Sleeves and Masks (Pierce the Veil Fanfiction)

Chapter 12: Tangled in the Great Escape

*Val's P.O.V.*

I had to admit it felt somewhat nice to have my jeans off. It did not, however, feel nice to have them forcefully ripped off by my future rapist just minutes before.

My hips were lined with bruises from his hard grips and my ribs were aching from where he kicked me several times, even sitting on my chest to choke me whenever he kidnapped me back at my house. My shirt laid strewn across the floor a few feet away from my head. I was cold with just my bra covering me, but I was too tired to reach for it and cover myself up. He told me to take the remaining clothes off my body before he came back with his buddies, but at this point I didn't give a flying fuck. Let him kill me.

I numbly stared at the wooden ceiling of Dylan's basement until my eyes unfocused, leaving everything a blur. The remaining tears were escaping my eyes as I laid on my back, unable to move from where Dylan held me down. He hadn't came back since he left and my mind drifted to what was going to happen to me. I tried to move my jaw around and winced at the defining crack sound that escaped from it. My ankle was definitely shattered and I knew I had a black eye, a couple of broken ribs and probably more I just couldn't feel at the moment. I couldn't feel anything at all. I had never in my life felt this numb and calm. My face crumpled up as I prepared to cry, yet no tears fell from my face this time. I was officially empty.

Time passed by as I awaited my grueling fate. I continued to stare up at the ceiling and came to terms with what was going to finally happen to me. Dylan was going to come back down to the basement and rape me. His friends were going to take turns with me and I was going to die. I wanted to fight back, but I was just so tired. I was tired of him hurting me over and over again and me taking him back after he apologized. If I am to ever make it out of here, I am going to move out of San Diego immediately. I am going to open that bookstore I've been dreaming about since I was seven years ol-

My thoughts were interrupted as I heard a loud thud from upstairs. I scurried back into a corner of the basement, pulling my entire body weight back with my elbows since my ankle was hurt. I pulled my knees to my chest as much as I could into the small crawlspace between paint cans and old boxes. I covered my mouth so I wouldn't give myself away whenever Dylan and his friend's came. Maybe if they saw the window open slightly ajar, they would assume that I escaped and would go find me. That distraction would give me some time to manage my way up the steep basement stairs, find the house phone in the kitchen and call the police. I just needed to stay calm and not make any noise.

I began to hear shuffling feet from upstairs and muffled whispers. My heart was beating out of my chest and my ankle was throbbing. I bit my bottom lip hard so I wouldn't scream and I began bleeding. The metallic taste of my blood flooded my mouth as the basement doorknob started to be jiggled back and forth in frustration. Fuck. Please don't. I closed my eyes tightly and bit my bleeding lip even harder, feeling the skin split in two. The steps began to creak under the pressure enforced on top of them. I moved myself closer to the wall and tried to bend my back so I was huddled behind the boxes. I hope I wasn't visible to anybody at this angle.

"Valerie?"

My eyes shot open as I heard the familiar voice that sang me to sleep almost every single night. I had listened to that voice over and over whenever I was sad or just whenever I missed it. It was the voice that told me to hold on til May and that I was going to finally be okay. The same voice that was now furiously whispering my name as I sat here in my psycho boyfriend's basement.

Vic.

"Fuck, where the hell is she?"

It's Danielle, oh my god. She's here. I missed her so much.

"Here," I inaudibly squeaked. It was so hard to breathe since I used all my energy to scoot back into this fucking corner. My head was spinning, but I had to get their attention somehow, someway.

"I don't see her anywhere. Where else would he have taken her?" Mike, please shut the fuck up and listen.

"She had to have been here. He fucking tied her to a chair," Jaime reported, kneeling beside the chair. He began to shake his head in disappointment and frustration, throwing the torn rope back onto the ground. "Who knows what the fuck he did to her."

"I'm here," I uttered hoarsely. I began to struggle to get my legs down from my hunched position but my legs were locked in place. 

"This is the only place I know to look," Dani began to sob. My heart was breaking with every passing second. I was starting to become light headed and I needed them to find me. I don't want to be here anymore. I tried to knock something over but my arm was too short to reach the stacked boxes in front of me. I began to shuffle over so I could make them know I'm here. Just please stay for a few more sec-

"What if he killed her?" Mike asked, almost inaudibly.

"SHE ISN'T FUCKING DEAD. DON'T SAY THAT YOU ASSHOLE," Dani screamed. I began to whimper as my ankle began to throb again as I neared the boxes. I'm so fucking close.

"We need to go to the police, Dani," Tony reasoned. NO! I'M RIGHT HERE!

"You're right...Let's go," Vic sighed. 

The dirt floor began to crunch under their shoes and someone was on their way up to the stairs already. I couldn't take this anymore. I swung at the boxes with my entire body, successfully knocking the top one onto a pile of paint cans, causing a crash. The shuffling footsteps began to subside as they turned to look at the cause of the crash. Their eyes were wide in shock and their jaws were dropped as they saw my bruised and bloody face. I could feel the blood run down my chin and down my neck from where I violently bit my lip to be quiet. I was shivering in just my bra and my jeans around my ankles. It felt like time was frozen with nobody moving and everybody staring at me with crazed eyes. I probably looked like shit, but I left so much better knowing Dylan wasn't the one to be down here with me right now.

"Val, b-baby?" Dani stuttered. 

Her feverish eyes raked over my abused body and she had her hand covering her mouth so she wouldn't let out another sob. The four boys looked at me with wide eyes and their fists clenched at their sides. I gave a small, tooth-y smile to all five of them which caused them to gasp lightly. I must have blood covering my teeth, I thought.

"I said, I'm here," I replied roughly.

And that was the last thing I remember saying or doing until i passed the fuck out.