It was still in the middle of the night, but Scarlet felt well rested when she awoke. It had been such a trying day and the security of being in a lover’s arms made it feel inconsequential.
She turned into Javier, stroking the bangs away from his forehead. He looked so serene and peaceful, just as she felt. But as those absentminded seconds turned into minutes, she realized something was out of place. There was no rise and fall in his chest. She blinked. Shakily reaching her hand over, she shook his shoulder. “Javi? Javi, wake up.” Her chest tightened; the warm feeling displaced by icicles forming in her veins. Her breathing became harsher with each failed attempt. “Javi, c’mon, wake up. Please wake up.”
“Your precious Javi can’t hear you now.” Scarlet’s throat had become so dry, she coughed after gasping in horror. Although it had been years, there was no mistaking him.
“No… no… please.” Moving back as far as she could, the headboard left her with nowhere to go. Her vision blurred as she fought all temptation to look him in the eye. She thrust her hands over her face, scrunching her body into a ball, as the heavy footsteps raced towards her. His hand grabbed hers and she thrashed, fighting with all her strength to break loose. “No! Let me go!”
“Scarlet! Scarlet, wake up! You’re having a nightmare.” Her throat rasped painfully, thanks to the blood curdling scream that followed. “Scarlet, baby, it’s okay.” Javier carefully peeled her hands off her face. “I’m here. It’s okay.”
Panting, Scarlet arched her neck to scan every angle of the room without turning the rest of her body. The door was closed. Nothing appeared to be out of place. Outside, nothing of consequence—just the usual street noise of chatter and rustling garbage bins. Scarlet managed a gulp, knowing she couldn’t avoid it anymore. She peeked through her eyelashes at Javier. Eyes wide with concern, he hesitantly reached a hand toward her back, which she immediately slapped away. “No, don’t touch me!”
“Okay,” he inched away as far as the bed’s width allowed. Scarlet hugged her bended knees to her chest. Not caring that she wasn’t alone, she allowed herself to break into a fit of hyperventilation while her body convulsed against her will. “Do you want to talk about it?”
She gasped, tears starting to leak through the corners. “I really don’t. I thought… I thought I wasn’t going to have this happen anymore.”
“When was the last time this happened? These night terrors about your father?”
“A long time, I don’t even…” She shoved the covers off and jumped out of bed. “I have to go. He can’t find me here.”
“Why would he?” Her tone quickly changed from worried to paranoid. “Is he stalking you?”
“No,” she barely managed to zip herself back into her dress, shaking from head to toe, “Ruby said she took care of things, so he’d never come after us. But I saw him here just now. He killed you so he could have me to himself. It’s the only way he’d ever let it.”
“Scarlet, that was nothing but a dream. Please don’t go.” Seeing her go through the motions, refusing to look at him when she gathered her things, it hit him that she wasn’t going to listen. “At least let me walk you back home.” He put his jeans back on, leaving his shirt on the floor. Slowly, he caressed her cheek. “He really did a number on you, didn’t he?”
She sniffled, a whine lingering in her throat, “You have no idea. The last time he raped me, the night Ruby helped get me out… he knocked me up. I lost the baby weeks later and I still hate myself for it. If he ever found out, he’d kill me.” She collapsed into Javier’s arms, sobbing. He tried again to wrap his arms around her and for a few seconds, he succeeded. “Don’t,” she pulled away, “please just leave me alone. I’m too broken. Nobody will ever love me.”
“I do, Scarlet. So much. It was your spirit that I fell in love with, not where you came from.”
She nodded, but held fast to the decision she’d made, “I’m sorry, I have to go,” before shutting the door behind her. With so many flashes of her distant past coming back to her so quickly, Scarlet knew there was only one place she could go—somewhere that would never remind her of any of it.
* * *
Standing at the ground floor of her complex, she took a deep breath, wiping away residual tears and rapped on the door. “Amber, it’s Scarlet! Please…” Before she could finish, a barrage of noise erupted from within, including a slamming door and the jingling of metal chains.
The door cracked open enough for Amber to peek around the corner, one door chain still in its stopper. Incredulous, she shifted her eyebrows. “What’s wrong?”
“Can I come in?”
Regaining her composure, Amber said, “Hang on.” She turned her head around and the rest of her body followed suit. The door slammed shut. The last chain was undone and another door, most likely the bedroom door, slammed against a wall. Scarlet gasped, leaping backward when the entry door flung open and a tan-skinned man with stubble, likely in his early 40’s, stumbled out. Annoyance reflected in his eyes as he fumbled to pull up his zipper.
“Come on,” Amber escorted Scarlet inside with a slight hand on her shoulder, hoping to distract her from her latest sex partner. She noticed not a moment later that Amber’s wrist still had handcuffs dangling off it.
“I’m sorry if I came at a bad time,” she started as Amber made her take a seat on the common room sofa. She wrapped her robe around her body tight to keep her black lingerie from peeking through.
Not wasting any time, Amber demanded, “What did he do to you?”
“What?”
“What did he do to you?” Amber crossed her arms. “If he hurt you, I swear I’ll kill him.”
“Oh, no,” Scarlet reached a hand toward her, “Javi didn’t hurt me. That’s where I came from, but this has nothing to do with him.”
“Then what is it? And why come here instead of back at your sister?” She still had her arms crossed, but she slackened her overall stance. Expecting Scarlet to look up from the ground in her direction, she averted her gaze to avoid locking eyes. Using her peripheral vision, however, she realized with the bottom falling out of her stomach that that wasn’t the case. Scarlet pulled her knees to her chest and hugged them, shaking. Sobbing soon followed.
“It just feels like no matter how many years go by… or how far I run, I’m never going to get away from him.”
“Shit…” Amber cursed under her breath. Scarlet raised her head to find Amber staring off into the distance. “Hold on a minute.” She rushed into the other room and returned with a couple pillows and a heavy off-white blanket. “It’s not much, but they’re the best I can do on short notice.”
“Thank you.” She wiped her eyes as Amber draped the blanket over her shoulders. Meanwhile, she took a seat on the adjacent chair.
“I guess you don’t want them to see you like this after all this time.”
“It’s the one place I know his memory can’t find me. Also, I don’t want to scare Emilia. She’d been through a lot lately and I don’t want to add to that.”
“Yes, of course.” Amber nodded, staring at the ground with her hands knit together.
“Are you going to take care of that?”
“Of what?” She looked up just enough to spy Scarlet pointing at her wrist with the handcuff still attached. “Oh, right.” She pulled a pin out from behind her ear and used it to jimmy open the lock.
“Is this a normal thing for you?”
“I’m just too lazy to look for the key.” She caught the cuffs before they could hit the floor. “Do you need anything? Do you want to talk some more? Or something to drink?”
“I think I’m just going to get some rest… if the nightmares don’t come back and wake me again.” Scarlet added with a sigh, “I mean, I’d understand if you said no, but would you do me a huge favor? Stay up with me? At least until I fall asleep.”
Taking a deep breath, Amber allowed herself a glance. Scarlet’s eyebrows arched upward, professing innocence. “I guess if it’ll make you feel better.” She shrugged it off with a monotone response. However, there was a completely different story unfolding on the inside once she moved her chair closer to Scarlet. On the one hand, she was so happy. She’d missed the days when she still went by the name of Carmen and Scarlet was her best friend. But at the same time, she hated that it could only be temporary and that it had to arise from such a terrible situation.
Scarlet’s shaking finally stopped when she drifted off to sleep and her breathing leveled off. Hesitantly, Amber reached over and rested a hand on the blanket covering Scarlet’s arm. If she noticed any difference, there was no indication, but considering how complicated her situation was, it was probably for the best Scarlet didn’t learn the truth just yet.
***
The chapter title derives from my favorite Demi Levato song but only because I was struggling for a title.
Too bad because it's a good song that would fit pretty well in the story. Maybe not for this character, though.
Too bad because it's a good song that would fit pretty well in the story. Maybe not for this character, though.
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