Chapter 3 – Stuck

Trigger Warning:

Sexual Assalt

I open my eyes and see a hospital room. I look down and see my body laying in the bed, my heart stopped. I guess somebody found me. An orderly comes in to take me down to the morgue. No one is around my bed. No one cries for me. It’s just… silent. For once I don’t mind the quiet. It’s almost peaceful, my body finally being laid down to rest. It’s the conclusion of a shitty life.

Suddenly the light flashes and I’m in a room I don’t recognise. It’s walls are painted a soft yellow colour and geese plushies line the bed. The room is shrouded in darkness; it must be night. The door opens and a figure steps in. Before the door closes I notice a nameplate on the door: ‘Vivi’. I recognise the girl that paces the room, she sits in the big group. Vivi paces her room like she’s trying to run away from something but can’t. Understandable, these geese can really creep a person out.

The door opens again and in steps a boy. No… a man. He looks like he’s in his early twenties. He has this gleam in his eyes that a person really shouldn’t be able to possess. He sits down on the bed and Vivi sits next to him, but she doesn’t seem happy or excited. She seems scared but like she knows what’s going to happen. My stomach turns because I think I know what's going to happen.

He leans in close to her and whispers in her ear something that I won’t repeat. He leans forward and touches her chest.

“I’m tired today…” Vivi says in weak protest

“Well so am I stepsis. So am I.” He replies menacingly as he takes her shirt off. I feel like throwing up, but it turns out ghosts can’t do that. He pins her against the bed; she tries to resist but he’s stronger. He kisses her and when she doesn’t kiss back he punches her in the chest. She doesn’t make a sound. A twisted smile crosses his lips.

“I’ve trained you well.” He continues this until they’re both naked and doing stuff that I never want to see again. I want to run as far away as I can, but I am stuck in place. Being a ghost really sucks. He leaves and when he closes the door Vivi gets dressed and sobs into her pillow. I take back what I said before, he is no man. He is a coward. I sit on the bed next to her. I wish I could comfort her, but I can’t.

It surprises me, I mean Vivi always smiled and cracked jokes, and here she was, broken on her bed because of her stepbrother. I want to scream and shout that it’s not fair. It’s not fair that there is another me sobbing in this bed. I want to yell that it’s not too late for her, but I fear he’s sucked all the life out of her. She wears the same mask I did; she’s just better at hiding it than me. I hope she’s stronger than me. Her friends all seem so nice, it would be a shame if they were left with one less friend. No, one less family member.