The Survivor (Book #2)

Chapter 19

(A/N Trigger warning, my friends. Be safe. Don't push yourself if you're not ready to read something like this. The next chapter will be posted in a minute, wait for that one! If you still want info but not the scary scene, read until the next bold words!) 

He was already in my room when I got upstairs, which was shocking. How had he known it was mine?

"You're in Bella's old room, too? Holy shit." He exclaimed as if he were excited by the news. "You're definitely the replacement, baby."

I felt an uncomfortable twinge in my stomach when he said that name. That was what the boys called me occasionally, but they never said it like he did. They were teasing, it wasn't... weird.

"I am?" I asked curiously, looking around. Bella lived here too? How did I ask who she was without revealing that I knew nothing?

"What was she like?" I asked casually, sitting down on my bed.

He thought about it and shrugged as if it didn't really matter. I gave him a minute to speak, as he was perusing my drawers and scoping out the room. I watched him wander around slowly, picking up items on my dresser and turning them over in his hands before placing them in different spots and continuing on. I was surprised he wasn't opening my drawers too, but when he began speaking, I was so curious that I didn't protest the intrusion.

"She was something from day one. Very similar to Caleb, in the way that they would annoy Dominic and Damon and me endlessly. Of course, Dominic and I actually hated it. Damon was just pretending. It was like he was obsessed with her sometimes. He bought her gifts with his allowance when he was only a kid, himself. One time, I was sleeping over and she started crying in the middle of the night. Charlotte was trying to calm Caleb, and Damon ran in and picked up Bella like she was his baby." He snorted as if he didn't get it. Bella was only a baby?

"She was adorable." He confessed, and it felt like a part of me cracked. I was their sister now. Who was this adorable girl who they all loved and knew? It hit me the second he said it.

 "I mean, she was their sister after all. I guess it makes sense. I've never had a sister, just the annoying little brother." He commented. Their sister! They loved her and wanted to protect her, and she lived in this room! That was why Charlotte had cleared the room for me. It made so much sense it was a wonder that I didn't see it before! How old had she been when she left? Where was she now? Was she a foster kid too and had found a different home?

"What happened to her?" I asked, nearly biting my nails in anticipation. Liam was looking out the window but spun to face me with bright eyes and a threatening smile.

"You mean you don't know?" he asked incredulously, but like he was taking some enjoyment from this fact. He took a few steps closer and I felt like prey being stalked by some over-confident predator.

I covered for myself immediately. "I mean I know about Bella, but I just know that she's gone, not what happened to her!" It felt weird to use the name of a girl I'd never met as if she was familiar. I felt like a liar and my face burned with heat. I hoped he didn't notice. 

He took a couple of steps closer to me and scrutinized me far too intensely. His eyes trailed past mine and over my face, down my body, and back up to my eyes. My heart picked up speed and I leaned away from him as subtly as I could manage. He walked around and sat on the bed beside me.

"They'll have to tell you, Maya. It's not my place." He said, mocking me with an artificial pout on his arrogant face.

 I cursed and crossed my arms, facing away.

"Did I give you all the dirt you were looking for?" he jeered as if my questioning wasn't innocent. He scooted closer to me and his green eyes glimmered as if he had finally found something worth paying attention to.

"I wasn't looking for any dirt." I snapped. Why would I want to hurt my own family?

"Oh yeah? You didn't bring me up here to ask about the dark secrets everyone has?" he teased, mean-spiritedly.

"No! I was showing you... my room." I defended weakly. He laughed as he realized I was lying, and my stomach started to squirm like a pit of snakes. I began picking at the thumbnail on my right hand but kept my eyes focused on him.

"Whatever you say, Maya. I just hope Damon doesn't find out about this... Or Caleb, or Brooks. What about Dominic?" he asked slowly, clearly testing me to find some sort of reaction. I jumped when he said Dominic and looked down at my lap shamefully. 

"Awww, Bella had a favorite brother and now Maya has a new favorite! How cute." He condescended.

"Shut the hell up," I said in a voice just above a whisper. My head and stomach hurt, and I felt sick. I shouldn't have brought him here. I hate Thanksgiving, I hate this feeling, I hate everything. 

"I would hate for Dominic to think that you're using him. I bet he thought you guys were friends." He said, tsking at me as if I were a disobedient child. I gulped in fear but looked up to meet his eyes. He was so much closer to me on the bed now. I wanted to move but my legs locked in place. What was happening?

"I could be quiet, of course. Tell them you didn't ask me anything. We went up to your room for a tour and got to talking about school." He said in the same voice he had downstairs. But why was it that his eyes weren't the same green anymore? They were a dark blue that told me I deserved it. 

"I don't want to," I whimpered, breathing heavily. I was stuck. I couldn't move. Help me, somebody.

He stood up and chuckled, looking down at my frozen figure.

"I didn't ask." He said, before violently grabbing my shoulder and flipping me face down on the bed.

My face pressed to the comforter and my hair fell over my eyes so I couldn't see anything except darkness. He stepped forward and parted my legs, leaning down over my body. 

I wasn't sure if I passed out or if I was just as still as a human could be. It felt like time stopped. My eyes shut and my mouth froze, and I knew I couldn't scream if I tried. I tried to envision a happier place and I saw a meadow in my mind with dried flat flowers spread all over the ground. The green was the same color as my old blanket, I realized.

I felt something hard press against my bottom through my dress and I realized how thin the cotton was. I wished I had armor or a shield or any way to make it stop. He rubbed up and down against me with a laugh that was too familiar. The room was spinning as his hand traced my thigh and up my hip and it had just reached my chest when a voice called "MAYA?" from downstairs.

Liam stopped suddenly and leaned down towards me.

He was still pressing against me.

"Answer them!" he hissed. I couldn't move any part of myself. I thought I saw a large man looking down on me with a grin, but it wasn't my uncle. Stop hurting me, I thought to the unknown man. He began walking away, but it wasn't out of kindness. He was simply done.

"LIAM? ARE YOU UP THERE?" Charlotte continued to call. Liam breathed out heavily and stormed out my door, slamming it behind him.

"Yes, Aunt Char?" I heard him ask. She called out a quieter response that I couldn't quite make out and then all I heard was a stomping sound heading down the stairs.

Was he coming back?