“You shouldn’t get involved in things that don’t concern you, Marcus. Mind your own business.” his reply came in a low tone and was delivered without even a glance at the receiver. Marcus rolled his eyes and then looked right at me.

“What about you, Jammie? I mean...you were the one violated by him. How long have the two of you been fooling around, huh!?” he started to make his way over to me. His pace was slow, yet every step he took made me even more anxious. Then I feel a tap on my shoulder. It was Jane. 

“Has… he ever done anything to you? Anything bad, I mean. Like force you?” she was giving me such a worried expression that it hurt to even look at her. I let my sight drop to the ground as everyone went silent, waiting for my answer. I couldn’t help but look up at James. His expression seemed calm, yet his eyes said it all. I took a deep breath and stood up, keeping James in my sight. Jane grabs my hand and tries to keep me calm.

[I can’t do this right now. I need a moment.] I pulled my hand away from Jane and walked off, into the woods. As I'm walking I can hear Astrid yelling at Marcus from afar. I couldn’t make out the words but I guess it might have been positive towards me to make him feel guilty. She came to my defense even after I tried to kill her. She can be so condescending to me because I'm the youngest but I guess she also feels as though she has to protect me for that very same reason. Even so, I’m angry at her. I’m angry at all of them. They never noticed. They never asked me questions or talked to me about anything that didn’t benefit them in some way. I hate them for it but I hate myself more. I wanted their help but they didn’t have to come to me. I could have gone to them. I wanted to but I couldn’t. James would never allow me to be alone with any of them and at night he made sure to give me more than enough reasons to fear him. I’m trapped.