Instinct takes over my body and my head shoots back, hitting him right in the face. He curses, and loses his grip on me, causing me to fall to the cold hard tiles. On the way down I hit my head against the edge of the basin. It starts to throb. Badly.
“Fuck! You’re hurt,” he swears, leaning over me, and pulls his finger along my neck, smearing something sticky along with it. He holds up a bloody finger and puts it in his mouth. Fright shakes through my body and creeps up my spine.
“I’m sorry, babe.” His voice is now pitching sounds like the ones dolphins make on Discovery Channel. He throws the knife into a corner and leaves. I try to get up but can’t move. The worms crawl all over my tummy, they’re everywhere. I still can’t move, so I just look at the wiggly worms on my body. My body starts to burn and I close my eyes, screaming as hard as I can.
“Mel! MEL! Wake up Sorellina! (Italian = sister)” Alejandro’s voice spirals through my throbbing head and I force my eyes open, looking around bewildered and confused. I’m still lying on the bathroom floor. I blink my eyes slowly, trying to focus and I see Ren and Alejandro, but they seem hazy.
“Dam -” I try to say his name, but my tongue seems thick and stuck to my pallet. I smile at the two guys but they turn into freaky clowns with dark eyes. I let out another scream that sounds as if I’m underwater. I close my eyes hoping the clowns would go away.
Someone picks me up and carries me. I look to see where he’s taking me and scream again. The clown puts me on something soft and comfy. I’m wasted and it takes way too much effort to move, so I just lay still. The worms are still crawling all over my limbs, the little legs tickling me.
“Mel, it’s Axel. Listen to my voice. You’re gonna be okay.” A reassuring voice says, hands wiping against my throat. A worm crawls into my mouth and I throw up, over myself.
“Fuck!” someone yells and I try to turn my head to see who it was. The clown says he’s going to like fucking me. They’re going to rape me! I try to fight them off, but moving is hard. My head feels as if it’s going to burst. I throw up again. Am I dying? Is this the way to hell? Someone rolls me onto my side. No, are they going to rape me from behind?
The voices around me stir up the panic I’m trying to suppress inside me. I see Ren standing next to me, and then his face turns into that of a clown. I’ve always hated clowns … feared them … but now I’m scared shitless of them. I need to get out of here.
“Breathe, Mel, breathe,” another voice orders. I try to focus but suddenly all the faces around me look like the Joker and IT had a baby, gathering to rape me; hurt me; kill me!
“NO! Get away from me!” I shout and hit them clumsily with my fists, but they won’t go away. I unsuccessfully try to keep on fighting. One clown then forcefully holds my wrists together. Someone help me! Then I see his face clearly between all the jokers.
“Damion.” It’s the only word now rushing through my mind like a whisper, somehow it keeps me calm, but it seems so far away as if it’s in the back of my head. He’s not moving.
“Damion! DAMION! Help!” I’m now shouting it out needing him to rescue me from these psychotic white-faced creatures. I need him to be a hero. I’m struggling, but it’s all in vain.
“It’s okay, I’m here!” Damion’s voice drills into my brain, pushing all the other noises away. I feel strong arms around me, picking me up and I gasp for breath, the panic slowly subsiding.
“Damion … the clowns … gonna rape me.” His familiar smell fills my nose, chasing the fear away.
“Shh, I’m here. Just breathe.” His voice is soft and husky. He has such a nice voice.
“Don’t leave.” This time I sound more like Mickey Mouse. I feel warm and safe and it feels as if I’m flying. I cling to Damion as if my life depends on it. I’m not letting go. Not with freaking perverted killer clowns lurking around.
Date = 12 November
Place = San Francisco (Inferno)
POV – Damion
A bone-piercing scream flies through the club and my heart skips a beat, pulling my intestines into a tight knot. It came from the VIP section and somehow I know it was Mel.
I hightail it for the stairs, prying myself from groping hands in the rabble, resisting the need to punch my way through, while I struggle to take small painful breaths.
“Fucking MOVE!” I shout at a group clouding the bottom of the stairs, trying to enter the VIP section. They move. I reach the next floor and stop dead in my tracks.
Mel is a dead weight in Alejandro’s arms, blood trickling from her throat. He runs to Enrique’s office, I follow, and he puts her down on the sofa.
My demons slowly crawl from their shadows and dread freezes me to the spot as the panic starts to rise in my throat. I gag and swallow, putting my hand on my chest to try and crush the anguish where a demonic finger is tearing and ripping through my heart. I can’t lose her. I can’t go through that suffering again. I close my eyes and take a moment to try and breathe.
She whimpers in fear, and my eyes shoot open. She shakes so hard her teeth clatter as she stares with huge dilated eyes at the faces around her. She looks so vulnerable that a strong surge of protectiveness floods through me. I so want to grab her and hold her against my chest until the pain subsides. But she’s not mine to hold … yet.
“Mel, it’s Axel. Listen to my voice. You’re gonna be okay.” His hand is around her throat where blood trickles through his fingers.
“Fuck!” Enrique shouts and plows his hands through his hair.
She starts to struggle. Her face fills with horror and tremors take over her body. She seems to be scared shitless. But of what? Is her attacker still here?
“Breathe, Mel, breathe,” Axel orders. She stares alarmed at him, her pupils are blown, nearly filling the whole iris, giving her an eerie look.
“NO! Get away from me!” she shouts and hits around with clumsy fists. Alejandro grabs her wrists and holds her softly down. His face displays the anger and worry I’m feeling.
Is he in love with her? What is their relationship?
Ren is standing next to him also looking rather pissed.
Then she looks straight at me with those black eyes. She’s clearly been drugged, probably something like Ketamine.
“Damion.” It’s only a hoarse whisper. I have to blink a few times. Did she actually call my name? Or have I completely lost my mind?
“Damion! DAMION! Help!” This time she’s shouting, holding out her hand towards me, her eyes pleading. What is going on with her?
Without thinking my body moves forward by itself, arms curling around her, hugging her to my chest. I nestle my nose in her hair, trying to calm myself with her scent.
“It’s okay, I’m here!” She presses her face into the crook of my neck and breathes, as if smelling me, smearing blood and tears all over my skin. And because she is shivering, quite violently now, I pull her in close.
“Damion … the clowns … gonna rape me.” My heart stops. I quickly assess the situation, noticing her shirt’s been cut open, so her underwear is exposed. Was he really trying to rape her? Did he rape her? My eyes quickly scan her jeans and I exhale in relief – they’re intact. Anger rips through my gut.
“Shh, I’m here. Just breathe.” I’m trying to look and sound unaffected, hiding the fucking thunderstorm of emotions inside me. I try to control it by blocking the demons, but her crying and sobbing into my shirt is chopping at that block.
Oh, I hate that. Anything that wrestles my precious control is a great cause for concern. I don’t like to be vulnerable. And her hold on me scares me.
“Don’t leave.” Her voice has a cartoon-like sound. She clings tight, her hands fisting my shirt.
Ilkay appears next to me with his medical bag. I try to move away, but she’s not letting me.
“She’s out of it and doesn’t want to let go, so I’ll try to hold her calm so you can treat the wound.” Ilkay nods and I lift her onto my lap, closing her torn shirt as best I can. Axel holds her face and sweeps her hair back before removing his hand from her neck.
“It’s not too deep,” Ilkay says.