WARNING: This chapter contains fairly graphic moments/descriptions that relate to rape.
Ryder grinned as he pulled out his suitcase. He had thrown a few things in the night before, but he had gotten sidetracked before he finished. He knew that between his date with Katie the Marvel movie marathon he had planned with Sam, he wouldn't have time to pack for the trip the next day and if he left it until Sunday, he'd probably forget something in the rush to leave. He pulled out most of his clothes and made a half-hearted attempt at folding them before placing them into the suitcase, making sure that he left out a nicer pair of jeans and a good shirt for the next day.
This weekend was set up to be the best one he'd had in a long time and he was more excited than he could say. Marley was finally speaking to him again – even if it was awkward – and Jake was starting to act a little more normal. He was sure that if he could show his best friend that he had a new girlfriend that wasn't Marley, things would be fixed between them and everything would go back to the way it had been before he had made that huge mistake. The Spring Break trip would be perfect.
What he was looking forward to the most though was finally being able to meet Katie. He had spent so much time talking to her over the last few weeks that he felt like he had known her forever and even though he knew his feelings for Marley weren't gone yet, he was definitely developing a crush on Katie was well. She was beautiful and nice and she really seemed to like him. Even if she didn't live very close, he still knew that she would be just about the perfect girlfriend and he desperately hoped that their date would go well.
Things were really turning around and he couldn't be happier about it. Hopefully by Sunday he would have a new girlfriend, have patched things up with Jake, kept things from being awkward with Marley and he'd be heading to spend a week camping with his friends before getting ready to compete in Regionals. Life was finally looking up and he couldn't wait to see what would come next.
Ryder bounced impatiently as he stood outside the Burger King his mother had just dropped him off at. He was early, but he hadn't wanted to take a chance of missing Katie when she showed up. He knew that they would probably only have a couple of hours for their lunch date and he wanted to make use of every second he had with her. He still couldn't believe that they were really about to meet face-to-face.
After a few more minutes of impatient fidgeting, his phone beeped and he smiled when he saw it was a text from Katie before he opened it.
'I'm still getting ready and my dad's insisting that he has to meet you first now. Wanna just pick me up? We're in room 23.'
He looked up from his phone and glanced across the street at the motel Katie had told him she would be staying in. It really wasn't that far and if it meant not risking her dad sitting in on their date, it would be worth it. Shrugging to himself, he sent back a quick reply, 'Sure. I'll be right there.' before walking away from the restaurant and crossing the street.
It wasn't long before he had made it to the motel and was checking the room numbers on doors as he grew more and more nervous. This was it. He was really about to meet the girl he had been spending so much time talking too. All he had to do was get through meeting her dad first. Once he finally found the right room he stood in front of the door for a moment and took a deep breath. He was nervous, but he didn't want Katie to see that. Finally, when he had calmed himself as much as he thought he could, he knocked.
He fought against the urge to hold his breath in the few seconds it took for the door to open and he was suddenly face to face with a tall, heavy-set man he assumed to be Katie's father.
"Hi, Mr. Fitzgerald? I'm, uh, I'm Ryder Lynn. I'm here for Katie." he said as calmly as he could manage.
"Nice to meet you, son. I'm Peter, but you can keep calling me Mr. Fitzgerald." the man said, extending a hand for Ryder to shake.
Ryder quickly extended his own hand and replied, "It's nice to meet you too, sir." as the man shook his hand a little too long and gave Ryder the feeling he was being sized up. He hoped that Katie's father would approve.
Once Mr. Fitzgerald let go of his hand he opened the door wider and motioned for Ryder to come in before shutting the door behind him. "Katie's still in the bathroom getting ready. Want something to drink? I think I've got some stuff in the cooler still." he said as Ryder stood awkwardly in the room, hoping Katie wouldn't take long.
"Yes, sir. Thank you." he said out of politeness and the man rummaged through a small cooler in the corner for a moment before pulling out a bottle of Gatorade and opening the top as he handed it to Ryder.
"Katie says you're on the football team." the man commented and Ryder quickly nodded.
"Yes sir. I'm in the glee club too. We're, uh, heading to Regionals in a few weeks." he confirmed after taking a sip of the drink, feeling more nervous by the moment.
"Good boy, well rounded." Mr. Fitzgerald replied and Ryder thanked him before an awkward silence fell in the room.
He took another small sip of the drink as he searched for something to say, "So … Katie said you're visiting her grandparents again. Do you visit here a lot?" he questioned despite already knowing the answer.
"Every couple of months." the man replied simply as he continued to stare at him.
Ryder's nerves suddenly doubled as he realized that he hadn't heard a single noise from the bathroom that Katie was supposed to be getting ready in. He gave a nervous laugh before turning his head towards the door she was supposed to be behind, "Are you almost ready, Katie?" he called.
There was no response.
"I think - I think I'll just go wait for her at the restaurant." he said quickly as he moved towards the door, almost tripping himself in his hurry as a sense of danger suddenly settled around him.
In a flash the man was next to him, grabbing his arm roughly, "You're not going anywhere." he said and the terror hit Ryder like a ton of bricks as he struggled wildly, causing the man to grab his other arm and drag him further into the room.
"Please let go. Please! I won't tell anyone, I promise. Just let me go, please!" he begged before a hand was on his throat, threatening to cut of his oxygen as he was forced onto the bed, the man's grip only tightening as he fought, "Let go of me!" he screamed, "Stop it! No! Let me go!"
"I've got a knife in my pocket and you're going to stop screaming before you never scream again." the man said menacingly and the realization of what was going on hit him as he let out a quiet sob before nodding frantically. He didn't want this to happen, but he didn't want to die either.
He struggled as the man attempted to force him to lie down, "Please no, stop." he said softly, "I promise I won't tell anyone, just let me go! Please don't do this!" he continued to beg as he was forced down with the man's knee on his chest holding him in place as the man he thought he could trust reached to undo his pants.
He fought frantically in his attempts to stop what was happening, but it only seemed to make the man angrier, "No! Stop, stop, stop!" he chanted as he struggled futilely with tears filling his eyes until the man finally succeeded and his pants and underwear were thrown to the floor.
Suddenly the man had his arms in a painful grip again and there was fury in his eyes as he stared directly at the young boy, "Stop fighting me or I'll make use of that knife!" he declared, clearly fed up with Ryder's resistance before removing one arm to reach into his pocket and pull out a large, sharp looking pocket knife, "This isn't a joke." he stated as he showed the wide-eyed boy the blade before placing the knife onto a nearby table, within easy reach for him, but out of reach for Ryder who remained pinned to the bed.
Ryder went limp with fear before he was roughly turned over and the man he had now decided was nothing more than a monster quickly arraigned his legs before placing his knees on top of them painfully, placing all of his weight on the boy under him before Ryder heard the sound of another zipper being undone. He buried his face in the mattress and cried.
When it was over, the man quickly and calmly redressed himself as Ryder lay frozen in pain and fear on the bed before grabbing the suitcase and cooler that had been sitting in the corner and leaving the room. As soon as the door shut, Ryder gathered his courage and pulled himself into a sitting position, giving a small gasp at the pain caused by moving as silent tears ran down his face.
He winced as he stood up and froze when he spotted the blood on the bed, staring numbly as the reality of what had just happened fully sunk in. He quickly gathered his clothes before panicking slightly as he realized he was still bleeding. His parents couldn't know. No one could know. It was his fault, he was stupid and he came there on his own. The man had reminded him of that several times.
He headed into the bathroom, locked the door behind him as if that could protect him and looked at himself in the mirror, willing himself to stop crying. As he caught sight of the red handprints on his neck that were slowly going purple, he realized that he might need to stick to turtlenecks for a few days. He glanced frantically around the room before spotting a few rags sitting folded on a shelf. He grabbed them, placing them in his underwear as he quickly and painfully redressed himself, hoping that they would keep any blood from becoming visible or staining his clothes. No one could know.
Ryder wiped at his eyes again before looking in the mirror one more time, ashamed to even really look at himself as he fully zipped up his jacket and messed with the collar and until he decided that it should do to hide the forming bruises until he got home. With that done, he rushed out of the room, desperate to get far away from the place where something so horrible had happened.
He half-ran, half limped back to the Burger King before standing in the spot where his mother had dropped him off earlier that day and fought back the tears that tried to return as he thought of how stupid he had been. Forcing himself to remain as calm as possible, he pulled his phone out of his pocket, closing his eyes in relief when he realized it still worked before quickly sending a text to Sam.
'Can't come tonight. Sick. Think it's some 24 hour thing.' He typed out, giving the first excuse he could think off before shakily hitting the first speed dial on his phone.
"Hey mom, can you come pick me up?" he said, "No, I'm alright, just … I think I might be a little sick."
Author's Note: I hope you guys like this, once again this is just two of the self-para's from the RP account slightly edited. The next Perfect Mess chapter is giving me fits, but I've realized that I can't keep making my other readers wait due to writer's block on one story. I'm still not sure about a ship here (though obviously, it will be a while before anything of a romantic nature happens) so I'm still open to suggestions!
Hunter-Drew: Thank you!