Strange Days Ch. 78-82

With that relief came clarity. Sarah had been my rock for so many years, and Trevor too. But I'd lost Trevor. If this fit of hysterical crying was any indication, I had a lot to cry about, a lot that I'd been bottling up. I'd lost Trevor and neglected to turn to the one woman that loved me more than anything in the world. I'd kept my stalker secret from her, had held things back, because I hadn't wanted to burden her. I vowed right then and there to never make that mistake again.

But right then, Phillip was there for me, and I was more than willing to accept his comfort, his warmth, his rock-solid presence.

"I love you, Phillip," I whimpered.

I felt his arms tighten around me and could hear his smile. "Oh, I love you too, honey." He kissed my hair, then held my shoulders and drew back so that he could see me. "Now, you going to tell me what's going on?"

I wiped my cheeks and smiled. "Nothing I can't handle."

Phillip narrowed his gaze, then frowned in defeat and gave me another hug. He held me for a while, long enough that a sudden knock at the door made both of us jump.

"Who is..."

"It's Sarah," I interrupted, opening the door.

Sarah pushed inside, grabbing my hand. "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine," I smiled.

"Hey, Sarah," Phillip waved.

She gave him a long look, then me.

"We can go," I told her, hoping she could read my expression well enough to know that Phillip was in the clear.

Sarah nodded. "See you around, Phillip."

"Sure thing," He gave her a crooked smile. "Bye, Amy."

As Sarah and I were walking around the side of the house, she squeezed my hand.

"Phillip's okay?" she asked.

"Yeah," I nodded, smiling happily. "Phillip's okay."

In Mom's car, Sarah pulled away from the curb and headed home.

"Now that Phillip is cleared of all charges, so to speak, what's next?"

I sighed. "I don't know. Self-defense classes?"

Sarah snickered and grabbed my hand. "Sounds like a plan."

Back at Mom's, I took a long, hot shower, eager to crawl into bed with Sarah. But as I left the bathroom, I realized that I'd left my cell phone in Mom's car. I was still hoping that Trevor would call, so I tied a fluffy robe tight around me and found my sneakers in the foyer. It was damn cold outside, but it would be a quick trip, so I grabbed Mom's keys and bolted outside.

"Shit, shit, shit," I hissed, the cold winter air slamming into me and damn near chilling me to the bone.

I ran to the SUV, unlocked the passenger door, and crawled in as fast as I could. My phone was nowhere in sight. Pushing the center armrest up, I began searching underneath it. I was on my hands and knees when a big heavy body slammed into me from behind and a strong hand clamped over my mouth, silencing my scream. I thrashed furiously, but my attacker shoved me forward with ease, brutally pushing me across the seat and center console.

I managed to twist over onto my back just as the door was slammed shut, trapping me in the car. His heavy body fell over me, grabbing my wrists, and before I could kick at him, his hips pushed between my thighs, and I screamed.

He growled a curse, grabbed my wrists with one hand, then slapped his other hand over my mouth.

"Fuck, Amy. Shut the hell up!" he whisper-shouted.

My eyes adjusted, and there he was, looming over me in a tight thermal shirt and sweatpants. He had dirty blonde hair and bright blue eyes that were just a little too wide to be sane.

Todd Redding.

The last time I saw him, I'd kicked the shit out of him. I hadn't been afraid of him in the slightest. Oh, how I wished that's what was happening now. But no, I was pinned beneath him, my robe was gaping open, all but revealing my naked body beneath, and I was paralyzed with fear. He had no belt to fumble with, no zipper or buttons. One shove of his sweatpants and he could rape me right there.

"I don't remember," he said, eyes wide.

It took me a moment to register what he said, but then I'd been expecting him to say anything but that. I blinked at him, realized his eyes weren't wide because he was mad with lust or violence, but because he was afraid.

"Nothing," he said, shaking his head. "None of it. I know what the cops say I did, what you and Paula say I did, but...I. Don't. Remember." He growled each word at the end.

His hand was so tight around my wrists that I felt the bruises forming in my bones.

"Fuck," he sighed, and then he dropped his forehead on my naked chest.

My day had been bad enough. A god, through his lackey, had confronted me in the street. Todd had trapped me in Mom's car, and I was all but naked. But what really took me by surprise was something wet touching my chest, and I realized that Todd was crying. His hand wasn't so tight around my wrists anymore, but he still had a damn good hold of me.

Todd raised his head and looked at me, tears streaking down his face. "I'm not like that, Amy. I'm an asshole, I'll admit, and arrogant, egotistical, maybe even chauvinistic, but I don't hit women, and I don't fucking rape them."

Maybe my day had just been too weird, too much info to absorb, and maybe I couldn't process anymore. But I just didn't know what to do. Todd was staring at me like he expected something from me, something I should say, or do, but I had no fucking clue what he wanted. Besides, he still had my wrists pinned against the seat above my head, and his hand over my mouth.

Oh, and my naked tits were on display.

Todd frowned. "Nothing? I get nothing from you?"

Uhm, hand over mouth. I raised an eyebrow.

Todd glanced at his hand, and I swear, he looked completely apologetic. "Shit. Sorry."

I guess he wasn't expecting me to scream, because he let me go and sat back in the passenger seat. He even lifted his butt up so that I could get my legs out from under him. I tried not to flash my crotch at him, but failed miserably. I wasn't expecting a rapist and batterer to avert his eyes to give me privacy, but he did.

Todd put his elbow up on the door and leaned his head against his hand. Me, I decided it was time to get the hell away from him. Just as I turned my upper body to grab the door handle, he spoke.

"I love my brother," he said quietly. I looked at him. "My dad's a dick and my mom's a fucking gold-digging trophy wife. Johnny means everything to me." He choked back a sob and looked at me, tears streaming down his face. "I would never hurt him, Amy. Paula meant something to him. I wouldnever fucking hurt my brother."

In a very small voice, I muttered, "But you did."

"Exactly my point," he laughed bitterly.

I shook my head. "I don't understand."

"Neither do I." He gave me a wide-eyed look, both frustrated and a little afraid, I think. He took a moment to calm down, or gather himself, I guess, because after a big sigh, he seemed to revert to the casually cocky guy I met at the frat party.

Todd gestured at himself. "Look at me, Amy."

I did.

"What did you think of me when you met me?" he asked.

Finally, I felt angry. I frowned and crossed my arms over my chest. "I thought you were a douchebag that needed to get his fucking hands off my friend."

Rather than lash out, which is what I'd expected, Todd snorted and waved his hand dismissively. "No, before that."

"Look, I don't know what you want, but..."

"Did you think I was attractive?" he asked.

Both of my eyebrows went up. "Are you fucking serious?"

Todd sighed. "Just answer the question, Amy."

If I was being honest with myself, he was a good looking guy. Better than good looking, actually. Knowing what I knew about him made him pretty fracking ugly now, but when I first met him, yes, I'd thought he was quite yummy.

"Fine. Yes. So what?"

"So, I'm a good looking guy. That's not arrogance. That's fact."

I laughed, but it wasn't a happy sound. "Wow. You're a real piece of work."

Todd angrily jabbed his thumb into his chest. "My point, Amy, is that I don't need to fucking rape someone to get laid. If I want a piece of ass, I can get it, no problem."

"Then explain what you did to Paula!" I growled.

"Ican't!" he yelled. "Look, I remember setting up for the party. I remember being excited to meet the girl that my brother was so head over heels for. Ivaguely remember meeting you, that you didn't like me, but I don't know why. I don't remember doing or saying anything that would piss you off, or piss offanyone, for that matter. After that," he shrugged. "I've got nothing. Or nothing that makes any sense, at least."

"What do you want from me, Todd?" I asked.

"I don't know," he replied softly, looking out the passenger window. "I just...I needed to tell someone, I guess."

"I heard you guys had tested positive for Ecstasy."

"I don't do drugs," he snarled. "I'm riding free on a baseball scholarship. No room for that shit."

A year ago, I would have called him a liar, would have accused him of making up a story just to get out of trouble. But I had a magic penis, knew a girl that had one too, had a waking god stalking me and firing up my hormones at will, and had met the Black Dog of legend. What if Todd wasn't lying?

"Okay, then tell me what youthink happened."

Todd looked at me. "I think someone doped us."

"You and your friends," I clarified.

He laughed bitterly. "Not just us. You know, the next morning, my frat brothers found people all over the place, like in closets and bushes, under the stairs, even a threesome in the attic. There was a lot of fucking going on that night. Shit, Amy, one of sorority girls found a chick with her ass caked with dried blood. She'd let a guy fuck her in the ass. It had been her first time, and they didn't have any lube. He really tore her up, but he didn't remember doing it, and she didn't remember it happening."

Okay, that was odd.

"You know the really jacked up part?" he asked. "They didn't want to talk about it. They weren't ashamed. They just didn't care. And from what I'm told, a couple of weeks later, they didn't remember any of it anyway."

He was quiet for a moment.

"So, what, you're saying someone spiked a keg?" I asked, seeing a glimmer of metal out of the corner of my eye, my cell phone under the gas pedal.

Todd shrugged as I picked up my phone. "I'm guessing. I wouldn't even knowhow to spike a keg, but someone did." He sat up straight then. "Unless they laced the cups. Shit, I didn't even think about that. Fuck, if I could just remember who was serving..."

He began to rant then, cursing all the while, but I wasn't hearing him. I was staring at my phone and recalling a conversation I'd had with Detective Willis, when he'd called me to tell me that Todd had made bail. One part of that conversation kept repeating over and over.

"Courts are backed up with sexual assault cases. Assholes are hitting bars and clubs all over the city, doping up women left and right. I've worked five of those cases since I took on yours."

Then my most recent conversation with Helena...

"Only so many of the gods can influence mortals in such a way, but the ones that can, that's how they would gather strength to fully awaken. For every person whose lust they inflame, they would grow stronger, and they would be able to affect more and more people, exponentially."

Oh my God.

We'd been whammied. The whole fucking frat house.

Todd was in mid-stream of his rant when I interrupted.

"Go home, Todd."

I shoved the driver side door open and jumped out. Todd hurried out through the passenger door and all but ran around the front of Mom's SUV, blocking my way. His eyes were wide with panic.

"Don't call the cops. Please."

"I won't." I pushed past him. "Just go home."

"Wait!" He caught up to me and grabbed my arm, pulling me around, but he was surprisingly gentle. "You believe me?"

I took a deep breath and let it out. "Maybe. I need to talk to someone first."

"Who? Amy, if you know something, youhave to tell me!"

"Keep your voice down!" I whisper-shouted, glancing over my shoulder at the house, then I peeled his hand off my arm. "Look, I don't even know what to say right now. Just go away and let me figure things out."

After a long moment, he nodded. I walked up to the patio.

"Amy," he whispered. I glanced at him and saw such raw hurt on his face. "If you see Johnny, tell him I'm sorry. Tell him I love him, and I'll do whatever it takes to make this right."

I don't know why, exactly, but I believed him. His sincerity was so powerful that it tugged on my heart strings until I felt my own eyes welling up. I didn't have any siblings, so I couldn't imagine what he was going through, but I could imagine what it might feel like if my mom or one of my friends hated me, or God forbid, Sarah.

I nodded. Todd wiped his nose, then muttered his thanks and left.

I tip-toed back into the house and went to the living room to call Helena. She answered right away and I told her about Todd, about his suspicions, about what Detective Willis had told me.

She sounded relieved. "Thank you, Amy. That's a really big help. We'll look into it."

Honestly, that wasn't what I'd been hoping to hear. "You mean you still don't know who might be behind this?"

"Possibly, but I need to be sure. I'm sorry, but if I told you and turn out to be wrong, you could end up being entirely unprepared."

"I'm unpreparednow," I argued.

"I know, honey, but you need to trust me. You're not alone. Whatever happens, we'll be there for you. I promise."

That made me feel alittle better. "Okay."

Hanging up, I went up to my room, stripped out of my robe and crawled into bed. I snuggled up against my precious Sarah and quickly drifted off to sleep.