Hey guys, here's Chapter 42! I hope you enjoy it. I'm glad this one didn't take nearly as long as Chapter 41. This one does go to a dark place, but remember, this is fiction! Also, struggle makes for stronger characters, and you can't have heroes without villains! Anyway, please feel free to rate the story and leave a comment. I read every review, and appreciate them all. Even the negative ones! Please note that this story is a work of fiction. Any resemblance to any real person is purely coincidental. As always, this is a world without STI's, and everyone involved in sexual activity is at least eighteen years old.
-Witty
~Stacey~
My body is rigid, my heart racing as I stand in the entryway of the living room looking down at my distraught girlfriend. It's Tuesday evening, and I'm still in my work clothes, my purse slung over my shoulder. I open and close my mouth several times, trying to find words as I look at April, sitting on the couch in pajamas, her eyes swollen and red behind her glasses, and a nearly-empty glass of wine in front of her.
"T-talk about what?" I stammer nervously, finally able to speak.
"How fucking fucked up every fucking thing is! Uurp!" April burps out eloquently as she drunkenly reaches for the bottle of wine and pours the rest of it into the glass.
"I don't know what that means." I reply carefully as I set my purse down and approach the couch. "Did something happen?"
"How could you? You said he was a good man. I trusted you." April mumbles before taking a long swig from the wine glass.
"April, sweetie, you're not making any sense." I whisper gently as I reach out to rub her shoulder.
"Don't!" April yells loudly, recoiling from my touch, causing wine to dribble down her chin.
"Sorry, sorry!" I say quickly, raising my hand in a non-threatening gesture as April wipes the wine from her chin and takes another sip.
"I can't believe you're in love with him! He's disgusting!" April shouts. She's visibly shaking, eyes wild.
"Baby, you're scaring me. What are you talking about?" I wonder, terror coursing through me as April polishes off the wine and sets the glass down.
"And I was naked in front of him. I let him watch me cum. He's horrible.. Kayla, his own daughter, his baby... he's so disgusting, I just can't..." April wraps her arms around herself, tears flowing down her face.
"Oh." I state plainly, realizing what April is talking about.
"Did you know?" April asks, looking up at me with blurry, watery eyes. "Did you know, and are you protecting him?"
"April..." I trail off weakly, my heart in my throat as I sit down beside her and reach for her hand.
"Did you fucking know?!" she screams, yanking her hand back. "Did you know what that sick fuck is doing to Kayla?!"
"I knew." I admit. The world dims, black flickering at the edge of my vision as I fall back against the couch. "And, I know it's wrong, but..."
"Wrong!? WRONG?!" April cuts me off, her voice a high screech. "It's fucking criminal! It's disgusting and vile!"
"Baby, I know what it seems like, but..." I begin, trying again to explain.
"Don't you fucking dare make it sound like it's okay that he's raping her!" April hisses, her face red with fury.
"Wait!" I exclaim, feeling compelled to defend Steven. "Raping her, how could you..."
"I saw them!" April wails, nearly hyperventilating as she interrupts me again. "Kayla was coming out of her room and I saw what he did! They didn't notice me, but he pushed Kayla against the wall, pinning her there with his body. He smiled at her. SMILED! He asked if she was a good girl. Then he held her to the wall and kissed her! He was touching her!"
"W-what were you doing by the bedrooms?" I ask in a small voice, unable to face the actual topic. "There's a bathroom right by the main living room."
"What fucking difference does it make?!" April gives me a look mixed with incredulity and fury. "It's a big house, and I took a wrong turn! I took a wrong turn, and they didn't see me but I saw them... I saw them... I saw them..."
"Oh, April..." I wince, wanting to touch her, but afraid of upsetting her further.
"I was so disgusted, I ran to the bathroom and threw up." April sighs, looking down at the floor.
"I know it's frowned upon, but Kayla is an adult." I swallow weakly, hoping she understands. "Your reaction seems a little extreme..."
"She's just a baby!" April screams, burying her hands in her hair as her small body shakes. "She's a baby.. she's just a baby and he had her pressed against the wall, kissing her! How was she supposed to stop him? Greg is so strong, and she's just a baby!"
"She didn't want him to stop. That's what I've been trying to tell y- wait!" I frown, finally comprehending the unknown name. "Who's Greg?"
"How could he do that to her?!" April cries out, turning in on herself more as she pulls her legs up and curls into a ball on the couch. "Just a baby... he's related to her! How could Greg do that?"
"April, who's Greg?" I ask in a loud, firm voice, trying to get her attention. "What did you see him do?"
"I thought he was so cool, and I was his favorite! Always his favorite..." April begins sobbing, her hands clutching her head, fingers buried in the yellow locks. "He was touching me! I thought... he made me feel so grown up. And then he... Oh, God! He... he..."
Huge, heaving sobs wrack April's entire body. I want to give her space, but my desire to comfort her finally overwhelms me. Siting down, I pull the petite woman to me. April struggles at first, then finally collapses against me, clutching at me desperately as she cries into my shoulder.
"It's okay, it's okay." I whisper soothingly while running my fingers through April's wavy blonde hair as I try and figure out what the fuck is happening.
"He kissed me, and I couldn't move." April whispers, lifting her head off of me and staring straight ahead, her eyes dead as she looks at nothing. "I didn't want that, and he had his tongue in my mouth. I tried to move, but he held me there. He started whispering in my ear, telling me how much he'd seen me watching him, wanting him. I DIDN'T WANT HIM!"
"Oh, my God!" I gasp, realization flooding me. "April, were, were you raped?"
"Greg started undressing me." she continues her story through the tears. I'm not sure she even knows I'm here. "I called out, but no one was around. He pulled me down. He just kept telling me how good he was going to make me feel, and how long he'd been waiting for me to be old enough."
"Y-you knew him?" I stammer, wondering who this monster is. Then, my eyes widen as my overwhelmed brain finally processes the facts. "You were related to him?"
"It hurt so much when he first pushed inside me." April whimpers, her lower lip quivering. "I couldn't push him off. I didn't want him, but he took me right there. He was touching me all over. I couldn't control my body. I responded, even though I hated it."
"Oh, April!" I shout, tears running down my cheeks as I hug my girlfriend tightly.
"After he was done, he told me that the way I responded told him he was right about what a slutty girl I was." April sniffles. "I didn't want him."
"Of course you didn't." I say strongly. "You were raped."
"I'm gonna throw up." April announces, hopping to her feet and staggering toward the bathroom with one hand over her mouth.
I run after April, entering the bathroom just in time to see her kneel in front of the toilet bowl. Crouching beside my girlfriend, I pull back her blonde hair as the small girl starts to retch. Her fingers clutch the edge of the toilet as her stomach expels its contents.
"I didn't want him!" April cries when she's done vomiting. The little nerd falls against me, her head against my bosom. "I didn't want him. I didn't want him. I didn't."
"I know, my love. I know." I coo, rocking April gently as I kiss the top of her head.
I'm holding April close, my arms tightly around her as she mumbles to herself. A couple minutes later, the mumbling stops, and I realize that April is unconscious. Still, we stay on the bathroom floor as I struggle to find the strength to move us.
Carefully setting April down, I use a wet wash cloth to clean her face before wiping away my own tears. While the petite girl weighs less than ninety pounds, I still struggle to move her. With her dead weight in my arms, I manage to slowly carry my girlfriend to bed.
Laying April on her side, I bundle her up under the covers before removing her glasses. I'm hungry, but it's still early. I figure April and I can eat after a nap. Stripping down to my panties, I climb into bed and wrap my arms around April. My bare breasts squish against her back as I fall asleep holding her, still in shock.
A loud, piercing scream rents the silence, causing me to jerk awake. April's small body starts struggling in my arms, her head flying backward and smacking me in the face. Crying out, I instinctively release April as she pulls away, ultimately rolling off the bed and falling right on the floor.
"April!" I screech, flying out of bed to try and help her.
"I don't want to, I don't want to!" she blubbers, curling up into a ball on the floor.
"It's me!" I shout, trying to make her understand. "April, it's Stacey! I'm not Greg!"
At the mention of Greg, April whimpers softly, her body shaking. Shit. I don't know what to do. April won't even let me touch her. I'm so overwhelmed, I need help. Maybe it's a mistake, considering the trigger for April's meltdown, but I just have to reach out to the one person I can always count on. The one person who always knows what to do.
"H-hello?" Steven tiredly says into the phone when he finally picks up.
"Steven? It's Stacey!" I reply loudly as I stand just outside the bedroom so that April doesn't hear.
"Is everything okay?!" he asks in a panicked voice, all earlier traces of exhaustion gone. "Is it Barry?"
"No! No, it's not Barry." I say quickly.
"Then why are you calling at 4:00AM?" Steven wonders.
"It's 4:00AM?!" I ask stupidly. Nine hours of sleep? Holy shit!
"It is." he confirms. "And Lexi is staring at me."
"It's April!" I finally gasp out. "It's an emergency! She's having some kind of mental breakdown!"
"What happened? Is it about Barry?" Steven inquires, and I can hear the concern in his voice.
"It's, um, well, it's complicated." I sigh, reluctant to admit everything over the phone. "I came home after work last night, and she had been drinking. She was crying. She ended up throwing up in the bathroom then passing out. I got her into bed and we fell asleep. I think it was only 7:00PM or so. I woke up a few minutes ago to her screaming. She's on the floor now, and she won't let me touch her."
"Okay." he says softly. "Okay. I'm coming over. Try and talk soothingly to her, and don't touch her if she doesn't want you to."