Brooke moved her hand to the light switch so she could see more than just the outline of Peyton's form, but Peyton's voice stopped her, "No." Brooke immediately stopped her hand's path as she pulled it back slowly, quizzical apprehension showing in her eyes. Peyton motioned to the door and weakly croaked, "Close it."
Brooke nodded her head silently, slipping the rest of her body through the door before closing it behind her softly and locking it, and then turning her eyes to fully focus on Peyton worriedly.
As Brooke's eyes adjusted to the darkness, she was struck at just how broken Peyton was. Peyton's voice definitely sounded vulnerable, but it hardly compared to the fragile sight of her best friend and the meek way her eyes raised to greet Brooke's own. Peyton's eyes were shadowed with a haunted look, chilling Brooke with their teary defeat as their gazes connected. She was literally beaten down and Brooke had to admit she was scared.
Peyton moved, breaking eye contact with Brooke, and as she did a small amount of light illuminated the bruises that now marred Peyton's skin. Peyton's neck showed the visible marks of violent fingerprints and fingernails from what Brooke could only assume came from the deathly tight stranglehold from "Derek."
A gasp escaped Brooke's mouth as she gaped, causing the tears in Peyton's eyes to slip out and roll down her face as she stared helplessly at those of an entranced Brooke. Brooke's body pulled her closer to Peyton, her hands coming up to lovingly wipe the tears from Peyton's face, her thumb stroking soothingly around Peyton's eye with the faintest of touches, a tear falling down her hand as it fell from Peyton's eye.
The punch "Derek" landed was obviously a good one as Peyton's eye already had a nasty bruise starting to form around it. Although, thankfully, it didn't look like the skin was going to pucker up and swell her eye shut, but that was no consolation for the pain induced trauma.
Her anger brewed, but her eyes remained soft as her hands cupped Peyton's face in her hands before engulfing Peyton in a soft hug. Both of Peyton's arms moved to clasp together around Brooke's neck as she tucked her head into Brooke's hair. Brooke's hand smoothed Peyton's ruffled hair as her other hand rubbed Peyton's back lightly.
Peyton's body relaxed wrapped up in Brooke's comforting arms, feeling safe with Brooke holding her, relishing in the feeling. She knew that with Brooke there everything would be okay, even if only for a few minutes. She'd take the reprieve of loneliness and fear as long as she could, losing herself in the hug, savoring the warmth Brooke provided.
Meanwhile, Nathan and Lucas were doing their bests to try and straighten up the room a little, knowing Brooke was more capable than anyone of handling Peyton. They figured they could at least do something to help, it would give them more constructive things to do than scripting various ways to inflict pain on the guy who'd caused this.
"This is seriously sick," Nathan said as he did his best to maneuver around the room and straighten things out without actually looking at anything in particularly detailed focus. And Lucas stopped his movements and looked at Nathan's appalled face, having the same covering his own face in definite agreement, "Yeah it's definitely twisted."
"And what the hell kind of weapon choice was that, so not cool." Nathan lamented. "What would you of preferred a knife?" Lucas asked heatedly and Nathan was taken aback at the harshness in Lucas' voice, "Of course not!" Nathan exclaimed in outrage at the insinuation, "I'm only wondering what the hell kind of warped plan he had been intending on carrying out here tonight with that choice of weapon!!"
And Haley who now stood in the doorway spoke up, "He didn't want to hurt her, he just wanted her." And at her words, both boys fixed their attention on Haley in question. "He obviously wanted her for himself," she started out, motioning to the walls for effect before continuing, "But he knew she was going to resist him and instead of something that would hurt her gruesomely like a knife, he chose a way to inflict pain without the lasting effects, but would subdue her enough for him to do what he wanted."
Her voice filled with emotion towards the end as her mind unwillingly went to the possibilities of what could have happened that night, her gaze forlorn as the boys minds' drifted as well, knowing she was most likely right.
Does this darkness have a name?
Shaking their heads they got back to cleaning up. Now that Haley was back with the dustpan and broom, Nathan abandoned the towel he'd been using to cluster as many of the glass shards as he could by the window, and switched to the broom for easier results. And from his spot in the room, Lucas announced, "The lamps dead," as he released it from his hand and into the garbage can, thanking God for that very lamp.
This cruelty? This hatred?
If Peyton hadn't of used it to stop "Derek", Lucas could have seriously gotten messed up and not only would he have been in a lot of trouble, Peyton would have been in even worse danger. "Derek" had certainly had the upper-hand when Peyton charged with the lamp, and thankfully the night had ended with no life threatening injuries on their side, but more emotional damage than they'd all like to admit.
How did it find us?
"I mean seriously, how long must he have been stalking her to have all of these photos…there are some that look like they're from years ago." Nathan fumed, not knowing if he even wanted to know the answer to his question. He recognized some from the ones Haley had found saved on his computer long ago, and that made him seethe.
Did it steal into our lives?
Seeing Nathan staring menacingly at Peyton's desk, Lucas caught sight of her webcam. Peyton had had her webcam up for years. Lucas had spent countless hours watching her on it when they weren't supposed to be seeing each other or if he was worried about her. Obviously there was someone out there whose intentions weren't as honorable or normal as Lucas', and had found Peyton's openness and access as an invitation to her and who she was.
Or did we seek it out and embrace it?
And if they were all honest with themselves, they might have seen it coming. Peyton basically broadcasted her life to anyone who wanted to know about it, to know more about her. But they'd never said or done anything to discourage her. Despite the horror stories they'd heard about internet stalkers just like everyone else, they all just figured it was harmless entertainment and it wouldn't hurt anybody. She was just one person in the millions of people connected to the internet…but sometimes "all you need is one."
What happened to us?
One person is all it takes to bring darkness to an unsuspecting victim. They should know it better than anybody, whether intentional or not, one person's decisions can change the lives of so many others and theirs just had.
When did we lose our way…consumed by the shadows, swallowed whole by the darkness…