Chapter 2
Toxin and Leah made their way back to where the others were, Beatrice looked up worriedly at them.
"Is everything all right? Where have you guys been?" she asked anxiously as Leah and Toxin took their seats.
"It's all good now ~ Leah just got into a little bit of a mess with some virus bastards." Toxin explained calmly, Leah nodded.
"Yeah - but I'm ok now. Well, if Toxin hadn't come looking for me I wouldn't have been ok." said Leah, smiling gratefully at Toxin. "Thanks again, Toxin."
"No problem, Leah."
Beatrice breathed out, relieved. "Oh thank God - don't ever do that again! You had me worried!" said Beatrice, hugging Leah tightly. Leah stiffened.
"You do realize that I'm not a little kid," she said, laughing.
"I know, but ever since you told me the things you went through with Thrax I've been worrying about you - I don't want anything like that to ever happen to you again!"
"I'll be fine. I've got Ozzy now, right?" said Leah reassuringly.
"Yeah, I suppose - I'd better stop worrying then."
Gerry looked at his watch. "We'd better get goin'. It's getting late," he said. "You ladies' have a ride home?"
"Yeah - Beatrice drove us here." said Roxy, getting up from her seat with Leah and Toxin.
"That's good then - we'll see you guys later, ok?" said Gerry as they all headed out of the club and were about to go their seperate ways.
"Bye, Gerry! Bye Harry!" Leah called, waving goodbye. Roxy breathed in the cool air.
"Mmm - don't you just love the smell of fresh air?" she said with satisfaction.
"Yeah ~ though it's really cold tonight..." said Beatrice, getting into the car with the others; she started the engine and drove off down the street.
*~--~*
"Welcome back, ladies!" Rex greeted Leah, Roxy and Toxin happily as they entered the room. Ozzy looked up from his cards.
"Well you guys took your time," said Ozzy.
"Sorry baby, did you miss us?" said Leah giving Ozzy a kiss on the cheek. "It looks like you've been passing the time with a game of cards during our absence."
"Ah yeah, baby - I bet Rex this time!" said Ozzy proudly, Rex chuckled.
"Yeah, yeah big whoop," he laughed, scooping up his own cards and shuffling them, Ozzy passed him his own cards.
"Soo - anything interesting happen tonight?" Ozzy asked them.
Leah looked at Toxin.
"No nothing really special happned... we just pretty much relaxed," Toxin lied smoothly, not wanting to mention the little trouble Leah had with those viruses. Leah smiled thankfully at Toxin.
"Ah good," said Rex, putting the pack of cards back in the cupboard. He yawned and stretched his arms. "Oh lordy I'm tired - I'm just gonna turn in ok, guys? See you all in the morning." He sauntered tiredly up the stairs, a few minutes later they heard his bedroom door close. Roxy looked around.
"Where's Drix? Is he gone to bed too?" she asked Ozzy.
"Yeah, he went to bed about an hour ago," said Ozzy, resting his hands behind his head.
Roxy turned to Toxin. "I'm gonna go turn in too - it's late. Goodnight you guys."
"I'm gonna go too, ok? Night," said Toxin, she followed Roxy up the stairs; leaving Leah and Ozzy alone in the kitchen. Leah rubbed her arm uncomfortably, feeling awkward in the sudden silence. How unnerving it was. Ozzy cleared his throat, obviously the silence was just annoying him.
"So um - did you have a good time tonight?" he asked her, smiling. Leah looked up at him.
"Oh yes - I did," Leah lied. "Harry and Beatrice are engaged." she added, quickly changing the subject. Ozzy beamed.
"That's great! I'll be sure to tell them I said congratulations!" said Ozzy cheerfully, he got up from the table and stretched tiredly. "Aaah! Jeez it's sure late - I'm gonna go turn in ok, Leah?"
"Goodnight, Ozzy," said Leah, kissing him. Ozzy made his way up the stairs and into his bedroom, Leah heard the door close and there was silence once more. The ticking of the clock and a few noises from outside was all that accompanied her, it was suffocating - being all alone down in the kitchen with her horrible thoughts clogging up her mind. Leah couldn't take anymore of this and retreated up the stairs to her bedroom - she felt a little better in her room knowing that the others were up here too. She stripped out of her clothes and pulled on an old black shirt and shorts - what she called her 'pyjamas'; Leah climbed into her bed and sat down on the covers, hugging her knees against her chest. She stared out at the darkness from the window next to her, several street lamps were visible and she could see the light rain gently run against the window. Even this became sickening, she got off the bed and drew the curtains; blocking the window so she could no longer see the depressing view. She pulled back the covers and got in the bed, pulling the covers up underneath her chin; she rested her cheek upon her knees. Her breathing was she could hear right now excluding the noises from outside, it was all silent once again. Sleep was the last thing on her mind right now, the main thought was those same words that repeated in her head like a broken record: "Don't fucking piss me off again baby... it'll only make matters a lot worse for you... raping you wouldn't be the only thing I'd do to you."
What was so important about that sentence? It had nothing to do with anything right now! Though maybe it was because Thrax had raped her that made her remember those very words he spoke, maybe and maybe not...
Leah felt her heart ache once more when she remembered the rape - and how she almost let it happen again tonight. She remembered each painful thrust - and the pain she felt afterwards when it was all over. It wasn't the worst feeling - the punishment was unbearable, that was definitely the worst part-
Leah's thoughts were interrupted by a sharp sting from her arm and her neck, her hand automatically reached up to her neck, feeling the area where Thrax had injected the needle. She felt a small lump throb every second and snatched her hand away; she quickly got out of bed and rushed to the small bathroom in her room, Leah gazed at her neck in the mirror: The black mark had appeared once more.
She gasped, unable to understand why it was coming back. Perhaps the venom had taken affect after a year from being in her body, she then checked her throbbing arm: the black mark was also there.
Leah pulled open the drawer of the cabinet and took out a couple of bandages, she wrapped them around the black mark on her arm and her neck. She didn't want to have anyone look at them as well as herself - it was just too ugly and it brought back painful memories. Leah switched off the light after placing the bandages back in the cabinet, she climbed back into her bed and tried to get some sleep.
*--*
Rough chains held Leah up against the wall, her bare back hitting the cold bricks. It was so cold in the torture chamber, the only piece of material that she had on was the cloth that gagged her; she knew what was going to happen and was terrified. Leah felt a claw run along her thigh and saw that same old smirk.
"I told you not to piss me off, baby... I warned you that it would make matters worse... now look where it's gotten you..." said Thrax, grinning. He groped one of her breasts, slighting piercing her with his claws. Leah shut her eyes tight, just wanting the whole thing to end. Thrax chuckled.
"You don't wanna see this, do you baby? Don't worry... I'll make sure you don't see one bit of this..." he said slyly, taking out another cloth similar to the one she had over her mouth and covered her eyes. The next thing Leah felt was a hard thrust inside her...
NO! Stop it!
STOP IT!!
"STOP IT!!" Leah screamed, waking up from her sleep. She was covered in cold sweat, shivering uncontrollably, she could almost feel the painful thrusts from Thrax as he raped her in the nightmare. Leah rubbed the sweat off her forehead with the back of her hand, her heart was beating hard against her chest, she dug her fingers in her skin.
"What the hell is wrong with me? Why can't I stop thinking about it?" she whispered to herself, she heard footsteps outside her bedroom in the hallway and held her breath. The footsteps stopped outside her room and she heard a knock on the door.
"Leah? Are you ok?"
It was Ozzy. Panicking, Leah hesitated on what to answer back. "Um - I'm fine Ozzy."
Ozzy opened the door and entered the room, looking concerned. "I heard you screaming... were you having a nightmare?" he asked her, sitting down at the edge of her bed.
"Well...sort of," she murmured, feeling embarrassed that her screams had been heard.
"Wanna talk about it?"
"Not really..."
"Are you sure?"
"Well..." Leah drew in her breath. "Ok... today, when I was out with Beatrice and the others, a couple of viruses almost raped me."
"What! Leah - why didn't you tell me earlier!?" said Ozzy angrily.
Leah winced at the anger in his voice. "I just didn't want to talk about it... that wasn't the only thing that bothered me."
"What was the other thing then?"
"They knew me as Thrax's little 'slave'..."
Ozzy frowned. "So these bastards knew Thrax?"
"Yeah. And they know about his arrest!"
"They bothered you because you were what they called Thrax's 'slave'?"
"Not exactly - they thought I was nothing more then a slut out looking for another 'Master' after abandoning Thrax."
"To hell with them! You didn't abandon that fucker! He needed to be kept behind bars!" said Ozzy, raising his voice a little. He paused, fingering the material on the sheet. "That reminds me... why didn't you want Thrax dead?"
"I just didn't want to be doing the same as what he did - killing isn't in my nature..." Leah replied, not really wanting to tell him the whole truth.
"Oh... well - at least he's kept in a place where he cannot do anyone any harm." said Ozzy light-heartedly, he took Leah's hand and gave it a gentle squeeze. "You'll be fine, Leah baby, if you have a problem just please tell me ok? Y'know I'm here to help you..." he leaned over and kissed Leah lovingly before heading out of her bedroom and back to his own.
Leah lay back down on the bed and tried yet again to get some sleep, ignoring the constant replay of her nightmare...
*~--~*
Drix rushed down the stairs with the bouquet of black roses hidden behind his back, he sprang into the kitchen; almost falling flat on his face in front of Toxin, he came to a hault and presented the flowers to her.
"Um... for you, Toxin. Just a little something to show my thanks on your brilliant behaviour!" said Drix sheepishly, handing her the flowers. She took them from him, a little surprised, she breathed in their radiant scent and smiled.
"Thanks Drix! I really love them! You know you didn't have to go through the trouble," Toxin gushed.
Drix blushed. "It really was no problem at all, Toxin. I was more than happy to get them for you since you've certainly done well with your behaviour and kept yourself from lashing out people who yelled abuse at you."
"Oh Drix, you're so sweet." said Toxin, giving Drix a friendly peck on the cheek. He blushed once more, feeling really good about himself.
"And I have to thank you, Toxin, for having to put up with me this past year," said Ozzy, grinning.
"Oh don't worry about it - you've been really awesome for supervising me and I couldn't have mantained my good behaviour if it wasn't for you," laughed Toxin. Ozzy smiled triumphantly.
"I'm glad to hear it!"
Roxy entered the kitchen, stretching her arms tiredly, her red hair in a mess. She rubbed her eyes and waved good morning to them.
"Mornin' guys - is Leah not up yet?" she murmured tiredly, still obviously not quite awake yet.
"No, she's still sleepin' -" said Ozzy.
"That's quite unusual for her to be sleeping in - she's normally up earlier than the rest of us," said Roxy, frowning.
"You mean up earlier than you," joked Rex, passing her a cup of coffee. Roxy gently punched his arm fondly.
"Cheek. But that's definitely true - what can I say, I love my sleep." grinned Roxy, taking a sip from her cup.
"Oh yes, you sure do - toast?" Rex asked her, holding up two slices of bread.
"Yes please, darling."
They heard the stairs creak and Leah entered the kitchen a few minutes later.
"Mornin'," she said, taking a seat down at the table.
"Mornin' sleepy head," said Ozzy placing a cup of coffee in front of her. "Had a good sleep?"
"Yeah," Leah lied smoothly, sipping her coffee and trying to act normal. She noticed the bouquet of roses in Toxin's hands. "Where'd you get them? They're lovely." she added, trying to change to subject.
"Drix got them for me as a present," said Toxin.
"Oh? A birthday present?"
"No, it's just to show his thanks on my behaviour."
"Oh - that was kind of you Drix!"
Drix smiled happily, obviously proud of what he had done. Suddenly Leah's cellphone started ringing, she snatched it up and answered it; the others watched closely, curious as to who it was.
"Hello?" Leah asked nervously.
"Hey, Leah! It's me Carl!"
"Oh! Carl!"
The others smiled excitedly after hearing who it was.
"How have you been, Leah?"
"Oh, I've been great!"
"What about the others? Are they doing good?"
"Oh definitely, I'm so glad to be back in Frank with my friends - but I really miss you guys so much!"
"We miss you guys too!"
"How's Kayley?"
"Doing mighty fine! She just turned twelve a few months ago - you should have seen Jacob, he was all 'Oh my goodness, my beautiful Kayley is growing up before my very eyes! Soon she'll be a Highschool girl!' Ugh - that bastard is just plain weird if you ask me."
"Awww, tell her I said congratulations! And yes, that man is weird. Be sure to keep an eye on her when Jacob's around."
"I sure will! I've been watching him like a Hawk ever since he made that comment! I'm just convinced that he's a pervert or something."
"I'm sure Kayley's having that thought too."
"Haha, she's starting to regret that she ever hired him!"
"Poor dear." Leah paused, hesitating. "...Um, how's it going with - you know - Thrax?" she could have punched herself for asking this, but curiousity was getting the better of her.
"Oh, Thrax - he's been ok-ish. We haven't really succeeded in changing his attitude that's for sure. He's gotten worse lately - lashing out at Kayley everytime she'd come talk to him. She's just trying to change him - which is obviously a complete fail at the moment. I don't know what he has against her - but he's been wanting to talk to you... I'm afraid Kayley hasn't let him for unknown reasons."
"He wants to talk to me?"
"Yeah... I don't know why but I don't like it either way. He's just gotten really aggressive lately, threatening Kayley and such."
"I wonder why..."
"It's simple. He just wants out - viruses like him don't really do well in jail. It's been a year since his last kill and he's yearning for it."
"Oh... Do you think he'll ever change?"
"I don't know - it'll take some time to try and get to talk to him properly first, but I honestly don't know, Leah."
Leah swallowed. "Has he - said anything else?"
"I don't really know - Kayley was the one visiting him most of the times and I've only visited him about three times so far. He hates me more than he hates Kayley. He's just convinced that I was also the one that made you betray him."
"I never betrayed him - I wish he'd stop saying that! That stubborn bastard!"
"He certainly is stubborn - but we'll find a way to get him to listen to us. But anyway other then that, how are things with you and Ozzy?
Leah giggled and looked at Ozzy. "Things are going well between us, very well to be exact!" she said, blushing. Ozzy grinned happily.
"Oooh - that sounds heartfelt. Is the sex good?"
"Carl! Stop it!" giggled Leah, blushing even more.
"Oh you know it, babeh!" Ozzy teased, overhearing what Carl had said.
Carl laughed. "Just messin' with you, Leah." He paused for a second, Leah heard another voice murmuring in the background over the phone. "I'd better get goin', Kayley needs me to do something for her."
"That's ok, Carl. I'm so glad you called! Are you guys gonna come visit us soon?"
"We're still trying to look into that - hopefully if things go well we'll be able to visit. See ya later, Leah! It was nice talking to you once again!"
"Same here Carl, bye!" and she hung up. The others stared eagerly, waiting to hear what the news was over in Shane City.
"So? What happened? Is everything going well with keeping Thrax under control?" Roxy asked nervously.
"Unfortunately they haven't been able to talk to him properly - he just won't listen. And his behaviour is just as aggressive, he keeps lashing out at Kayley..." Leah explained sadly.
"Damn stubborn fucker!" cursed Ozzy, Drix winced at his bad language.
"Isn't there any way of getting through to him?" Drix asked.
"They're still trying to get him to listen - he's just convinced that they were the ones that made me betray him."
"But you didn't betray him, for fuck's sake!" said Ozzy angrily.
Drix sighed. "We can do without the foul language, Jones."
"Whatever."
"When are they gonna come visit?" Rex asked, changing the subject.
"They're not sure - but they're still trying to find a chance to visit us." said Leah. "In the meantime they really ought to focus of keeping Thrax under control - God knows what would happen if he was left under the supervision of someone else..."
"Someone like Jacob!" scoffed Rex.
"Oh God - never him!" said Roxy rolling her eyes. "Thrax'd definitely escape if Jacob was supervising him."
"Don't say that! You'll give me an ulcer..." groaned Ozzy. "The last thing we need is that maniac on the loose once more..."
Roxy cleared her throat. "Let's just pretend we never had this conversation."
"Agreed."
Leah finished up her coffee and went upstairs to get dressed.
That is definitely the last thing we need... the last thing I need too...