Petal [h.s.]

Chapter 78 (*)

TW:

Mentions of self-harm (graphic)

Body dysmorphia

Physical abuse (unwanted touching – not naked)

Verbal abuse

Violet.

I ignored Harry's heavy gaze for a bit as I took another sip of coffee.

It had gone cold by now, but I didn't care. I needed something to soothe my dry throat.

The light and happy feeling I felt after hearing Harry's letter had been accompanied by a heavy ball of anxiety that rested in the pit of my stomach. I knew it wasn't going to go away anytime soon, at least not until I had told my whole story.

Nicolas was in the corner of the space, sitting in his chair. He sent me a short nod, as if signalling me it was okay. It was safe. I trusted him and I trusted Harry.

I had told Nicolas about the basement in as much detail as I could remember. I didn't care for a second that half of the crap I told was illegal, he assured me had confidentiality and nothing would ever get out. I left out the part about Harry being in a gang, and simply referred to Chase as a business enemy of his.

I cleared my throat as I flicked my head to the side to watch Harry, and I turned my body sideways a little bit so I could speak directly to him.

"When Finn picked me up from the RSP, nothing seemed out of the ordinary. We talked a little bit, as we always used to do. It wasn't until after a while that I noticed he was taking different roads, it was... stupid of me to only notice it that late b-"

"Violet." Nicolas cut me off after hardly three sentences and I looked at him with wide eyes as he slowly shook his head, "You're not even talking for thirty seconds and you've called yourself stupid already."

I nodded, "Right. Sorry." I sighed, "I mean, not sorry. Not apologizing."

He nodded too, "Good. Continue."

I diverted my attention back to Harry, drawing a sharp breath as I continued, "He threw my phone out of the window, and then knocked me out with the back of his gun before I was sedated with chloroform. Next thing I knew, I woke up in the basement and I was tied to that pole."

Harry shifted in his seat and nodded, "The basement."

"The basement." I sighed, "Chase was there when I woke up. He seemed... nice almost. He explained everything to me, about why I was there, that it was only to lure you in and whatnot. Basically, things that I already knew. My head hurt, but I wasn't... injured in any way." I spoke.

"And then... his mind games started. He asked me how long it would take you to find me. And he made that bet with me. He continuously told me that if you really cared, it would take you less than a day to track me down. He kept repeating that, to the point where I kind of agreed. I didn't know what else to do. He told me he'd leave me alone for the first 24 hours. And he did. I didn't see him. A few people came down sometimes to give me food or water, or they untied me to let me use the toilet."

Harry listened to me intently. I knew none of this was news to him, but it was important for me to tell this story chronologically in order to not lose myself in it.

"I-I think that's when he sent you some kind of video? I was still unconscious when he filmed it, but he told me about it afterwards." I spoke and Harry nodded, "Yes, he sent me a video of you tied up to that pole."

"Right." I breathed, "There was the clock above the door, you saw that. I was staring at it constantly, counting down the minutes, dreading the moment those 24 hours would've passed. Almost on the dot he came back in. He told me they'd have to speed you up a bit, and I feared for the worst. I thought maybe he'd rape me, or torture me. But what he did was... different." I fiddled with my fingers as I inhaled through my nose, trying to control the oxygen flow as I felt myself getting more worked up.