The Grabber

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As the two reached the final corner, Andrea paused. She looked at Al as he eyed her house.
"Is your dad home?" He asked. Andrea looked at her house, but didn't see his car. She released a sigh of relief.
"Doesn't look like it," she said. Al nodded as he turned to Andrea.
"If he hurts you, you hit back, alright?"
"Al-"
"I'm serious," he spoke sternly. Andrea stayed silent and finally nodded. "Show him no fucking mercy. He doesn't deserve it."
"I just don't think violence against violence is gonna work."
"Sometimes pain is the only way to make people realize just how much they're hurting you. The only way they'll learn. It's okay sometimes, doll. Just... to an extent." Andrea looked down as she took this in. She wasn't sure he was right, but he seemed serious. After a moment, Al brushed away some of her hair. "This is where we part ways," he sighed. "It was... something. Having you there. Knowing you." Andrea simply nodded as Al removed his hand to her arm, gently wrapping his fingers around it. Andrea glanced at what he was doing only for his grip to suddenly tighten as he quickly pulled her close to whisper in her ear.
"And if you say a single word about any of this to anyone, I will find you. I know where you sleep, Andrea. I won't hesitate to pay you a visit, alright?" Andrea nodded again as he moved away. He finally roughly let her go as she turned to him.
"I guess this is goodbye, then," she said softly. Al nodded. He took a deep breath as his eyes took in Andrea's appearance one last time. The baggy clothes made her seem smaller. Almost adorable. Al shook his head as he looked away.
"Goodbye, Andrea," he sighed as he turned away. Andrea watched as he walked away, his silence following.
"Goodbye, Al."

...

"Oh my god, Andrea!" Michael exclaimed as he ran to engulf his sister in a hug. She flinched at the physical touch, but tried to hug her brother back. "You're okay! You're alive!" He pulled away with a smile from ear to ear, which faded as soon as he saw her arm. "What happened to your arm?" Andrea shuddered as Michael removed his touch. Although she didn't seem scared of Al anymore, she still felt traumatized from what happened.
"It's... a long story."
"Did he do it?" He asked. Andrea hesitated, knowing what her brother would think, but nodded slowly. "Let me see." He reached for Andrea's arm. She flinched again at the touch. He glanced at Andrea as he slowly unwrapped the bandage. "Are those his clothes?"
"I... bled through mine."
"Bled?" Michael echoed. "You're telling me everything that happened. Everything he did. Come sit over here." Andrea slowly followed Michael to the couch to sit. Michael unwrapped the bandage completely. His eyes widened at the wound. "That's where the blood came from?"
"Not all of it..." Andrea looked to her leg. "My leg was cut, too. And it's... that time. So." Michael nodded slowly as he understood.
"Do you think you'll need a doctor?" Andrea shrugged as Michael wrapped the wound on her arm again.
"I hope not. I really don't want to." Michael ran a hand through his hair as he sighed. He looked at Andrea; happy to see her again, but worried for what he would hear next.
"What happened when you were there? Did he feed you? Hurt you more?" Andrea noticed his hesitation as he tried to form his next words. "T...touch you?" Andrea looked away as she shuddered again at the word. She sighed as she answered him.
"He fed me twice while I was there. Just eggs. He didn't hurt me any more than these two cuts. He..." Andrea didn't like having to talk about it. "Didn't... um. The most he did was... get on top of me, kiss me, and... his hands went up my shirt about this far.." she showed the furthest his hands had gone. "And... here.." she gestured to where the waist of her pants had been at the time of that day. She raised her shakey hand to just above her bust. "His face went to about here." Michael noted her soft voice as she spoke. He knew she didn't want to talk about it anymore, so he didn't push.
"Oh my god, I'm so sorry," he said gently. "I can't imagine how scary that must have been. I won't ask about it anymore, but I am going to get you some food," he said as he stood. Andrea kept her gaze down as she gently cupped her elbows.
Michael decided to search the fridge for any foods that would be nourishing for his sister. He wasn't sure what the best thing for her to eat would be, so he decided to go with different fruits his family had recently bought. He knew Andrea loved fruit. He grabbed what he needed and started to cut some up in a bowl for her. Andrea slowly entered the room as she watched Michael.
"I wasn't supposed to tell you anything," she spoke softly as she leaned against the doorway. Michael turned to her. "He didn't want me to say anything to anyone."
"Well he can piss off," Michael shrugged as he went back to his work. "I'm your brother. I have a right to know. After what he did to you, he's lucky I don't go find him myself." Andrea stayed quiet as Michael cut up plenty of fruit. She looked over to the window at the cloudy skies. Something didn't feel right. She didn't know what. Michael put the rest of the fruit away and cleaned up his area. He motioned for Andrea to sit at the table as he placed the bowl of fruit in front of her. Andrea slowly took the fork, but didn't eat
"What's wrong? You like fruit, right?" Andrea sighed softly as she carefully released the fork to sit in the bowl.
"I'm... not really hungry," she muttered. Michael took a seat beside her.
"You need to eat, Dre," he pleaded. "You can't go without food." Andrea leaned back in her chair, letting her head rest against the back as she looked to her brother.
"Is it bad?" She softly asked.
"Is what bad?"
"That I... think I miss him." Michael took a moment to process what Andrea had said. Miss a killer? How absurd was that?
"Miss him?" He echoed. "Andrea, he hurt you. He almost... you know. How are you not terrified of him? You should be praying to never see him again!"
"I know," she groaned as she looked away. "I know. I should be scared.. but I'm not. I don't know why. Maybe it's because I know that it's not him doing all this."
"What do you mean? Is he working with someone?" Michael shrugged in confusion. Andrea shook her head.
"No... it's just... his anger. It makes him do these things. He can't control it. When his anger isn't taking control of him.. he's a very nice guy. Caring. I mean.." she gestured to her clean clothes and clean body. "He let me get cleaned up and even gave me these clothes to wear. He didn't have to. He even went out of his way to get pads for me."
"Those are his clothes?" Michael asked as he looked at her attire. Andrea noticed his crinkled nose.
"They were too small for him," she sighed. "So he let me wear them, since my other clothes were bloody." She looked at Michael as he shook his head. "He's not a bad guy. The Grabber is. The anger is."
"Are you sure he didn't manipulate you?" Michael sighed.
"He didn't," Andrea insisted. "I'm just judging him based on what I've learned and experienced. You trust me, don't you?" Michael debated on this. He trusted his sister, but didn't trust the Grabber. How could he be sure that the Grabber didn't make her think this way? He finally caved and nodded.
"Yes, I do. I just... don't trust the Grabber."
"I don't expect you to," she shrugged. "It's just what I believe."