Only Saving Grace I Ever Had (Kellic)

Chapter Twenty Three

*Flashback*
Craig hasn't hurt me, or even gotten near me in a few months, ever since Mike beat him up.
This is the first time I've had time to heal since it all started.

I just added two new fish to my tank, blue gourami. They coexist wonderfully together, they're so interesting, I've started to pay attention to their different personalities.

Mike hasn't talked to me about the thing with Craig ever since it happened, but he's not angry with me anymore.

I'm turning eighteen soon, I finally have a job at a bookstore so when I graduate I can go to college and rent an apartment.
I also got a scholarship, just for ten thousand dollars, but it'll help me immensely with the costs.

Things are finally looking up again.

I have bad dreams, terrible ones about Craig.
I've been having panic attacks regularly, especially around men and whenever there's something to remind me of Craig.
I still think about it a lot, and I think I've finally came to the realization that Craig has ruined my life and what he did will haunt me for the rest of my life.

But things are better, he isn't hurting me anymore and I am moving forward in life, even if I never stop thinking about what happened.

"Earth to Vic" one of my coworkers, Oli, spoke in his thick British accent.

I smiled at him and continued to put books on the shelves in order.

"You zoned out, buddy?" He asked with a chuckle, "you're on break, I'll take over these" he said, pulling the cart of books to him.

Most of the books here are second hand, as long as they're in decent condition. We get a lot of donations so we're putting books out daily.

The bookstore is set up like a library, the shelves have books in order by genre and alphabetical order.

As I stepped outside the small store, I sat on one of the benches outside.

I felt my phone buzz in my pocket, I pulled it out to reveal that I had eleven missed calls.
The caller?
Craig.

I instantly felt shaky, I felt sick, I felt tears in my eyes.

Why? Why is he calling me?

It only took me a moment to realize that I had a single voicemail.

Should I listen? Should I delete it?

My heart pounded, but I need to know what he wants.

I typed in my voicemail password, listening to the monotone voice on the other end, I pressed the number indicating that I wanted to hear what Craig had to say.

"Vic, I-" Craig cut himself off and I could hear him crying in the background "I just wanted to say I'm sorry, and- and I'm glad I got to know you because-" I could hear the shakiness in his voice, I could hear him crying. "I'm about to- I'm about to hang myself" he said finally, making my heart almost stop.

What do I do?

"I love you, Vic" he said before I heard silence on the other end.

No.

I got up as fast as I could and ran to my car, without telling my manager or coworkers.

Craig's house is only a few minutes away, I can get there if it's not too late.

I hope it's not too late.

Why do I care?
Why do I even care about a man whose raped me multiple times?

I can't not care.

No matter what he's done to me, I can't sit back and let someone do this.