Trauma of the Forest (Meadema)

~ Chapter 84: One Last Time ~

Warning: This chapter contains a mild form of sexual assault.

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Beth had the feeling that she was going to throw out everything she had eaten and drunk today within a few minutes. It was completely silent in the car, there was a tense atmosphere, which of course makes sense with the plan that was about to take place. Concentration clearly visible on the face of the officer who was driving, a somewhat sympathetic smile on the officer who was sitting next to her.

Whether she was completely behind the police's decision to do this, no, still not completely. Her Vivi, who has suffered such an incredibly big trauma from all those times that she was raped, that she was grabbed by those men, is now being grabbed again. Whether this would go completely well, she wasn't entirely convinced of that either, despite the fact that Viv had clearly told her that it would be fine.

She felt the stream of tears coming, felt a kick in her belly from the baby. She calmly placed her hand on her belly and rubbed it gently. But this did break the dam, the tears started rolling down her cheeks. What if it goes wrong? What if Peter suddenly has so many accomplices that they surprise the police? That they take Viv away? That she becomes a single mother of their baby because Viv is murdered by them? That their baby doesn't even get to know his or her own mother?

She felt a hand being placed on her shoulder, but the officer next to her said nothing, only support in the form of non-verbal communication. And maybe that was enough now, because somewhere she had no need to talk at all, she just wanted it to be over as quickly as possible. All she wanted now was to just lie in Viv's arms, to hold her as tight as she could.

Suddenly the van came to a stop, at a spot about 100 meters from the forest, hidden, and suddenly the cameras went on. A camera hung on a tree in the forest where the arrest will hopefully take place, three cameras in motion hanging from the officers' suits. And then suddenly she got a view of Viv, via a camera that showed the situation in the car.

And despite the fact that the fear had almost overcome her, she stopped crying when she saw Viv. That Viv, her power woman, really radiated power, radiated self-confidence, was completely ready to take on this last challenge within the trauma. And that confidence that Viv radiated, seemed to suddenly penetrate her via an invisible string. Yes, the fear remained, but the nausea and the urge to vomit disappeared.

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Viv had closed herself off from everyone, was completely in her own world, focusing on what awaited her in the next half hour. The GPS tracker in her pocket, her old shoes, glued and all, back on to make the situation seem as normal as possible in the hope that Peter would strike.

And for her too, the car suddenly came to a standstill, at the edge of the forest, about 200 meters from where the arrest will hopefully take place. With a few final instructions, about where the officers already stationed in the woods were, about how Viv should behave when walking around so as not to be conspicuous, the operation began.

She decided to take a moment, to open her WhatsApp for a moment to text Beth, who she knew for sure was nervous. She sent a few more hearts, wrote how proud she was of her, how much she loved her and that it was all going to be okay. And then, when the undercover had spoken the last words to her, she walked into the forest, alone.

Besides the fact that it felt strange to walk into the forest anyway to 'hopefully' get caught soon, it was strange to walk around in nature again. Since those men escaped, she hadn't been in a public space for so long, but oh how wonderful it felt to be able to breathe in the fresh air again.