In the Woods When First We Met

3. Slander (Warning Bad Violence)

Anne didn't know what he meant.

But she understood perfectly that this was a threat.

She now saw that an apology wasn't what Billy was after.

"I'm gonna teach you a lesson, Fido. You've been a bad dog. A bad, bad dog." He said, clearly enjoying belittling her.

Anne turned her head to the left, looking to see if anyone else was coming through the woods.

The woods were right in front of the school, and many of the students had to pass through them to reach the schoolhouse.

Maybe someone was nearby. Maybe someone could–

Billy grabbed her wrist, forcing her attention back to him, as he said, "Look at me when I'm talking to you, trash!"

Anne twisted her arm in an attempt to break free from him. The sharp pain that suddenly shot into her wrist let her know that something had gone wrong when she yanked her arm away from his grip.

Anne tried to take off running but she didn't even make a step away before Billy shoved her. Anne fell flat on the ground, breathless.

Billy was already on top of her.

She was staring up at him, his face was mere inches from hers.

"That's what you are: dirty trash. Did you know that? I'm going to teach you some manners."

Anne's eyes were full of tears. What could she do? Billy had her arms pinned down. She struggled against him but was no match for him.

He shoved his knee between her knees to prevent her from keeping her legs closed. He was wrestling with the buttons on his pants as he did this, though Anne couldn't see that.

"Billy, I'm sorry, I'm sorry," Anne said, unable to move and not having any other way out but hoping an apology would work.

"You're sorry? Sorry for what?" Billy demanded, stopping and staring at her hard. Anne struggled to breathe.

"I'm sorry for what I said about Prissy. I must have misunderstood, I must have seen wrong, I'm sure she wasn't doing what I said-"

"Do you think you can get off that easy? Sorry won't change the reputation you gave my sister."

Anne began to cry in earnest now. "I'll tell everyone I was wrong. I swear. I'll tell them I was lying. I'll make sure everyone knows what I said isn't true-"

Anne's dress was already turned upward from her falling on the ground, but now Billy grabbed at her petticoat.

He yanked it so roughly that the bottom of the petticoat tore and a long jagged strip of white cloth was hanging from it.

Anne had a brief, absurd moment where her first worry was that her petticoat was torn and she'd need to mend it and hope Marilla wouldn't be upset for her ruining it. That absurdly mis-timed thought came and left quickly.

Unable to kick, Anne turned her head to one side, hoping beyond hope that someone- anyone- would come.

Anne felt, rather than heard, the tearing of her clothes, this time. Her undergarments were yanked from her body and hung loose, torn, around her knees.

Billy wasn't looking down there, though. That area was simply a vehicle for hurting her, a way to cause pain- he had no interest in looking there. Instead, he kept his eyes locked to her eyes. That was where he wanted to be looking, because in her eyes he could see fear- and the fear in her eyes was what interested him more than anything under her clothes.

"You're a dirty piece of trash and it's time someone treated you like it." Billy said, his eyes staring straight into hers, enjoying her fear. 

And suddenly, every thought was scattered from her mind, and the only thing that existed was pain.