Life's Storybook

A/N: This is one of the more serious chapters that I have written. This chapter is in italics b/c it is Jill remembering.

Chapter 6: Holy Water

It was late one night.

It was a Friday night.

Jill was stationed at her ever-cluttered desk working on her latest case. The rain outside had slowly progressed from a drizzle to a full on downpour. Sighing from the outcome of her evening, Jill shuffled through her files in an attempt to find the witness list she had created hours earlier.

This was a typical murder case, if there was such a thing. The man was obviously guilty and there was no argument from his defense to declare otherwise. The weapon was found in his bloody hand while he was found standing over his cheating wife’s lifeless body. If that wasn’t proof enough, Jill didn’t know what would be.

“Why me?” Jill whined as she received the second text from Lindsay teasing her about missing girl’s night at Claire’s house.

The three of them had been friends ever since they had worked together on their first case. Girl’s night had developed only weeks after that case and it was still going strong. They would always reserve Friday nights for drinks at the diner and a movie at Claire’s house. After which Jill would usually call her boyfriend, Luke, for a good time.

Luke had been dating Jill for a couple of months now. While his desire for a stronger commitment was obvious and disgusting to Jill, his sexual desire was for the most part decent. There were times that Jill found herself dissatisfied, but it was mostly due to Luke using the “l word” while having sex.

Love.

The very thought of that word terrified Jill. A shiver ran through her form just thinking about it. Jill barely committed to having a monogamous relationship with Luke and he was already jumping into kids and marriage and everything that Jill despised.

Shaking off the thoughts of such domestic nightmares, Jill gathered her files into a neat pile and reached for her purse. She needed to have a couple of drinks and work could wait until Monday, it wasn’t like the murderer was going to win anyway.

Locking the door behind her, Jill exited her office and walked towards the elevator that led to the parking garage. To Jill’s dismay, the elevator had an ‘out of order’ sign plastered across it. This meant that Jill would have to take the stairs to the closest exit and then walk across the uncovered section of the parking garage to get to her car.

Upon reaching the second floor, Jill opened the exit door only to be engulfed in a hard rain.

“Damn it.” Jill muttered bitterly.

She was wearing heels that made it impossible for her to run across the opening. On top of that, her umbrella was hiding in her passenger seat. Starting the voyage across the parking lot, Jill failed to hear the footsteps behind her.

By the time the noise registered, strong arms were surrounding her neck and dragging her backwards toward the building. Hand covered her mouth as stifled screams threatened to become noticeable.

Arms released her fighting figure as they pushed her into a wall. The contact of Jill’s head against a cement wall caused Jill’s vision to blur for a moment. In that moment, the strong arms revealed the body that was connected to them. This man, his features hardened and sculpted like a statue stood before Jill.

Vision finally clearing, Jill caught sight of his face. The thin lines that surrounded his mouth and the scar below his left jaw were not as horrifying as the dark emptiness that his eyes harbored.

“He—”Jill began before a strong hand covered her mouth.

Stepping in closer to Jill until he was pressed completely against her, he whispered, “Don’t make this hard on you.”

As he whispered this, his hands found the hem of her skirt and cold, hardened hands ran up her inner thigh. Jill fought against this advance with as much energy as she could manage, only to have the body press harder against her.

“I told you to shut up, bitch.” The hand on her thigh pulled back only to slap her across the face.

Pain rippled through Jill’s cheek. Sharp teeth dug into her exposed shoulder blade and a hand resumed its place on Jill’s thigh. Fighting the urge to scream, Jill ignored the pain of the bite mark. Trying to remain calm, Jill recounted Lindsay’s lecture on how to escape a predator.

Keep fighting.

Seeing as fighting this man three times the size of her only seemed to backfire, Jill skipped to the next key point.

Be aware of your surroundings

She was in a parking garage; there were no weapons around to reach for and no one within hearing proximity.

Look for a weakness.

His hands were almost at her panties and that thought alone caused Jill to think that much faster. One hand was on the wall beside her while the other lay on her thigh. There was no way to slip out.

Suddenly, he removed his hands from her thigh and began unbuttoning his jeans.

“Don’t worry, baby. You’re gonna love it.” He whispered into Jill’s ear.

Once is pants were unzipped, he put his hands on either side of the wall and leaned closer to Jill until he was rubbing up against her.

“Tell me you want it.” He said kissing her cheek harshly.

When no response came, he yelled, “Tell me you fucking want it.”

This gave Jill the best opportunity to escape. Forcing her knee upwards, Jill caught her predator off guard. Feeling her kneed connect with his groin and hearing the breath escape his mouth, Jill pushed forward until he fell. Running as quickly as she could, Jill tripped over her heel. Jill was sure that the moment she went down, he would be all over her. When expected hands didn’t touch her, Jill bounded to her feet and rushed to her car.

Without bothering to buckle up, Jill locked the doors and sped off into the night.

She had to tell someone, she had to. Lindsay would know what to do.

Once reaching her apartment, Jill rushed into her bathroom and started a hot shower. She could feel him all around her.

His touch, cold and hard.

His kiss, harsh and desperate.

His breath, covered with stale beer.

His eyes, heartless.

Waiting on the water to get hot, Jill double-checked the dead bolt on her door and her window locks. When everything was checked, she forced herself out of her clothes and into the shower. Scolding hot water stung the bite mark on her neck and the scratches that covered her body. Scrubbing at her skin, Jill began to cry. She just wanted him off her.

When scrubbing did nothing to get rid of his presence on her skin, Jill turned off the water and stepped out of the shower. While she was drying off with a towel, Jill caught her reflection in the mirror. The scrapes on her forehead, her arms, her knees, and her thighs looked as though they would heal within a few weeks. The worst, however, was the bite mark Jill caught sight of on her neck.

He had bitten down hard enough to break skin. A large purple bruise was now forming around the mark. Looking at her shirt, Jill caught sight of blood. He had bitten her so hard that she had been bleeding.

Forcing her face away from the damage her body had received, Jill quickly clothed herself in baggy sweats and a t-shirt.

She couldn’t tell Lindsay, it was too embarrassing. No one could know.

She had seen the looks rape victims received, from the “poor girl” look to the “if only you would have…” look. Jill could not bear to see these looks, to admit it was true. Given time she would forget about it.

No one would know.