Disclaimer: All characters, events, and material related to The Spiderwick Chronicles are owned by Holly Black & Tony DiTerlizzi and Simon & Schuster.

Warning: This story contains sexual assault and rape. Please read cautiously if you are sensitive to this type of content.

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Jittery

"What happened?" Mallory asked her brothers in the quarry, shaking off her daze as she checked herself over. "Why did I wake up in that glass box?"

Jared shook his head. "Do you remember anything?" he pressed.

Mallory shrugged. All she had told them was, "I was packing up my things after the match. Some kid said that you were in trouble," though after the conversation dropped, she concentrated vigorously to recall anything from her temporarily lost memory.

"What is making you so jittery?" her mother asked, driving towards J. Waterhouse Middle School for her important fencing competition. "Is this new team really that good?" she wondered.

"I'm fine," Mallory snapped, continuing to chew on her ponytail despite her mother's instructions.

The woman glanced over at the passenger seat with an all-knowing smile. "It's that boy, isn't it?" she asked, amused. "The one you were talking to on Wednesday when I picked you up."

Mallory could hear Simon snickering from behind her seat. "What boy?" he asked.

Their mother told him to be quiet, and proceeded to answer. "Chris, the fencing captain." She paused a moment to take another sideways glance at her daughter before asking quickly, "He is the captain, isn't he?"

Mallory resolved to giving a response that produced an answer that neither confirmed nor denied, in hopes that the subject would end right now. So she gave a non-informative groan.

Simon immediately belted out "Chris and Mallory sitting in a tree, K-I-S-S-I-N-G" in-tune as Jared tittered at his brother's out-break. Their victim of a sister whipped her head around from her seat and threatened to knock out their teeth. Mom told Mallory not to mind the twins' teasing and not to worry about reciprocating Chris' affection.

"You're a smart, pretty girl and a great fencer," her mother declared. "I bet he likes you," she finished off sweetly.

"Mom!" Mallory's ponytail dropping out of her mouth and falling limp on her shoulder. She sank deeply into her seat, embarrassed. Though on the inside, she really did hope that Chris felt the same about her. So now it was decided. If she won the match today, she would ask Chris out on a date. It's today or never, she thought. She'd better win that match.

How was she to know that hours later she was fated to sit alone, huddled on top of a toilet in the girls' bathroom as her chest shuddered violently.

"Mallory, are you okay?" her teammate Emma asked through the stall's door.

The sobs died down enough for the girl to respond, "I'm fine."

"Have you seen Mallory?"

Simon and Jared had asked around, teammates and parents shaking their heads at the two younger boys. Jared felt crummy. After all, he was expelled from J. Waterhouse Middle School just mere minutes ago. But now he and his brother were on a mission to round up their sister before heading home, and they had growing concern as to how nobody had spotted the girl in question.

"Has anyone seen Mallory?"

"Excuse me," Simon asked of Chris-the-captain, "Have you seen our sister Mallory?"

Chris-the-captain looked hesitant. There was a bit of guilt and fear behind his eyes. Jared picked up on his skittish behavior, but he dismissed his suspicions of Chris-the-captain's quirks in favor of finding his sister. So Jared walked away, but kept a close eye on the older boy. His standoffish manners probably had nothing to do with Mallory... Then why did he look so uncomfortable when they asked about her?

The older boy simply shook his head to their question. Simon walked ahead, continuing to look for his sister or someone who might've seen her. Jared followed, keeping a critical eye on the fencer. There was something unnerving about him...

Just half an hour ago, Mallory was stashing her belongings into her duffel bag, when a young kid about her brothers' age informed her that Jared was in trouble. She sighed as she zipped up the bag and swung the strap around her shoulder. "Again?" she asked unsurprised, making her way out of the gym.

The thirteen-year-old hurried over to the bathroom to change into her street clothes before heading over to the principal's office to meet up with her family.

She rounded the corner and startled herself when she nearly ran into Chris, walking from the opposite direction.

"Chris!" she yelped.

"Great match today," he told her with an awkward smile as he shuffled to get out of her way.

"Wait," she called, turning around as he passed her up. The captain stopped, as she caught his attention. "There's something I've been meaning to ask you."

"Really?" he asked curiously. "What is it?"

Mallory had a slight mischievous look on her face when she glanced down the halls from either side, then dragged him into the bathroom.

"I was wondering," Mallory started as the pair settled into the private environment. "If you would like to go out on a date with me?"

Mallory had a hopeful smile playing on her lips as she finished her question, waiting to hear a favorable answer. Instead, Chris stared back at her with a hard expression. Any trace of the smile she had on quickly dissolved when she gazed into his darkened eyes. She was confused by his reaction. Then, like a flash of lightning, Chris grabbed her by the wrists and pushed her backwards, causing Mallory to fall flat on her back with the fencing captain above her.

"Chris, let go of me!" Mallory tried to scream, but he managed to muffle her cries by laying slobbering kisses on her lips. She felt the waistband of her jeans being crudely pushed down to her knees. Her bare bottom made contact against the freezing tiled floor as she heard Chris fumble with something. From the sound of it, Mallory concluded that it was his belt buckle and pants zipper.

"St-STOP!" she tried screaming again, but he had moved his right hand over her mouth. Her thighs were forcefully pushed outward, immediately causing her to pull her knees back together and locking them. Chris took his free hand and again pushed her thighs apart before ramming the heel of his hand against her crotch.

Mallory hollered loudly, tasting the salt of Chris' sweaty palm. Fear quickened her breath, as something hard and pulsating touched the surface of her entrance. Then without letting her think it over any more, Mallory felt an agonizing pain rip through her body. That was the moment when she realized. He was in her. Pushing through her valued property, stripping away the virginity that she was entitled to. She let out a raw cry against his hand.

"Shht!" she heard from above her. The grunts and groans Chris made clipped off the profane words he tried to formulate, unsuccessfully constructing articulate sentences aloud. "Sn... fnkng... tght!"

Hot tears rolled down the side of her face as intense, painful vibrations built up to an incredible fast pace. It was getting harder to breathe with his hand now crept over her nostrils. The lack of oxygen made her aware of the throbbing pain on the back of her head. Mallory didn't realize how hard she had hit the tiled floor before. She felt dizzy. Too tired to scream. Help, she whispered in her mind.

Sobs quieted to hushed weeps as she slowly lost the physical strength to retaliate. Her mind began to fade; her consciousness picking up every other small part of the distressing experience. She couldn't remember when Chris had released his grip around her lips, nor could she even remember the transition of Chris leaving the room and Emma coming in, when she pulled herself up off the floor and huddled in one of the stalls.

Only Mallory remembered before, after Chris let out a long, strangled groan and the feeling of a strange, sticky liquid was left flowing inside of her, a moment later, he whispered low in her ear, "Thanks for the offer... But I'm just not interested."

She was paralyzed when those harsh words reached her. The tears and noises she made abruptly stopped as she laid there, stunned. Chris stood up with a smirk on his face, pulling up his pants and readjusting his clothes before strolling out the door. Of course, Mallory would have forgotten about this later. Only the words had reached her...

Thanks for the offer... But I'm just not interested.

Then after, as she held her knees close to her chest, sitting on top of the ice cold toilet seat lid, sobbing quietly when she heard Emma asked if she was okay.

Simon shook his head. "Mallory? Crying? But she won."

The girl with the long brown hair that informed him of his sister's whereabouts shrugged at him. "I asked her if she was okay, but she said she was fine."

As they made their way towards the restroom, Simon had asked his brother if he really thought that Mallory was in there, or if it were just a faerie who had taken her form.

"Why would a faerie turn into Mallory and then cry in a girls' bathroom?" Jared asked.

"I don't know," Simon answered. "I'd cry if I had to turn into Mallory."

Jittery (noun) - 1: feelings of extreme nervousness. 2: slight irregular movement, variation, or unsteadiness.

The End

Author's Note: Written in July 2010, it took me over a year to complete. The story I had originally wanted to write was a more light-hearted story that showed Chris in a much more positive light. The idea for this story came to me when I was rereading the novella in preparation for the other story. While I had wanted to write a story where Chris wasn't the villain, I felt like there was this darker character hidden within him that was never really explained in the book. I wanted to explore that a little bit.

Also, I had wanted to write on a subject that I felt was strongly important to raise awareness on. If you or someone you know have been sexually assaulted, please contact organizations such as RAINN (Rape, Abuse & Incest National Network) - at rainn org, or their hotline number 1-800-656-HOPE. (However, I am not a member affiliated with these networks; my individual opinions are not directly reflective of the facilities).

31 August 2011