A shapely chestnut-haired girl frolicked through a meadow with careless ease, her long red hood trailing behind her as she carried a basket full of pastries on her way to her isolated grandmother's house. Unbeknownst to her, exploring the deepest, most wooded areas of the forest, there was also a young man. A young man who suddenly came upon a path, which he followed to the very same meadow filled with tiny purple flowers. The girl stopped instantly upon noticing him, cheeks hot with embarrassment, and she hoped he hadn't seen her acting so silly. She noted that his dark blonde hair looked a little disheveled and his clothes dirty.... Perhaps he was lost? But he didn't look like he was. For some reason he came off as if he knew exactly what he was doing...
He wasn't really paying attention to her quite yet, instead enjoying the scenery of the warm summer evening, but he nearly ran into the girl with a bright red riding hood. Cautious but polite, she backed up a bit before addressing the stranger,
"Oh, hi..." she said a bit awkwardly, smiling at the tall boy. It wasn't often you just ran into someone in the middle of a lush and uninhabited forest.
"Oh hey!" he said, stepping forward. "I'm Tabor! I live here," he smiles, asking, "What's youuur name?"
Glad to see that this boy around her age (perhaps 18 or 19, maybe even older) appeared to be fairly normal, she - still a bit apprehensively – introduced herself as well,
"I'm Autumn! You said you live out here? Where's your family?"
"Well, I don't have a family..." he began, picking one of the lavender flowers and smelling it, "I mean, I do, but... I left them a few months ago. They were all idiots." And as he said that, he crushed it in his hand. "What about you?" He asked, finally looking at her. "I'm sure a happy-go-lucky girl like you has some great family..." And he trailed off.
The motion didn't go unnoticed by Autumn, who repressed an instinctual flinch when he crushed the blossom.
"Oh... Well then. I didn't know that I came off as happy-go-lucky. But yes, I really do have a great family. Although I
can
relate - the feeling of being surrounded by idiots." She said.
Tabor's eyes brightened as she said it.
"Oh yes, that's why I'm out here. I love nature, so I thought I'd pull a Thoreau for a while.... But that must be great - having a family who cares for you."
Feeling that she'd made some sort of connection with this stranger – this Tabor - she moved on to say,
"Ohh, a Thoreau! Oh that's exactly what my grandmother is doing! Well... has
been
doing for half of her life, really! That's - that's who I'm going to see now!" and she gestured to her basket as she said it, "she lives not too far from here!"
Tabor leaned in closer as she spoke and replied enthusiastically, "Oh! That's cooool! So you're out here by yourself, going to visit her all alooone?"
Autumn paused for a moment as he emphasized the fact that no one else was around, but decidedly trusted him and said,
"Oh yes, but I do it all the time. Ten years since I was eight! It's really not a problem..."
She began to sidestep him, saying, "Well, I should be going now...my grandmother'll miss me. It was really nice meeting you, Tabor. Maybe I'll see you aro-"
"No, wait!" he said, grabbing her wrist and sitting down, pulling her down with him. "Don't go. Stay and talk with me for a while!"
Autumn was immediately made uncomfortable by his forcefulness, for he was larger and stronger than her... but he really
did
seem friendly... He probably hadn't talked to a soul in weeks -
months
, even! She considered the idea of having no one to interact with for such a time. Taking pity, she complied with his request for conversation... It wouldn't hurt to just chat for a bit, would it?
"Uh! O-Okay... But not for too long, my grandmother is expecting me within the half hour..."
"Oh, don't worry." He said, smiling warmly as if to assuage her concern, "I'm sure she won't mind if you're a little late..."
Autumn fished out one of the smaller pies she'd initially made for her grandmother and offered it to him, beginning to talk about his life in the forest, but time passed and soon she
really
needed to go. She stood up,
"Alright, I've probably spent too much time as it is... I should really get to seeing my grandmother now."
Tabor quickly stood up as she did, reminding her of the several inches he had on her in size.
"Do you really have to? Wouldn't you like to stay and talk with me for just a while more?"
She bent down to get her basket as she said, "I'm sorry! I can't, not now. It was really nice talking to you though, and I'm sure I'll see you around! Just some other time, Tabor."
"Come now, you know I don't find very many friends here, let alone ones as friendly or as lovely as you..." and he added with a growling tone - "Won't you..." – he jerked the basket closer to himself - "play with me?"
Autumn became uncomfortable again and took a firm hold of her basket, tugging gently.
"Thank you... But, but come on, I'll see you again!" she said while still trying to edge away.
"But why wait? Can't we just stay here now? It's so beautiful in this fielddd..." he drifted off, putting her off guard for what he did next: pulled hard on the basket in her hands; not letting go, the girl tumbled onto him.
"Tabor
please
!" She said, her voice a mixture of fright and strained politeness.
"Whaaat? What's wrong?" he asked teasingly, winking.
She attempted to rise off of him, but he suddenly rolled over onto her, pinning the girl to the ground. Autumn pushed and squirmed under him as hard as she could, toppled basket forgotten as he pressed her into the thick, wildflower-dotted grass.
"Stop it! What are you doing??? Get
off
of me!!!"
But Tabor didn't respond, only caught her hands, now holding her wrists firmly above her head, and easily stopped the rest of her struggles with his body pressing onto hers. He looked into her eyes for a moment, then leaned forward and nibbled on her ear, his hot breath washing over her before sinking his teeth into the side of her neck. She was stricken to silence by his wolfish gaze and shivered as he bit her, hard enough to feel as though he were going to break the skin.
"If - If you don't get off and - and let me go... I'll scream." She said, her voice shaking uncontrollably.
"Please. We're in the middle of the woods. Do you honestly expect anyone to hear you?" He snapped. He held both of her wrists in one of his hands, sat up, and began to unbutton his shirt. It felt as if Autumn's heart was going to beat out of her chest as the fact she'd been trying to push out of her thoughts forced herself into her awareness. She looked into his eyes, searching for the humanity,
"Please don't... Please... Just let me go..."
"I'm sorry love, but no. You're going to stay here and play with me for a while, remember?"
"Are you fucking serious???" she shouted suddenly, "This – this isn't playing! This is – this is
rape
!"
He finished unbuttoning his shirt, took it off, and moved to lift her dress, pushing her harder to the ground as she snapped at him. Then she froze, pleading again,
"I'll – I'll talk to you! We could talk more! Just don't do thiiiss!"
"Why call it rape?" He asked, completely ignoring her second comment, "Doesn't 'playing' just sound nicer?"
"Those are two
completely
different things!"
Autumn trembled violently as he undressed her, and let go of her arms so that he could pull the dress completely off of her, but with the release of her wrists, she landed a hard smack across his face, and then quickly retracted her hand, startled at what she'd done and the repercussions. As somewhat expected, he immediately smacked her across the face even harder in response. She choked back a sob as he pinned her arms again.
"No. Bad. You will
not
do that again."
He seized her wrists again, this time digging his fingernails into them.
"Anyway, why does it matter what I call it? It's still going to happen, so you might as well enjoy it."
Autumn glared hatefully behind the tears in her eyes, but otherwise didn't respond.
"I mean really," he continued "you're only making it worse for yourself."
Tabor stood up, still holding her by the arm. "Take off my pants. I would do it myself, but you'd just run off when I got up," he says.
"And if I refuse?" Autumn asked quietly, making direct eye contact and still sitting on the ground. He paused for a moment before answering,
"Then I'll make this painful for you... Well...
More
painful." He pulled her to her feet, but she said nothing, rising up as he pulled her, head down and trembling slightly as she unbuttoned his pants, masking her hesitation by wiping away a tear before tugging them down and quickly averting her gaze.
"Gooood. See, that wasn't so bad, was it?" Tabor said, smiling again as he took off his boxers, turning her back to face him. "But what's this? You're still not naked." He unclasped her bra, slipping it off her shoulders, and slid her panties down, both of which were just as red as her dress. She shuddered again, still trembling although the evening was warm, instinctively covering her body with her hands, hiding from his prying, lustful eyes. She closed her eyes as he ran the tips of his fingers over her smooth shoulders, moving down to her hands, which he took and moved away from her body. He seemed to approve of what he saw.
"Why – why can't you just l-leave me alone? Please... just let me go... I'll give you food – money – if you could find some use for it!"