Trigger warning on this chapter. Hope you guys enjoy and if you have feedback let me know.
"Where are you taking me?" She giggled.
"It's a surprise I'm sure you'll love it."
He hadn't taken her far but Tessa watched has she saw fewer and fewer people pass them. They were alone with just light sounds of music and kids in the distance.
"Where are we?" Tessa questioned has he put her down. She vaguely recognized this stairwell.
"Lower east stairwell, were all the drama and artists kids hang." He said pulling out a joint and lighting it.
The smell of the joint turned her stomach. She thought of the last time she had been in the presence of the smell and it brought her back to the night of the graduation party and to Todd. She began to stroke her stomach to calm herself. Who thought one night could change everything.
"I'm a poet you know," Adam said bring her back to present day. "I can recite you something I wrote."
"Oh, I would love to hear it." She said bringing a hand to her mouth to stifle a chuckle. She couldn't picture Adam being a poet. Adam proceeded to recited Le Dormeur du Val a French poem by Arthur Rimbaud, she was right. Tessa laughed when he had finished, "your such a poet," she teased, "bet Arthur Rimbaud is very jealous."
"I forgot how smart you were." He said leaning his weight on her. She could feel the edge of the stairs push into her back. He pulled her into a kiss. The smell of weed didn't mix well with Adam's other scents. Tessa tried to push Adam off of her. She didn't realize how strong her was.
"Adam," Tessa said trying to keep her bile from coming up, "I need some air."
Adam ignored her and continued to kiss down her neck. "Lighten up, Tessa." His lips and hands slowly making their way to her chest. "Don't be Tessa the Tease."
She began to tremble under him. She was trapped, stuck between this figurative rock and a hard place. "Adam, please. I'm not feeling well."
"Is it because I don't have the Jeremiah charm? Your still pining for someone who's probably screwing Melanie has we speak." His hands started pulling at her dress causing a rip along the arms exposing her bra.
She could start feeling the bruises from the stairs pushing into the back and the mountain of the man on top of her. She prayed this beast didn't hurt her unborn child.
"Just relax and enjoy it."
The last thing Tessa felt was Adam's beefy hands pulling at her panties. She continued to fight but to her it felt like throwing a pebble into the ocean and expecting an impact.
But in one swift kick Joey had hurt the beast.
He had been looking for Tessa for the last few minutes. He headed to east hallway and run down all the stairwells to try and find her. He was glad he found her in time.
Joey kicked him again in the ribs. The thought of him trying to rape Tessa. Another kick, he wonder how many other girls he'd done this this. Another kick, this one was for his future son, and other before Tessa pulled him back coughed up blood on his nice shoes.
Tesss collapsed in his arms but he held her up has the police lights flashed around the school. He assumed one of the near by students must of called. He took off his suit jacket and draped in around her, hiding her tattered clothing.
"Your going to pay for that." Adam said coughing out. Joey kicked him one last time before returned to Tessa side. He lead her outside to the flashing lights.
Tessa told the story of what happened that evening for the fourth time to the fourth group of police officers. She clung to Joey's jacket only having to take it off for the pictures they had to document. The Jeremiahs had rushed to the police station when they got the call. Mr. Jeremiah was a police officer in a few counties over and Mrs. Jeremiah was a lawyer. They tried to help Tessa with the process.
"Are you sure you'd like to press charges?" The officers asked, "It doesn't end well a lot of the time for the victims."
"Yes." Tessa replied back emotionless.
The Jeremiahs brought her clothing to change into and even offered to drop her off at Dorothy's but she refused. She didn't want to leave Joey's side. She fell asleep on the car ride home resting her head in Joey's lap.
A week had passed and it was Christmas at the Jeremiah's and Tessa still clung to Joey's side. She promised herself she's go back to Dorothy's after the New Year but she wasn't sure. Joey hadn't minded, he even had taken her to the first therapy appointment. He hated himself for not getting there sooner. He could hear her cries down the hall every night in his house, her night terrors getting the best of her.
She has gotten the news this morning that another victim of Adam's had come forward. This was one of the best news she had gotten coupled with Joey's new job offer he was hoping to start the new year.
She spent the entire afternoon helping Mrs. Jeremiah prep for tomorrows dinner.
"How'd you sleep last night? " She asked Tessa has she popped the gingerbread men into the oven.
"Better," she replied making a pot of mint cocoa for the family. "I didn't have nightmares last night." It was a step she hoped in the right direction. Her therapist had told her healing would come in different phases.
She grabbed a tray and started to put cups to serve the Jeremiah men in the living room. "Thank you...," she said slightly trembling "for everything." She had been very emotional with the Jeremiah's the last week. The older women hugged Tessa to her chest. Mrs. Jeremiah wished she could take away her pain.
In the other room the Jeremiah boys had sat down to watch some wrestling. Almost all of Joey's brothers had come back to visit but 2/3 wasn't bad. His brothers had told him how proud they had been of him after initially hearing the news of their future nephew. Joey should feel triumphant but he felt miserable. He wished he could of asked Tessa to the dance and avoided all the aftermath. And almost like it was on cue she emerged from the kitchen with a tray of hot cocoa and a smile on her face. He could see the pain behind it. He knew what a genuine Tessa smile looked like.
"Come sit." Joey said motioning to the spot next to him. He had traded his usual fedora for a fuzzy Santa hat that day.
"No, I'm going to help your mom with dinner. I want to make the famous Campanelli Christmas ham."
"I'll make sure the fire department is on speed dial." He teased.
Thankfully the fire department hadn't needed to be called. The female duo had cooked the perfect Christmas meal. Tessa loved how this felt normal to her. She needed a day like this to drown out the thoughts running through her head. She sat between Joey and his brother Jacob and watched the family open gifts, the look of surprise and awe all spread across their happy faces.
Finally there was only one gift left under the tree. Mrs. Jeremiah grabbed it and put it between the soon to be parents.
"We got you something, it's a bit early," she said sitting back down next to her husband.
The soon to be parents opened the present quickly. Tessa looked in wonder at the baby bassinet. She was worried she wouldn't be able to afford it. Joey had wanted to put it together that night but Tessa pursued him to wait until she was closer to the due date. She thank the future grandparents.
The night started to wind down. One of the brothers left to go back home and the men cleared and cleaned the kitchen. The remaining Jeremiahs started to scurry to their rooms soon after. Tessa hadn't wanted to go to bed yet, she was worried her nightmares would start up again after such a good night. Joey stayed up with her. He had popped in a movie. She curled up next to him has he played with her hair until she feel asleep. She prayed she didn't have nightmares tonight. She felt safe with Joey tonight.