What can be worse than getting raped? . . . Just your rapist becoming your stepfather.

Starring: Phil Brooks, Ava Monroe, Joseline Hernandez

(Exodus members: Jax Teller, Jason Momoa, Roman Reigns, John Morrison)

Part 1

~One Thrust~

I can still remember the cologne. It's engraved in my brain. It's not a unique cologne. I've smelt it before on other boys and it would just send me on a stroll down memory lane. It was a painful stroll, and mostly… horrible.

Like just right now, a boy in my class passed by me to return his final exam and I was taking in a deep breath because I was having a problem with my math problem, the smell hit me and I froze in place. I just went back in time. I went back three years ago when I was sixteen.

"Great job, Ava, you've managed to get lost in your own hometown," I growled to myself as I hugged myself and walked down a dark street. It was pouring down. I was at the library downtown finishing my homework because I was trying to get the hell out of Kenwood.

And because I couldn't do my homework without my mom yelling and arguing with her current boyfriend; it was always the same: two weeks of happiness and the next two weeks of pure hell. So, I left the library pretty late around eight at night since it was that time it closed. I had my nose stuck in a book I was really into and I took the wrong bus.

I got off the bus just ten minutes ago because I always counted the bus stops and when I got off… I had no idea where I was. Okay, I did know, but it was the really, really bad side of town. I mean, there's bad and there's just plain terrible.

I needed to go into a store and ask, but all I kept seeing were sex shops. I was a virgin. I wasn't about to go into a sex shop with all of that freaky stuff. The other shops were closed. I checked the time. It was only ten at night. My mother would never notice me gone, but I didn't like being out late, especially in this part of town.

Neon lights hit me. I looked up and could almost cry of happiness. A bar. It was a restaurant and bar called Johnny's bar. There were several cars and motorcycles parked outside of it. I just needed some directions where to go.

I came closer to the entrance and I could hear the music playing and the sound of people playing pool. I took a deep breath and walked inside. No one paid attention to me as I walked in. I was used to being invisible. I found it very nice because I hated attention.

Attention just made me nervous. It's the main reason I never joined the debate team. But, that's irrelevant.

I made my way to the bar. When I got to the bar, I felt eyes on me. It wasn't easy for me to shrug it off. I just felt someone looking at me, so I started to look around, but I didn't find anyone looking at me, but it was just that nagging feeling of someone's eyes on me. It was strong, but I had to let it go. I called for the bartender several times, but my voice was too small to be heard over the loud music.

"Yo! Mark!" A deep voice said. "This lady wants you."

I looked at the man who helped me. He was kind of short. His hair was brown long and wavy. I was very observant and I noticed the tattoo on his neck and his ears were pierced along with his nose.

Mark came over to me and the guy winked at me and walked away.

I asked for directions. I only had to take one bus home. I walked out of the bar feeling a lot better and the feeling of someone watching me was gone.

I sat on the bench waiting for the bus. I checked my wallet.

I had the right change. I saw someone parked across the street from me. The darkness and rain didn't let me see who was inside, but whoever was, was smoking because I could see the smoke coming out of the window. I felt that chill of someone watching me again. I licked my lips out of a nervous habit, which caused me to wear Chap Stick all of the time.

The smoke stopped and the cigarette bud was flicked out. The windows rolled up and I saw the door open. Panic went through me. A bus stopped the view of whoever was going to come out of the car. I quickly got inside and paid.

I sat down and looked over to where the car was supposed to be, but it was gone now. I looked around the bus. There were only three more people, other than me. Slowly streets started to look a lot more familiar.

I was dropped off at my usual bus stop. It was only a four block walk to my house. It was just straight down. My neighborhood was dead by then. It was eleven at night. No one wanted trouble so they turned off their lights and locked their doors and bolted their windows.

One could be murdered, but no one would come forward. Not at the chance of risking your family's life or your own. The rain stopped, but not entirely. There was still the little drizzle.

I heard heavy footsteps behind me. There were boots. I told you I was observant. I started to walk faster, but I just heard a deep chuckle from behind me. I took into a run, but I wasn't the best runner and so I tripped.

I got up quickly, but a man covered my mouth and that's when I took the first whiff of that cologne. His chest was pressed against my back. One hand on my mouth and the other on my hip, he laughed and the cologne was mixed with alcohol. I knew it was Jack Daniel's because my mom drank it all of the time.

The man started to drag me backwards. He took me into one of the vandalized, empty homes. The door was already taken off. There was graffiti everywhere and there was the smell of marijuana still in the air.

It was still dark so I couldn't see what the man looked like. He took me to the living room which had a very dirty mattress on it and tossed me on it like I was nothing. I looked around to get something to defend myself with.

I didn't find anything. I looked to my attacker. He took something from his back. I started to crawl away, but he took hold of my ankle and pulled me back. I held on to the floor like my life depended on it, which it did.

He was extremely strong and heavy. He pinned my body to the floor with the weight of his body. I tried to take a look at him, but I couldn't see anything. Even though my eyes adjusted to the darkness my tears blurred my vision.

"I have no money and my mom is poor, I have nothing," I said in hopes that he wanted money.

But when I felt a pair of lips on my neck, I knew it wasn't money he wanted. I shrugged him away and whimpered.

"I don't need money," his voice said. It was alluring.

"No, please," I begged.

But it was too late. He started to remove my clothes. I couldn't do anything. Don't think I just laid down and let him take my clothes off, no I kept fighting him, but he used the weight of his body to hold me down. He only took off his shirt. My eyes adjusted to the darkness and I could see he had tattoos, but my tears blurred my vision.

Too soon, I was naked under him. I yelped when his mouth took in one of my nipples.

"Stop! Please!" I begged him. The stink of alcohol hit my face.

"No, honey, I want you so badly."

He used one hand to keep my hands pinned above my head and he used his free hand to unbuckle his belt and then pulled out his… friend. He forced his way between my legs and I felt him at my entrance.

"No, no, no."

"Yes, yes, yes," he mocked me and in a single thrust he took my virginity. I screamed in pain as he broke my hymen so damn fast and painfully.

"Ava!" A voice snapped me back.

I blinked and looked ahead. Everyone around me was gone. My math professor was giving me a worried look.

"Are you okay?" he asked me with a concern look on his face.

I nodded. "I just… got stuck on this problem."

"You're not finished?" he asked with furrowed brows. I was pretty fast when it came to math or any subject.

"I am… I was just… revising it," I lied. I didn't put an answer. I pulled back the pages of the test and turned in my final test.

It was the end of my first year of college. I was going back to Kenwood High because students weren't allowed on campus for summer vacation.

I packed up my things and walked out of the classroom.

I went back to my dorm. My roommate already left to be with her family a week ago. I was by myself. My things were already packed. I had left a message to my mom that I was going back, but I doubted that she even got it or that she cared.

I saw the plane ticket on my nightstand and just frowned. I liked my year away from home. It made me stronger. I wasn't shy anymore and I wasn't afraid of attention anymore. I was still a nerd though, but I had friends now.

They already knew I was going back home for the summer and they promised to call and to text. My plane left at four and it was two. I had to leave. I called a cab and went to the airport.

The process was long and boring.

During the flight, I remember getting some shut eye. But all I kept dreaming about was re-living that horrible night. They stopped about a year ago. I didn't understand why they were back. I had one full year of being free and suddenly I was having them again.

Maybe it was because I was going to have to pass by the house that I was raped in. I had to because it led to my house. There was no other way because where I lived didn't have two exits. Just one entrance and exit.

The plane landed and I got another cab and headed back home.

I wondered if my mother was still the same.

The last time I talked to her was four months ago. She told me she met someone knew that was changing her for the better. I didn't believe it because I knew her routine. She probably wasn't with that asshole anymore. I knew he was an asshole because my mother was just a human magnet for assholes, drug dealers, and alcoholics. Some were the combination of all of those.

The streets started to look familiar. It was around six. The sun was just about to set. I sat on the side of the cab where I wouldn't be able to see the house. I wanted to burn it down, but never had the courage to do it.

My house was… crap.

It was a single floor. It was two bedrooms and one and half bathrooms. The half bathroom was used as storage because we had no garage, so technically, we only had one bathroom. The kitchen was small and the living room was the only semi-big thing in the house. The backyard was a jungle. I didn't dare go back there not even as a kid.

I heard a rattle snake once and never again went back there.

The cab stopped at my house.

"Are you sure we're on the right street?" I asked when I saw how incredibly different my house looked.

It was still a single floor, but it was painted and the front lawn was cut and there even was a white picket fence.

"Yeah," the taxi driver said. "Nice house."

That was a first. "Thanks," I muttered and got out after I paid him. I got my things out. It was only one big suitcase and my makeup bag along with my purse. I walked down the path that led to the front door.

I was still taking in how different it looked. I looked over to my right and saw a bird feeder hanging by the window. My mom hated birds. They chirped when she had hangovers. I knocked on the door three times and heard a sweet voice say.

"Coming!"

The door swung open and I saw… a sober mom. She wore normal tight jeans and a shirt instead of her dirty robe. She wore her hair in a ponytail instead of a horrible tarantula mess. Her eyes were glowing and filled with happiness. I could actually see the resemblance between her and I now. I had her eyes. I had her smile. She was smiling?

She had me in a hug before my mind could process the amazing change in her.

"Oh, my baby, Ava," she said in a tone I could only identify as warm.

"Mom?" I asked my voice almost gone from the amazement.

She pulled from the hug and nodded her head feverously. "It's me, hun, the new me!"

She pulled me inside and closed the door behind me. I looked around the house. It was like I was literally walking to a new home. The carpet was a cream color instead of that brown color it turned to a long time ago. The walls no longer had dents of when she used to throw bottles at me or near me.

"Let's take these to your room," she said and took my makeup bag from me and led me down the hall towards my bedroom which was across from hers. She opened the door of my bedroom. There was a new bed and there were dressers instead of boxes to put my clothes. My small closet was no longer storage for crappy things and it was empty and ready for my disposal. "Do you like it?"

"When did you do all of this?" I asked, surprised.

"The second you called you were coming home for the summer, Phil and I are just thrilled to have you home," she said.

"Phil?" I turned back to her with a single raised eyebrow.

"My fiancé honey," she showed me her left hand and I saw a ring on her finger.

My eyes widened and I took her hand in mine and examined it carefully.

"But… how long have you known him?" I asked. "Last time I called you were barely beginning to date."

"Well, when it's true love there's no time limit, honey," my mom said. It was all in her tone and in her face. She was happy.

I just cared that she was happy.

"As long as you're happy," I said and smiled.

"I am the happiest I've ever been, and now that you're here, we can be a real family!" she clapped her hands which creep me out since I was new to this. "I can't wait for you to meet him. He's coming back from work in an hour. So, get ready for dinner honey."

I nodded. She left me alone.

I looked around my room again. So much to take in.

I never thought my mom could change. I wondered what was so special about this Phil guy. How did he tame a lion like my mother?