So I got stuck here towards the end of the story... trying to find the right way to end it. I'm thinking two or three more chapters left... and it will be followed by an epilogue... (wipes away tears)
Chapter 26 - Flashback
The next two weeks seemed to drag on slowly for Ever, every day after school she was meeting with Wayne or Rosalind about the trial against Richard. They were certain that they had this trial won already.
Ever's testimony being their final key.
She was nervous to say the least; she would have to come face to face with her mother's killer, with the man that was supposed to be her father figure, supposed to be her guardian. She shuddered at the thought, what had possessed her mother to fall for this man was beyond her.
She had been having nightmares the last few nights, vivid nightmares of her mother's death. The way Richard was so sinister and told Ever that if she told anyone she would end up just like her mother, dead.
She remembered that was the first night he had hit her, he struck her heard across the face, and once she was down, he kicked her relentlessly. She had been so wounded and hurt that when the cops came by to find her mother's body and question, no one had even known she was there.
Richard had told the police that she was out that night with friends. Though at the time Ever didn't have any friends, she only had her son. He was the only person that she had, that she thought she would ever have.
Until now.
Now she had not only her son, but she had Reid… she had Meredith. She had Tyler, Delilah, Sarah, Caleb, Kate and Pogue. All of them. They were all her friends now, they were all her family. The most important people in her life.
She surveyed the dark room; Delilah was sound asleep on her side of the room. It was early, only five in the morning, but she couldn't sleep. Tomorrow would be the big day; she would have to bare her soul, everything she had been trying to hide for the last 9 months.
She let out a small laugh; so much had changed in just three months. She had a boyfriend now that loved her, she had friends that cared about her, and she had a guardian that was looking out for her best interest.
That bastard, she thought. He ruined her life. Took everything from her, but in the end… gave her something special. She smiled at the thought; her son, her boyfriend, and her friends. They were all somehow gifts that she had gotten from the terror she had been put through.
She grabbed her things and went to the showers, she knew she wouldn't be able to go back to sleep, it would be useless.
Creeping down the lonesome hallways of Spencer Academy dorms during the early morning was quite scary. Shadows danced on the walls, the slow creaking of the old wood floors as she took every step, the echoing of her breathing freaked her out.
Ever stepped foot in to the bathroom, her mind whirling around the concept that tomorrow she would hopefully be seeing her mother's killer be put in jail for life. She groaned inwardly slipping out of her clothes; she started the water of the shower and waited for it to become warm.
She slipped her hand under the falling water and felt the temperature rise slowly, feeling comfortable with its current heat she slipped her entire body under the head of the shower. The hot beads of water massaged over her tense muscles.
Closing her eyes tightly she remembered that night like it was just yesterday.
"You're worthless," Richard's words were venomous. "Can't keep your fucking mouth shut about anything, can you?" He stated harshly.
"Richard, please stop this…" Ever heard her mother croak out.
"That little whore of a daughter… she did this to herself…" Richard warned. "Just like you did this to yourself…"
Ever shook at his words, she could hear the faint crying of her son from the other room. She wanted to console the boy, but she couldn't' find it in her to move. She peaked through the cracked door and saw her mother hovering on the floor grasping her midsection as if she had just been kicked or punched violently.
She saw Richard draw his strong arm back and then viciously hit her mother hard across the face, she let out a loud scream and horrified at the look on Richard's face as he noticed her behind the door, she clamped both of her hands over her mouth.
"Oh you want a little show?" Richard stated as he stormed to the door, pulling it open and revealing the young girl. She let out a low squeak and shuffled back on her bottom.
He snatched her up violently by her forearms and yanked her in to the room. Pushing her down roughly he heard her mother gurgle out a protest. Ever sat huddle in the corner tears streaming from her eyes silently she was too scared to move.
"You want to sit outside the door and watch your mommy dearest get what she deserves?" Richard asked with a snort. "She wants to tell me something that I already know…" He laughed sinisterly. "David is the father of your bastard child…" He grinned and pressed a rough, calloused finger against her tears stained cheeks. "As if I didn't already know…"
"Richard, stop this… this instant!" Her mother worked up the courage to stand on to her own two feet.
Richard turned around sharply, back handing her mother, with a loud pop she watched her mother's body flop on to the large king size bed. Those dark eyes stared in to hers briefly before he turned around to grab a pillow off of the bed.
"You fucking cunt," He growled lowly placing himself on top of her mother.
Adelaide kicked and wailed trying to get his large body off of hers, but it was no use, he was so much stronger than she was. Ever shook her head repeating the same words over and over again.
"No God, please no…" She whispered, the salty tears mixing with her saliva.
"God can't help you now…" Richard barked as he grabbed a pillow. "I'm about to teach you a lesson Ever…" He groaned harshly, his pants feeling instinctively uncomfortable against his hardened member. "You don't ever open your mouth," He warned. "Never…"
He pushed the pillow on to Adelaide's face, blocking her air passages as her arms and legs thrashed around violently. Ever's eyes grew wide as she built up enough courage to pour herself on to her feet.
"Leave her alone!" Ever yelled as she rushed over to Richard and gave him a few hard knocks on the back with her clenched fists.
Richard with one swift movement pushed her away, knocking her in to the large armoire in the room, "Stupid bitch, just like your fucking mother…" He growled.
Adelaide sat up her eyes pleading with her daughter silently as she tried to muster up the strength to beat Richard, Richard turned sharply grabbing her roughly around the neck and squeezing with his bare hands.
"Don't!" Ever yelled hoarsely.
"David!" Richard yelled waiting for his son to come in to the room.
Within moments David's tall, muscular form peered in to the room, "Yeah?" He asked darkly.
"Would you shut your fucking whore up?" Richard asked pointing abruptly to the ball of limbs on the floor.
"What the hell are you doing?" David asked noticing the pillow in his father's hand and Adelaide's neck in the other.
"I'm teaching these fucking whores a lesson, do you have a problem with that?" Richard asked glaring at his son.
Afraid of his own father David took a step back and went to Ever, he held her down; she fought and pried at the older man trying to get him to release her. He had one hand clamped over her mouth and the other pinning her arms above her head.
"Now it's time to get rid of you, you were lousy in the sack, a fucking bore…" Richard muttered as he gave Adelaide another smack across the face.
"Is this really necessary?" David asked watching his father place the pillow over Adelaide's face again, pushing hard down so his stepmother couldn't breath.
Richard shot his son a glance that was threatening, the younger man immediately closed his mouth and Ever's eyes grew wide as her mother's body went limp. She bit down on David's hand and he released it giving her a dirty look as she let out a loud scream.
"Shut her up, shut her up NOW!" Richard demanded as he held the pillow, he could still feel Adelaide's pulse pounding slowly as her life slipped away from her.
David pushed his hand over Ever's mouth and leered down at her, "You're only making this worse for yourself in the end," He whispered harshly.
Ever thrashed around seeing Richard pull the pillow off of her mother's face, her body has started to lose its color already. She felt more tears stinging her eyes as Richard got down on the ground crawling to her slowly and looking her dead in the eye.
"That'll be you, if you don't keep your fucking mouth shut," Richard barked. "And that precious little boy of yours is mine…" He grinned evilly.
Ever bit down harder on David's hand and the boy released her, "Fucking bitch," He growled slapping her hard across the face.
Richard's upper lip twitched as he grabbed her up off of the floor, "You listen here and you listen good Ever Carmichael…" He shook her violently, shoving her against the armoire. "You belong to me, you got that… you belong to him…" He pointed down to David. "A fucking word from that mouth of yours and you'll wind up just like your god damn whore of a mother!" He stated pushing her down to the ground.
Ever's green eyes snapped open at the memory. She could feel the salty tears mixing in with the hot steamy water coming from the head of the shower. She rubbed her eyes with the heel of her hands and sighed. She had been put through hell that night.
Richard had literally kicked her ass all the way to her room, leaving her there for David to do with what he wanted. He had raped her that night, telling her that she was just like her mother; a useless whore, and telling her that no one would ever lover her.
She hadn't left the bathroom that night, letting the wound on her arm bleed incisively in to the porcelain of the tub, staining it slightly. She didn't leave it the next day either, it took her a few days to work up the courage and the strength to walk out of the room.
She let out a deep and exasperated sigh as the water started to turn cold, had she really been in her own nightmare for that long?
She slowly turned the water off and wrapped the white towel around her wet body. She rang out her long wet hair and her shaky hands fled through the wild tresses as she grabbed her things and stalked back to her room.
She wasn't looking forward to tomorrow, but a part of her was. A part of her wanted to see that chauvinistic, narcissists, masochistic man rot in hell, or prison, whichever came first.
Please remember to R&R!
A/N: I know some of you probably aren't reading 'Not the Way we Planned It', but I posed this question to my other readers, so I figured I'd ask you guys as well. I have an idea for Pogue/OC fic, and wanted to see how many of my readers would be interested. It will be for my muture audience because the perverted part of my mind wants to take over... ;)