Ch.3
Ryan hung up the phone. Looking out the window, he saw Seth, sprinting towards the pool house.
"Here he comes," Ryan whispered, turning towards Summer.
She bowed her head, closing her eyes.
Just then, Seth burst in through the door.
"Where is she? What happened?" he looked over towards the bed and saw her.
He stopped dead in his tracks.
She wouldn't look up at him, but Seth could still see the wounds on her face, the bruises in her arms...
The blood all over her hair and clothes.
"Jesus," he whispered, his eyes watering.
He slowly walked towards her and sat down carefully beside her.
"Summer..." his voiced cracked.
She whimpered, the tears creeping down her face, and turned away from him, her back facing him.
Seth looked over at Ryan for an explanation, fear written all over his face.
"She hasn't told me man...I don't know what happened to her," Ryan said smoothly.
Seth looked over at her, her tiny shoulders rocking with each cry.
He slowly reached out his hand...but he was too afraid to touch her, the fear of hurting her even more was unbearable.
"Summer...please look at me." he pleaded.
"I'm going to go find Kirsten and Sandy," Ryan said, quietly leaving them alone.
Seth watched him leave, then turned back to her.
She heard him behind her...heard him try to find the words to say...but nothing came out.
Suddenly, she felt a hand on her back.
"Are you ok?"
his voice was like a child, soft and scared.
She didn't answer.
"Tell me what happened Summer...please...let me help you...we can fix this"
She sighed, finally turning to face him. She looked into his eyes, giving him a small, sad smile.
"It's too late." she murmured. "I'm already broken."
Seth jumped from the bed, running his hands through his hair.
"Don't talk like that," he said shutting his eyes. "Just don't..."
Summer looked down at her hands.
"There was this guy..." she choked out. "At my house...he said he was looking for my dad."
"You're dad?"
"Yea," she whispered. "And I told him that he wasn't home, that he was out of town...and that's when..." she trailed off, trying not to cry again.
Seth looked away, not wanting to hear the rest. Summer, his beautiful Summer had be hurt. Someone had attacked her...
And he wasn't there to protect her.
"I-I should have been there." Seth cried out.
Summer looked at him.
"What?"
He fell to his knees, trying to catch his breath.
"I should have been there...with you...I could have stopped him , I could have protected you..."
"Seth, stop..."
"I'm sorry Summer, I'm so sorry..." he brought his face to his knees, rocking back and forth.
Summer didn't move. Here she was, worried that Seth would turn away from her once he saw her...and he was blaming himself for not protecting her.
"It's not your fault," she whispered.
He looked up at her. Suddenly, a thought filled his head...a question he was dreading to ask.
"When he...attacked you..." he said. "What did he do?"
She searched his face.
"What do you mean?"
He stood up, walking over to her, crouching down in front of her. He grabbed her hand and kissed it.
"Did he...force himself on you?"
Her eyes grew large, instantly swelling up with tears.
"Did he rape you Summer?" A single tear rolled down his cheek, crashing into the cut on her hand.
She pulled her hand back and stood up, walking past him. She brought her hand to her mouth, trying not to cry, to scream.
Seth followed her. He grabbed her, turning her to face him.
"Did he?" he whispered once more, running a finger through her blood soaked hair.
She let out a small sob.
"Yes..." she cried. "He raped me."
Seth grabbed her fiercely, holding her close. He held her as she shook in his arms, her sobs echoing throughout the pool house, long and loud.
"It's ok," Seth whispered into her ear. "It's ok..."
He was filled with so much anger, so much pain.
I'm going to find out who did this to you Summer he thought.
and there going to pay...