Prophylaxis - 14. Chapter 14

Content/trigger warning: violence, drugs, assault, oblivious waitress

I forced my hands to unclench and relax, flattening them on the table in front of me. My phone buzzed, and I peeked at it. Guy had sent me a text. Even though I didn’t have his number programmed, I knew it was him. He’d texted me before. The last four digits of his number were 3014, which seemed to spell “wolf” if I squinted my eyes. I jumped when a glass of pop was placed in front of me.

“Good to see you, Dr. Nate. Sorry, if I startled you.”

I looked up from my phone, tucking it in my pocket. It was the waitress who’d served me and Guy. Fucking great. I rubbed a hand over my face.

“Hey, you okay?” She asked.

She was tired, probably from a long day at work. It wasn’t terrible, just a haze I felt near her. Her genuine concern cut through it. I forced myself to sit up straighter and smile.

“I’m fine. Just a long day.” I patted my tummy. “Looking forward to some country-fried steak!”

The crease between her brows softened. “I bet we can help you with that.” She leaned closer. “So, did you and that looker end up going out?”

“Oh, I…” I began before a voice spoke behind the waitress.

“Nathan, you came.”

The girl jumped as high as I had earlier. “Oh!” She moved quickly to the side. “’Scuse me.”

Lester slid into the booth seat across from me. I felt my heart kick faster in fear. Fuck, I couldn’t do this. I should have had Guy and Takashi eat him or tear his limbs off or something.

I shook my head. No. I could handle this. I wasn’t a kid anymore, hadn’t been for years. Lester couldn’t get away with the bullshit he’d pulled before. If he tried it I’d have his ass thrown in jail before he could do more than touch me.

When I got my racing heart under control I looked up to see the waitress gone and Lester staring at me intently. I realized he must have ordered. He even had a pop in front of him. I must have really been spacing.

“I’m so glad you called, Nathan.” He reached across the table.

I yanked my hands back, tucking them to my chest. I did not want him touching me. It was bad enough the little bits of his emotions that slithered across the table to find me. “We-we need to talk, Lester.” I forced myself to put my hands in my lap.

Lester leaned back frowning. “Okay. Let’s talk then. How have you been?”

God. He sounded so fucking reasonable and nice. I fucking hated his calm tone edged with affection. Such a lie. It had always been this way. Mr. Nice Cop when he was getting his way or when people were watching.

“Fine. I’ve been good,” I said stiffly.

When I glanced up from staring into my lap he was smiling warmly.

“That’s great.” He put his elbows on the table and leaned forward. “I’ve missed you so much, Nathan.”

My fingers clenched into the fabric of my pants.

“It just hasn’t been the same since I lost you.” He rested his hands on the table, fingers laced. “I thought I would just forget you, leave you behind. I tried, Nathan. I tried so hard.” His voice was strained. “I moved, tried to put in a lot of time at work, I dated other people. None of them worked out. None of them were you.” He waved a dismissive hand. “I ended it with all of them.”

The thought of Lester dating made me ill. Did he date women? Men? Thirteen year-old boys? Did he go out with single mothers and then fuck around with their kids? Had he found girlfriends and treated them kindly but it wasn’t enough? He needed me to dominate and hurt? I wrapped my arms around my stomach, feeling cold.

I realized I’d been sitting in silence for several minutes. I looked over to Lester. He had a pained look on his face.

“I know I screwed up, Nathan,” he said softly. “I know and I can’t tell you how sorry I am. If I could go back and do it over again I’d do things differently.”

I licked my lips, mouth dry. “How?”

Lester looked confused.

“How would you do things differently?” I asked, voice slightly stronger.

“Oh, Nathan.” Lester looked sad. “Maybe I should have waited until you were older. Not dated your mother at all and just waited for you. I was just too impatient, though. Can you blame me?”

I wanted to shout, Yes! Yes, you dirty fucker! I blame you! But my mouth was frozen, the words trapped in my throat.

“I should never have strayed from you,” he continued in a rush. “I should have been faithful. I know you understood that sometimes I had to… you know, with your mother.” He stammered. “Just for appearances, though. I’m sure you were jealous, but I always thought of you.” He reached for me again and I flattened my back against the seat. “And we don’t need to do that anymore. I’ll never look at anyone but you again.”

He ran a nervous hand through silvering hair. “Your sister, she… she tempted me.” His voice lowered to a whisper. “I’m sure you saw it, the looks she would give me. The way she would prance around in her pajamas and I knew she wasn’t wearing undies underneath. I couldn’t see, but I knew it.” His whispers came out in a harsh rush now. “And she never wore a bra with her pajamas. At night and in the morning she would stick her chest out more so I could see her little tits. I know you saw it, too. She just… and I was weak.” Lester slumped. “I’m so, so sorry. I never should have let her draw me in.”

I blinked at him stupidly, trying to wrap my head around what he’d just said. He was trying to tell me that my little sister, my bratty baby sister who’d never even kissed, who still thought boys were pretty annoying at that age had been subtly seducing her fucking stepfather?

My voice shook. “You sick disgusting, son of a-“

“Got your country fried steak for you, Dr. Nate.” A plate of food was slid in front of me. “I made sure they didn’t forget the toast,” she added with a wink. “And yours.” She slid a plate in front of the rotten bastard across from me. “Okay,” she said brightly, plopping the ketchup bottle onto the table. “Anything else I can get you?”

“A box, please.” I said coldly. “I’m not feeling well. I’ll have to save it for later.”

“Oh, I’m so sorry. I’ll get your box right away.” She hurried off.

“Nathan, are you alright?” Lester asked, voice dripping with concern.

“Am I… No, I am not fucking alright,” I said, trying to keep my voice low. “You try to tell me that… that bullshit. I can’t even…” I clenched my hands into fists and tried to breathe evenly. “Look, I met you to tell you it’s over. I don’t want to be with you. You can twist up whatever fucked up story you want, as long as you get that at the end of it.” My throat tightened and my eyes stung. “I would be happiest if I never saw you again. Get that through your head. I’m done. It’s done.” I stood, deciding to get my box of food at the register. “You leave me alone.” I pointed a shaking finger at him. “Don’t call me, don’t leave me notes, don’t show up at my fucking house. On Monday I will work on getting a restraining order against you. If you ever fucking touch me again, I will have your ass arrested. I am fucking done.” I slammed my hand on the table with a bang.

I heard a small distressed sound behind me. It was our waitress. She had a styrofoam box in her hands. I pulled it from her limp fingers and unceremoniously dumped the contents of my plate inside, not giving a shit if the gravy got on my eggs. A glance over my shoulder as I stomped to the register showed Lester also shoving his food in a box and getting up to follow me. I paid quickly, including the tip, and ducked into the parking lot.

“Nathan!” I heard him call behind me as I struggled for my keys, shoving my little white styrofoam box on top of the car. Why was it always my fucking keys! I swore I would never lock anything again.

“Nathan, please, listen.”

I shook my head, finally finding the fob to open the car door.

“Nathan.”

I flattened myself against the car. He was right behind me. Fuck.

“I didn’t want it to be like this.” Lester said sadly.

“Just go,” I felt something sharp stab my thigh. I looked down to where Lester was removing a needle from my leg. “Go… away?” I finished, stunned.

Nausea and dizziness washed over me. Fuck, a tranquilizer of some kind? Lester was grinning like mad, but not holding me. He seemed to expect me to drop on the spot. I sucked in a breath as I jerked away from him and sprinted for the restaurant door. I’d watched enough nature shows to know the tranqs don’t work immediately if it isn’t directly injected in the bloodstream. It takes a minute for the darted animal to drop. I had maybe a few seconds. I saw the door, saw our waitress inside standing near the register but faced away. My fingers brushed the door before my knees buckled. I saw the waitress glance to the door. She wasn’t looking down, however, and didn’t see me. I tried to reach out to bang against the glass, but I was yanked away by an iron grip on one ankle. My cheek scraped against the cement as I was roughly pulled away.

“Dammit,” Lester growled, tugging me quickly to my car.

I soon found myself facedown in the backseat, unable to do anything but blink sluggishly. My head hung off the side, staring at the floor. Everything darkened as a blanket was thrown over me. I recognized it as one I kept in my trunk. It smelled dusty. The door slammed and a moment later the car rocked slightly. The engine turned over and the car began to move. I rolled my eyes up as far as I could, unable to move my head, to see Lester in the driver seat of my car.

Fuck. Guy and Takashi were going to be so fucking pissed at me.

What the hell had he shot into me? I felt strange, a little nauseous and fuzzy around the edges. I couldn’t move, couldn’t speak, and it was hard to think clearly. Everything sounded tinny, like it was echoing in a can. I tried desperately to move some part of my body, any part. The most I could accomplish was slight movement in my head and fingers. It was even difficult to swallow. I was suddenly glad I wasn’t on my back.

I was startled when a hand patted my hip. I rolled my eyes up to see Lester reaching back to me. I could feel it, but I had a thought there was some kind of a painkiller in my system too. My arm was under me in an odd position, it should have hurt, but it didn’t. How the fuck was I going to get away from him when I couldn’t even move? I tried to move my arm again, hoping I could snag my cell and call for help, but it was useless. My fingers twitched but couldn’t do more than that.

“I’m sorry it had to come to this, Nathan.” He patted my hip again. “I know it’s just a big misunderstanding,” he said gently. “I know you’re still angry and jealous. You don’t need to be. It’s just going to be us, nobody else.” He pulled his arm back to the front. “I promise.”

I knew my heart should have been pounding, but the drug kept it to a sluggish pace. My fear felt suffocating without any way to physically express it.

“It’s going to be great, just how it’s supposed to be,” Lester continued cheerfully. “I’ve got a house not far from here. It’s on a minimum service road outside Solon. The rent’s cheap and nobody’ll bother us out there. We can get reacquainted again.”

While he’d been driving I could tell we’d gotten onto the interstate. We got off it again. I hoped he would go easy when he turned. I had no way to catch myself. If he turned to hard I’d end up in a pile on the floor. I don’t know how long it was until we turned onto gravel. It felt like an eternity as I stared at the dim floor. Lester had continued talking. I tried to tune him out. He seemed to be getting more worked up the longer he talked about how amazing and wonderful things were going to be when we got to his house. I started to wonder if he was on drugs. His right arm had been stretched into the backseat for a while now, petting me. It made my skin crawl.

The car made a sudden turn onto another gravel road then came to an abrupt stop. I thought I was going to faceplant onto the floor, but Lester’s unwelcome hand steadied me.

“I can’t wait…” Lester’s voice was rough and low. “I just need to touch you a little bit. That’s okay, right?” He flicked off the head lights and got out, steps crunching on the stones.

Maybe if I blinked hard enough I could spell F-U-C-K-O-F-F in Morse code… if I knew Morse code. I really needed to learn it as soon as I got out of this clusterfuck of a mess. My thoughts of whether the library would have books on Morse code were cut off by the door at my feet opening. The blanket left me. It was brighter with the dome light on.

“Oh, I’m sorry, babe.” He leaned in to readjust my body into a more natural position, though still face down. I noticed I couldn’t feel his emotions through the drug’s haze. “I had to get out of there fast.” His fingers stroked my back where my shirt had ridden up. “You understand though.”

He traced his fingers across my skin. I could do nothing but blink stupidly at the floor. Lips pressed kisses against my lower back. I felt my nausea rise. His fingers caught the belt loops at my hips and my fingers flexed as I tried desperately to move.

“Just a taste,” he murmured excitedly. “Just a little fun before we get home.”

My pants were tugged halfway down my hips before he stopped and was silent a moment.

“The fuck is this?” He hissed.

My pants were roughly yanked down to my thighs. I felt fingers digging into the flesh of my ass, but only felt minor discomfort.

“The fuck is this?!” His shout was deafening in the small car. “You been playing kinky fucking games with somebody?” He snagged my hair in a fist and yanked my limp body up. “You let some fucker spank your little ass? I bet you let him fuck it too, you little whore.”

Ah, fuck. The welts. The rosy hue of most of my ass had faded over the day, but there were several welts that hadn’t gone away yet. Shit.

“I bet it was that big bastard who sucker punched me at your house before!” He yanked harder, pulling my head up to look him in the eye, my scalp was starting to sting. “You little fucking slut! I have been waiting for you for years, and you’re just whoring around?”

Suddenly I was moving. My forehead crashed into the plastic armrest on the door in front of me. I gasped from shock more than pain. The world spun dizzyingly as I was slammed into it again, catching my cheekbone this time. It ached dully. Lester shouted and swore each time he smashed my face into the door, calling me disgusting names. I lost count of how many times he slammed me forward. It hurt now, even through the drug. My face throbbed and I thought I was bleeding but I wasn’t sure. My vision was getting gray and hazy at the edges. I welcomed unconsciousness when my vision was filled with a bright white light.

It wasn’t from me passing out, though. Lester swore and dropped me like I’d burned him, shoving my legs in the car and slamming the door. I ended up sprawled half off the seat. My pants were still around my thighs. My legs were bent at the knees with my feet on the window. One arm was on the seat under my stomach. The other hung limply to lay below my face. The dome light turned back on for a moment as Lester got back in the driver’s seat. I had been right, I was bleeding. It was dripping from my face onto my arm. Then Lester slammed his door and the only light was the one I’d seen before. I realized they were headlights.

Please, let it be a cop. Please, let him pull Les over. Please, fucking please.

The car jerked as Lester put it in drive. Gravel pinged the undercarriage as he spun out. Then we were moving. The lights were suddenly gone when the other car passed us going in the opposite direction.

There were no sirens. No flashing lights.

No one stopped him. Lester was silent as he drove now. My ears were filled with a rushing noise as my vision narrowed. There were no bright lights as I lost consciousness.