Aftermath

Chapter 1

I pull the door shut and latch it. I turn around and climb into my bed. Finally, it was time to sleep. It had felt like this day just stretched on forever. I close my eyes and start to drift off...

I awake to the feeling of my bed rocking under someone's weight. I opened my eyes and my sister's boyfriend is on top of me. I try to scream, but he covers my mouth. Why was he here? He was supposed to be in bed with my sister. I was so confused- why would my sister's boyfriend be in my bed? It made no sense. Then, all of a sudden it clicked. He was here to rape me. My eyes widened and I managed to slap him. He grabbed my arms and held them down over my head. For some reason, I couldn't break free even though he was only using one hand.

"Shut up. Shut up. Shut up." He whispers over my lips right before he slams his lips down onto mine. My whole body is on fire, but I couldn't move. Everything hurt. Every bone. Every muscle. Every surface of skin. I was frozen. 

I don't know how many minutes passed, but finally he was done. He got off of me and laid down next to me panting. 

"No one will believe you."

And in that moment, I realized no one would. I mean my sister had been dating him for six years. 

"You won't tell will you?" I didn't respond. He grabbed my jaw and pulled my face towards his. "Will you?"

"N-" I tried to say no, but it wouldn't come out. 

"Will you?" he angrily whispers into my ear.

"No."

"Go back to sleep Ellie, Now."

And just like that, he was gone. I went back to sleep hoping that I would wake up and all of that would be a dream. 

                                                                  ----------------------------------------------

"ELLIE! ELLIE! WAKE UP NOW!" my sister yells from outside of my room. "OPEN THE DOOR NOW ELLIE! I HAVE BIG NEWS!" 

I slowly opened my eyes and winced at the pain. It hurt everywhere. My arms, legs, head, lips and vagina hurt. I reached down between my legs and felt a hot, sticky substance. Blood. It was real. It wasn't a dream. My sister's boyfriend had raped me. 

My door suddenly burst open and my sister came in. "Ellie, guess what?!??" 

She looked down at the bed and her face softened. "Oh Ellie. What happened?"

"I.. umm." I broke down into tears and she was so surprised at my sudden display of emotions. I wasn't really the crying type.

"Elizabeth, it's okay. Hey, happens to me too. Sometimes we start our periods early. But it's okay. I'll go start the shower now and then when you get back, there will be new sheets on the bed."

She left the room and walked down the hallway. I heard the water switch on and then her feet against the carpet. "Ellie, the shower is ready. Joshua is downstairs, so you do not have to worry about him seeing you."

Joshua. He is the one who did this to me. He is the one who took my virginity. 

I slowly got out of bed and stood up onto my feet. Every bone in my body burned. My head was so light, and I felt like I was gonna pass out, but I made it to the bathroom. I ripped off my oversized shirt. Joshua had already taken off my pants last night and so I didn't have to worry about that. I got into the shower. 

The water burned, but that was okay. I fell to the floor of the shower and curled up into a ball as the water fell against my body. I sobbed until I couldn't cry anymore. I washed all of the blood off of me and then turned the water off.

 I got out of the shower and looked at myself in the mirror. I had a slight bruise on my cheek from when he slapped me, but that could be covered by makeup. I had distinct finger marks around my neck, and I knew I would have to wear a turtleneck sweater to cover that. Good thing I had packed one when I came to visit my sister. My thighs had huge bruises on them, probably from his knee caps, and my wrists had finger marks on them. There were various bruises around my body, but nothing compared to the feeling inside of me. It felt like I had been shot from the inside, and the bullet was trying to come out. There was a burning inside of me and I couldn't put it out. 

I got dressed and walked down the stairs of my sister's house. I saw her sitting at the table reading something and she looked up when she saw me. 

"So Ellie, feeling better?"

Joshua walked in as she said that and my knees gave out. I fell to the floor and Ashley rushed to my side. 

"Ellie, are you okay?" she turned to Josh and asked him to bring a glass of water. 

Joshua walked over with the glass of water and handed it to me. Our fingers grazed and I dropped the glass. 

"Oh, fuck!" I exclaimed.

"Hey, Ellie. It's fine. I'll clean it up." Josh said as he walked into the kitchen. 

The way that my voice sounded when it came from his mouth was disgusting. 

"I want to go home now Ashley. Take me back home."

"What? You got here last night and you were supposed to stay a month."

"No. Take me home."

"Umm, okay. Maybe tonight, but first I have to tell you something." She got up and walked over to be next to Joshua. "We're engaged!" 

Everything stopped spinning. It was like time froze. How could he be engaged to my sister? He raped me last night.

I wanted to be happy for her, I really did but I just couldn't. I ran upstairs, shut my door and slumped against it. My sister's feet pounded against the carpet as she ran up the stairs. 

"Ellie? Hey."

"GO AWAY!" I screamed and then I heard Josh's voice. 

"Hey, Ashley. Let me talk to Ellie. Alone."

"If you think that will help, sure." 

I heard my sister kiss him goodbye and shuddered. Just last night, those lips were pressed against mine. 

"Ellie let me in now."

And, for some reason I did. It was like when he said it, I had no option. That was all that I could do. He was in total control. He entered the room and then shut the door. We stood there in complete silence for a second and then all of a sudden he threw me down onto the ground and got on top of me. 

"Shhh... Do not talk. Listen to me very carefully," he whispered onto my lips. I could feel his breath on my face, and it just made me freeze. He got up calmly and sat down on the side of my bed. I slowly sat up and inched backwards until my back was against the dresser. "So, last night." he says as a huge smile crept up onto his face. "I don't know about you, but that was amazing for me. Nothing like being with your big sister. She's so boring. But, you. You are so fresh and young. Anyway... Like I said last night, no one will believe you. Ever. And now that we are engaged, and you reacted the way you did, she will just think you are jealous. So, keep your beautiful mouth shut and we shouldn't have a problem. Got it?"

"Yes." I whispered.

He knelt down so he was inches from my face. "Sorry, I couldn't hear you. Got it?"

I nodded my head. He slapped me. "In words. NOW!"

"Yes."

"Good."

He planted a kiss on my lips, and then got up and left the room. My cheeks burned from where he slapped me and a single tear rolled down my cheek. I was done with crying. I quickly packed my bags and called an Uber. I had to get out of there. I waited anxiously until I got the notification that it was here and then ran downstairs and out the front door. I got in the Uber and told him where to go. I really didn't care where I ended up, as long as I was away from him.