Symphony Mathews had a secret. A terrible secret, she wanted to curl in her bedroom and cry until no tear was left from her body, instead she went out for a walk in the park near her home. She walked past her favorite tree and towards the lake where she stood watching the ducks go around in circles.
She felt numb, she felt desperate, and most of all she felt depressed; guilty of being in such a situation. It was her own fault, she was the sinner, she was 17 and she was pregnant. Pregnant from a rape, she was the one who had started it all, so said her father and obviously, he was right. She put her hand in her jeans pocket and took out the pregnancy test, blue it was, blue like the color of the impending doom that was on her.
She was alone, frightened and so hurt inside. The bruises of her rape were gradually disappearing on the surface but outside only, inside she still cringed when a guy looked at her for a few seconds; even a smile made her want to run away and hide.
She still remembered the day when she had lost her innocence, she was walking home from school, dressed casually in her jeans and her blouse, when she had heard whistling, she had started walking quicker, and then as she was to turn on the corner of the street, a car came from nowhere and someone dragged her inside. She started to scream and scratch, whatever she could to save her from this hell but no one heard her, and then came the slap.
She'd seen bright colors then; she had seen nothing else, it was dark and she woke up, tied to a pole, the flat surface, hurting her back and slowly light came through to her. She shook her head and that was when the nightmare began. Five men wearing masks were circling her, but it seemed that they had a leader, he did not wear a mask and his face would be forever edged in her mind; still now she shivered remembering the smug smile he had on his face when he had looked at her. Sensing her fear, he said in a greasy voice; "well, well what do we have here?"
Despite being innocent, Symphony had read about rape, women kidnapping and prostitution, her friend Frieda, had told her the story of the ghost of a raped woman that haunted every man and every couples that passed near the road she had been found and how she drove them crazy until they killed themselves. Symphony had shivered at the thought and had kissed her chastity ring; she would never let hands touch her, never let anyone else except her husband.
As she looked at those men, she felt the weight of her chastity ring on her finger, crushing her, or so it seemed. She emitted a prayer, as the man took one step towards her, he was not a handsome man, and he was a more of a dangerous beast, huge and malevolent. Symphony cringed; she felt pearls of sweat gliding down her back. Instinct were screaming at her, "Run, Run as fast as you can" but as much as she willed herself to move, she remained glued to the floor, paralyzed by a cold dread.
The man started to undress taking off his leather jacket, shredding his shirt, all along he kept looking at her, smiling cruelly, helpless as she was circled by men who all looked dangerous and cruel, Symphony began to sob, much to the pleasure of her assailants, 'Cry my dear, cry, this is far to good an occasion, cry as much as you want." Trying to stifle a cry, she felt a smack on her head and saw red; as her view was clearing, she saw that the man was crouching near her, his lips a few inches of her face, she tried to turn her face but his hand grabbed her chin and turned her towards her towards him. She closed her eyes, praying this was a nightmare and then, she felt his lips on her, cold and moist at the same time, he forced her to open her lips and tried French kissing her and the more she struggled the more he forced himself on her. When he had finished he took a step back and laughed. Symphony's lips tasted of her blood, bruised and swollen by the manhandling. Then, the nightmare really began.
They undressed her and tied her to a bed, raped her each one of the six men, enthralled by her pain, turned on by her screams, they beat her, with their belts, leaving red trails on her body, three days and three nights they kept her, feasting on her as vultures on a dead body. After the third day, Symphony went numb, she did not scream, she did not cry, she felt dead; dead inside. She stopped hoping. In fact she stopped thinking, enveloping herself in a dark cocoon where she felt no pain, no sadness. Finally, the men lost interest in her, after all who would want a living corpse?? That night, they sedated her and put her in the same car that had brought her to hell. Arriving at a junction, threw her on the road, as garbage and the car sped away. She curled on herself, and slept, she heard noises; heard women whispering, "oh my goodness," she heard ambulance's siren and she felt strong hands lifting her up and putting her on a hard surface; she yelped, but the cocoon enveloping her was stronger, the darkness appealed, she would be safe her, she would not feel the blows nor the wandering hands. Yes, she must remain in the darkness.
Faintly, Symphony remembered lights flying by, heard voices, heard beeps and silence. She saw a light, dimly at first, she saw her grandma Melody smiling at her; reaching for her; hugging, giving her the comfort she had badly needed, a single tear slid down her cheek and she lifted her hand to wipe it off; that was when she decided to come out of the cocoon. As she opened her eyes, she felt the impact of light on her eyes; three nights in a dim light, she could not bear it. Counting to three she re-opened her eyes, adapting to the light, cautiously she peeked out to see, if her kidnappers were around. Her body ached and as she tried to set herself up, she saw a tube planted in her arm. She looked at the immaculate room and realized she was in a hospital. She could not believe her eyes. She glanced at the bed and saw dozen of roses and cards, wishing her a "Good Recovery".
A nurse came in, and seeing her awake, gave her a big smile. "Oh, you are awake, finally." Symphony's mouth felt dry and her throat was burning with thirst, she realized that she had gone the last three days without eating or drinking. Now she wanted to drink and she saw nothing drinkable around her, the nurse; sensing her need put a tray in front of her; but she felt her throat choking her, instead she went for the juice and sipped on it slowly. She felt better and dared to ask, in a whisper, "how.. how did I get here... Where are they?" The nurse gave her a reassuring look, "You know, you were lucky my dear, one week in a semi-coma, we didn't think you would survive."
Symphony felt goose bumps traveling along her body, seven days; in all ten days since she left home. "My family, do they know?" The nurse nodded, and sighed. "yes they know, the police informed them, your mom came everyday," Symphony closed her eyes and inhaled painfully, "and my dad?" she questioned, "he came, the nurse replied, and when he learned that you had been raped, he went away." An immense sorrow filled Symphony's heart, her dad, the local parish would not acknowledge her, she was sure of it. He was strict and had old moral values. The nurse looked at her, sympathetically, and said, "don't worry honey, just go back and sleep" and so she had slept.
When she woke up the next day, her mother was there, her pale blond hair disarrayed on her head. She looked at Symphony, her eyes bruised due to lack of sleep; Serenity Mathews looked far older than her 45years old, fatigue; stress and intense emotions had held her up during the past days, her husband Evan had slept, not a worried about the disappearance of their only daughter. Now she looked at Symphony and felt an immense sadness overwhelm her. If only, if only she had fled with her baby instead of staying with such an emotionless man, tears filling her eyes, Serenity turned to look at the view outside, dabbing her eyes with her handkerchief.
Placing a smile on her face, she turned towards her daughter and said, in a voice she tried to make cheerful, "my sweet cup how are you, am so glad that you are up, you were always a lazy head."
Symphony
NUMPAGES 3
