Isaiah
Gemma feltfragile in my arms, but I knew she was anything but. The images that were forever embedded into my memory of her chained and hurt told me just how strong she actually was. She was braver than most people I knew.
I could see now why she always clammed up when Richard was brought up. The thought of him took her away from me. It took her to a place that her mind couldn’t even fathom, so she shut down. That was trauma. I’d seen it before, and I had to say, it cut much deeper when it was happening to someone you cared about.
“Here’s some water.” Cade walked further into our room, holding a bottle of water he must have snagged from the mini-fridge and handed it to Gemma. Her hand shook when she reached out and grabbed it, opening the top and taking a small sip.
“Thank you.”
Cade glanced at me, and I could see the troubled look on his face. He knew what she’d been through. He saw the photos, and although he couldn't get into Richard’s office the other night, we’d seen enough to know that he would never get close to her again.
Cade was worried about me, too. I could see it. I was spooked when she’d gone limp. Absolute terror flew through my body when her small frame slipped in my grip. I’d called Cade, and he and Shiner rushed to the library in the dead of night with Brantley not far behind.
Looking over at Cade’s bed, I saw that the covers were tossed onto the floor. He must have been sleeping when I’d called, and that was likely because of how hard we’d practiced earlier. We had a big game tomorrow, and Coach made us redo our weakest plays over and over again until we got them right—as if lacrosse was really that big of a fucking deal.
I stared as Cade ran a hand through his messy hair before giving me a subtle nod while pushing his phone back in his pocket. “I’m going to sleep in Brantley’s room.” There was a quick notch in the way he slanted his head to my phone that sat on the table between our beds.
Gemma finally raised her head. “You don’t have to do that, Cade. I don’t want to kick you out of your room.”
“You’re staying in here,” I said, swiping my phone off the table as I stood up. I quickly read Cade’s text as he assured Gemma that he was fine with sleeping in Brantley’s room.
Cade: Collins texted. The last document is ready. He’ll slip it onto the bus during the game. He was inquiring about payment.
My stomach wastense as I put my phone back down onto the table. The question was on the tip of my tongue, and my fingers twitched to let out some pent-up aggression. I knew I had to let her go. I was a strong enough man to push her out the door when I knew danger was soon approaching. But there was something that she was hiding. I was missing a piece of information, and although I wanted nothing more than to just slip under my covers and hold her against me all night long, I couldn’t. Not even knowing how desperately she needed my stability instead of the raging monster inside. It was clawing to get out from the dark instinct that was driven into me at such a young age, threatening to make someone bleed—someone being Richard Stallard—but we were running out of time, and I needed to know all there was to know so I could handle it appropriately.
“Isaiah?” Gemma’s soft voice brought me back down as I stared at her from across the room. When did I get over here?
Cade was almost through the door when he paused and turned back to look at me. Our eyes met, and although his face remained expressionless, I knew he saw the anger stemming from my shaky hands. He knew me better than most, and he would stay if I needed him, but I shook my head, letting him know I was fine. Gemma was my main priority. As soon as the door slammed shut, I glanced over, and she was sitting perfectly still on my bed. Her eyes darted away almost the second I caught her, and a sense of awareness hit me. Her trauma had come back in crashing waves earlier, and those waves were still hitting her.
I knew how that felt.
I slowly crept over to her, and her chin dropped down so low that I couldn’t even see her face. I hated that she wouldn’t look at me. My knee hit the floor as I bent down in front of her, realizing that I would never bend down for anyone but her. My hand came up next and rested on her chin as I felt a single tear drop onto my skin. A stab of pain hit me in the chest, and I didn’t even want to speak. I shut my eyes briefly and dropped my hand, resting both of them on the sides of her thighs. My head came down and landed on her knees.
“I know you don’t want to tell me,” I started, hating how weak and desperate I sounded. Gemma needed me to be strong, but I was slipping, and she was the only one I’d ever slip in front of. She was the only person I’d ever let see through my vulnerabilities, because she recognized my fear. “But I need to know everything.” Raising my head, we locked eyes briefly, and I saw the way her mind was moving. “I will tell you what I have planned, if you really want me to, but it won’t matter. You will be far away, and I promise you I will not let you come close to this. You don’t need anything else fucked-up in that perfect little head of yours.”
Her lip trembled as she stared at Cade’s bed behind my shoulder. “Perfect little head? It’s messed up in my head.” A sarcastic laugh huffed from her mouth, and my lip twitched.
“It’s messed up in mine, too.” I paused. “The only time it’s bearable is when I’m with you.”
The teeniest, simplest smile formed on her lips, and my entire chest grew warm. There she was.
I grabbed onto her chin again, and I swiped my finger over her bottom lip. “Seeing you smile is my favorite thing. You need to do it more often. Promise me you’ll smile more when you’re gone.”
Her head nodded, and the smile vanished along with the warmth I’d felt down to my soul. Silence filled my room, and the only thing I could focus on was the way Gemma’s hands were clutching onto my blankets.
“Gem?”
Her glossy, green eyes struck me so quickly it was like a cut to my skin. A faint swallow worked itself down her throat, and my ears began to ring. “He’s planning on marrying me.”
I blinked once. Then twice. I slowly took my hand from her chin so I didn’t accidentally squeeze it tight with the rage engulfing me. Did I hear her right? I slowly stood up and placed my hands on my hips, prepared to make her repeat herself, but she pulled her knees up and wrapped her arms around them, continuing.
“He and my mom were in some type of relationship or something. She didn’t want him anymore. I remember. She told him no all the time. She cried a lot, and that night…” Gemma glanced up to me as tears brimmed the surface. “That night, when he took her to the psychiatric hospital, the night your dad was there, he acted as if she was mentally ill and unstable, but it was only because she wasn’t doing what he wanted of her. She wanted to leave after...” She paused, thinking. “After the court let her go. I’m not sure what that meant. I’m assuming something with the group home Richard’s mother ran, but he lied. He lied and said she was sick, but she wasn’t, and it was all because she didn’t want to be his wife.” Gemma sniffled, and my back stiffened at her words. “He plans to make me a replica of her. I saw it all on his computer the first time I ran away. He plans to pull me from school the day after my birthday, and he has surgeries planned.” Hands of anger were slowly wrapping around my neck, choking me. “He is going to make me his bride because he thinks, after all the years of abuse and brainwashing, that I’ll just comply. That I’ll marry him and follow his sick rules and…and…”
“That will not happen.” My pulse beat violently against my skin as I pushed Gemma further onto the bed and scooped her up in my arms. She shook as she sobbed, and I felt my heart thud to the fucking ground. It was painful to see her like this, to feel her fear like it was my own. To know all that she’d been hiding and fearing since the moment she set foot in this fucking school. Jesus Christ. “Do you trust me, Gem?” Her head nodded quickly as her tiny hands wrapped around my body. I pressed her head hard into my chest, my hand nearly covering her entire face, and whispered, “Trust me when I say he will never ever touch you again. I said I would burn the world down for you, and I meant it.”
Richard Stallard would be the next to burn, right after Carlisle Underwood.