Disclaimer: I do not own Life is Strange, it belongs to DontNod, etc etc.
Life is Strange
Salvation
Chapter Three
The soft feeling of Kate's hand nestled within hers made Victoria feel a strange flutter in her chest. She felt anchored by it, stuck sitting by Kate's bedside, but oddly enough, she couldn't bring herself to disengage. It was peaceful. In order to not think about this turn of events too much, Victoria instead examined the room.
It was pretty much exactly as she had imagined it. The room was impeccable tidy, to the point that even Victoria felt impressed. It also drove home how lax she had been with her own room lately. She vowed to change that as soon as possible. Kate had a crucifix hanging above her bed and a bible on her bedside table, so no surprise there. What did catch her eye though was the cage on the dresser behind her. From her place on the floor, she couldn't really see inside, but she had noticed the cute little rabbit earlier. She thought about going to have a look, but that would mean letting go of Katie's hand, and plus, she was kind of tired herself. It had been a long night, after all.
Victoria laid her head down on the bed and closed her eyes. Just for a minute, she thought, and then fell asleep.
(-)
Sunlight filtering in through the blinds woke Kate a few short hours later. She squinted against the harshness of the light, sitting up and holding her hand up as a shade. Her skull felt heavy and throbbed a little. It was then that she noticed the head of Victoria Chase, resting upon the edge of her bed, and the memory – or lack thereof – of the night before returned to her. She rubbed at her sleepy eyes and took a slow breath, trying to process what had happened, what Victoria had told her.
Someone had drugged her, and she could only assume the intention was to… to… she couldn't even think it. But it didn't need to be thought, did it? Why else would someone drug her? She felt a terrible chill come over her, and shuddered as the reality of what could have happened to her settled in. Then she remembered, it hadn't happened. Sure, the idea that she was so close to being victimised like that was horrible enough, but she had to remember that Victoria had saved her from that fate.
Even so, it was hard to focus on that, when the reality was so clear. Someone intended to do that to her, someone close, perhaps even a fellow student, or one of her teachers. That thought festered in her mind for a moment. She took handfuls of her bedding and tightened her fists, eyes closed, breath coming in shaky gasps. Thankfully, before she could fully embrace that fear, Kate felt arms come around her, and she opened her eyes to see that ocean of fluffy brown sweater she remembered from the night before. She laid her head down on Victoria's shoulder and brought her own arms up to clutch at her.
"Shh," Victoria soothed. "It's okay Katie. I know you feel scared, unsafe, but… but I'm here, and it's okay. I mean, it'll be okay… it…" Victoria trailed off weakly, and instead tightened her hold, as if trying to convey what her words couldn't. Comfort. Safety.
Kate took a deep breath. "Victoria…" she wasn't sure if she was asking a question, or merely acknowledging her presence. Her voice felt and sounded odd, like she was talking past a stone lodged in her throat. Victoria had hit the nail on the head. Kate felt unsafe, unsafe in the knowledge that someone at the Vortex Club party tried to do that to her, which meant someone who attending Blackwell, student or teacher. Someone she potentially had to face on a daily basis. Perhaps someone she knew. How could she face them, any of them, knowing that? Wondering if they were the ones… the thought left her feeling terrible fear.
It turns out it didn't matter if she actually had been… she had to at least think the word, face it… raped… because just the idea that someone could do that was enough to instil in her that dread. You never think it'll happen to you, but once it does, how do you go back? How do you return to the fantasy that it won't?
"Katie?" Victoria's voice was soft and soothing in her ear.
"I'm s-sorry," Kate replied, sniffling, pulling away and wiping at her face, smearing tears she wasn't aware she had been shedding. She hoped she hadn't made a mess of Victoria's nice cardigan. "I didn't mean to… to cry all over you. I… I guess it finally hit me… oh…"
Kate suddenly felt her stomach churn, and before she could process it, she was vomiting all down the side of her bed. The vomit was mostly liquid and what little food she had eaten the day before, and burned coming up. She leant over, coughing and groaning for what felt like several minutes, but was in fact only about thirty seconds. Once she felt her stomach settle a little, she realised that Victoria was still beside her, holding her hair and gently stroking her back.
Kate glanced sideways at the other girl, feeling so pathetically grateful. "I'm so sorry… ugh… I can't… I feel sick…"
"It's okay," Victoria said, giving her a gentle smile. "I understand… it… it was… it was like this for me too."
Kate eyes widened. Did she mean…? "You mean… you? It happened to you too?"
Victoria closed her eyes and looked away from Kate, and then nodded. "About a month ago now… I woke up in my bed after a Vortex Club party and just… I felt wrong. Sick and confused and dizzy and… just… wrong, you know?"
"Oh jeez, I… I didn't know. I'm so sorry, Victoria, I… you… it really… happened to you…?"
Victoria swallowed heavily.
"I don't remember anything about that night. Just, you know, the usual Vortex Club party stuff. Having a good time with Taylor and Courtney and Nathan and everyone, dancing and drinking, and then… nothing else. I woke up in my bed and… I don't know Katie. I don't know if someone… raped me… I… oh God, this…"
Victoria hid behind her hand and sniffled. Kate looked on sympathetically, waiting patiently.
"I don't think I was… uh… sexually… I mean, you know?" Victoria looked at Kate with urgent eyes, begging the other girl to understand.
Kate was confused, but could see how hard talking about this was for Victoria. She definitely understood. She couldn't even think about it, let alone say it out loud. Victoria was so brave, in her eyes.
"You mean, you don't think you were…?" Kate prompted, the word raped - that word again - implied.
"No," Victoria replied, shakily. She sighed. "I know I must sound insane. Courtney and Taylor, they don't believe me either. I honestly don't know what to believe myself. I just know that I was drugged, I was. I know the difference between a hangover and… and… that… what happened to me… what you're feeling right now. I was drugged, and I… they did something to me. I know it. They… they came into my dorm room and they did something, or…" Victoria, again, let her words falter.
"I believe you," Kate said, firmly, reaching out to take Victoria's hand, this act a little hesitant. When Victoria didn't flinch away, she firmed her grip. "I believe you, Victoria."
Victoria sniffed again, and looked at Kate for the first time since she had opened up about her own experience, her eyes conveying so much gratitude it made Kate feel her heart swell, at least until her stomach gave another lurch, and she emptied the meagre contents of her insides once again.
(-)
Victoria could remember that feeling clearly, what Kate was feeling right now, sick and weak, head pounding in her ears. So it wasn't hard for her to sympathise with the other girl, to understand exactly what she was going through. As Kate retched again, Victoria moved to grab the little rubbish bin Kate kept by her desk.
"Here, be sick in this," Victoria said, handing her the bin. Kate took it gratefully, grasping it to her chest and hovering her mouth over it.
"I think… I'm okay… for now," Kate replied, between breaths of air. She still kept a tight hold on the basket though.
"Does your head hurt?" Victoria asked, remembering how she had felt. "Do you feel light headed? Dizzy? Like it's… hard to move?"
"My head hurts," Kate affirmed, giving a small nod, barely perceptible. "And I feel… yeah, like I'm underwater or something. Is this… what it was like… for you?"
"Yeah. It'll pass in a few hours. You should rest though. Try and sleep, if you can."
Kate seemed to take that as a command, and immediately lay back down, bringing her sick bucket with her and holding it tight like a stuffed toy. She looked up at Victoria. "Did you… sleep much? You must be tired…"
Victoria had to smile at that. It was so Kate Marsh, to be thinking of others, even in this situation. Before, Victoria might have laughed at the other girl's kind innocence, but now she just saw it for what it really was, a shining light of sweetness in a dark, terrible world - not to be laughed at, but instead cherished and protected.
"I'll be fine, Katie," she replied, "just try and sleep. I'll find something to clean this up," here she gestured to the vomit still dribbling down the side of Kate's bed, "and then, maybe, rest on your couch for a little."
"Oh no, I can't let you do that," Kate argued, trying to sit up. Victoria placed a hand on her shoulder and pushed her gently back down.
"Yes, you can, and you will. Try and sleep. I mean it, Katie." Victoria made sure to put determination in her tone, showing Kate how serious she was about this. It wasn't like she was looking forward to cleaning up that vomit, but Kate was in no position to do it, and leaving it to sink in wouldn't help. Plus, it kinda smelled. Victoria wrinkled her nose just at the thought.
"Are you… sure?" Kate asked, but the fight had gone out of her voice.
"Yes. Now you sleep, " Victoria ordered, sounding much more like her old self than she had in the past month.
"O-okay." Kate finally gave in, closing her eyes and curling her knees up, as close to her chest as she could get them, what with the bucket being in the way.
Victoria watched her for a few moments; tracking the rise and fall of her chest, the wafting of a stray strand of hair, blowing with each inhale and exhale. Then she set about looking for something to clean up the mess with. Oh , how the mighty have fallen, she thought, sardonically. Strangely, she didn't mind.