Bless This Broken Road
The next day, Liberty woke up to the sound of her annoying brother Danny tumbling into her room and screaming at her
" Liberty, come quick you have to see this"
Liberty groaned and pulled the covers over her head " go away Daniel" she said from under the covers
" no seriously you have to see this" he said again pulling the blanket
"Daniel , if this has anything to do with wrestling or who won what match I really couldn't care less" Liberty sighed frustrated
" no, no it has something to do with your university something happened"
Liberty immediately jerked up and rubbed her eyes, she looked at Danny so seemed to be in distress, she quickly grabbed her robe and headed for downstairs, a wave of fear came over her, he mind turned to her best friend May and she started to panic.
" what, what's going on?" she asked as she ran down the stairs
Her mother turned to her in fear, Liberty knew it was bad she immediately looked from right to left to her parents sitting on the opposite sides of the room she asked again
" what the heck is going on guys?
"Liberty" Angela Van Zandt started " there has been an attack in your university, someone has been raped and murdered"
The blood drained out of Liberty's face and she stopped dead in her track she tried to open her mouth but no words would come out, she tried to calm herself down before speaking again.
" did they say who it was?"
Angela shrugged her shoulders and Liberty pained she grabbed the phone and dialed
" Liberty, what's going on? " Harold Van Zandt spoke up
Liberty ignored them and listen fiercely to the phone, 1 ring, 2 rings, 3 rings 4 rings still no answer, Liberty eyes darted back and forth until
" hello" a tired voice answered
" oh my god, May are you ok?, what happened? Is everyone alright?" Liberty exclaimed in one breath
Many was stunned " Liberty I'm fine, I guess you have heard the news, by the way do you know what time it is? sheesh women" May joked
Liberty laughed a little and asked " so what happened?
May sighed and took a deep breath "you remember Tara right, Nick's best friend"
" oh my god' Liberty responded
" yeah well we went out for a drink with her Nick and Anna just for fun and next think we know Tara is drunk after one drink, Nick tried to take her back to the dorms but she insisted that she could do it on her own, Nick followed her anyway all the way until she was safe, well he though she was safe he came back and met up with us and next thing we know an hour later a girl runs in says that some one is on the floor and that she had been stabbed we all went to see what happened and it was Tara by the time the paramedic had got their they were to late, she at least had 25 stab wound "
Liberty was shocked no words could come out of her mouth except " was she raped?"
May didn't say anything which was enough for Liberty to know the answer
" her clothes were ripped off her, she had bruising and was bleeding, we think it's the same guy , your guy"
Liberty sat on the couch and tears fell from her eyes
" the only link between you and Tara was Nick so the police are investigating him as a suspect, they took his DNA to clear him but the results haven't come yet and he has us as an alibi "
Liberty sat in fear her rapist had killed someone and that could have easily been her
"Liberty" May's voice brought her back
"I'm here May" Liberty reassured her
" are you gonna be ok?" May questioned
" I'll be fine, just fine" Liberty said " May hun, ill let you go now I know you need you your beauty sleep so"
"thanks Lib, are you sure your gonna be ok?
" positive, bye May"
" bye Lib"
Liberty hung up and was quickly met by 3 pairs of worried eyes,
" it was one of my friends from university, I didn't know her very well but I used to study with her and Nick who is her best friends and one of my buddies at university"
"are you gonna be ok?" Harold Van Zandt asked
Liberty nodded and walked away
Months passed by and 2 more attacks had happened and Liberty became obsessive over this whole case, she ate, slept and breathed this case and the gang was getting worked about her. Liberty had a book filled with news paper clippings of the attacks from the world newspapers she bought every week to keep her posted on what was going on Nick officially became part of the this also when Tara died he began investigating on her owned and how much the cases between Liberty and Tara were similar, they both became in a state resembling intoxication but Liberty had a coke that night and Tara only had one drink, a Pina Colata, they had the same drug in their system and both were raped a beaten. It was the same guy with the same MO , the problem was he was smart he didn't leave evidence at all no blood, seamen or fibers they need him to start making mistakes in order to catch him so they started to spread the word to scare him, and it worked the last rape provided the police with DNA and Nick was cleared when hi DNA didn't match up to the rapist and he had no motive to kill Tara.
Liberty would call May and Nick to exchange information, the police had identified there being 4 victims Liberty, Tara and two other girls but they didn't give the press Liberty's name, so no-one knew who the first victim was, Emma and Manny became worried about Liberty when she would constantly discuss the attack and track it down, and they didn't understand it, if it was a friends she was close to yeah maybe she had a explanation to do this but she wasn't even close to Tara so why all the attention on this case they finally confronted her with all the rest of her friends at the Dot
" hey Lib, wanna go to the movies later on tonight I heard there is a great film on its just us girls" Manny asked
"sorry guys I'm busy, but maybe next time" Liberty told them
"Liberty are you still focusing on the Harvard Hallway rapist, I know you and Tara were close but its been months let the police do their jobs and find this guys" Sean exclaimed
"what is this obsession you have with this guy anyway?" Spinner asked
" yeah hun, hate to tell you but it's not attractive " Paige muttered
"come on Lib, you need to stop this, its not helping you" Toby said as he went to touch her shoulder, Liberty flinched and immediately pulled away everybody saw this and saw Liberty's distress
"don't, don't touch me" Liberty whispered
It was clear from Liberty pulling away from Toby that this rapist had effected her life too
"Liberty, what the hell happened in Harvard?" Sean asked
Liberty looked away and mumbled a excuse to leave and vanished into the crisp morning air she inadvertently went towards Degrassi Peak and sat down she pulled her body close shielding it from the cold air
" he hurt you didn't he" Liberty heard a voice say, she turned to see it was Paige, Liberty ignored the question and went back to daydreaming
" Liberty, its ok" Paige spoke again
Liberty looked at Paige " it's gonna be ok, when Paige when I stop having nightmares, when I see him everywhere, when I cant have my own friends touching me without freaking out" Liberty yelled out in frustration
" so he did hurt you?" Liberty stayed silent and that was all Paige needed to see the truth
" I know how you feel Liberty, I really do" Paige sat next to her, " I don't know if you know this but I was raped in grade 8 it was one of the worst things that could ever happened to me I could handle it but I went to counseling and I got help and I barely think about it anymore , he doesn't control my life anymore"
Liberty looked over at Paige " you were raped?" Paige nodded and Liberty started to cry
Paige hugged her
" I cant remember most of it because I was drugged, but I can remember bits and pieces of the rape like him on top of me and pushing me down" Liberty cried more 'I said no, I remember saying no" Liberty said to Paige
Paige nodded " I said no and he would stop, its not your fault Liberty, you're the victim its on his conscious now and you need to move on so you need counseling and therapy and I'm here if you need me "
Liberty looked at Paige, Paige laughed " don't look at me like that I cant be nice sometime, and I'm here for you seriously Liberty what ever you need just ask, I know how it feels to be alone and feel like nobody care and nobody is doing anything and I never want it to happen with anyone else so here is my number " Paige pulled out a paper from her purse, scribbled a number and gave it to Liberty
"Night or day Liberty, ill be there promise" Liberty smiled and hugged Paige
"thanks Paige" Liberty said sincerely
" Hey this a serious matter and one of the things that got me through was friends- Spinner, Hazel and JT helped me so much in getting through"
"JT" Liberty uttered in shock
Paige nodded " the day JT got into that fight with one of the Bardell guys, he was fighting the guy who had raped me"
Liberty was still in shock " JT, as in JT Yorke our JT"
Paige laughed "that's the one, after he I told him he marched right up to Dean and gave him a piece of his mind, I honestly couldn't have done it without JT or Spinner they played a huge part in me moving on and you us Liberty you need people to help you through this so I'm here if you need me and so are the of the guys, so let them in Liberty, let them help you"
Liberty was silent she nodded quietly and Paige pulled her into a hug
"Liberty" a voice came from behind
Liberty looked to see everyone standing in silence
"hey" Liberty said wiping tears for her eyes, Manny and Emma saw this and tears fell from their eyes to
" so what kind of effect did this rapist have on you? " Toby asked
Liberty swallowed hard and started to speak " he raped me, I was his first victim"
A silence came over the group, not one person knew what to say but Kendra, Manny and Emma hugged Liberty tightly.
Meanwhile in Harvard……….
" man I have the biggest headache" Nick complained as he crotched in pain
Anna gave him a look, " why don't you take something for it"
Nick got up and walked towards the cupboard but couldn't find anything inside " we haven't got any" he told her
" look in the bathroom cupboard" Anna said in irritation
Nick walked towards the bathroom and saw it was neatly organized Nik rolld his eyes trying to figure out what did he get himself into, a month after Tara died Nick asked Anna to move in with him and from then on Anna had control over the dorm and the way it looked Nick rolled his eyes again and grabbed the asprin from the cupboard he pop two and when to the kitchen to get some water, Nick saw Anna leave saying she was going to go out for a while he wasn't really listening. As he went to get the water he dropped the pill on the ground as he went to pick it up she came across a little cupboard draw that he never saw before, he became curious and decided to open it, when he did he saw a bottle, he picked it up and decided to read it
Anna Marie Parker
Pentamol Caratism
Take two everyday in order to control mental instability, very important to control mood swings, psychosis and voices.
Doctor Kenneth Rogers
Nick was frozen in his spot, he remember that, that was the same drug found in Liberty system as well as Tara's when they did her autopsy. It was a prescription drug so it needed to be prescribed by a doctor which means that they was a fairly small chance that anyone else had the same access this drug since Harvard did a huge check on any drugs.
"Anna must has got them in some how" Nick thought
Nick sat down for a while contemplating what he was going to do, this evidence was only circumstantial, and nobody saw Anna do anything out of the ordinary, Nick sighed know that if it turns out Anna had something to do with Liberty's rape and Tara's murder he would never forgive her but at the same time what if Anna wasn't doing these things then he would have accused her of these heinous crimes. Nick decided to take a change he picked up the phone and dialed it rang until some one picked up
" hello Massachusetts Police Department, This is Officer Stanley Anderson speaking.."
"yes Officer Anderson, its Nicholas Milano, umm I calling cause I found something that can crack your case wide open, but I cant do it on the phone, will I be able to come down to the station "
" Sure Nick, defiantly you can come in now" Officer Anderson said
" ill be right over" Nick replied and hung up, he took the bottle of pills and headed out the door on the way he knocked on May's door and grabbed her along telling he the story as they both headed off to the police station.
Meanwhile 4 weeks later………….
"With the help of her friend Liberty was able to come up with the courage to tell her parents about what happened in Harvard and why she came back, it was hard nevertheless, he mother cried and her father sat in silence, he brother stared blankly into thin air trying to come to terms with the truth. The family was in shambles and a few days after that announcement Liberty with the help of Paige, Manny, Emma and Kendra decided to get counseling. Liberty spent 4 weeks in counseling before she started her healing process. But the healing process was about to be delayed for a long period of time.
Once Nick had provided the evidence the police had followed up on the lead and realized that there was also a series of other drugging in Anna's past with the same drug, Anna also had the means and the motive to do what she did because Liberty, Tara and the other two girls were getting to close to Nick and Anna didn't like it. The police had talked to Anna's doctor Kenneth Rogers and found out that Anna has a severe mental disorder that was treatable with medication, but Anna had stopped her medication 2 months before the attacks. They brought Anna in and she had denied it at first but once she saw the evidence mounting upon her she confessed to the drugging but said she had nothing to do with any of the rapes or murder that had occurred.
But it wasn't until that they had looked though associates of Anna's that a name had come up – Matthew Wilson he had already 4 DUI, Petty Theft conviction, and a attempted rape charge that was dropped, they had brought him in without letting him know that he was being investigated, Matt just thought he was being asked questions about Anna and his association with her. They gave him coffee that one he had finished had used to swab for DNA and up came a match from the saliva found on the last victim, the arrested him and got a subpoena for a blood test and other bodily fluid to see if it matched and it did Matt was arrested for 4 counts of rape and 1 count of first degree murder and that's when Anna and Matt turned on each other.
" she told me to do it, the rapes and murders" Matt confessed
The police thought it was going to be easy to convict her but a couple of hours after she was arrested she pleaded a insanity, which allowed her to not stand trail but Matt told a different story.
" she was on her meds the whole time I was there she was being forced to take her meds by her parents so she was on them at the time she made up the arrangements"
The police checked in with Anna's parents and confirmes that she was taking her meds before and at the time of the murders. Now the police has to prove she took her meds, Most of the victims were notified that the rapist had been caugh but only Liberty remained
" have you told Libery yet?" Nick asked
Standley shook his head I was going to do it now, Nick stopped him could I do it, and Stan nodded…………….
Liberty was getting ready to celebrate her 20th birthday and morn two years since JT's death, he friends where thowing a big shindig at a restaurant and everyone was going to be there including Paige who had helped her in her healing process. Liberty finally got ready and was out the door and headed out first to JT and then to the party.
" hey JT, sorry I cant stay for long, I just came to say I miss you and that I want you to know im doing better , its been a while since you have visited me, I hope you haven't forgotten about me JT" Liberty said as she placed flowers down on the grave she spent a few minutes taking to JT and then sat quiety and prayed before leaving.
Soon the day turned in to night and the party was under way, the restaurant was booked out just for Liberty's birthday and everyone came from Manny and Emma to Paige to Spinner and even Marco, Ellie and Ashley, the party got under way with music appitsers and dancing everyone was having a blast. Most of the guys had asked the birthday girl to dance which she laughed and gladly accepted, then came the toasts and funny comments from all the people that knew her best. When Liberty got up to speak she decided that everyone together say a pray for JT which everyone did, and then the festivities just kept getting better. Liberty was having the best time and everyone was dancing and having the time of their lives.
Emma suddenly was called to the front desk " ill be right back" she told Sean and Liberty leaving them to dance. When Emma came back, she had a astonishing look on her face. Liberty looked at Emma
" Emma what's wrong?" Emma didn't say anything she just looked at the door way,
when Liberty looked to where Emma's eyes were she came across Nick and May standing in the doorway, Liberty immediately felt ill knowing that it has to be about the rape. Within seconds the whole party stopped and their eyes fell upon the two strangers at the door, Liberty walked towards them, she swallowed and stared at them in fear. Nick and May smiled at her and Nick whispered " we got them".
