Chapter 16

I could swear I only blinked, but the next time I opened my eyes, the light had changed. The hallway was dark, the house silent and the street outside still. It was still enough to hear the sounds from the master bedroom. Sounds that I’d heard before, but that made a cold weight settle in my belly.

I slid out of bed and padded across the hall. The sounds were louder as I approached, soft, feminine sighs followed by gruff, masculine moans. I thought I might throw up before I even reached the door to my parents’ room. I hated myself for looking now, after all the times I’d heard them together and been fascinated by their noises, wondering what exactly they were doing. Now, I just felt sick because even though I’d heard them before together, I had never actually ~cared~ so much about it.

The door was slightly cracked and I peeked in. Immediately I wished I hadn’t. There were candles lit—the scented ones that were only ever burning when Mom was home. I had just enough of a clear view of the bed to see her, naked and astride him with her back toward the door. Her ass was in plain view and his hands made dark shapes against her paler flesh while she undulated her hips over his.

Bile rose in my throat and it was a struggle to tear my gaze away quietly enough to escape.

I tore back to my room and dialed Sarah, desperate to escape this fucking house, but she didn’t answer. It was 1AM, I realized, and her parents had a strict “no call” rule after midnight. I tossed my phone onto the bed and began throwing clothes into a duffel anyway. I didn’t give a shit where I went. I just had to get ~out~. Away from them. Away from my ridiculous fantasies somehow. I’d been a fucking fool all day. A stupid girl playing pretend with her fantasy hero. ~Heroes~, I reminded myself through a haze of tears.

My other hero was still out there…Rick. I didn’t have his number in my phone, but I damn sure knew where he lived, and I could walk there. If anyone would know how to deal with this, I hoped he would. Max and Mom could fucking burn in Hell for all I cared.

On my way through the living room the previously cloying walls seemed to fall away. After the last day I knew without a doubt that I didn’t belong here and that realization in itself was liberating. I stopped and looked around, staring at all the mundane objects in turn, simply trying to find some meaning in them, but I couldn’t. When my eyes rested on the wide-screen that hung on the wall, I halted, struck by a genius of an idea. Hell was probably a little different for everyone, but I was willing to bet my Mother’s personal hell might be enhanced by some of the things I’d done recently. I pulled the tiny memory card out of my bag and slipped it into the reader in our media player, flipped on the television, and set the volume just high enough that it wouldn’t disturb the neighbors, but that anyone in the house who wasn’t sleeping could hear it. At least if they stopped having sex long enough to not drown out the sounds of my orgasms.

I almost stopped to watch, captivated by my own voice saying words I’d said only hours earlier, even though it felt like eons to me.

~“Respond out loud, please,” Max said.~

~“I—I understand. I asked to be recorded, didn’t I?” I responded.~

~“That you did.” Rick sat holding the scarf before me, ready to tie it to my face.~

~“I’ll keep my eyes shut, I promise,” I said.~

~“Oh no. Promises aren’t enough. We’re going to make sure you keep your eyes shut for this. If you want to see it, you’ll see it after it’s over. This is the beauty of a recording.”~

I left the recording running as I walked out the door. My eyes were wide-fucking-open now.