Chapter 10, enjoy!

Warning: mentions of rape/noncon, victim blaming, lots of it, sprinkles of racism here or there, attempted unalive moment.

UNBETA AF

Can You Keep A Secret?

Chapter 10

Monster(s)

"Have you ever heard about Unmentionables?" Alejandro asked Brittany, making the woman frown and shake her head, "Well, I suppose not, Unmentionables are on a 'need to know' basis."

The duo were sitting in the dimly lit kitchen, with Brittany wrapped in a hooded robe, to make herself smaller, her eyepatch sitting on the kitchen table. They were eating a late night meal, well, Alejandro was, Brittany had devoured her meal in 30 seconds, with a spork. He was glad to see her back to using utensils, at the very least. He thought about splitting her meals up into smaller portions to help her pace her eating, but he didn't know how she would handle that.

"Okay, what about these Unmentionables?" Brittany typed out, eyeing the half eaten cake before Alejandro cut her a thin slice and passed it to her.

"They're people with…I guess you can say magical powers or super powers," Alejandro told the woman, as he finished his meal, looking to the woman, "It seems like, you may be an Unmentionable,"

"Excuse me?" Brittany looked at him and then let out a round of silent laughter, before she typed, "What, I'm like Professor X or something?"

"Maybe, but you have to admit, being able to see my past isn't a common thing that happens," The man said, folding his hands, "And I wouldn't willing share to you my most intimate moments life, you even knew the song that was playing when the deed occurred," he gave Brittany a pained look and shook his head, "Besides, your new eye color was a small clue as well."

"Maybe you're the only person whose past I can see," Brittany suggested, looking to man, a blank look on her face, "What would that mean?"

"It means we've been around each other for a long time," Alejandro suggested and Brittany nodded her head, "But to test that theory out, you're going to have to look at people, with only your right eye."

"…Can we start off with pictures first, maybe see if it works with still images of people?" Brittany found the idea of looking at any living being besides Alejandro and Stephanie to be scary.

"That's a good idea, actually, and if that doesn't work, we'll move to Stephanie, and you will have to show her your eye, we can come up with a cover story," Alejandro assured the woman and Brittany leaned back in her chair, relieved. But then she looked over to the man and asked an important question.

"If Unmentionables are on a 'need to know' basis, how do you know about them?" Alejandro winced at the question and then finally, for the first time in almost 10 years, told his secret to someone.

"I am one, thank you very much," Alejandro said, making Brittany look at him, "I was scouted right out of college, the only person who knows is my brother, the Agency and now you, speaking of Agency…if you are an Unmentionable, you will be contacted by the Agency soon."

"Some sick joke you just said there," Brittany typed out, "Let's hope I'm not one and it's all just one big fluke."

"Hey," Brittany startled as Alejandro rested a hand on her knee, squeezing it gently and looking deep into her eyes, "I'll be there, I won't let you do this alone, I promise. I've been here all this time, not leaving your side for one minute."

Brittany looked into Alejandro's eyes and found her heart thudding. She never knew why Stephanie had so many boyfriends and why they were always 'Mr. Perfect,' when she started to date them. Romance was something she hadn't thought of, in ever. She felt too awkward, too shy and quite oblivious to other people. She had had Stephanie scoff at her, when some man finished talking to Brittany and Stephanie would say that she couldn't believe that her friend missed a golden opportunity from an interested man!

She thought she lost her chance for those feelings and things, when she had been kidnapped by Mister-Barton Wilkes. He had done things to her that would forever be a scar on her soul and she had kept so many things about their time in the bunker from Stephanie, in order for her sanity to come out in, at the very least, one tattered mess. Things she hoped would never come to light…

Alejandro, however, was making her see differently. He made her feel young and naïve again. He made her throat dry up when he smiled at her and he made her stomach flip now too. Was this was what a crush felt like? The man was outlandishly handsome, like someone spent their time carefully sculpting his face, his frame, his personality. He was so attentive to her as well, Brittany wanted to bask in this feeling, in Alejandro.

However, if he knew what she had done, what had been done to her, she felt tainted, used and marked by her time in the bunker. She felt so much guilt as well. Alejandro would never want to be with someone so broken and so ugly on the inside and out. She would secretly pine for him and crush on him from a distance. Least, he knew who she really was.

(~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~)

"You're looking at several counts of accessory to kidnapping and murder and rape," Jeanne Ellen said, walking into the interview room of the FBI satellite office in Baltimore, holding three evidence bags, "You looking at 25 years to life, Vanessa Wilkes."

"My client doesn't have to say anything," Vanessa's lawyer said, but he looked to be out of his league and most likely, Jeanne thought, he was. He was a glorified ambulance chaser, but she wasn't about to tell Vanessa that, "Mrs. Wilkes, keep quiet."

"Fine, she doesn't have to talk, these items will do all the talking for her," Jeanne said as she held up a bag, containing a key, "The second key to a lock in the bunker that was on your property, it was in your possession, in your jewelry box, not looking so good here," She held up the bag full of receipts, "It looks like your dead husband went on a shopping spree to set up a recording studio, yet somehow, you have the receipts, I wonder why?"

Vanessa's nostrils flared but she listened to her lawyers advice and was silent. Jeanne nodded her head and then took out the diary from the evidence bag, opening it and saying, "And these are your words, are they not, let's go to the last page….the last entry, let's see here, it says: 'I'm tired of his twisted desires and wants, I'm tired of his games, he spends so much time down there, that he's neglected me! All for that Little Lamb of his, finally, I gave him an ultimatum; it was either that Little Lamb or me, and if he chooses that lamb…I would call the cops ASAP…'

Jeanne tossed the diary to Vanessa and said, in a low voice, "You knew, all this time, about those women locked in that bunker…didn't you?"

"This all looks planted, there is no way," Vanessa's Lawyer started but Jeanne looked to him.

"She watched me, pull it out of the hidden space in her own Jewelry cabinet," Jeanne said as she crossed her arms, "I don't need her to confess to anything, she's going before the law for this, and I'm going to make sure she spends a long time in the federal pen!"

Jeanne looked over to Vanessa and said, "I just want to know what was going through her head, when all of this was going on, when countless women were kidnapped and held by her own husband and she knew, but did nothing! What was happening this time, to make you threaten him? Hmm? You were so complicit in the last dozen or so, what was happening this time that made you snap?"

"Don't-" Vanessa held her hand up to her lawyer's face and turned to Jeanne, her stare even and cool. She sniffed loudly and said, in a confident tone, "He was falling in love with this one, the Little Lamb…his Petite Lamb, he was catching feelings for her and I did not approve of that."

Vanessa's lawyer looked stunned as the woman leaned back in her seat and began to tell her tale, "I married that man almost 20 years ago, my mother told me to do so, he was handsome, well off, just like us and was reaching the top of his job, fast, so of course I married him. What I didn't know was that the man was a psycho, he had wants and needs that I couldn't fill for him. To be honest, I didn't care what he did, as long as he made money and kept me living in the standard I grew up in. I let him use the bunker for his needs. He made sure to clean up after himself so well. He would only keep them for a few weeks, and then discard them, toss their body in acid, no evidence to be had. The last victim however, entranced him.

Jeanne felt disgust curl in her belly, as she listened to Vanessa explain herself, as though she was talking about the weather, and not about knowing what her husband did and how she frankly didn't care! Vanessa folded her arms and continued, "She was black, how could she be that pretty but something about her, had him coming back for more. Excited him, you know, and I grew jealous. Yes, he fucked those women, I didn't care, I had what I wanted, but with this bitch, it was different. She had been a virgin, apparently and he delighted in telling me that he would drug her, make her want him and then…." Vanessa clenched her forearms tightly and looked Jeanne, "He didn't have to give her drugs to make her gag for it. She would seduce him, I'm sure If you look deep in those cards, you'll find it, that slut, seducing my husband. I couldn't have that, so I told him, get rid of her, or else I'll sing like a bird. I wasn't about to let some cunt come between me and my lifestyle! She was a threat! She was a whore, a harlot a-"

"A woman who was being held captive by your husband," Jeanne said, surprised that her voice wasn't trembling with rage, "She didn't ask to be kept in a dank place for almost a year, you had all the chances in the world to stop him before it got to this but you didn't because of money," Jeanne looked over to the stuttering lawyer and asked, "Yes?"

"I-I recurse myself, I can no longer be her lawyer," The man said, quickly, standing up, "I'm sorry Mrs. Wilkes, I'm a civil lawyer, you need a criminal lawyer now."

"I didn't kill those women, I didn't rape them!" Vanessa snapped as Jeanne motioned for a FBI agent to come in and arrest the woman, "You can't do this to me! I pay my taxes, I didn't hurt those women! How dare you!"

"How dare me, yes, how will I sleep at night," Jeanne muttered as Vanessa was hauled off, screaming loudly, "Yeah…"

She thought about the words that Vanessa said and then looked to the diary. She had an airlock case, but she would have to look at those videos and most likely it would do serious damage to Brittany when parts of them were revealed.

Jeanne sighed and put all the evidence back in their bags and walked out the room. She would call Carlos and tell him to get Alejandro and Brittany prepared for some tough questions.

(~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~)

"It was who?!" Stephanie yelped, looking over to Carlos and Jeanne, her hand on her chest, "Barton's wife! She leaked the audio, she knew about us?"

Jeanne nodded her head and looked at Stephanie, "Yeah, the bitch was so vain, she sang like a canary," she shuddered, "She needed to be jailed, she was a monster."

"Okay, good, what happens now?" Stephanie asked and Jeanne sat down in a chair, with a sigh, "She goes on trial and goes to jail?"

"Yes, you'll still be under FBI protection, there are still threats out there, regarding you and Brittany," Jeanne said, looking over to Carlos, "And Carlos will continue with his duties until all those threats are gone."

"That bitch," Stephanie sniffed as she crossed her arms, looking over to Carlos, "She could have stopped this, but she didn't care, I hope she rots for life."

"I hope so too," Carlos agreed, shaking his head, "She knew, all this time and did nothing, she's worse than Barton, is what I say."

"Indeed," Jeanne said as she stood up and looked to the stairs, and asked Carlos, "Are they ready?"

Carlos nodded his head and Jeanne let out a heave and stood up, going up the stairs, leaving Stephanie and Carlos to themselves. Stephanie looked over to the stairs and asked, "What's going on?"

"That I can't say," Carlos said but he released a soft smile to Stephanie and asked, "So, have you thought about my offer?"

"To be your PR manager and help you find a face for your company?" Stephanie tapped her chin and looked to Carlos, "I did and, I think I want to take it."

"Perfect, we can talk about it later, but for now, we should think about our walk tonight, which part of the National Mall do you want to go to?"

"Oh, the Smithsonian, I've only been there once, let's go there," Stephanie said as she and Carlos grabbed their coats to make their way to the place, "Will Brittany and Alejandro be alright?"

"I hope so," Carlos said as he led Stephanie out of the house, "Alejandro is a good man, he'll keep an eye out on her."

"I feel like I'm losing her," Stephanie said, as they drove into the city, "Brittany, she's so..I didn't think about how damaged she was until we moved into the safehouse, I want my friend back."

"You'll get her back, but it will take time," Carlos said, looking to Stephanie before he looked back at the road, "She needs to get her feelings together, she needs to get mentally stronger and she will, but that's not an instant thing, you know."

"I know," Stephanie said, as Carlos pulled into a secured parking area, "I know, but I miss her so much, I miss our time together, he took so much from us, and I didn't even know it."

Carlos nodded his head and then turned to Stephanie and asked, "Remember, what's the first thing I told you about, when it comes to personal surroundings?"

"Always be aware," Stephanie said, as she unbuckled herself and waited for Carlos to exit the car and open her passenger side and help her out, "Danger may be about."

"Yes," Carlos said as Stephanie slowly took in her surroundings. The area to the Smithsonian was thinning out but there were still enough people to cause issues, "Let's work on that, I have a man tailing us, let's see if you can find him."

"A game? I'm in," Stephanie said, with a smile, and walked beside Carlos into the place.

For about an hour, they walked, enjoying the sights but as they walked, Stephanie kept an eye out for the tail. It amused Carlos to no end but he was proud of Stephanie. She took to her self defenses classes like a duck to water. She was eager to learn to protect herself, physically, but he wanted her to look for the subtle dangers. People stalking, misplaced things in a house, things that tasted off, or the like. Hidden dangers were honestly the worse kind of dangers, it was how Brittany and Stephanie fell prey to the man. He wanted them both to be more aware of their surroundings but for now, Stephanie would be the only student.

She was a strong and resilient woman, Carlos thought as they walked. She had gone through a lot, but still, her strength showed itself. She was funny, intelligent and brave, thoughtless as well. Brittany was always at the front of her mind, protective of the fragile woman. He admired that in Stephanie, she was selfless, not many people were that way and it was a breath of fresh air to see that. However there was something to her that was off, not in a bad way, but in an odd way, as though she had something inside of her. It was strange, he couldn't be the only one to pick up on it.

"Your tail is by the water feature, dressed in dark blue," Stephanie whispered to Carlos as they walked back to entrance, "He's kept a good distance from us, but his walking pattern is sort of predictable."

Carlos looked over to the man and sure enough, it was their tail. Carlos looked down at Stephanie's smiling face and said, "Proud of you, Steph, you're right, how about we pick up dinner on the way home, Alejandro sent a text, he's busy with something, and from the sounds of it, something take out would be nice."

"Is it Brittany?" Stephanie asked, and Carlos slowly nodded his head, "Is she okay?"

"This time, I don't know," Carlos whispered softly to Stephanie.

(~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~)

Brittany looked at herself in the mirror of the bathroom, her eyes dead, her mouth slack. She felt utterly broken on the inside. She couldn't take it anymore, not since that talk with Jeanne. Not since her world once again crumbled around her.

She listened to the interview tape, with Jeanne, after Jeanne said they didn't have to but Brittany needed to hear what Vanessa Wilkes said about her but she had begged for Alejandro to not be in the room and when the interview tape was over with, Jeanne had asked her what happened, assuring her, she didn't have to answer now, but she would have to tell the FBI soon. She didn't know what, but something broke inside of her and she wrote everything down, everything that she could remember. Her first time ever having sex, had a been a violent and painful event and afterwards, sometimes the sex was forced or she was drugged, remembering nothing but the pain and evidence staining her thighs. She couldn't tell Jeanne how many times it happened, it happened so often, she lost count. Often times, Stephanie's food was laced with sleeping meds when the deed happened or Brittany was held in the room that she was used in for weeks on end.

Then she wrote down her true shame, her giving into the man's primal urges, letting him do those things to her. Letting him lay her on the bed, begging him to just do it, please. It meant it hurt less, he was still violent, still rough, but she didn't pass out and she became used to it that it…started to feel good. Pleasing Mister started to feel good, wanting to be near him, wanting him to touch her. Vanessa Wilkes had been right, she was a slut, a disgusting whore, who would beg for sex from their captor?

Jeanne had tried to assure her, nothing she had done had been her fault, Stockholm Syndrome occurred often in kidnapped victims. Brittany couldn't believe the woman, would not believe her. She was a sick, twisted woman, to want her captor to have sex with her.

After the meeting, Jeanne stayed with her for hours, until Alejandro tried to come in with food, but Brittany hadn't wanted to the man to see her as the monster she was and pushed them both out the room, staying in her closet, those dark thoughts looming over her until, in the late hours, she went into her bathroom to stare at herself.

She looked at herself in the mirror and covered her left eye so that her right eye was only shown. She couldn't see her own past, but she didn't need to see it. She could do it on her own will. The sounds of flesh hitting flesh, her screams, the pain of her first time and the several other times after that. His touches, so rough but then they soften and she began to crave them, she was going crazy, she was crazy, she was a monster, she didn't want to look at herself.

Brittany began to pant heavily, her vision tunneling as she gripped the sink of the bathroom, staring at her reflection. Monster, monster, monster, vile woman, vile whore, she should have been killed!

Brittany hadn't even felt her hand lift as she slammed her fist into the mirror, shattering it and once she did, she didn't stop, screaming in silence as she broke the soap dish, the container that held her toothbrush, she smashed the glass on the sink against the wall, white hot fury against herself, coursing through her body. She never felt the pain from shards sinking into her flesh, never saw the blood from her cuts, even without the mirror, she could still see that ugly, twisted monster, herself. She should end it all! Get rid of the monster!

Brittany grabbed at a mirror shard, gripping it tightly in her hand and turned, only to come face to face with Stephanie, but there was something off about the woman. She seemed to be sleep walking, her eyes closed and her body stiff. Brittany watched as Stephanie's hand came up to her forehead and her eyes opened, but instead of blue eyes, amber eyes of deep honey color, full of power looked down at her and a voice, that wasn't Stephanie's cut through the silence, not a loud voice but a quiet one, yet full of power…wait, she had heard this voice before, hadn't she?

"Sleep, little one," Stephanie pressed her fingers against Brittany's forehead, a netting of blue roses, jumping out of her fingers, covering her frame and in an instant, Brittany's eyes rolled up in her eyes and she crumpled forward, only to be caught by Stephanie as she fell deep into a sleep, a sleep she didn't have dreams with either.

When she woke, she was in her bed, with bandages on her hands and arms and Alejandro looming over her frame, his hands glowing a soft blue as he covered her wounds with his hands. The man looked over to her face, his face lined with pure concern and he asked, "Brittany, what happened? I found you in the bathroom, with wounds and broken glass everywhere."

Brittany reached for her phone and typed out, slowly, "I'm a monster…" letting the phone drop onto the bed, turning her head to look out the window, lost in those dark thoughts, that threatened to eat her alive.

Meanwhile, Stephanie woke with a start, and nearly shrieked in horror, seeing blood all over her night gown. What happened, was she hurt? No, she wasn't, but...whose blood was this? Where did it come from, what happened in her sleep!?

TBC…

Deep chapter, Alejandro's an Unmentionable and Vanessa Wilkes did more damage than imaginable...