Chapter 17- To Tell the Truth

After Sam left, Jax came in to check on Willow. He offered to heat up her oatmeal since it was probably cold by now, but Willow insisted she wasn't hungry. He asked her to come out and sit with him in the living room, but she just shook her head in response. So, he told her he'd check on her again soon, but to let him know if she needed anything. Elizabeth stopped by as well to see how Willow was doing. Willow told her that she told Josslyn, but that it had to stay between the four of them. Elizabeth said she would check in again periodically and would hold onto the evidence until she was ready to decide what to do.

After she left, Willow wrapped her pink blanket around her shoulders and stared at the wall.

There was a knock on the front door, and she heard Spencer's voice. "Hello, Aunt Lulu! Charlotte."

"Hi there, Spencer," Lulu said. "What brings you here today?"

"Father wants you to do an article on the locusts and the food shortage. Though, I still think we should keep it to ourselves…"

Lulu laughed. "We are not going to keep it to ourselves. I can do the article. I already did one on Carly's Café since they're running out of products. But anyway, come sit down."

"Hi Spencer," Dante said.

"Hey, Spencer," Jax said. "It's good to see you."

"Likewise," Spencer responded.

"What would your dad like me to say in the article?" Lulu asked. "I'll likely go over to inspect things, but just to give me a heads up."

"They're completely gone, Aunt Lulu."

"The locusts are?"

"No," Spencer said. "I wish. The crops. They're completely destroyed!"

Willow sighed when she realized she needed to pee. She didn't want to see anyone right now…

"All of them?" Lulu asked in an exasperated voice.

"Yes. Father reckons we only have enough food left to serve a single family for a week. I told him we should share. Between us, Nikky, you, and Grandmother. I told him to forget everyone else including Ava and Avery, but he wants us to alert the people in the village."

"Wow… I—I don't know what to say… other than I agree with your dad."

Willow rolled out of bed. Maybe she could sneak to the bathroom without having to speak to anyone…

"So, are the locusts still there?" Lulu asked.

"We've managed to kill maybe a thousand of them."

Willow peeked out of the room. Charlotte was sitting between Spencer and Lulu on the couch, but closer to her mother, Dante sat on one of the chairs, and Jax leaned against the kitchen counter listening.

"I really believe this article is a mistake," Spencer said and looked back at Jax as if annoyed that he was hearing all of this. "What good is telling everyone and running out of food faster! We should at least save ourselves! And I'll even include Charlotte if that will convince you." He touched Charlotte's shoulder, but she jerked back, closer to her mother.

Lulu wrapped her arm around Charlotte. "Are you okay?"

Charlotte nodded but stared at her lap.

Dante looked at her with concern. Willow raised an eyebrow.

"Please, Aunt Lulu," Spencer said. "Maybe you can convince Father."

"Spencer, I'm not going to do that."

Willow hastened into the bathroom and shut the door as quietly as possible.

She heard Spencer groan. "Fine. I suppose you can include Rocco too."

"Spencer!" Lulu said. "We're not going to keep the food from anyone. That's not the right thing to do."

Willow sat down at the toilet and cried a little when she looked down at her bruises.

"I don't want any of my loved ones to die," Spencer said.

"Neither of us want that," Lulu said. "And I'm pretty sure Jax doesn't want his to die either. We can't do that to people. Now, let's get back to the locusts. There's still a lot left?"

"There's millions of them," Spencer said.

Willow washed her hands, then peeked out to the hallway again.

"And I know who's responsible for them," Spencer added.

Lulu raised an eyebrow. "You do?"

He nodded. "Danny. Except he isn't Danny."

Willow breathing sped up and she started shaking. She made to run for her room when she noticed Charlotte cling to Lulu and start sobbing. Dante sat up straighter, mouth slightly open, looking at Charlotte.

Lulu rubbed her back "Charlotte, honey. It's okay. We're going to figure out the food shortage." She turned back to Spencer. "And why do you think Danny caused the locust problem?"

Willow hastened into her room and plopped face down into her pillow, clutching her pink blanket.

"Well, as I tried to tell Father, but he won't believe me… I saw that Harmony lady with a jar about a month ago. I thought it was just two grasshoppers inside it, but I know better now."

"Okay, even if Harmony is responsible, what does that have to do with Danny—? Charlotte, sweetie, it's okay."

Willow cried into her pillow.

"I've seen them meeting up in really weird places. I even saw them… kissing. You have to believe me, Aunt Lulu… and it's not because of Wyndemere… he's not Danny!"

GHGHGH

A short while after Spencer left, Jax peeked in to check on Willow. He told her he had an errand to run but would be back as soon as he could. Lulu and Dante were both home with Charlotte and he asked Lulu to check in on her.

Willow must have had a bad bladder that day, because she didn't have much of the tea that morning, yet she had to go to the bathroom again. Either that or it was just from nerves. She left her blanket by her pillow and crept over to the door.

Another knock drew her attention to the front door. Dante rose from the couch where he was sitting with Lulu and Charlotte to answer it.

"Michael sent me over here because Charlotte and I need to finish our project." It was Danny.

Willow's heard pounded rapidly and Charlotte started shaking and looked petrified. Lulu stroked her hair and kissed the top of her head.

Willow backed up and ran into Josslyn's closet, closing it firmly. She hugged her knees to her chest and rocked back and forth.

"Charlotte is sick today," Dante said.

"But our project is due soon," Danny insisted. "We need to work on it."

Willow cried into her knees, careful not to make too much noise… She didn't have her blanket with her.

"I'm afraid it's going to have to wait," Dante said. "This isn't a good time."

"I don't think I made myself clear," Danny's voice rose a little. "We need to work on our project."

Willow just couldn't hold it anymore… and she peed herself inside the closet… she hadn't done that since she was a kid.

"And perhaps I didn't make myself clear," Dante said. "This isn't a good time."

Willow heard the front door slam shut. How could she wet her pants? What was wrong with her?

GHGHGH

Why was Charlotte responding the same way Willow has been when someone says Danny's name? Why did she jerk back when Spencer touched her? Willow thought back to two days ago when she and Scout found Charlotte in the woods… Was she clinging to Lulu and sleeping with her at night for the same reason Willow has been struggling? Willow hung her head back… Was Elizabeth right? Would Danny do this to someone else too? If he would do this to his cousin and his older sister, who else in the family would he do it?"

Willow heard a shriek from the hallway. "Oh my gosh, Dante!" It was Lulu.

"I'm sure he'll be okay…" Dante knocked, then peeked into Willow. "Willow, I'm so sorry. But Rocco's been hurt. Your dad should be home soon. He said he'd try not to be gone long. Lulu and I have to get to Rocco. We'll lock the door. Don't let anyone in. Stay safe with Charlotte."

Willow's eyes grew wide.

She heard soft sobs from a distance. Was Charlotte the only person that understood what Willow was going through right now?

She slowly made her way to the hallway and saw Charlotte curled up on the couch crying into a cushion.

Willow swallowed hard. "Ch-Charlotte?"

Charlotte looked up from the cushion, her face wet with tears, and her eyes blotchy.

Willow wrapped her arms around herself and walked over to her. She sat on the chair next to the couch.

They stared at each other for a few moments.

"I don't want Rocco to be hurt, but I want my mom to come back," Charlotte finally said with a little whimper.

Willow frowned. "She'll be back soon…"

There was another awkward silence and Willow fidgeted her fingers nervously with her blanket. Just how was she supposed to talk to her former student/distant cousin about this?

"Ch-Charlotte? I-I noticed… you've been… upset the last few days."

Charlotte buried her face in the cushion again.

Willow lowered her gaze. "I've been upset too."

"Why?" Charlotte mumbled into the cushion.

"Because… because I was hurt yesterday. In a really horrible way."

Charlotte rolled her head to the side, looking at Willow.

"I was… I was raped," Willow said, tears falling down her cheeks.

Charlotte's eyes welled with fresh tears.

"And I've just been noticing that you've been… you've been upset the same ways I've been upset. So… I've been… I've been wondering if the same thing happened to you."

Charlotte started sobbing again and nodded.

Willow placed a hand over her mouth. "Was it… did… did D-… did my brother rape you?"

She shook her head. "He's not your brother."

Willow wiped at her own eyes with her blanket. "What do you mean?"

"He's… he's… my betrothed."

"Your betrothed?"

Charlotte nodded. "Papa… he and Alessandro declared me and Ma—Matteo to be betrothed."

Willow's eyes grew wide. "You mean, Drew and Spencer are right? He's not D-D… he's not my brother?"

"No… Matteo always wanted to touch me and kiss me in V-Town. He tried to ra—… he tried to rape me… once when I was on Kailano Island when Papa had a meeting there… he stripped in front of me. He has scars on his chest from all the years of his father beating him. All the Marchesis are sex addicts. Alessandro and Francesco have tons of mistresses."

"He's not D-D… Danny?" Willow repeated.

Charlotte shook her head. "So, Matteo raped you too?"

Willow felt somewhat of a weight off her chest and nodded. "I thought my brother raped me."

"I didn't think anything could be worse than Matteo raping me… I can't even fathom thinking of Rocco doing that…"

More tears sprang to Willow's eyes. "It's still terrible… I wouldn't wish this pain on anyone. But at least I know now I don't have to push my mom away."

"I want to tell my mom, but it's so hard…"

Willow nodded. "I know."

"I'm sorry he did that to you, Miss Tait," Charlotte said. "But it helps to know I'm not alone."

Willow smiled a little. "Me too."

After a little bit, Charlotte wanted to lay down in her mom's bed. Willow hugged her blanket tightly. The pain was still here… but at least she could still have her family.

A knock on the front door made Willow jolt. Her breathing sped up. Was it Matteo coming for a second round when no one was there to protect her and Charlotte.

She swallowed hard. She had to be brave. She had to be brave for Charlotte. Propped up in the corner of the living room was Rocco's baseball bat. She grabbed it with shaky hands and made her way to the front door.

She jumped when there was another knock. With a trembling hand she unlocked the door and opened it, ready to take a swing…

"Hey, hey, it's me!" Drew held his hands in the air. "It's okay, I won't hurt you."

Willow started to cry again and dropped the bat.

"It's okay," Drew said. "I just wanted to check on you and was wondering if we could talk."

She nodded and locked the door behind him. They made their way to the living room. She sat on the couch and he sat on the chair.

Drew cleared his throat. "Sam's really worried about you. She filled me in this morning."

Willow frowned.

"Willow, did Danny hurt you somehow?" he asked.

She lowered her gaze.

"I don't trust him," Drew said. "Not one bit. You can tell me."

She nodded, her eyes filling with tears again. "I don't know how to tell Mom."

"She knows."

She looked up at him. "She does?"

He nodded. "She figured it out when she saw you this morning. She was suspicious yesterday too. But she said the way you responded to his name, and the fact that you seemed off when you returned home with him the other night."

"She knows… she knows… that he raped me?"

He gasped. "What? We didn't know that… we thought he was beating you up. Willow," he started to speak softly. "We don't think he's Danny. Your mom told me this morning she was in denial and she feels really guilty for letting him in the house. She's been out all day searching for him. She wants to confront him for hurting you."

Her lip began to tremble, and she hugged her blanket tightly as more tears fell down her cheeks.

"I'm sorry we let him in the house and that we couldn't stop it," Drew said.

"It's not… it's not your fault…" But she suddenly jolted upright. "Who's with Scout?"

"Scout's fine. My mom is sitting with her and Curtis is guarding the door."

She sighed in relief.

They suddenly heard a juggling of keys and the front door opened. Jax and Sam walked in.

Willow looked up at her parents and she couldn't control the tears streaming down her face.

They walked over to them, and Sam knelt down beside Willow. She placed a hand on her cheeks and squeezed her hand softly. "I am so so sorry, baby."