Reid

24

Bryn Reid

"Bryn Reid, can you please come up?" The judge says, gesturing to the small seat next to his table.

I stand, smoothing down my dress with my shaking hands before I walk over and sit down.

"Can you go into detail about your whole time with this man?" The judge gestures to Gabriel Brots.

"Um," I take a deep breath. "Do you want like from the very beginning, sir?"

"Yes, please. How he took you as well."

"My husband and I were going on a trip for our anniversary and I had fallen asleep, so Spencer woke me up at our first stop: a gas station. He told me to go get some snacks, drinks, whatever. I couldn't find anything that looked great, so I just decided to go to the bathroom. I felt something hit me in the head when I was going to open the door and I passed out.

"When I woke up, I was tied to a chair with some sort of wire and was in a weird room. It reminded me of a school locker room. Within a few minutes, he walked in and started saying how he wanted to hurt me so bad that my family wouldn't be able to recognize me. He started punching me, kicking me. Then he chained me to the wall and he cut off my clothes and-and..."

"It's okay, take your time." The judge says softly and I thank him.

"He sexually assaulted me for the first time." I wipe my eyes, taking another breath. "He left me for that day and I just stayed on the floor. The next morning he came in and repeated everything, this time not just with him. He's use his hands and get himself off at the same time. He repeated that every day until the last one. He came in and grabbed me, telling me that he's letting me go. He put a blindfold on me when he put me in the car then dropped me off in the middle of town."

"Okay. What did you do then?"

"I was walking around and then I asked a woman where Walburt Street is because I know that my husband's work is just a few streets down from it. Then I went there and found them."

"You can go sit down now. Thank you." I nod, heading back to my seat.

-

"I pledge Gabriel Brots...guilty of abducting." The judge slams his gavel down. "You may all be dismissed from the court room."

"You're kidding." I mutter, my lawyer grabbing onto my hand.

"At least he's going to jail, Bryn." She says.

"No! He should be going under at least two charges! I'm not letting him get away with this." I rip my hand out of hers, standing.

"Bryn, no!"

"'I'm gonna make sure that only I can use you again.'" I say loudly, making everyone turn to me. "That's what he said as he was cutting off my clothes. That's what keeps me awake at night, knowing that I may never be able to make love to my husband ever again."

"Please sit down, ma'am." The judge sighs.

"'Stop crying, bitch. You're making it worse for me.' Is what he said the second time. After that, I stopped listening. I became numb to him. Now, I will probably never be able to give my husband another child. I will have nightmares about this every night until I turn 80 and you don't give a damn."

"That's enough. Guards, escort her out."

"Don't touch me!" I scream as one of their hand clams around my wrist. "Please don't touch me." I whisper, fear causing me to slide onto the floor, curling into a ball against the wall.

"Bryn, honey." Spencer rushes around, bending down to my height. "Come on,"

He picks me up and I fist his shirt in my hands, sobbing into his neck.