The Boy Who Paints Me (22 page)

* * *
Apparently there was some funfair on today which meant that the diner was pretty empty. I was thankful since my mind was completely distracted by thoughts of Leighton. I don't want to feel this way about him but I can't stop, my heart is totally in control, and I have no say. It seems way too early to say this and somewhat crazy but I think that I am actually falling for him. I've never actually fallen for anyone before but I imagine that this must be what it feels like. The way that my heart feels when he is around and the way that my body feels completely right. It is as if it knows that piece of itself is missing, and every time that Leighton is around it feels complete again.
I'm not supposed to stay here, it's a bad idea but how can I leave? How can I leave my heart behind? You can't survive without your heart, right?
"Ready?" Megan asked as she pulled her hair tie out and let her brown hair bounce around her shoulders.
"Ready?" I asked, oblivious to what she was talking about.
"Leighton asked me to give you a ride," she smiled as I followed behind her.
"You really don't have to do that," I replied.
"Oh, I don't mind, it gives us a chance to catch up. Plus nosey Caroline has been begging for an update on you and Leighton. As if she hasn't got enough to talk about with her and my brother," she scoffed as I giggled at her.
"Ok," I agreed before jumping inside her pink truck.
"Good," she smiled before starting up the truck. "You seem happy."
"I am...very," I replied before leaning against the headrest and briefly closing my eyes.
"But?" She asked, taking me by surprise. My eyes snapped open, and I turned towards her.
"Huh?"
"You never planned to stay did you?"
"How..." I trailed off, not really knowing what to say. 
"You're not as hard to read as you think, you know. Look, I don't know all of your secrets, and I'm not going to ask you to share them. You'll do that when you're ready but I can tell you one thing, you've looked so much happier since you've been here...with him. Just remember that."
"It's not that easy," I whispered. "I want to stay, believe me, I do but...I just don't know if I can-"
"Can you imagine you're life without him?" She asked softly. I thought for a second before taking a deep breath.
"No." It was the truth, I couldn't.
"Good, then you have your answer," she replied before gently squeezing my hand with hers. "Here we go," she said as we stopped outside of Aunt Sarah's house.
"Thank you," I said as I turned to her, "for everything," I continued.
"What else are friends for other than stealing your lip-gloss," she replied as both began laughing. "See you tomorrow."
"See you tomorrow," I chuckled before jumping out of the truck and waving goodbye.
I walked up to my aunt's house with a smile spread across my face.
"Hello," I called out as I closed the door behind me.
"In here," Aunt Sarah called from the kitchen.
"Hey," I said as I walked in. She was covering up a dish of lasagne while humming a song.
"How was work?" She asked excitedly.
"Quiet, what's that for?"
"Next door have invited us to dinner, and I thought that it would be nice to bring something too."
"You're not working?" I asked, happy that I would actually get to have a real family meal for once.
"Nope, I swapped shifts, I'm hoping to make up for lost time. I did just plan dinner for the two of us but Mrs L sort of insisted."
"You don't have to do that it's not your fault," I said sadly as a feeling of guilt consumed me.
"Yes...I do. Anyway, why don't you go and get changed, we have to be there in a couple of hours," she smiled at me.
"Ok. Aunt Sarah..."
"Yes?"
"It's not your fault," I quickly headed towards the stairs before she had the chance to answer. I knew that she blamed herself for leaving me with my mom and Mitch but she didn't know anything, and I didn't want her to know anything else.
* * *
Once I had stopped torturing myself with guilty memories about abandoning my aunt, I was finally able to get ready.
"Hey," I said as I walked down the stairs.
"Would you mind just taking out the trash while I sort a couple of things here and then we can leave?"
"Sure," I answered, happy to see that she was in a better mood. I didn't feel as guilty when she was happy.
I took the bag out of her hand before heading out the door. I quickly threw the trash into the large plastic bin before smiling at Leighton's house.
I really enjoyed getting to know his grandma today, and to be honest, I was pretty excited to spend the evening with them both.
The thing that I really need to do is to talk to Leighton. I had made my decision, I was staying, and I wanted him to be the first to know.
Just as I turned back towards Aunt Sarah's a deep voice made me freeze in my tracks. I knew that voice anywhere, I could never forget it. 
"Princess?"
I felt my breathing speed up as my whole body began shaking. I could feel the beads of sweat forming on my body and the burn of the tears that were filling up my eyes. Everything was blurry but all my other senses were heightened. My ears were perfectly in tune with the sound of the heavy boots against the concrete as they made their way towards me. I tried to move, tried to run but my body wouldn't respond. It was as though I was glued to the floor. I thought that I was dreaming because although my lips parted, I still couldn't scream. I tried to force myself to wake up but this wasn't a dream, this was reality. 
He
 was here.
"Rain, baby, it's you," he said as he walked around me. We were face to face...I felt sick. I couldn't move, I couldn't speak. "Hey, don't cry, I'm not going to hurt you princess. I'm not mad anymore," he whispered as he wiped a tear from my cheek. I flinched, his touch made my skin burn. "Don't do that, I told you that I weren't mad. I'd never hurt you-"
Suddenly the sound of a door opening caused him to take a step back. My eyes snapped towards the sound but I still couldn't move. I could feel Mitch's eyes on me...I was trapped.
The sight of Leighton made my heart beat speed up, and my hands become clammy. An overwhelming feeling of comfort came over me. I felt safe. I knew that Mitch couldn't hurt me...couldn't touch me with Leighton there.
"Rai?"He called as he slowly walked towards me.
I wanted to scream 
hurry up! Get me away from him, get rid of him, protect me 
but only silence surrounded me. I wanted to feel the safety of his arms around me and softness of his touch.
"Rai, what are you doing?" He was touching my face now, assessing me. He looked concerned. I couldn't speak, so my eyes flicked to where Mitch was standing. I wanted to warn Leighton about the monster that was lurking in the dark. 
When did he move so far away? 
He was almost stood in the shadows as he looked back at me and Leighton. I expected him to look angry to tell me to pack my bags and come home but he didn't. He looked...confused.
Nothing made any sense about Mitch's uncharacteristic behaviour until a simple three letter word left Leighton's mouth. A three letter word that caused my entire world to come crashing down around me...
"Dad?"

Chapter 11

Dad?
The word had been replaying in my mind for the last minute. This had to be a dream, right? Or maybe I was on some sort of prank show because the truth was that my brain just couldn't accept this as reality. This wasn't supposed to happen.
"Rai?"
I jumped at the sound of his voice. I had forgotten that I wasn't alone for a moment. I was lost in a world of questions. My eyes slowly rose to Leighton's face. He looked worried, concerned. It suddenly dawned on me that he had no idea what was going on. He was oblivious, he had no idea how twisted his reality was in this very moment.
"Rai, you're scaring me," he said calmly as he took a step towards me. I suddenly jumped back; I couldn't let him touch me, not now. I needed to know first. I needed to see but it wasn't there. His eyes weren't the same icy cold ones that Mitch wore. His brown hair was shades lighter than the jet black color of Mitch's. His teeth were imperfect and his jaw line was slightly crooked. He was muscular and toned where Mitch was thinner. There was no physical connection, nothing that linked them other than their blood. They shared the same blood...Oh my gosh, they shared the same blood! I felt sick.
My eyes lifted to Mitch's. He wore the same look that I'd come to know so well in the past three years. It was the look that warned me that this was a secret that I couldn't tell, a look that silently threatened me and a look that made me become the weak and submissive little girl that I had worked so hard to destroy.
I felt sick...
By the time that my eyes reconnected with Leighton's the darkness had taken over, and I felt my body going limp...
Three days...Three days and everything about my life would change if I let it. It was going to change but I was going to be the one to change it.
I saw the look in Mitch's eyes before he left my room. He meant it when he said that he was going to have me and all I had was three days. In three days I was turning eighteen. It should be an exciting milestone, a reason to celebrate but it wasn't. I was going to leave tonight and I needed the help of one person. The one person that - if they could forgive me - I could trust.
I stood outside of her house. I had to wait a whole hour before Mitch left just so that I could come here, and now I wasn't even sure if I should be here.
"What do you want?" She answered angrily as the door swung open. I felt my stomach drop but this wasn't the time for fear. It was time to be strong for the first time in my life.
"Jessie, I know that you're mad at me but I need your help-"
"Mad or I left mad behind years ago! Are you crazy? You haven't spoken to me in three years and now you're on my door step asking for help," she scoffed.
Mitch made me do it, I screamed inside of my head. I couldn't say it out loud because that would mean actually admitting what had happened to me, actually telling someone, and I couldn't.
"I know and believe me, I'm sorry but I have no one else," I admitted in defeat.
"And whose fault is that?" She said before slamming the door in my face. That was it, she was my life line, I had no one else. My mom was gone; I had no friends, no family...just me. I didn't blame her; Mitch made me say some spiteful things to get rid of my friends. I wished that I could explain, make things right but I knew that I would never get that chance. Time was running out and so was my hope. My life was like a jigsaw puzzle, and I needed all of the pieces for it to make any sense. 
"Wait!"
The voice made me freeze. I turned around slowly to look into the face of a girl that used to be my best friend.
"I'll help you."
"Are you sure?" I whispered as a tear rolled down my cheek.
"We once said that we were sisters. Sisters take care of each other, right? Even when they're mad at each other," She said as the tears began rolling down her cheeks.
I didn't hesitate, I ran into her arms. Three years I have felt completely and utterly alone; I needed this.
* * *
Jessie wouldn't agree to help me until I told her everything. We may have been apart for three years but as I was sat talking to her for the past forty minutes I knew that nothing had changed.
Her face was stained with tears, her eyes were blood shot, and I had witnessed at least five different emotions in the last forty minutes.
"I'm so mad," she growled as she abruptly stood to her feet.
"Its ok-"
"No, it's not ok, I was supposed to be your friend, I should have known. Instead I turned my back on you."
"I made you...he made me."
"I should have known..." She trailed off. I sat silently still not believing that I had told her everything. "We have to call the cops," she said as she ran towards the phone.
"No," I stated.
"What?" She looked at me, dumbfounded. "He needs to pay for what he did to you, for what he allowed those...men to do to you, and you're mom...she..." she said as she choked back her tears.
"Jess, you don't know what he's like. The things he's involved in. A man like Mitch isn't scared of the police, that's the life that he is in, he'll just get out. I need to get away. She may have been wrong but she had the right idea," I said sadly.
"Why should you suffer, why do you have to leave everything behind?" She asked in frustration.
"It's just how it has to be, I just need you to help me, please. I have to get away, Jess. It's the only way."
She took a long pause as she stared at me. Finally she nodded her head.
"What do I have to do?"
* * *
"Rain," he whispered breathlessly as we stepped onto the porch. Every hair on my body was stood up, and I could feel the bile rising to the top of my throat. I had managed to convince Mitch that I wanted us to try and 'be together'. I told him to take me out tonight, spend time together. It worked, he bought everything, and I wasn't about to ruin it now. As he took a step closer, I prayed that Jess had stuck to her side of the plan. I put everything to the back of my mind and plastered a fake smile on my face.
"Yes?" I answered, trying to keep my voice steady.
"I don't think I can wait, three days is a long time, and you look so damn hot in that dress. You are really, really turning me on," he whispered.
I wanted to scream. I wanted to throw up. I wanted to jump in the shower and scrub away how dirty he made me feel just by the way he looked at me. I took a deep breath and swallowed the saliva in my mouth.
"Lets go inside," I suggested, willing the tears back.
"Sounds like a plan," he chuckled as he slipped past me to open the door. I closed my eyes. Please don't have let me down, Jess. "What the hell!"
My eyes snapped open just in time to see Mitch running through the house. It looked legit. We looked like we had been robbed. Cupboards had been emptied onto the floor, the TV was smashed, pieces of paper was everywhere. She took out her anger on this place, I could tell. My thoughts were suddenly interrupted as Mitch stormed back into the room.
"Damn, damn, damn!" He looked panicked. I knew that it was time to play my part.
"What?" I asked, trying to sound surprised.
"It's gone! Damn," he replied as he fumbled inside his pocket before pulling out his phone.
"What's gone?" I asked.
"The money that I was supposed to pay Johnny, it's gone!"
Thank God, she found it.
"What? All of it?"
"Yes, all of it. Just, shut up, I need a minute to think," he moaned as he punched a number into his phone.
"Danny, yeah, we got a problem...no, it's Johnny's money...it's gone...all of it."
That was my cue...
"Oh my gosh," I gasped for added effect.
"What?" Mitch moaned impatiently.
"Remember the last thing that Rick said before he left last time?"
"That I would pay," he said as the realisation hit him.
"He wouldn't though, would he?"
I knew that Rick hadn't trashed the place or took the money because I had asked Jess to ask her delinquent brother and his friends to do it. I knew that once they realised that money was involved they would be in. It was wrong but it was the only way. I had spent years having to lie there while Rick took favor after favor, now it was his turn to return the favor.
"Damn!" He grunted before going back to his phone conversation."Yeah...no...listen I'll be there in five, be ready," he said before cutting the call and angrily throwing his jacket on.
"Come on," he grunted as he turned to me.
"No," I said a little too quickly, " I mean, I need to stay and tidy up the mess. You go, I'll be fine," I knew he wasn't buying it so I had to take it up a gear and it made my skin crawl but I pushed the feeling to the back of my brain. "I'll sort things out this side, and when you get back, I'll be here...waiting for you," I forced myself forward and allowed my lips to brush against his. He held me unexpectedly and kissed me harder. I felt violated.
"Ok, lock the doors. I'll be back in an hour."
Then he left. As soon as the door closed, I dropped to the floor. I knew that I had to go but the tears wouldn't stop. I curled up in a ball on the floor and cried. I'll never come back here again, I vowed...never.
* * * 
After Mitch left, I pulled myself together and packed my bag. I walked the fifteen minute journey to Jess' as I didn't want anyone to spot her or trace anything back to her. We sat in silence for the entire journey to the airport as I allowed the tears to flow freely. Jess wasn't good at goodbyes and right now...neither was I. 
She took my packed bag out of her trunk and opened it slightly to slip something inside.
"What's that?" I asked suspiciously.
"Yours," she said quietly.
"I said that I didn't want any of Mitch's money, I told you to tell them to keep it," I whispered.
"You deserve it, Rainie. After everything it's the least you should get, especially if you won't go to the police-"
"I don't want it," I shout whispered.
"You need it, ok, you need it! How are you going to survive or eat? What if things don't work out with your aunt?"
"They will-"
"But what if they don't. Just take it. When you're earning your own money then throw it away, burn it, who cares but right now you need it. I need to know you're going to be ok," she said as the tears began to flow.
"I will," I whispered.
"Promise me?" She cried.
"I promise," I said just before she threw her arms around me and squeezed. We had just made up and it was probably the last time that I was ever going to see her.
"Thank you, for everything," I whispered into her hair.
"That's what sisters are for..."
* * *
The plane journey was long and lonely. I spent most of the time feeling on edge. Every foot step made me jump and every male voice sent my heart racing.
I wasn't a huge fan of planes and I was glad to get off. I switched my phone on and was greeted by a long list of calls and messages from Mitch. I ignored them and opened up the single text.
I will find you, Rain. You're mine!
I let the words sink in, knowing that he meant every last one. That's why as I clutched my bag in my lap as I rode the bus to Aunt Sarah's, I knew that this was the beginning of a long journey because I was never going back but I knew that he would never stop searching...he wasn't going to stop until he found me.