"They arrested my friend Jack earlier tonight," he informed me. "Seems he raped you." He grinned humorlessly. "It took me a while to figure it out, you know. Nice trick, pulling the condom out of the trash. I'm impressed you managed to beat yourself up convincingly." He began to caress my neck with the blade in his hand. I pissed myself.
"I know Jack, Daria. He's going to spill his fucking guts. He's going to tell the cops all he knows about me, and that would normally be enough to send me to prison until I'm a shriveled up old man." He held the knife still, and I was sure this was the part where he bled me out.
Instead, he kept talking. "The thing is, Daria, I'm not going to prison for a very long time. Oh, sure, I won't be able to avoid it altogether, but I've got this real smart lady lawyer on retainer, and she's real good, and she's sure she'll be able to make a deal with the DA. You see, Janey's big business for me. A lot of people have enjoyed her company, and I made damn sure to get proof of as many of them as I could, on the off chance that something like this ever happened."
He knelt down, so that he was almost at eye level with me. "In a way, Daria, I'm glad this happened. You'll make sure that Janey gets the help she needs, and her life will get better and better." He chuckled. "Then, when I get out of prison in a few years, breaking her back in will be so much fun. And the things I'll do to you..."
He darted in and smashed his lips against mine, his tongue trying to force its way past my clenched teeth. After a few moments, he pulled back. "Was that your first kiss, Daria?" I refused to answer; after a moment, the blade pressed harder against my throat, and I nodded, tears streaming down my face. "You never forget your first," he sagely told me. With that, he stood up and left.
What did I do? I changed my nightgown and my sheets, and made sure to spray some cleaner on the mattress and paper toweled it up before putting on the new bedding. I was too unnerved to call the police.
XXXX
True to his word, Trent had managed to ensnare a lot of people into his web of sin. While most of them were repeat offenders like the man who had 'raped' me, some were outstanding members of the community. There was Lester Gupty, a local businessman and highly-regarded member of his church. Ken Edwards, a substitute teacher who covered Lawndale and Oakwood's school districts. Another teacher, Coach Morris, taught women's gym and coached most of the womens' teams at Lawndale.
Tommy Sherman was outed posthumously and, although he would never go to trial, Lawndale High was quick to chop down his 'memorial tree' and rescind the punishments Jane and I had been given.
One of the accused was Doug Thompson, Kevin's father. I was compelled to sit in the audience of his trial; when it came time for him to testify, he repeatedly insisted that he had only paid for Jane's services once, and had her sleep with his son Kevin to celebrate graduating middle school and becoming the Lions' star quarterback.
By that time, Jane was living with us under the terms of her probation and (real) psychological counselling; dad had fought hard to be given guardianship rights to her until she completed her probation, at which time she intended to go for legal emancipation.
After his father's conviction, Kevin came over to the house, flowers in hand. "Uh, hi, Daria. Can I see Jane?"
I looked him over. He looked like hell. He had discarded his usual football getup for a simple black t-shirt and worn-looking jeans, and with ample cause - he, along with a good third of the team, had been suspended for the rest of the school year and banned from playing Lawndale High football forever due to their liaisons with Jane.
"I don't think she wants to see you right now, Kevin," I said diplomatically.
"Okay..." Kevin hung his head in disappointment. "It's just that...I asked mom what I should do if I do something bad to a girl I like, and she said I should give her flowers. I was gonna ask dad what he'd do, but he...he did that...that bad stuff..." Kevin was unable to speak above a whisper as he referred to what his father had done.
He looked back into my eyes, and I could see him fighting the tears. "Did he really...you know...do it with Jane?"
I very tentatively reached out and put a comforting hand on his shoulder. "I don't know, Kevin. I've never met him, but from what I've heard -" From the time I hypnotized him, anyway. "- He seems like a very disturbed man."
Kevin nodded. "Yeah, I guess. It's just...I thought Jane liked me, you know? And it was all dad..." He bit his lip, and several tears spilled out down his face.
"Kevin, Jane was your friend years before your father did...that bad thing. I'm sure she liked you very much, and it broke her heart when she couldn't be friends with you anymore."
He sniffled. "Do you...do you think she might want to be friends with me again someday?"
"That's...something you'll have to talk to her about, I think."
"Okay. Well, at least tell her I got her these flowers." He handed them to me and walked away, hands in his pockets and his eyes on the ground. I took them to the kitchen, put them into a vase with water, and took it up to my room, where Jane had been staying with me. I told her about Kevin, and she was quiet for a while after that. Then, she took one of my blank notebooks, borrowed a pencil, and began sketching the flowers.
XXXX
The only trial I attended besides Kevin's father's was Trent's. As I expected, it was just a formality for his sentencing - two years with no parole. The bastard wouldn't even be put onto the sex offenders list.
"Mr. Lane, do you have anything else you would like to say?"
He glanced around the courtroom and spied me, sitting in the back. He flashed a smirk. "As a matter of fact, your honor, I do."
He stood up and turned to face me directly. And began to sing. "I'll be seeing you...in all the old familiar places...that this heart of mine embraces...all day through..."
I stood up and ran for the exit, followed by Trent's laughter.
I sat outside the courthouse for a while, until my nerves had settled down. As I began to leave to make my way to the bus stop, I noticed a woman walk to an SUV in the parking lot. I recognized her as the woman - the 'real smart lady lawyer' who had sat next to Trent at his sentencing. On impulse, I changed course to intercept her. I wanted to find out if she knew what kind of a sick fuck she had been practicing.
"Excuse me," I said.
"Yes?" She turned around to face me.
She was the woman in the photograph I had stolen from my father.
"...Are you my mother?" I asked in a whisper.
She looked confused for a moment, then her eyes and mouth widened in shock. "...Daria? My baby?"
XXXXXXXXXX
And thus concludes My Best Friend!
You know, for a while, I considered having Jane be 'evil' as well, in that she and Trent were drawing Daria into their psychosexual 'Cruel Intentions'-ish relationship, but not even I was willing to go there.
I do hope the ending wasn't too abrupt for everybody. Not the cliffhanger aspect, mind - that part's intentional. But I mean the whole rest of the chapter. Mainly, I'm worried that it's 'cheaty' that I said Daria's fake rape had no effect at the end of the last chapter, and then I did a total 180 and it totally nailed Trent in this one.
In the sequel (what kind of an ass would I be to leave an ending like THAT hanging?), Jake will be the protagonist, and we'll get to find out more about his pre-Daria life, and especially more about Helen.
And there will be angst.