Chapter 22: Chapter 22

"Guys don't do anything rash until you are a hundred per cent sure about what you are accusing of those men," TJ said worriedly holding Malcolm in place by holding his hands on Malcolm's chest to stop him from advancing any further.

By now we had gained a few wandering eyes who were wondering who we were and why we were causing a commission.

"So, you think she's fucking lying about your fucking uncle raping her!" Malcolm angrily said, making TJ's eyes shoot through the roof. TJ turned his curious eyes to me and I curled into my shell not able to make eye contact with him.

"I- I mean- what the fuck man why didn't you tell me this sooner," TJ said in shock fumbling over his words as he tried to process what Malcolm just said.

"It's not my business to say but now we have the man insight he's going to pay for his crimes," Malcolm said through gritted teeth not straying his eyes off TJ's uncle.

"Hold on, why don't we just call the cops and let them do their jobs?" TJ asked desperately.

"They won't do shit and you damn well know how good a lie a convict can be without evidence pointed his way," Malcolm said taking a step closer towards TJ's uncle but TJ pushed against Malcolm's chest to hold him in place.

"Now think about this closely brother, you attack him which means you attack my family and they will rip you to shreds I'm telling you," TJ warned with a shaky breath.

"Does that include you?" Malcolm asked TJ with a raised brow getting impatient by TJ's persistence to protect his uncle.

"Now come on you know I'm always on your side," TJ laughed hesitantly with his eyes wandering all over the yard.

"Then fight with me or get out of the way," Malcolm ordered taking a threatening step towards TJ who gulped before taking a sidestep to get out of Malcolm's way.

"Shit." TJ cursed following behind us with twitchy hands.

The laughing men halted their laughter to turn their attention to us and it was quite rewarding when TJ's uncle choked on his saliva, coughing violently when we locked eyes. The other man from that alley dropped his glass in shock hearing it shatter on the tiled floor before he took his chances with bolting but didn't get far as TJ tackled the man pressing his knee hard on the man's back to hold him in place.

"Someone call the cops!" TJ yelled urgently, the rest of his family gasped at the scene with worried eyes wondering what was going on but luckily one middle-aged woman pulled out her phone to call the cops.

Malcolm lunged for the man who attacked me at the haunted house party. Malcolm didn't get more than one hit in the man's face before other guys pulled him off the man on the ground.

"Fucking let go of me!" Malcolm yelled trying to get himself free but the men didn't let him go but held him tighter.

"Hold it there lad you don't just walk into this house guns loaded without a good reason," one of the older men holding Malcolm said in his deep fatherly tone.

"Oh, I have a fucking good reason to kill that bastard!" Malcolm angrily spat. While everyone had their attention on Malcolm, TJ's uncle took this as a chance to creep up behind me and hook his arm around my neck restricting my breathing as he smashed his glass wine against the wall before pressing the sharp broken end of the glass against my neck. I didn't move as blood dribbled down my neck from him pressing the glass against my skin.

"Any sudden movement and I end her." He angrily said looking at everyone in the yard who held their breaths.

"Howard, think carefully about what you're doing." One of the men holding Malcolm said letting go of Malcolm.

"Don't come any closer I'm warning you," Howard warned watching Malcolm take a step forward.

At that very moment my heart was racing at a speed it has never before because I was afraid and I didn't want to die. So I said a little prayer to whoever was listening and while Howard was yelling profound things at his friends and family I took that as a chance to slowly pull out my pocket knife. Malcolm watched my every move inching slowly towards us without letting Howard notice.

"Uncle there's nowhere to run," TJ said, attracting Howard's attention.

"Don't test me, boy." Howard angrily said, pressing his arm harder against my neck, I gasped holding my breath as I fisted my pocket knife before I lunged it into Howard's thigh pressing it deeply to wound him.

"AAAHHH!" He screamed letting me go immediately as he held his bleeding thigh. He angrily swore but didn't get a moment to say anything else as Malcolm tackled him and rained hell on his ass. Malcolm punched Howard over and over until he was a bloody heap of a mess.

"Take it easy, lad." One of TJ's relatives said pulling a struggling Malcolm off Howard who groaned painfully. I walked over to Howard who was coughing violently before I kneeled to stare him in the eyes with pure venom as I pressed the pocket knife harder into his flesh. He howled in pain begging me to stop as bloody tears streamed down his cheeks.

"You never stopped when I screamed so why should I," I bitterly said, making some of the guests gasp in shock covering their mouths in shame. I painfully twisted the knife in his thigh round and round before I pulled it out roughly enjoying his screams of agony. Call me a masochist but I smiled in pure joy at seeing him gasp for air as he tried to stay conscious.

I breathed heavily as tears of frustration dotted my eyes, I stood up shakily before letting my anger out as I kicked Howard in the balls as hard as I could, knocking him unconscious.

"SON OF A BITCH!" I yelled angrily as all the fight in me left and I was left a crying mess as I fell to my knees to let out a blood-curdling scream pouring out all the pain and suffering that man and his friends caused on me. I didn't see or hear Malcolm until he wrapped his arms around me holding me against his chest as I sobbed feeling like I was losing a sort of myself all over again. I don't know how long I stayed in Malcolm's embrace but the next thing I heard was the sound of sirens as the police and ambulance arrived too little too late as always.

They questioned everyone present during the commotion which included Malcolm and me. A police officer took us into question in a private room in the house to get the full story from me. I could barely hear my voice as I said everything I should've said the first night the officers questioned me.

"Why did you think you needed to take the law into your own hands?" The middle-aged officer asked us.

"Well, you sure as hell weren't doing anything!" Malcolm angrily yelled, making the officer jump in surprise.

"Watch your tone young lad," the officer bitterly said, which was like a switch for me as I abruptly stood up, slapping the officer across the face, surprising Malcolm and the officer as their mouths hung open.

"This is all your fucking faults because you can't fucking do the one thing you're supposed to," I angrily said pointing my index finger hard against his chest with every choice. My eyes were bloodshot red from all the crying I had been doing and I was still trembling from the fact that I was almost killed for the third time in a single year.

The officer seemed ashamed seeing all the pain portrayed in my eyes, damn right he should be ashamed. Why do people even become cops if they can't even do the one thing they're supposed to do; fucking save lives and put criminals behind bars.

"I'm truly sorry for what you've been through." The officer said before he left the room with his head hung low.

I sat back at the edge of the bed covering my face with my hands as I breathed heavily trying to stop the tears streaming down my cheeks. I couldn't stop my body from shaking and I didn't know why.

"Shh," Malcolm said, pulling me into his side as I trembled, crying my heart out once more letting everything finally dawn on me that I was a survivor. I was one of the few that made it out alive and got their attackers behind bars.

There was one more man still out there, I mean I couldn't recognise him even if he stood right beside me, a man who was probably preying on young girls such as myself for his enjoyment. A man who should be rotting away in jail but without knowledge of what he looks like no one could find him and he was left a free man to continue his torture on other defenceless girls.

As the cops handcuffed Howard and his accomplice I watched through hooded eyes feeling all emotions drain out of me. I felt numb to the very core of my being and no amount of apologies from Howard's family was going to help me out of my hole. By the time the police and ambulance left I was ready to head home and crawl into my bed to never be seen again.

"P.B wait up!" Malcolm called after me as I made a beeline to his car. I put on my seat belt and waited for him to start his car, my jaw was clenched so hard I was surprised my teeth hadn't shattered.

"You ok?" Malcolm asked me with a side glance my way.

"Ya I'm fine," I said, turning my attention back to the house in front of us before he started the car up and drove out the driveway and onto the road. He kept giving me sideglances like he wanted to ask me something or say something but was afraid to ask in case my reaction might be unpredictable.

We drove the rest of the way to my house in silence. When we got home I headed straight to my room not even stopping to say hi to my dad or Lauren who was in the kitchen.

"Belle!" I heard my dad call me but I ignored him and slammed my door shut locking it behind me. I slid to the ground with my back against the door, as much as I tried to keep the tears at bay they streamed down my cheeks like a waterfall and once again I was a trembling bubble of a mess. I curled up with my knees against my chest as I hugged myself crying my eyes out for all I was worth.

I couldn't explain the amount of pain I felt as memories from that night flashed before me one by one. No one could understand the pain I was in, even I couldn't understand the pain I was in but all I knew was that it was gut-wrenching and left me gasping for air as I choked on my sobs.

"Belle please let me in," Malcolm begged knocking on my door, he sounded in pain himself but not as much pain as I was in. I didn't answer as my sobs intensified and I wanted nothing more than for everything to just stop. I wanted the world to feel my pain and suffer the way I did but that was just my emotions talking in reality I never wanted anyone to ever go through what I went through, EVER.

I couldn't understand why people did terrible things, were they forced? Did someone threaten their family if they didn't do it? Or do they do it out of enjoyment? The last question I couldn't imagine because I couldn't see why someone would want to kill another human being for fun I truly couldn't.

Laying there on the floor only brought out even more memories from that night which included the death of Kyle and that killed me even more. All the pain and anger I had been holding onto for months now just finally bubbled over and was released in that very second leaving me wishing I was never born. It left me wondering what I did to deserve this and why I wasn't getting a single break from the pain and suffering.

Ever since I was a kid, I was always blamed for things I didn't do. Always called names by other students because I wasn't as normal as the other kids, I was way too active and a bit pushy I suppose and you know kids they can never hide their emotions so that's what made me so insecure. It made me isolate myself from people and keep my emotions in check and hidden, I was still considered a weird kid but that was ok as long as they didn't pick on me anymore it didn't matter what they called me because once you believe the words they call you it's game over so that's why I just ignored those bullies until Anji came along.

The girl wasn't a bully per se but she was no saint in the slightest. She didn't exactly push me around physically but rather emotionally by picking on my clothing choices and sexuality but that was ok because she was the only one bold enough to make fun of my sexuality and I found it quite humorous. She was my very first crush and that's something I could never forget even now that I'm in a weird relationship with Eve with no label Anji still pops up in my mind now and then because I could never truly let her out of my heart no matter how much I wanted to because she was just that unforgettable.

But in her eyes, I was just another girl chasing after her so she paid little mind to me and I was fine with that. I knew nothing could ever happen between us because we were from two completely different worlds. She was in the popular world where she was at the centre of the attention and had everything she wanted handed to her on a silver platter while I on the other hand was on a planet of down to earth people where I didn't care about what most people thought about me. No, I was just living for me and that's what a lot of people desire but are afraid to do because of judgement.

Judgment, I found quite silly actually, if you love something then don't pay any mind to the haters they are just trying to put you down so that's why I paid little mind to my school bullies and now they have no power over me which is something everyone can overcome.