Page 4 of Frost Bitten
“Ok,” I croak out, my voice wrecked from all the emotions I’ve experienced in the last hour or two. “Give me five minutes.” I quickly towel off, get dressed, and throw my hair up in a messy bun. I have no time to deal with it tonight. I leave my dirty clothes in the bathroom for now; handling that trash is a future Cait problem.
As I make my way to the kitchen to drink the tea Ella has made, I snag a blanket off the bed in the guest bedroom and wrap it tightly around my shoulders. It’s not freezing tonight, but I need the comfort and security more than anything. Once I make it to the main entertaining room of the house, I see Ash standing there, wringing his hands. “Hey,” I mumble, making my way toward him.
“Hey,” he breathes, a sigh escaping his lips as he wraps me into a warm embrace. “Are you going to be ok? Wewillfind this guy and get him put behind bars, I promise.”
I look up into Ashton’s eyes, and confidently say, “Yes, I will be fine. I might need some strength loaned to me for a bit, but I guarantee he will not be the end of me. And, yes, I know. I’m not worried.”
He leans over me, kissing the crown of my head, and wraps me in his arms one more time for tonight. The perfect gift, lending me his strength just like I asked. I step back, allowing him to slip out the front door, looking back with a melancholy smile shining back at me. Ashton is such a great guy, I bet he’s blaming himself for not staying with me. But who knew the guys I’d grown to trust would stab me in my back?
I turn and make my way into the kitchen, where Ella has two cups of tea steeping. She looks up and waves me to her since I’m the more mobile one. She stretches out her arms, draws me in, and hugs my neck like I’m about to leave her. Maybe this is her making sure I'm not going to check out mentally? We take a seat, and I lift the steaming mug to my lips. After pausing to gather my thoughts, I lift my eyes to hers and say, “Iwillbe ok, I think. It just might take me a bit to get there.”
Ella sighs, and the relief rolls off of her like a weighted blanket dropping to the floor. “As I said, hun,” she encourages, “you don’t have to talk tonight or at all. But I’ll be here when you are ready.”
“No, I want to get this over with, and then be done for a while. I’ll need to talk to a therapist, but I’m still looking for a new one,” I admit. “Ella, I was so afraid. He caught me running from the haunted doll house, covered my mouth so I couldn't scream, and dragged me into the woods. No one could see or hear anything.”
I pause, and take a fortifying sip of tea, before continuing, “He told me I was his focus, that he was only after me. He held my hands down, taped my mouth shut, then wrapped it around my wrists and ankles. After that, he ripped open my shirt, and he fucking pulled down my bra. Then he unzipped my jeans and used those scissors hospitals use to cut clothing, and he cut my panties. At the legs, you know?” I shudder thinking about what comes next.
“He told me he wants me to leave Mom and Lily on my own, so they don’t suspect anything is wrong, and come after him. Els, he threatened them if I don’t come to him. He pulled out his micropenis and jacked himself off, spraying cum all over my body. Once he was finished, he yanked my pants down just enough to pull my cut panties out from my jeans.” I gag slightly, disgusted at the final words he left me with. “After that, he sniffed my panties while he leered at the mess on my stomach. He wiped some of it up, saying something about how next time he’ll be spraying himself all over my panties the right way. Ella, I had to vomit after he left. I got up, freed my hands and feet, yanked off the gag, pulled up my jeans, and threw up. It was all too much.”
I finally raised my gaze to Ella’s, her eyes filled to the brim with tears. “You, my girl, my best friend,” she starts, her voice wavering, full of emotions, “are a strong, beautiful woman. You amaze me that you are sitting here right now. I wouldn’t be able to be here; I’d be a bumbling mess. Girl, I’m so proud of you, and I will support you in fighting this! We will catch him!”
I take the final sip of my tea and nod my head. I look up at her sheepishly and continue, “Ella? I need a trash bag. I’m not even washing any of my clothes from tonight.”
“Of course, hun, let me grab that. I’ll get gloves, too. If I could walk normally, I’d be taking care of that for you, but I’m struggling as it is,” she replies, shuffling to the pantry.
Once that mess is bagged up, my energy finally wanes, and I go to brush my teeth. Ella locks everything up and turns off the lights. As she passes the hall bathroom, she checks in on me. “Are you going to be ok tonight?” she asks. I stand there, not knowing how to answer her. “Come on, girl. Come sleep with me in my bed tonight.” I nod and follow behind, tucking myself into the other side of her bed, letting the living nightmares pass, and drifting into a restless but dreamless sleep.
THREE
CAIT
Something isn’t right. Where am I?
I’m not in my bed. I feel like I barely slept, but based on the shadows on the wall across from where I’m lying, it has to be late morning, at least. Fuck, what happened to me?
When I sit up and look around, I realize with a cold chill where I am, and what led to me being here. Fright Zone. Haunted houses. Jason.
My stomach roils with nausea, spurring me to throw the covers back. I rush to the bathroom, barely making it to the toilet. I lie on the floor, the cold tile on my face slightly comforting, making me feelsomething. I know I’m alive because I feel the coolness against my sweaty cheek. I made it through the night, but the brightness of the next day is nothing to brag about. Sometimes overcast days are just as dark.
I pick myself up, jumping back into the shower. I have to wash the feeling of ick off my body. I still feel filthy, like the however-long shower I took last night did nothing to clean his marks from my skin. I scrub using the washcloth she left for me last night, but using the same one almost makes me feel like I'm rubbing him back onto my skin, so I scrub harder. I turn the hot water up higher, hoping to scald him from my skin. I scrub until the water begins to turn cold, then I scrub some more.
Finally, I give up. I’m not going to feel any cleaner than I do now. I briskly rub my body dry, to shorten the time I feel the overwhelming wetness on my body. I usually enjoy my showers, but today it is just too much for me to handle, and I need to be clothed. Once I’m dressed in an oversized sweatshirt and yoga pants, I put on my fuzzy socks, my last item of comfort and last item of defense, and make my way downstairs.
When I reach the first floor, I find Ella in the kitchen, preparing a cup of coffee for me. “Hey, girl, I heard the shower turn off, so I made you a cup of coffee.” I shuffle over to the table, sitting silently and staring into the tabletop as she hobbles over with the cup. Sliding it across the table toward me, she attempts a bit of conversation. “So,” she sniffs while looking at her nails, “what did you have planned for today?”
I wrap my hands around the cup, absorbing its warmth. I lift it to my lips and think slowly. WhatdidI have planned for today? Swallowing the sip, I let the sweet, creamy coffee warm me from the inside, renewing my strength, at least enough to speak. “I have to pick up Lily from school. But that’s it.”
“Ok, well,” she begins, “it’s one-thirty in the afternoon, and I have to be at the doctor's at three. What time does Lily get out of school?”
My eyes meet hers immediately, alarm bells ringing through my mind.What the fuck.It’s already that late in the afternoon? Fuck, I have to pull myself together to go get Lily. I can’t let her walk home alone, that wouldn’t seem right to Mom. Fuck.Fuck. “Uh…” What did she ask me again?
“Cait? Babe? What time do you have to get Lily?”Huh. Maybe she’s a mind reader.
“I’m not a mind reader, hun. I can read your thoughts because you’re speaking them out loud,” Ella volunteers.
“Oh,” I reply, blinking a few times. I need to get it together, at least enough to not scare Lily. “I have to get her at three pm.”
“Ok, then, grab your coffee and come with me.”
