The Halo Effect

53

She was listening. To the voice of an angel. To the voice of someone who had come to save her. In the pitch-black confessional Cleo knew that it was up to her. Everything had come down to this. Her stepfather had come to her in the dark. And it was dark again. None of the men she took to her bed had ever asked her why there was always one small light on in the room. They never seemed to care. But she needed it. And she needed the light again. She needed to move. But with her hands and feet bound together it was almost impossible. Behind the duct tape on her mouth she screamed in silent agony. Screaming out the name of the woman on the other side of the door who could save her, who would save her if only she could tell her she was there.

Listening to the voices, using them as navigation out of her starless night, she inched forward on the floor. Four feet might as well have been four miles. She could not stand, not walk, not crawl. She was more helpless than an infant.

This was how he had made her feel. With his large hands and his ugly whisper. She had told Dr. Snow about it. She had told Elias about it. How his voice in her ear was even worse sometimes than his cock shoved up between her legs. She’d had to hear the same voice that had read her bedtime stories whisper about how tight she was between her legs. The same voice that asked her mother for more macaroni and cheese tell her that she was the sweetest girl he had ever fucked. He liked talking during sex, and that made it harder to take. She couldn’t just shut her eyes and pretend that he was a handsome boy in her class or some actor from a movie she had seen. She had to know it was him. She had to know it over and over again.

Inches. Slow rocking side to side. How far was she moving? At least they were still talking on the other side of the door. Maybe they would keep talking long enough for her to get there. But then what would she do? She had no voice. She could not move her hands or her feet.

It was hard to breathe through her nose while she made this effort. The sweat was sliding down her back. The fabric she was wearing was so heavy on her shoulders, so hot around her body, it made moving even more laborious. If only she could take it off. But she had no free hands, no free feet. She only had her body. It was all she’d ever had.

The fucking tears were there again. The damn tears. From the effort? Or from the words coming at her from the other side of the door? He knew she was listening. That was the point. His last chance to cleanse her. Nothing else had worked. Nothing would. He was using Dr. Snow. And when he had used her up, would he get rid of her, too? She had to stop him. But all she had was her body. It was all she’d ever had.