Peace Maker - Chapter 194
TRIGGER WARNING!! TRIGGER WARNING!!
“What are you waiting for? GET OUT! YOU’RE FIRED!” Justin yelled to which Alice flinched. He turned to her with worried eyes and lowered his volume. “Sorry,” he whispered to her.
Her eyes stared at the ground as she clutched her baby. Justin’s eyes wavered down to her baby bump and he smiled. “Are you ok?” he asked again, looking up at Alice’s hidden face, “did he do more harm to you? Touch you anywhere that-”
“No…” Alice replied, her voice tiny and trembling. “Not more than you saw.”
“Ok,” Justin replied. “You ready to go?”
“No…”
“Ok,”
They sat there for a moment, watching the servant scramble into the mansion, and then sat in the darkness with no words. A cold breeze washed over them, chilling but light. It sifted through Alice’s hair, making her long brown hair flow back and forth in the wind. Justin turned his head in her direction, watching her silently.
His eyes ran over her features again and again as if he was copying and pasting it all over his mind where her face will be held in his head forever. ‘How beautiful,’ he thought to himself as he watched her, a little smile forming on his face. His eyes lowered to her huge belly, his smile growing wider. ‘…and she’s mine..’
Another cold breeze ran over them and Alice shuddered. Again she could feel it. Their hands all over her, touching her, forcing her down, pushing her against the wall. She quivered in fear as she remembered his words, tears falling down her face again. She hated it. When she shut her eyes, she could feel it so vividly, their breaths against her face, their hot hands, their tight grip. She hated it. When she could remember every word they said, their words repeating in her head like taunting whispers that never silenced. She hated it.
She hated it. She hated it. She hated it. She hated it.
She hated it. So much.
“Let’s go,” Justin called out, standing up from his seat on the ground. He looked down at her small fragile figure and extended his hand to her. “Here, get up.”
Alice looked up at him, her gaze holding her fearful undertone. She tried to get up on her own, but her joints were weak, barely able to hold her up, and the pain… “ARGH!!” she screamed.
Justin leaned in, catching her before she fell. “Are you ok?! Alice!” he yelled out, his voice quivering with worry as he held her carefully, his grip on her waist tight but yet soft and ginger.
“AHHH!” Alice screamed again, the pain running through her like a lightning bolt. “It- it hurts.. It hurts AHHH!”
“Are you o-”
“What the HELL ARE YOU DOING TO HER!” A voice screamed, running towards them and pulling Alice out of Justin’s hold. “WHAT ARE YOU DOING!” Annabeth screamed.
Justin flinched, his eyes looking up to lock with Annabeth’s immediately. “I- I wasn’t-”
“You’re so sick,” Annabeth spat, pulling Alice closer to her. “How could you?” she asked, her eyes narrowing in anger, “How… how dare you?”
Justin trembled at her words, her tone striking him in the chest. It hurt. “But this…”
“Don’t you ever get a time where you don’t feel like ruining someone else’s life simply because you want to use them for sexual pleasures?!” Annabeth yelled, “control yourself, Justin! CONTROL YOURSELF DAMMIT! IT’S BARELY BEEN AN HOUR SINCE WE LEFT THE PALACE! Where did all of that gentlemanliness go?? Where did all those manners, all that awareness of what was good and what was wrong, where did that all g-”
Annabeth froze when she looked up at Justin, the anger in her eyes calming down and her voice trailing to a stop. ‘Right…’ she thought to herself. ‘What an idiot I am…’
“I’m taking her back inside the mansion,” Annabeth announced as she turned around, one arm wrapping around Alice’s waist and the other around her shoulder. “Do not follow us.”
“But wait- Alice… Alice isn’t ok, there’s something wrong with her, I have to come with her-” Justin began taking a step towards Annabeth. A pang of pain rang in his heart when she took a step back, moving away from him cautiously.
“No. The only thing wrong with her is the bullshit that you put her through every day,” Annabeth coldly remarked, her eyes looking away from Justin, “if there’s anything wrong with her, it would be your fault. You scarred her and every moment she’s with you, she relives it. Again and again, in a never-ending cycle of pain. And you… you psychopath… do nothing but allow it to continue.”
Justin took his own step back, her harsh words hitting him again and again, one by one, they pierced him. The distrust in her eyes, the hate in Alice’s tone. They were all there. And as much as he knew, they would always be there.
Annabeth looked at him again one more time before continuing her way back into the mansion. “I don’t want to see you anywhere near her for the next week and even longer. She doesn’t deserve it.”
Justin stared at Annabeth’sback for a moment, hesitancy lingering in his mind. But she was right.
‘He never changed,’ Annabeth thought to herself as she held Alice and walked towards the mansion, ‘he only faked it afterall. His patience, his regal atmosphere, and his good sense of responsibility and accountability. They were all faked. His smiles were all faked…’ she turned to look at the weak body of Alice, her face pale. She turned back forward and continued her walk. ‘But then again, we all faked it. None of us were real, none of us meant the smiles we showed. Not even me.’
Alice groaned in pain, her hand clutching her stomach as her leg gave out again, causing Annabeth to tip over unsteadily.
“Alic-”
“ALICE!” Justin exclaimed running to their side, his hands about to reach hers-
“STAY AWAY!” Annabeth yelled, pulling Alice away from him, “Don’t touch her you bastard.”
He froze in his spot, his hands lingering up for a moment, inches away from Alice’s shoulder. Slowly, they dropped to his side, his fingers twitching. ‘Stop…’ he thought to himself, his eyes turning to Alice’s pale face as she screamed in pain again. ‘Stop… stop…’
“Alice? Alice are you ok??!” Annabeth called out, her pace towards the mansion quickening as she held Alice, “are you ok?! Where does it hurt? Can you stand? Hello? Alice?!”
‘It hurts…’ Alice thought to herself, ‘it hurts more than the first time… it hurts… I’m weak..’ In her head, she could barely hear the sound of Annabeth’s voice, it was only throbbing. Her head beating in a rhythm that was the same as her heartbeat. Louder, faster, dulling all the sound around her. And the pain… The pain felt light lightning strikes, one after the other, and then there was the feeling of wetness, slimy almost.
“ARGHH!!” Alice screamed again, her body nearly collapsing and almost being Annabeth down with her. “AHHHHHHHHH!”
Justin watched as they stumbled again, his feet pressing into the ground as he held himself back. ‘Stop… stop… Stop it…’
“Alice! Alice?! Look at me!” Annabeth called out, “ALICE?!”
Alice couldn’t hear, she couldn’t see. It hurt. She tightly shut her eyes as dizziness overwhelmed her. “AHHHH!” she screamed again, this time her body collapsing.
They were both brought down to the ground, Annabeth using her body to deflect the damage that Alice had when they fell.
“Alice?! Alice are you ok?! What’s going on?!! ALICE!!” Annabeth called out, shaking Alice lightly by the shoulder. She sat there on the ground for a moment, staring at Alice with desperation and helplessness on her face. Then it dawned on her. “Are you..?”
“AHHHH!” Alice screamed again, this time the wetness level increased as she felt something flow out of her like a stream of liquid that was pushed out against her will. Slowly she looked down at the ground, spotting the wet ground through her blurry vision. ‘Ah…oh no…no…’
“A-Alice… your water..” Annabeth stuttered as her line of vision matched that of Alice’s. “Your water broke…”
Justin finched, his hands clenching into a fist again as he tried to hold back. ‘Stop… stop it… damage.. You’re doing more damage than harm… you’re-”
“Ahhh!” Alice screamed again, this time her voice weak and coarse, as she felt something in her stomach. Movement. “It hurts…” she muttered, looking up at Annabeth who stared back at her with fear in her eyes. “Help me…”
‘Stop it… stop- fuck it,’
“I don’t… What do I-” Annabeth began, her head turning to the steps that were approaching her. She looked up at Justin, anger, and confusion glowing in her eyes. “No, you-”
“Move aside,” Justin instructed as he stood over them.. “I need to help.”