,” Detective Gaines announced, standing up from her seat
and waiting for us to leave the room in front of her before she
stepped out and closed the door.

“I admit… I wonder how horrible it was… I
wonder how badly I should really want to hurt him…” Austin murmured
while we headed out the front doors, “But at the same time, I’m
afraid to know the truth because I might act on my anger… Dad was
right not to let me go back to Mom’s….”

“Did you… did you tell her…?” I faltered,
darting my gaze between him and the curb repeatedly.

“Arianna…” he started and my gaze fixed on
the lines in the cement.

“She didn’t believe you… she doesn’t…
believe me…” I whispered, biting hard on my lip to keep myself from
crying.

“It doesn’t matter what she thinks,” he
insisted, pulling me into his arms and hugging me tightly to him,
“It doesn’t matter, Arianna… she’s selfish… you know that… she
doesn’t want to lose her precious boyfriend….”

“She doesn’t believe me,” I whimpered,
shaking my head back and forth against his shirt, “She’d believe
some guy that’s been in her life for a couple of months over the
daughter that she raised?! I get that I’m not her flesh and blood,
but….”

“She’s a bitch, Anna…” Austin hissed beneath
his breath, but I gasped and backed away from him to look up into
his eyes and he chuckled distantly. “Sorry… but I can’t stand her
sometimes… and she is
my
flesh and blood.”

“It’s time to go,” Detective Gaines clearly
recited, allowing plenty of time for Austin to step further away
from me before she started towards her personal, unmarked car.
“We’ll meet back up at the hospital after her exam.”

Austin lightly hugged me again before
smiling faintly and heading off to his car while the detective and
I climbed into hers. She passed a bottle to me while she pulled out
of the parking lot and I flipped it over to read: makeup
remover.

“There’s napkins in the door,” she directed
and I pulled one out before squeezing some of the liquid onto it.
“Arianna… it’s not your fault… nothing that happened is your fault…
and despite the fact that you should’ve immediately reported the
incident to the police, I think you handled it better than I’ve
ever seen anyone handle it… but you should’ve reported it… and that
second almost-incident never would’ve happened.”

I silently, and carefully, wiped the makeup
off of my face, which was still quite sore; it had just become a
pain I was nearly used to feeling. I had almost all of the makeup
off when we stopped at a red light and Detective Gaines gasped in
shock.

“How much longer til we reach the hospital?”
I mumbled and she repeatedly blinked her eyes before refocusing on
the road and the light which had just turned green.

“It’s still about ten minutes away… if we
stayed in town… someone would see you… we’re still running the risk
of running into a parent from your high school… Arianna… it’s not a
huge city, despite its looks… and you’re new… and you’re really a
rather pretty girl… and this is a pretty huge deal what has
happened to you. Your father wants to keep it quiet so that you can
have a… semi-normal senior year. Not that high school around here
is very normal…” she seemed to say that last part more to herself
which had my eyes darting to her curiously.

“What do you mean high school here isn’t
normal?” I pressed, feeling a knot form in my stomach, all I wanted
was one normal year of high school, was that really so much to
ask?

“You’ll see when you get to class in the
fall,” she dismissed, pulling up outside of a large white building
that was clearly marked ‘Eastside Hospital’ and parking in front of
the ER doors. “Now, you’re not exactly an emergency case… but the
best doctors are in the ER here… and they’ll know how to properly
document everything. Don’t be scared, Arianna… you’re safe
here.”

I smiled faintly and only followed her
inside, thinking all the while that I should’ve been safe in my own
home with my family, but that wasn’t safe, so why should I think of
a strange hospital as safe. I had to give them credit, the ER
people did a lot of double takes at my face, or more so at the
purplish bruise on my cheek, but they didn’t stare, and they didn’t
come rushing over like there was something they could actually do
to help with it. I guessed the not rushing over had a lot to do
with my police escort, though, and not so much with their
respectfulness.

Doctor Hershel ended up helping, or really,
she was the one poking and prodding, swabbing, and documenting me
into the system while her assistant, Nurse Rency, took pictures and
offered me pain pills that I turned down.

“I don’t really take much medication,” I
tried to explain to her, but she looked relatively confused before
shrugging.

“That’s fine, Arianna,” Doctor Hershel told
me, “We’re not going to make you take the pain meds… you just look
like you could use them.”

“It’s not as painful as the migraines I get
sometimes, and I don’t take anything for those either,” I countered
with my own shrug, “Thanks, though.”

“Tell you what, though, to make us both feel
more comfortable,” Doctor Hershel started, pulling out her
prescription pad and quickly scribbling on it before handing me the
top sheet, “If you decide you need them, this will get you just
some high strength Ibuprofen, but if you decide you don’t, you can
shred it and forget about it.”

I barely nodded and accepted the paper,
really just intending to go home and rip it up, but she was being
really nice, so I thought I’d hang onto it for a few days.

“That should be everything, Arianna… we’ve
got all the documentation we can get. If you’d like to use the
bathroom to change back into your street clothes, I’ll talk to
Detective Gaines,” Doctor Hershel offered and I quickly gathered up
my few clothes and little purse and darted into the bathroom.

“Did everything turn out okay?” Detective
Gaines queried as my eyes darted to the door between us.

“Better than I wish it had…” Doctor Hershel
replied, “It is obvious there was force used… the bruises on her
wrists and thighs are so bad that we might be able to get
handprints from them to compare sizing. We did the swab, but I
doubt with the morning after pill and the passing time that
anything will come of that… The bruise on her face… as horrible as
it is, will be extremely helpful, because… I can say with
certainty, that that bruise was caused by an adult male hand.”

“Her father called… he and the youngest Gray
were able to retrieve her sheets… I’m sure that will provide the
last bit of proof we need,” Detective Gaines reported, but her gaze
shifted to the door as I pulled it open and stepped out in my jeans
and shirt with my bruise covered again.

“Can I go home now?” I queried and they both
nodded, the detective holding the main door open for me.

“I’ll take you to Austin, he’ll take you
home,” she stated and I slipped out of the room, watching her feet
more than anything else while we made our way through the hospital
to the waiting room.

I sensed him before I looked, and when I
looked, Austin was sitting alone in the room, despite the other
people nearby. He was giving a very fierce ‘stay away’ vibe, and
that was what I had felt; but when his eyes landed on me, the vibe
went away and he smiled softly as I heard the squeal of girls in
the room. Squeals which turned to whispers when he got up and
walked quickly over to me.

“Let’s go home,” he insisted and I only
nodded, glancing at the detective who smiled and nodded.

“You’re good to go; there’s nothing else we
can do right now,” she explained and Austin led me out to his car
and got it started away from the hospital before he spoke
again.

“Dad and Jay got the sheets,” he remarked; I
already knew that from overhearing Doctor Hershel and Detective
Gaines. “I messed up, Anna…” he murmured and I bit my lip as my
eyes shifted curiously to him, “Mom thought it was some big joke…
and told Mark… and he bolted. He’s nowhere to be found….”

I stared at him silent and wide-eyed. “She…
I hope you don’t ever expect me to see that woman again…” I managed
to say, though fear had wound my stomach into knots, “Austin… he
knows where we live now….”

“You really don’t need to worry about your
safety… none of us will let anything happen to you,” Austin swore
seriously and I did feel a twinge of relief, but Mark’s threat to
Jason echoed in my mind.

“Can we just go home?” I whispered and
Austin glanced at me.

“No,” he rebutted, pulling into a parking
lot only a moment later, “I know you… I know you better than I know
anyone… we’re stopping for ice cream….”

“It’s not just that… Detective Gaines… she
said this high school isn’t a normal high school… it’s got me all
curious and worried about school…” I faintly admitted and Austin
rolled his eyes before jumping out of the car and darting around to
pull me out of my seat.

“Stop worrying so much, Anna. I’m sure she
didn’t mean much of anything by it; ask Dad when we get home,” he
directed, almost pulling me into the old-fashioned ice cream parlor
where I instantly noticed tension. I let my eyes dart around the
parlor and the knot in my stomach tightened further.

There were several groups of teenagers
inside, lining the tables near the front windows, and it was more
than a little obvious that they’d been watching us since we were
outside. They were silent and staring as Austin led me over to the
counter, completely ignoring them; I say ignoring the staring,
because Austin always knew when he was being watched, and his
shoulders were tense from his annoyance with being watched.

“Austin Gray! Look at you!” the woman behind
the counter greeted and the silence spread into whispers while I
looked curiously at Austin. Here was yet another person in Dad’s
town that knew him.