Blood Money (1) | The Inheritance Games

XXXVII. the smallest man who ever lived

"Were you sent by someone who wanted me dead? Did you sleep with a gun underneath our bed? Were you writing a book? Were you a sleeper cell spy? In fifty years, will all this be declassified? And you'll confess why you did it And I'll say, 'Good riddance'. Cause it wasn't sexy once it wasn't forbidden. I would've died for your sins. Instead, I just died inside. And you deserve prison, but you won't get time. You'll slide into inboxes and slip through the bars. You crashed my party and your rental car. You said normal girls were boring. But you were gone by the morning. You kicked out the stage lights. But you're still performing. And in plain sight you hid. But you are what you did. And I'll forget you, but I'll never forgive. The smallest man who ever lived."

Trigger Warning: Depictions of Rape.

Hey guys, so it's pretty clear to anyone who reads the trigger warning what's going to happen in this chapter. It's not something I'd typically write about or even come close to because of how truly sensitive and triggering a topic it really is. I don't always agree with depictions of rape in books unless it's important to the plot. In this case, it's something that's been planned since the very early stages of this book as it does serve a really crucial turning point. I'm very aware this topic is extremely triggering to a wide margin of people with how much of a prevailing issue it is at the moment. Rape culture is a serious issue in today's society. It's important to know that if you have experienced an incidence of rape that you are not alone and that there are always people you can talk to, including friends, family, helplines, or even me, I understand it's scary to talk to people you know, so seeking online advice from a stranger can sometimes be helpful. As a huge activist, it would bother me to write this chapter and not bring awareness to this serious pressing issue. Horrific incidents like those depicted in the following chapter happen every day. I am grateful to say I've never experienced rape, but it makes me disgusted to say I'm a part of a minority in that statement. The most recent statistic found that 67,928 rapes were reported between just April 2023 and March 2024. And that's reported, not even including those that weren't. It repulses me that people out there are vulgar enough to do such things to another human being. By writing this chapter, I wanted to create a character who navigates this to show any reader that they aren't alone if they have experienced something of the sort. But doing so, I needed to ensure I did so with as much discretion and compassion as possible. I didn't want to trivialise or romanticise the matter, I wanted to make sure it displayed clearly how iniquitous it is whilst also ensuring I did so with sensitivity. I recently took a school course on sexual abuse and the various impacts, which encouraged me to further my research to insure everything I wrote was accurate. This chapter has been written, rewritten, edited and proof checked at least a million times. I tried my very best to limit the actual occurrence of the assault, so the chapter may seem sparse. It's probably one of my most poorly written chapters structurally, but I wanted to focus more on the emotions rather than the actions. However as always, if you read something you don't think is particularly tasteful or something you think is untrue in any way, please do let me know so I can quickly rectify it. Before this chapter begins, I just want to clarify for those of you who chose not to read this one, there will be a summary in the comments of the final paragraph. But it's important to remember this book is 18+ and does contain some extremely triggering topics such as this one. Just to reiterate, to those of you who need to hear it, there is always support for you if you need it.

 

Spencer.

Following Ant Jenkins through the woods to his cabin was mistake number one. But not doing anything when he locked the doors was mistake number two. 

I got weird vibes the second I met his eyes long enough to see the evil lurking behind them. Not the usual weird vibes he gives me, stronger this time. Eyes that crave hurt.