==Don't Touch Me==
==Chapter 4: Help From A Stranger==
I'll Save Myself
Maybe I'll Wake Up For Once
Not Tormented Daily
Or Defeated By You
Just One Night
I Thought I Reached The Bottom"
-Evanescence (Going Under)
The man behind the booth introduced himself as Jay Stowik. He had a warm smile, and seemed to listen to Glacia when she told him her situation.
He would once in a while pat her on the shoulder, to assure her he is still listening.
Glacia kept on using napkin after napkin to blow her nose. When she finished, Stowik stayed quiet for a while, then he replied, "I know a place
where you can spend the night. Look, " he took out a business card from his wallet and wrote down something behind it. "Its a place called 'Daughters And
Sisters', its a place for women in your situation. Just go to this address, its on Blackthorn City. Its a large brown building, just show up on the front door and
the rest the people in charge will take care of it."
She took the card, inspected it. She barely knew how to read addresses, all the numbers seemed to confuse her. Stowik must have noticed,
because he said next, "We're in Olivine City," he took out a map, "Just go up ahead, you'll go right when you reach an dead end, you'll go into Ecruteak City,
hear? Then, go right into you reach a lake. There's a man that can row you to the other side, after you get off the boat, go straight ahead. You'll get in
Mahogany town, then go straight again. There's going to be a train, take it, and tell them you want to go to Blackthorn. Got it?"
She hardly remembered, but she did not want to disturb this kind man. So she nodded. He smiled, and patted her shoulder. "You'll be okay, hear?"
She nodded again, thanked the Stowik and headed off.
When she left the Ship Port, she followed exactly the man's orders. She kept on glancing around this strange town, and stared at the Olivine Gym.
She heard a Steel trainer called Jasmine was the owner. Funny.. How come that rings a bell?
She went to Ecruteak City, and took the boat. She took the train, and was into Blackthorn City. All seemed to go well, but she didn't knew where
the building was located.
She roamed the empty streets and when she checked her watch, she saw it was already nine p.m. She suddenly felt nervous. It wasn't good for a
woman to be out this late. Walking aimlessly, she kept on running into stores that she knows she already passed.
When she was walking, there was a pub up ahead. A man with a small goatee seemed to be limply leaning on the wall. He had such an ugly face
she knew he was drunk. She tried not to notice him, but he looked up and grinned at her.
"Hiyatherelady, youhaveprettaybigtits, wannacomewithmehoney? Wannadothedog? Comeonlady,I'minthemoodforpussytonight. Fuckthedog, lady, FUCK THE DOG."
She glanced at the man with terror in her eyes, she turned and walked quickly. After seeing the man was trying to walk to her, she started running.
-NO! Oh, why, God? All I wanted to do was to escape from Peter..-
-Talk you UP CLOSE..-
She stopped at a nearby street corner and leaned on the wall. Tears were threatening to burst out, but she never let them. After a while of wiping
and holding her tears, she started walking again.
She saw an overweight lady, holding a small bag, and wearing a flower dress that seemed to not fit her face.
"Umm, excuse me?" Glacia asked her nervously. "Whadda want?" the lady asked with bitterness in her voice. "I-I-I'm looking for a big brown building, its called 'Daughters and Sisters'. Do you know where it is?"
The lady looked at her disgustedly, "Those community lesbians? God, all they do is feed bitchy and whiny women who don't know how to handle
their husbands. " the lady spat while she talked, almost yelling. "Umm, but can you tell me-" Glacia was interrupted by the lady's yelling, "You're one of them?
Fuck you! Get the' fuck outta my way!" The lady pushed her aside and started walking away. Glacia just stared. Why was she so mean?
Another younger man came and tapped Glacia's shoulder, she quickly turned around, as if he was Peter himself. "Don't listen to her, she's always in
a bad mood. You're looking for 'Daughters and Sisters'?" she nodded, "Okay then, its straight ahead. Big building, you shouldn't miss it." He smiled at her, she smiled back and resumed walking.
She indeed reached the building. It was tall and only had a front door. She expected it to look like a office building, but it looked more like a tall
Motel 6. There was a small voice box, and a button that read 'Press To Talk'. She pressed it slightly. A groggy voice sounded from the box that said, "State your purpose." Glacia cleared her throat, holded the button, and said, "Uh, a man named Jay Stowik told me to come here.." she released the button, waiting for a response. The groggy voice returned, "Did he give you a card?" Glacia told them yes. The voice asked if she had the card, same response. Then the groggy voice said, "Good, take out your card, and on your right, there's a camera, hold it up." Glacia got surprised, she never noticed the camera, it was so noticeable, how could she not see it?
She quickly took out the card and showed it at the camera's lens. The voice from the box said, "Okay then. Please wait while we open you the door."
Someone unlocked the door from the inside, and opened it. The girl who had opened it had long brown hair, hazelnut eyes, and a calm look. The
girl invited her in, and locked the door behind them.
She expected the building to look at least more decent on the inside, but it looked just like the inside of a cheap hotel. Although the inside
looked no better than the outside, women on another room were laughing and acting as if this place was a palace.
"Hi, welcome to Daughters And Sisters." the brown-haired girl said smiling. "What's your name?"
"Umm.." she was about to say Glacia Morgan, but she thought -Why? You ran away from his. Your not HIS property anymore.- She shook her head,
and said, "Its Glacia Hoarfrost.." That was her maiden name before she married Peter, and when she met that boy in the park.
"Oh! You're that girl in the Hoenn region elite four! That is awesome, I'm Jasmine Sandstone, the Olivine Gym leader. Nice to meet you!" Jasmine
shook Glacia's hand eagerly, as if she was Madonna herself. "I've never met anyone from Hoenn, how do you like Jhoto so far?" Jasmine seemed ready to ask
Glacia a million questions, but someone put a hand on her shoulder, Jasmine turned.
Behind Jasmine was a woman that seemed like Glacia's age, she had long light blue hair, cool eyes, and pale skin. "Now, now, Jas. Remember, this is
Daughters and Sisters, new members are here for a reason." the woman said with a smile.
Jasmine looked apologetically at Glacia, bowed her head several times and said, "I'm sorry! Please pardon me, I forgot all about where we are! Sorry!
So sorry!" Glacia took Jasmine's hand, "Hey, come on, why you apologizing?" Jasmine looked up with surprise and said, "Well, its cus since this is Daughters
and Sisters, most of the women arriving new here are supposed to be sad and stuff. So one of our rules is to not disturb the newbies!"
Glacia stared blankly at Jasmine, and started giggling. "Oh, honey. Don't be silly, you weren't bothering me at all!" She was starting to like this place
already. Jasmine's face lightened. The woman behind her extended her hand out to Glacia. "Hello, I'm Karen. Welcome to DS." Glacia smiled at her, then it was
her turn to be surprised. "Oh my God! You're Karen from the Elite Four! Every woman knows about you, you're the toughest female trainer around!" Karen
blushed, "Oh you're just saying that.." Glacia shook her head swiftly, she was surprised at herself how much she was sounding like Jasmine, "Nope, not
saying that just to say, its the truth. Its such an honor! Are you the owner of this place?" Karen looked taken back, and she laughed out loud.
"Oh no, Hun. I'm just helping out the owner! I could never own this place.." Karen just giggled one last time and gasped. "Oh! Ms. Torrains wants to
see you! Oh God, I almost forgot! Please follow me, Glacia." Karen walked to some stairs and walked up, Glacia clumsily followed her. Glacia turned around,
and waved at Jasmine, she squealed with delight and waved back.
-Such a sweet girl.. I wonder why she's here?-
Karen took her to a room, opened the door. Inside was an old lady, completely white hair, that was tied up in a bun. She looked like one of those
strict ladies in fairy tales.
"Ms. Torrain, she's here." Karen gestured Glacia to come in. Ms. Torrains smiled at Glacia, and Karen left the room.
"Please sit down, dear." The old lady gestured toward a chair, and Glacia sat down. "Now, I'm sure both Jasmine and Karen welcomed you here. So,
who told you about this place?" Ms. Torrains looked at her wonderingly. Glacia shakingly opened her mouth to speak, "A man named Jay Stowik." Ms. Torrain
nodded, and said, "Ah yes, him. He was my ex husband you know." Glacia's eyes widened. "He may be rid of me, but he still loves to help others." Glacia
nodded slowly, not sure what to say to that. "Anyways, what is your name?" Glacia stammered, "My maiden name is Glacia Liv Hoarfrost. I am mostly known as Glacia Morgan, but I do not prefer it.." Ms. Torrains nodded, "Now tell, me. Why are you here?" Glacia stayed quiet at the question. "Is it about your husband?"
She nodded slowly. "Please tell me about it. I know it won't be easy, but I need you to tell me."
So Glacia did indeed told her. She told her how Peter hit her, how much he mistreated her. His rules, never vomit on the floor or you'll really get it. How he once took a pencil, and jabbed it at her. Although it was not sharp at all, it made her crawl on the floor. How he got the pencil and stuck it in a place no one is suppoused to go. How much it hurt, how much he hit her everyday. That he was a merciless policeman. And how a single drop of blood made her come all this way.
"Glacia, how long did you wait till you searched for help?" the old lady questioned seriously. This was the question Glacia had not hoped for her to ask.
"About, five to six years.." she muttered.
"Well, Glacia. You went through so much, and believe me, its a surprise you're still alive. At least you came, because there are still so many women having to bear abuse. And surprisingly, very few ask for aid."
"Can I ask you something?"
"Certainly."
"Jasmine seems like such a happy girl, is she a volunteer here?"
"Oh no, her father abused her so much. One night he hit her so much she couldn't stand it anymore, and she went to my assistant Karen. She brought her here, poor girl, she was so depressed."
Glacia couldn't believe it at first. Jasmine seemed so happy, maybe this place has special healing powers for those abused?
"If one here wants to heal, she must do it in her own will. We are not going to bother with those who refuse to heal. Understand?" Ms. Torrains said, as if reading her mind.
"No, I do want to forget all this."
"Then you must let us help you."
"I will.."
"Now, what will happen first is first. You will be provided a room, you'll have a roommate. For the first six weeks, you will not have to pay for your room, and we'll provide you some counseling. Follow me?"
"Yes."
"Now, do you have a job?"
Glacia shook her head tiredly, "Peter never let me. He said I was to do his laundry and chores.."
"Do you have any experience in anything at all?"
"Well, I did do cleaning around the house.. That's it.."
"Don't worry, when your six weeks is over, we'll provide you a nice job."
"Thank you so much.. Nobody has ever been this kind to me since I married Peter.." Glacia felt tears rousing.
Ms. Torrains took out a napkin. "Now, don't cry. You're not in that man's prescence anymore. And he will not bother you as long as I'm here, okay?" Glacia nodded quickly.
After some few hours, Glacia was shown into her room. And where she met her new roommate, Pam. Pam had long blonde hair, nice blue eyes, and was as joyous as Jasmine was.Pam was here for the same reason, her husband abused her a lot.
Glacia and Pam seemed to be getting fond of eachother, and Pam always took Glacia out on town. She always tried to persuade Glacia to wear skimpy clothes, and heavy make-up on, Pam always said Glacia had a face that looked 'fun to play with'.
"Aww, come on, girl! Just a little?" Pam had begged earlier that morning. Glacia shook her head, "No, I look terrible. Besides, I think I'm allergic to it. Everytime I put some on, I start having break-outs."
That morning, Pam had taken her to the mall. She always stopped at the women clothes mini-mart, always asking Glacia which clothes she looked better in. When they were walking, there was many booths that selled many different kinds of items: purses, pets, books, jewelry, computers, school supplies, so many to say.
Glacia spotted a booth that interested her, there was a man selling cds. She always had a passion for music, it was so uplifting. She hadn't heard music in ages, and Peter back home had thrown away all of her cds and tapes. She started looking at the booth interested, and found some cds she used to have. She buyed those, and some extra ones. When she turned to meet Pam, she was gone.
Her heart started to pulse rapidly. She was not accustomed to being alone, she felt as if everyone was going to attack her, or worse, Peter would appear. She started walking quickly, checking mostly the make-up booths, hoping Pam would be in one of those. No trace of Pam.
-Calm down! You guys probably got separared! Its not like Peter killed her and now is coming after you, don't be so naive!-
The voice was right, it was no biggie. Just lost, maybe. They'll find eachother sooner or later. She left from the huge crowd of people, and went inside the bathroom.
Finally, some quiet. But then, she realized someone was staring at her. She quickly turned to see, and she saw a man. He was her same size, cigarette in hand, and he kept on staring at her as if she was something out of this planet.
"Err, I think you're in the guys bathroom..." the man said uncomfortably. But wait.. His voice, how come it sounded so familiar. Glacia instead of running out of the wrong bathroom, she looked up at him. Blue hair, icy blue eyes, who was he?
"S-s-s-st.." Glacia just stuttered. The man kept on staring at her, and finally said, "Come again?"
"S-S-S-Steven..?" she stuttered out. The man just looked at her as if she just slapped him.
"Who are--..?" he started, but Glacia had wrapped him in a tight embrace. He looked down at her with surprise, and she didn't care. She finally found him, her friend. That boy who was crying at the playground, whose eyes were filled with so much anger, and how she had managed to tame the beast inside of him. She hugged him tighter, tears finally splashing down her eyes, and soaking his shirt. She looked up at him, eyes with tears floating.The man's expression suddenly calmed down
"..Glacia... Long time no see." he embraced her back. Both stayed there for a while, not caring if anyone stepped in and would tell them to get a room. They stayed standing there, drowning in their own thoughts.
...to be continued..