A man, not known to many, enters the life of an unstable family, plunging it down through its already weak restraints.
(Previously known as "The Serial Rapist")
COMPLETED.
"This must be the first guy she brought home that you actually like," Caleb commented. We were currently writing up some Physics notes our teacher decided to put on the board. I smiled to myself, wondering whether the fact if my approval did matter to him. He seemed rather content when he realized his comment had gotten to me.
"Well," I replied, fiddling with my pen. "He seems and looks nice." Caleb raised a brow, sending a mischievous glint.
"Looks nice eh? From the way Candace walked around bragging about him, I'm guessing he was more than a looker." I laughed at his comment, then suddenly remembered that the class was silent and that we were the only ones having a conversation. The Physics teacher peered from beneath his glasses with a glare in my direction.
"Is there a joke you'd like to share Miss Landoe?" he asked, crossing his arms from behind the desk where he sat. Immediately, all eyes were on me, and mine vented in all directions as I fought to find a quick and reasonable comeback.
"I-uh," I stammered.
"That's what I thought. Now get back to work," he sternly replied and went back to grading the pile of books that were on his desk. We waited a few seconds to resume our conversation.
"It's this time of the week, Zoe," Caleb whispered, nudging me in my side. I turned to face him with a frown, confounded with his sudden merriment. "Vandalize Vendredi," he whispered again. I rolled my eyes in remembrance. It was a day we made up, to vandalize abandoned structures with our 'art'. We did once a fortnight, on Fridays, and it was Caleb who came with the stupid french Friday since it started with 'v' like the word 'vandalize'.
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Those were the days when Nina was clean and young with the energy of teenagers, like ones we possessed and not spend her nights pleasing every male soul in town. It was actually a month now since no one had seen her.
"We go right after school, like we usually do, right?" I'd missed them a couple of times, it seemed I'd forgotten the routine. Caleb nodded in response, sending a smile my way, as it was obvious he couldn't hold in his enthusiasm since I was rejoining our little 'culture'. I smiled silently to myself, kind of proud of how he was still holding on. He'd gotten a fair share of life's most disastrous moments.
Caleb currently lived with his aunt and uncle, after his two parents had been brutally murdered on the night of their wedding anniversary. They were walking from the restaurant they'd dined at, to their car and were encountered by some masked men on the side of the street that were probably looking for someone to rob.
Caleb's father didn't make it easy for them, and when they grew weary, they just fell to their last option and shot him. His mother got hysterical after that, and then in an attempt to avenge her husband's death, she accidentally pulled off one of their masks. That was it for her after that.
They didn't want witnesses.
It was the most sorrowful event I could recall, from both of our pasts, and even though he didn't show it, I really felt it for him, even up to this day, which is actually ten years from then. But he didn't have to suffer alone. He had his older brother, Gabriel, to cry on, if he needed a shoulder. He usually came to pick him up after school.
"Zoe," the teacher spoke as he approached my desk. I hadn't realized that he was monitoring the notes being taken from the beginning of the class. "What exactly have you written?" he asked, coming to a halt in front of me. I gazed down on my book and realized I only two sentences, and an incomplete one.
He was about to open his mouth to say something but was interrupted by the bell which signaled the end of school. Children ran for the door as if the building was on fire and everyone was fighting to survive.
"This is it," Caleb said as he packed his bag. The teacher gave me one last glare before returning to his desk, and I exited the class before he could call me back. "The others are waiting outside," Caleb called excitedly as he pulled me towards the school exit and into the awaiting car of Emmett and Darlene, our other two friends. They smiled once they saw me at Caleb's side, probably because they hoped some kind of romance would exist there.
"Do we have to stop to buy cans?" I asked once we got in.
"No. Aren't we always prepared?" Darlene laughed as Emmett sped off.
***
2 hours later...
"Are you sure things are okay?" Darlene asked, her red hair blowing in the wind. She currently had her arm draped over my shoulder, pulling me closer to her side.
"Yes, I'm sure," I answered for the third time, rolling my eyes as she laughed at my annoyed tone.
"Hey, I wouldn't be a friend if I didn't ask," she said, ruffling my hair. I wriggled myself from out of her grasp, just in time to avoid her bear hug. She was a touchy person. I wasn't. "So based on your sister's rambling, you have a good-looking guy staying at your house." I groaned out loud, running a hand through my hair.
"Gosh, with that child!" I exclaimed, my voice echoing through the vast and empty plain we stood. Both Emmett and Caleb looked back, giving us weird looks, but Darlene waved them off.
"Don't be too hard on her. She went through the equal amount of pain as you did," Darlene scolded. I closed my eyes, taking a deep breath, knowing she was going to talk about the very thing I didn't want to talk about. "Zoe..." I walked faster, ahead of her. "Zoe!" She finally caught up and took a hold of my shoulders. "I know you don't want to hear it, but sometimes, it's good to remind you." I crossed my arms over my chest.
"So you're telling me, that because of our father's situation, it gives Candace every right she has, to act the way she does?" I seethed. Darlene shook her head.
"No. But I'm saying that everyone reacts differently. Just give her some time. The two of you act more like enemies than sisters." I scoffed at her suggestion and continued my walk to the end of the wall. It was a really long wall that was somewhat abandoned, and it looked so perfect against the vast plain of tall, yellowish grass. "I'm serious Zoe."
"So am I," I replied, throwing my hands up in exasperation. "And I'm also serious whe-" I was cut off by the sound of another car pulling up, close to where we parked. To both of us, we gawked in its direction as Nina stepped out, crying with two men dressed in suits, escorting her to us. She looked like a dirty prostitute, and dirty as in naughty, but dirty as in dragged through the dirt and battered.
She stumbled towards us in her heels, her shorts torn up to her hips and a big hole in her glittery top. She didn't even the body to at least rock the clothes, like big breasts popping out with every movement you make.
"Help me," she cried once they stopped in front of us. By then, Caleb and Emmett were at our sides, their jaws dropped as they stared at Nina.
"What is this?" Emmett asked, staring up at the two dead silent men that stood behind her. They looked serious enough, like guys you didn't fuck around with, unless you thought you had the balls to do it.
"This girl claims to know you," one of them spoke up, pulling off his shades to reveal his emerald eyes. "Right now, she has no one to claim her."
"No one to claim her? Nina, where have you been?" I asked, bewildered. She proceeded to reply but the dark and mysterious man decided to cut to it.
"This young and under-aged girl was found wandering around the streets, saying she didn't know how she got there." Nina looked down in shame, tears forming at the brim of her eyes. "She thinks she's been raped, and now..." He sizes up Nina in disgust. "She claims to be pregnant."
