Page 3 of Frost Bitten
“Yeah,” she replies hesitantly.
“And remember that thing that happened, and then I had to leave work early?” I’m hoping I don’t have to spell it all out in front of a crowd, so leading her with these clues is the best that I can do at the moment.
“Yeah, I think so,” she says. “Something to do with Lily and her school, right?”
“Yes. Both are related.” I stare at her, trying to get her to connect the dots. After a few seconds, I continue, “It’s my former stepdad. Evidently, he has tracked us down. He went to Lily’s school to use her to get to me. We just didn’t know that until last week.”
“Why would he use her to get to you? Isn’t she his child? Why would he want you?” I love my friend dearly, butfuck. Maybe the pain in her ankle is making her dense?
“Ella, he… ” Shivers rack my body, and I tilt my head in disgust as goosebumps race down my arms. I slowly show her my torn shirt and pick up my story. “Ella, he doesn’t want his daughter. He wantsme. He trackedmehere and attacked me when these assholes abandoned me in the last haunted house. He… he… He ripped my shirt, exposed my breasts, and put his hands and mouth all over me. He cut my panties off of me, stole them, and then jacked himself off, and he sprayed his…” I can’t say it. I just can’t. Tears start streaming down my cheeks again, and I can’t do anything to stop them.
“What the actual fuck?” Ella whispers, her face awash with fear and shock.
“Ella, Jason is responsible for the break-in! It’s him,” I sob, crumbling to the ground.
“Cait!” Corey cries out as he rushes forward, trying to drop beside me, but Ashton steps in between us. “Dude, get the fuck away from her. You don’t deserve to be her comfort right now. Fuck the hell off if you think I’m going to stand here and allow you all to gaslight her, making her believe you are there for her. You weren’t there for her when she needed you, and now you get to live with that regret.”
“What the fuck is wrong with you four? I get hurt, and we leave her in your care. What the fuck happened?!” Ella begins to quietly rage, and all I can do is sit crumpled on the ground, staring at the cracks in the concrete. Huh. I never knew just how much my life resembled the sidewalk. People walk all over it, deepening the cracks that are already there, and they only notice when chunks are knocked out, causing catastrophic damage. Ashton kneels beside me, pulling me into his arms, offering as much comfort as he can as Ella tears into the guys.
“I, I don’t know what happened,” Corey states. “We were right behind her, and then we snuck out. She’d been acting strange, and we all kind of decided we were done with it. I’d reached out to her several times, and even tonight, but she blew me off.” He turns to me, and continues, “I hadn’t heard from you since last week at the club. You ran out on us, and we were worried. And you hadn’t messaged or called or anything.”
Fuming, Ella starts to raise her voice, “So you plot and plan, and decide to abandon her in the haunted house that affects her the most?! Conveniently, when Ashton and I aren’t there to help? So you’re devious enough to wait till her closest friends aren’t there to support her, thinking she’dhaveto reach out to you because she’s afraid?! Fucking assholes!”
She lowers her voice slightly, to disperse some of the attention she’s drawn to us. “You assholes are fucking with her mind. All of you. Teasing her, flirting with her, but yet only dropping hints. Corey, at least you’ve made your move. But the rest of you, all of you – yes, you too, Corey, because you’ve been talking in her ear about the guys – you all are leading her on. Even as much as ganging up on her on the dance floor at Purgatory. Fuck, I mean, it’s hot, but that’s intimidating as hell.”
Then, she continues without even pausing, “You didn’t know because there was no time to tell you while we were there, but Cait broke her phone on the way to my house that night. She had already made plans with you to meet you there, and here for that matter, so she didn’t think it was urgent.”
“Oh, to top it all off,” Ella continues, finally taking a breath while her anger is rapidly simmering. “Cait didn’t get a chance to tell you, but her apartment was broken into that night. While she was at my house getting ready. You assholes didn’t even think something might have happened? Like, I don’t know, maybe she couldn’t reach out to you because her phone broke? She’s getting her replacement phone tomorrow. You fucking asshats, thinking only of yourselves. Cait and her mom have been stressed the fuck out, trying to track down this person. All of them, including Cait’s sister Lily, have been staying at a motel until the renters’ insurance pays up, and they can replace the furniture he ruined. You havenoidea what they’ve been through because of this in the last week, but this is neither the place nor the time to discuss it.”
Ella takes a breath, placing a hand on my shoulder. “Hun, let’s get you outta here.” I nod. There isn’t much else I can do right now. I survived, and I have explained what happened to me twice now. My head is mush, and I can’t think anymore. I struggle to get my limbs to move properly to be able to stand up when suddenly I’m being swept off my feet. “Don’t bother arguing with Ash, he isn’t just a bookworm. He will get you out of here, and I’m fine,” Ella says, reassuring me. I relax, leaning on my friend, pulling comfort from his strength. I haven’t opened up to Ashton about all of this, but I know that he will support me, no matter what. He’s like the brother I never had.
Ella slowly makes her way toward the exit, while Ashton follows behind at her pace, with me in his arms. Out of the corner of my eye, I see the four idiots following along. I still don’t know what to think about the deviousness that they agreed upon. Who leaves someone alone in the haunted house they know is made of that person’s worst fears? What does that say about the lengths they’ll go to? God, I can only imagine this was Cam’s doing. He’s been riding the edge of hating me since we first met.
I’m so caught up in my thoughts, I don’t realize we made it to Ella’s car. The jerk wads followed us all the way here, regardless of where they parked.
“Do you need someone to drive?” Bast questions.
“No. I hurt my left ankle, so we’ll be just fine, thank you,” Ella replies curtly. Ashton softly lowers me to stand on my own, beside the passenger door of Ella’s car, and helps me settle into the seat. Then, the gentleman he is, Ashton rushes around to steady Ella. He whispers into her ear for a moment, waiting for her assent, then he helps her settle into her seat as well. He then opens the back door and places the pair of crutches across the back seat.
Turning to the guys, anger rolling off of him in waves, he barks, “You four are lucky I can’t take you all onandmake sure my friend is taken care of. You all deserve your asses beat for that ugly ass display of toxic masculinity. You don’t get toforceher to talk to you. It is not your right to hear from her. You will accept whatever she has to give. And from this moment on, you will learn to respect her for who she is. Cait is a strong woman. She’s stronger than any of you give her credit for.”
He pauses, taking a deep breath to calm himself before continuing. “I’ll be following them back to Ella’s house to make sure they arrive safely, as well as assisting them into the house to get settled. You won’t be needed anymore tonight, thank you,” Ashton states succinctly. He then moves to allow Ella to back the car out. We wait for him to get into his car before we leave; the guys still standing there in our dust.
* * *
We get back to Ella’s house before I know it. I must have seriously zoned out on the ride home because I don’t remember anything. I sit in the seat, staring out of the front window, unable to move my body of my own accord. My mind is blank – completely empty, just like my heart. Ashton comes up to help Ella out and then rushes over to help me. He puts his arm around me, guiding me toward the house, whispering in my ear how strong I am and how I’ll be ok, but I just don’t know if that’s true.
Ella manages to get the door unlocked, and Ash helps me inside, for me to just collapse on her couch. “Ashton? Can you head to the kitchen and sort out a cup of tea for our girl?” Ella politely excuses him from the room, and I know that she needs to say something sensitive; she knows he’s here to support me, but she needs him out of the room for a moment. Oh boy, this will be fun. She shuffles over and sits on the edge of the couch by my hip. “Hun, I will let you be, and let you talk about this whenever you feel ready, but I need to ask. Is what happened tonight something we need to have you see a doctor for? Like, ASAP? Do we need to have a ‘kit’ run?”
“No, he didn’t go that far,” I whisper. I can barely get the words out, and chills rack through my body again. I mean, he left DNA all over my skin, sure. And yes, it’ll likely match the break-in, but obviously, they aren’t trying that hard to find him. We told the detective who it was, and they didn’t stop him from getting to me to begin with, so to put myself through all of that for no benefit isn’t worth it. I’m not ready to relive every brutal moment of his assault.
“In that case, I think a long, hot shower will be what’s best for you,” she states. “I’ll put the tea kettle on a simmer, so we can have a cup when you’re done.” I nod my head and sluggishly push up to my feet. I barely know where I am, so when I end up in the bathroom with a stack of clothes and my shower bag, I know Ella brought me my stuff for spending the night.
I strip down and enter the steaming shower. The rushing spray of hot water is a balm to my broken soul. He may not have injured my body, but tonight he cracked open my past and crippled me; the damaged memories from my past now flooding my consciousness. I vigorously wash my hair, hot water be damned, and then scrub the hell out of my body. I can’t help but feel the need to scald away all evidence of what he did. None of that matters, it wasn’t inside me. It’s already my word against a ghost. Who even knows he’s here? Yeah, the school does, but that was a week ago. The detective has his name, and his DNA from his “gift”, butfuck,there has to be other evidence of him in the area. Especially if he is watching me as he claims.
The stress of the night is becoming too much; the heat of the water isn’t enough to burn away his touch, so I turn the temperature down and relish in the cold. It’s a comfort, a shock that numbs my body to match my heart. I sink to the floor of the shower, resting my arms on bent knees, leaning my head forward, and letting the cold spray baptize me in a new, frozen strength. I sit there for who knows how long, fortifying myself. I will make it through this; I will become stronger; I will fight him.
A knock on the door startles me out of my meditation. “Cait? Hun, are you alright?” Ella calls through the door. I stand quickly and shut off the shower. “You’ve been in here a while, so I just wanted to check. I’ll have your tea ready. Ash is ready to head home, but he wanted to make sure you were ok first.”
