Free I See You by Ker Dukey, D.H. Sidebottom Page B

for comfort or relief but I needed it. I severed a bond last night, the only one I’d known for so long, now it’s all I know. Noah refused me when I asked him to ignore every rule we promised when starting our business. He refused to go back on the deal and let me keep Nina. I told him I would kill him if he touched her, and he declared that if I didn’t allow him to finish the job, that would be the end. He didn’t expect me to agree this is the end; everything has changed for me, nothing changed for him. He lied when he left me a voicemail telling me I could have her. Or maybe it wasn’t a lie. He didn’t tell me she would be intact, after all. My insides scream at the file laid out in front of me when I pull myself together. My eyes blur and try to refocus, fear of what lays before me keeping me frozen in my seat. My heart cracks and thumps hard in my chest.
    Client—1325
    Mark–
    Name—Nina Francis Drake
    Age—24
    Address—126 Lime Ave
    Brief—Rape—vaginal—anal
    Personal recorded surveillance.
    Pain—high
    Record assault.—Yes
    Courtesy call—No.
    Roles.
    Client—No
    Noah—Contact—Rape.
    Devon—No contact—document.
    Case—complete. 1325 closed.
    Blood stains the paper printout, and bloodied clothes lay next to it. He was in here while I slept. He broke our number one rule. We were to never be in the same place at the same time. In the worst scenario, our world could come tumbling around us by the police, and us not living together limits the chance that they would catch us both, leaving the other to destroy evidence.
    Was he setting me up? No, he would never let anyone take the credit for his work.
    Moving the bloodied clothes from the table, a note falls to the floor.
    You wanted her? You can have her . . . broken.
    My feet carry me over to the computer; he disabled the cameras in her house, removing the evidence, but added to the open file I kept of her. My fingers hover, hesitating over the enter key. I gather my balls and push the button.
    Her beautiful body lies on her bathroom floor, bloodied, bruised, and spoiled by the beast. I hate him. My blood roars and rebels being related to him. I’ve witnessed evil in its truest form in my father; he was sin incarnate and his dark, ugly evil corrupted Noah. But despite everything, Noah had never hurt me before this. Looking at Nina, her once blonde hair now red, I know there are no lines, no bonds, and no limits he won’t forsake to act out the hate infected inside him. He didn’t just break her, he broke something inside me too; the love and admiration I’d always bestowed upon him.
    I make an anonymous call for an ambulance and make my way to the last address I have for Noah, but it’s barren. He’s cleaned out and left me before I can him, and he stole the only thing I wanted. Nina. By the time I’d return, she’s discharged herself and left town with no breadcrumbs to follow.
     
     
    Present Day
    It took me a long time to find her, and I plan on never losing her again. However, I know I have to take things slowly with her. Noah left her on the brink of death, her emotional scars as deep as the physical ones. It has been twelve months since I spoke to my own brother. I won’t lie and say I don’t miss him because I do. He’s the only family I have left, but he’s gone too far, his greed for depravity and the money it brings more valuable than me. Therefore, I had our relationship severed but I’m not a fool. I knew he’ll soon come back into my life, especially if he knows I’ve tracked Nina down again. Happiness or normal is not something he ever plans to let me have because he himself was never offered that luxury. We were created by a beast and taught to embrace the brutality of its nature.
    My thoughts come back to Nina as she hesitantly sits on her window seat and continues to watch me. I’m almost proud of her, her sexuality finally making an appearance after so long. By the overheard conversations with her friend I know