"Bianca! Where are
you?" Erica ran frantically through a hallway. She was in
Wildwind. She was dreaming. She heard her daughter scream. She heard
a man laugh. Her eyes grew angry. Michael.
She ran through
the house, searching for her daughter. She would protect her
daughter. She would destroy a rapist.
She finally burst through
into a room. It was Myrtle's boarding house. It was dark. There was
a storm outside. She heard a whimpering. She heard another laugh. The
room lit up with lightning.
There was Bianca, lying on the sofa
bed. She was sobbing, silently screaming. Her clothes were torn.
Erica was choked up by her womanly figure. No, not my little girl.
The room grew dark again. Then, another flash. Michael was on top of
Bianca. His shirt was open, his pants undone. He was pressing
Bianca's arms above her, pinning her down with his legs. He
was...
"NO!!! NOT MY LITTLE GIRL!!!" Erica screamed. He
turned to her and laughed. He kept on forcing himself in Bianca.
Bianca turned into a helpless little girl in front of her. No older
than a preteen. Not yet come to know her sexuality, nor her
orientation. She was a crying little girl, lost, traumatized. Michael
was a big, strong man, way too old for her, way too strong for
her...Erica struggled to move. All she could do was stand there in
horror, watching this beast of a man rape and brutalize her teenage
daughter. She couldn't find her voice. Bianca seemed to go
unconscious. Michael wouldn't stop.
"Get off of her, you
monster." Erica didn't know where that came from. But she was
damn proud of it.
Michael actually stopped. He laid himself down
next to Bianca's unconscious body. He looked at her.
"Afraid
to see your daughter grow up, huh, Erica?" To prove his point,
he rubbed her bare stomach. "She definitely isn't a child
anymore. She's a hot little 19 year-old." He shifted beside
Bianca, zipping up his pants. He kept his hand on Bianca's stomach.
"Or, are you afraid I might want her more than I want you or
Kendall?"
"You only want to satisfy your own horrible
ego." She spat out at him. He laughed and gestured around his
situation.
"What do you think I'm doing here,
Erica?"
Bianca shifted around. Her eyes opened. "What's
going on?"
Erica took a step forward, ignoring the surprise
that she could. "Bianca, come with me dear. Let's walk away
from this horrible beast."
Bianca sat up, looking down at her
torn clothes. She looked towards Michael. He lay there, looking at
her, waiting.
Erica couldn't figure out what was going
on.
Bianca turned to her mother. "Why would I want to leave,
Mom?" She looked honestly curious. Erica was terrified.
Michael
grinned, putting his hands around her waist, pulling her down beside
him. They kissed. Erica turned away, mortified. He was kissing her
neck and she pulled his shirt off, as Erica ran from the room,
slamming the door behind her.
Erica sat up in bed, suddenly awake.
She ran from her room, into Bianca's. Bianca lay there, in a fit of
sleep. Erica knew she was dreaming about the rape. Erica had dreamed
about her rape for months after she realized it had happened. She lay
down next to her daughter, caressing her head with her hand. This was
real. Bianca was real, scared, feeling alone. Michael might
permanently be under her skin, but he was not there in that room,
lying in Bianca's bed. It was just Erica, comforting her daughter
while she slept.
Bianca saw
Michael wherever she went. Whether it was him or not. Kendall and
Maggie watched her like a hawk, one of them always with her. They
knew Michael had an affect on her, and they knew what kind of man he
was. They didn't need to know what was between a rapist and his
victim.
Right now, the three of them were at the hospital,
awaiting her pregnancy test. Jackson and Erica were on their way.
Time was moving so slowly for her. She was so nervous.
"There's
no reason for him to be here, right?" She turned to her sister
and best friend.
"Absolutely none." Maggie reassured
her, squeezing her hand.
"The only way I want to see him in
here is if his body passes through on the way to the coroners."
Kendall declared in a determined voice. Maggie and Kendall exchange
secret looks of agreement. Bianca didn't see them. She was watching
David walking up to her with a file in his hand. He looked
tired.
"Bianca, Maggie, Kendall. I wish this was under better
circumstances..." His sadness seeped through his voice.
"David,
I can't wait any longer. This is about my future." Bianca
pleaded him with her eyes. David was startled by the look. He almost
felt like Michael then as she pleaded toward him. That bastard
better hope to never have run into me. He pulled a paper out of
the file.
"I'm sorry, Bianca. You're pregnant."
"No!"
Erica's voice came from behind them. Bianca turned to see her
mother and uncle. Her heart felt so heavy. Jackson hung his head in
sorrow. Her mother rushed up to her, hugging her tightly. Maggie
looked at David in shock. Kendall couldn't focus on any one person.
She sank into her chair, ghostly white.
"Are you certain,
David?" Jackson was the first to speak.
David nodded. "We
ran the test four times. Each time was extremely clear. It's also
definitely Michael Cambias'. When I examined Bianca for the rape, I
found the evidence that there was forced entry and that she had been
a virgin. I took the pregnancy tests then as a standard procedure. It
was 3½ weeks since he'd raped her, and she hadn't had
sexual intercourse with anyone but him-"
"It wasn't
sex, it was rape." Jackson cut in strongly.
David took a deep
breath. "I know. I was just speaking scientifically that Michael
Cambias is the father."
"Well, scientifically, there is
a major difference between having consenting sex and being sexually
assaulted." Jackson felt almost on the edge. He had let his
anger boil on low, let Erica take out all of her frustrations
vocally. He felt ready to explode. Ready to serve the justice that
the system could not.
"Oh, it doesn't matter now! Bianca is
pregnant by that monster!" Maggie's declaration took everyone
aback. Bianca had to sit down. She had been thinking she would never
be rid of him. Now...I'm going to be a mother!
She felt
thrilled.
