WOW 10,000 views! Thankyou so much guys! All these views and reviews are what encourage me to keep writing. I was holding off writing this chapter till 10,000 so I'm glad it's finally happened... Now it's my turn to reward you with a new chapter!
"Hey Guys check this out. US Navy Seal found dead." Fat Amy says as she finds a newspaper clipping. Chloe and the other girls stand up and move over to Fat Amy. "Fat Amy, where did you find this?" Chloe asks. "It was in this box under her bed." Fat Amy replies as she points to the box. Cynthia Rose bends down and looks through the box containing photos of her mother and brother plus another few newspaper clippings. She stands back up and the girls look at the clipping Fat Amy found and read it.
Chicago Tribune
August 25th 2010
Ex-Navy Seal, Alex Mitchell, 25 was found dead in an abandoned warehouse on West 54th in Chicago, Illinois. Amongst the body of the seal was his younger sister, Rebeca Mitchell, 17 who was previously missing for 16 days before being found having shown signs of physical torture. Upon search of the warehouse, investigators found weapons used in the torture of Rebeca including, various knives, hooks, electrocution and water boarding equipment.
Alex Mitchell was discharged from the Seals due to psychologically factors after he was captured in Afghanistan saving the rest of his unit from capture. From there, the sergeant at the time was held captive for over a year by the Afghani terrorists, being tortured multiple times a day and put on public display for his Heads of State by his captors, unfortunately he seemed to have passed on what he suffered to his sister. Rebeca Mitchell was presumed dead at the scene but has since been revived and is remaining in critical condition at Chicago Medical with possible psychological injuries to match the physical. Investigations are under way to discover how Mitchell was killed including questioning of his sister which will take place after she wakes up from the coma she is in.
"Oh my God, Beca was tortured by her brother." Chloe puts her hand to her mouth and all the girls sit in silence for a moment as they realise that the small brunette had a past. "First her brother, now her father." Jessica murmurs. Chloe thinks for a moment. "What if the brother learnt it from the father?" Chloe adds and all the girls look to Chloe than back to the article.
"Miss Conrad, I have filled out all the discharge papers for Beca's release and she is all packed up to go, however…" Dr Harrison pauses and Stacie raises her eyebrows as if telling him to continue. "Beca had rescinded your rights to look after her. She says and I quote, 'I can look after myself.'" He adds, his head dropping. Stacie begins to cry as she sees Beca leave the room. "Beca. Beca, please talk to me!" Stacie chases after her girlfriend. "Beca, just stop for a second." Stacie says as she grabs Beca's arm and pulls her back to face her, that's when she notices that Beca has tears in her eyes. "Stacie, let go of me." Beca rips her arm out of Stacie's hold. Stacie finally allows the tears sitting in her eyes to fall. "Beca, I care about you okay, please don't shut me out." Stacie cries, dropping her head. Beca uses her finger to lift Stacie's head back up by under her chin. "I can't Stace, I'm going to hurt you and I can't live with that so do yourself a favour and stay away from me." Beca finally says before turning to walk away. Stacie watches as someone she has grown to love in a week walks away. "No!" She yells out making Beca stop dead in her tracks and turn around. Stacie paces up to Beca and grabs the back of her neck bringing her lips down to the shorter brunette's. The two share a passionate kiss before Stacie pulls away placing her forehead to Beca's. "I don't care if you hurt me, you can hurt me, slice me open, torture me but I'm not going anywhere. I'm staying with you, I'm with you always." She whispers and Beca pulls out of affectionate moment. She looks to Stacie and nods. "Okay, always." The corner of Beca's mouth turns up slightly.
"Welcome back Beca." Stacie says as they walk into Beca's room to find it all cleaned. Beca looks up at Stacie. "Some of the Bellas came and cleaned it up for you." Stacie smiles, Beca returns the smile as she puts her bag on her bed. Stacie moves over to the spare bed and takes a seat. "There is a Bellas rehearsal tomorrow. They were hoping to see you. Were you interested in going?" She asks. Beca looks over to the photo of her mother and Alex than back to Stacie. "Yeah, I don't mind going." Beca smirks. "I mean I need to talk to them about getting all your stuff in here." She adds and Stacie's head darts up. Her smile turning big. "Are you serious?" Stacie asks. Beca nods her head grinning. "I mean clearly I have the space and it'll save you money so you don't have to pay more for the single and I'm going to need someone so why not." Beca replies. Stacie jumps up from her seat and moves over to Beca, pulling her in for a kiss. They are interrupted when Stacie's phone rings. Stacie looks at the number and realises it's the hospital. "I'll be right back." She says as she walks out of the room and answers the call. "Stacie Conrad." She answers. "Miss Conrad, this is Dr Harrison. I have the results of the rape kit. Beca was sexually abused by Warren Mitchell. The information has been sent to the police and they are conducting an investigation in order to prosecute him. They will need Beca to come in and testify." Dr Harrison says. Stacie tries to hide her shock but she had a feeling. She agrees to get Beca in to testify when the police need and the two share their goodbyes.
"How is the thesis coming Chlo?" Aubrey asks as she places a glass of water next to Chloe's laptop. Chloe drops her head into her hands. "This is so hard, no-one has agreed to be my subject for my thesis, I pretty much know what I want to write, I have the base template written but I need a subject, someone to study and no one is willing. Can you read this intro?" Chloe asks, pointing to the laptop screen. Aubrey nods as she turns the screen to get a better view and starts to read.
Sexual assault is a personal and destructive crime. Its effects on you and your loved ones can be psychological, emotional, and/or physical. They can be brief in duration or last a long time. It is important to remember that there is not one "normal" reaction to sexual assault. Therefore your individual response will differ depending on your personal circumstances. In this section are some of the more common effects that sexual assault victims may experience. There are many reactions that survivors of rape and sexual assault can have. For adult survivors of childhood sexual assault there are reactions that may either be different or stronger than for other survivors. When humans are young, their world revolves around their parents or primary care-givers. Parents or care-givers are the primary source of safety, security, love, understanding, nurturance and support. Child abuse violates the trust at the core of a child's relationship with the world. They say that when you get burned by fire you don't put your hand in the hot oven again. But that's not necessarily the case. Sometimes, it's the fact of being burned that emotionally bonds you to an abuser, sometimes it prevents future sexual relationships and even has long term psychological effects.
"It's good Chloe. Like really good but as you said it's pointless without a study subject." Aubrey comments. Chloe raises her head from her hands. "I know Aubrey." Chloe pauses before speaking again. "I've been thinking about doing it on Beca. I've- I've been taking notes on her reactions to situations or interactions. Stacie told me about everything that happened at the hospital. She was screaming out her brother's name, the brother that tortured and almost killed her, like she was in a living nightmare, she spaces out, avoids being touched, remains to herself, showers and changes in privacy. It's all signs of sexual abuse, physical and violent abuse Aubrey. I can use that, make her an anonymous subject. Subject A or something." Chloe rambles and Aubrey stops her before she continues. "Chloe, that is a horrible idea, it could work yes but what if Beca found out, what if someone found out it was her and reported it. It is not only a breach of privacy but an offence and you could be arrested. As much as I don't like her even I wouldn't do something like that to her." Aubrey argues. Chloe groans before putting her head back into her hands.
A week later:
Stacie lays on Beca's bed and listens as Beca makes a dance beat. She watches as Beca loses all sense of reality and escapes to her paradise, music was Beca's bliss and seeing her so happy made Stacie smile widely. "You look in your element babe." Stacie grins and Beca smiles. "Yeah, it helps me escape from everything you know." Beca takes a deep breath trying to control the swarm of voices in her head, voices of her past. "Have you taken your meds?" Stacie asks and Beca thanks her girlfriend before moving over to her meds and taking all of them except one. Beca looks at the prescription bottle and reads the label, Zoloft. Beca pretends to take one of the pills and puts the medication back. She turns back to Stacie just as her phone rings. She looks at her phone and smiles before answering. "What's up Partymaker?" Beca jokes into the phone, Stacie opens her eyes and listens to Beca on the phone. "Yeah, I can do that. Yeah no worries. Friday Night at SBT all good. Thanks dude." Beca hangs up than looks to Stacie. "Sorry, that was Tom, I have another gig on Friday." Beca smiles but it drops when she notices Stacie's frowning. "What? Come on Stace I've been cooped up in either this room or the rehearsal space all week. I'm almost back to normal, let me have this." Beca argues and Stacie sits up. "It's not that I don't want you to do this, it's just are you sure you're ready for it? I mean after what happened." Stacie replies. Beca scoffs at the remark. "Of course I'm sure. The real question is do you want me to go because you sound like you don't want me to do this." Beca retorts sourly. 'She doesn't want you to be you. She doesn't want you to reach your full potential. She wants to put you on a leash, bend your will to what she likes, just like I did. Just like Dad did. She will turn on you, they all will, your precious Bella's don't care about you. They pity you. Come on Becs, you're damaged goods, you are tainted. Stop thinking they care. They want to control you. You are better off alone, you are better off with Dad or even better with me. You know what to do so do it.' Beca hears Alex say in her head. "Beca, that's not true at all. Of course I want you to do this. Being an artist is your dream, I'd never stop you from fulfilling your dream. I'm just not sure because you were attacked and parties are like breeding grounds for possible attacks and druggings. I'm just scared that something could happen again and I won't be there to stop it like last time." Stacie confesses and watches as Beca grabs her jacket. 'Go on Becs, say it.' Alex laughs in the shorter brunette's head. "No, you don't care. You just pity me, all of you do. I'm better off on my own Stacie, which is why I want to leave you in that hospital. I'm sick of being put on a leash and bended to anyone's will! I've had it my entire life and when I thought I could trust you, Chloe and the Bella's. It's the same shit! I'm out of here." Beca yells as she grabs her phone, keys and her stash of drugs, not including her medication. She storms out, slamming the door in the process. Stacie grabs her phone and dials Chloe. "Hello?" Chloe answers. "Chloe? Beca's gone. She took off." Stacie cries into the phone.
So Beca has given in to Alex's voice. She believes she deserves it. Next chapter, Chloe and Stacie will look for Beca. When they find her, they are going to uncover a bit more about Beca, her mother and her father. Also Chloe will find a subject for her thesis.
From here is where Beca starts to get really dark but someone will bring her out of the shadows, she will find someone to confide in and tell everything to, so sit back, relax and enjoy.