My Body is a torture chamber

Chapter Two

The image is an aerial view of Alex's room, closet, and bathroom. 

They got out of bed and walked around it to the mirror by their bathroom door. In just a glance they could see a bruise on their inner thigh—they didn't know exactly where it came from. They assumed that there were also bruises on their back and hips, but they didn't want to check. Alex pulled off their sweatshirt so they could see their throat better. The bruising wasn't awful, but it was visible. There was a thumbprint at the base of their throat that would be difficult to cover up, along with a few fingerprints around the rest of their throat. They haven't had makeup or anything else that they could have used to cover up the bruising since they were twelve, so it would be very hard to hide what happened.

There was no way that they would be able to hide that something was going to happen. There was no way that they could lie about something happening. As far as they knew, Tanner was still in the house, and they were not going to give him the satisfaction of hiding. His threat was most likely empty, but not the part about people not believing them that it was rape. So they were going to tell the person who they knew would believe them. Melissa. They texted her, asking her to come and pick them up on their way to the hospital. They threw their phone on their bed after they sent the text. They didn't want to just stare at their phone while they were waiting for Melissa to respond to their text.

Alex pulled a pair of sweatpants over the boxers that they slept in, and put the sweatshirt that they slept in back on. They also grabbed a tote bag and threw in another outfit because they would most likely have to give the police or the ER their clothes. They took the clothes that they were wearing during the attack and the paper towel they used to clean their stomach off the bathroom floor and put them in a plastic bag, and then put that bag in the tote as well. They thought that there might be something on the clothes that the police could use.

They paced around their room until they heard their phone buzzing on the bed. They picked it up and answered Melissa's call, "Allie, baby. Are you alright?" Her voice was panicked.

"No. Not really. But I need you to bring me to the ER, and I'll tell you in the car. Yeah? I need to get out of the house for right now, and then I'll feel better," Alex was still pacing at the end of their bed. They needed to get out of the house. They needed to leave, but they didn't know where Tanner was in their house. They didn't know if they would pass him when they were walking to the door, and there was only one way out.

"I think I already know the answer. But baby, it wasn't Oliver, was it? He didn't hurt you did he?" Melissa asked, her voice tense.

"N-fuck, no," they shook their head even though they knew that Mel couldn't see them. "It wasn't Otter. He-he doesn't know. I haven't seen him since before it happened."

"Okay, honey. I'm outside. Do you want me to wait out here, or come in and get out?" Alex didn't know how they didn't notice that Melissa was already in the car.

"No. No. I'm on my way out. I'll see you in a bit," they hung up, grabbed their bag, and then went to leave their room.

They walked over to their door and hesitated when they grabbed the handle. They took a deep breath to try and calm the anxiety that stirred in their chest at the idea of leaving the safety of their room. They pushed it aside—not all the way, but the best that they could—turned the knob, and opened the door.

Alex made their way down the stairs as fast as they possibly could. They passed Oliver in the kitchen on their way out the door. He tried to talk to them, but they just pulled on a pair of vans in the mudroom and then met Melissa at her car. Alex threw their bag in the back seat and then climbed into the passenger seat.