"By the way? How is your head? Are any memories of the night before coming back?" he asked, wanting to know more.
'You, Lucas Scott, make incredible babies. They're smart and kind and beautiful and those gorgeous deep blue eyes that can put you in a trance. Should we make more babies together?' Brooke suddenly remembered. Her mind went to her offering herself for Lucas in all her naked glory. Sweat formed on her eyebrows as worry turned her stomach to knots. Had Lucas and her slept together last night? He had said that he put her in her clothes, but was it after taking them off and taking advantage of her? No, he would never do that. He couldn't, he wouldn't, right?
"Earth to Brooke," Lucas called out to her after her long pause.
"No," Brooke replied to Lucas, burying the can of worms like she was trying to do with her ugly past. "I can't recollect. It's a good lesson that when you get drunk, you have to suffer the consequences. I should've learnt that a really long time ago - after I made the sex tape with Nathan and made a baby with you. Maybe, the third time's the charm. Listen, I am feeling really queasy. I'm going to skip lunch and just be in my room, alright?" With that, she sauntered up the stairs in a daze.
Lucas believed Brooke was feeling unwell due to her hangover and let her go upstairs. Brooke felt restless upstairs. What had she been thinking? Had she slept with Lucas? No, he wouldn't do that. He was a good guy, albeit flawed but he would never take advantage of her. Well, she had offered! Was it even taking advantage of her if she offered? She looked in the bin for used condoms and found none. Either they hadn't done the deed or they hadn't used protection. Brooke's stomach lurched again. No, he wouldn't. He couldn't.
A faint knock whispered at her door as she stood staring mindlessly inside the waste-paper basket. "Hey B, do you need some medicine? Oh! What's wrong?" he asked, seeing the horror-filled look on her face.
Brooke's eyes widened as if she was a deer caught in the headlights. "Oh nothing, just…. Nothing."
"A collection of paradoxes!" Lucas yelled, his hands going to his head in exasperation.
"What?" Brooke replied, not being able to catch the drift of his thoughts.
"You!" he replied, his voice still carrying rage mixed with a little bit of hurt. "You have grown so much since we stood in the rain and I gave that speech and yet, nothing has changed at all! You will run into buildings with gunmen for the people you love but when it comes to you, you will struggle internally and fight alone! What do you think will happen if, I don't know, you share what is wrong for freaking once in your life! I watch you, watch you struggle and I never know the extent of how bad things are. You blew that all out when I found you at a bloody strip club making money to support our child, starving yourself, living in a heatless apartment!"
Brooke looked at him and her face instantly broke into a million little pieces. Lucas' face continued to hold a million questions reflecting on his face to complement the shards he could see in her eyes.
"My head always goes to such bad places when you get this way, Brooke. It's so scary, especially since I know how likely you are to struggle with things alone." Lucas' voice cracked and turned hoarse as he said that. His voice was barely audible, only a whisper.
Brooke's head hung low. "Did you take advantage of me last night?" she whispered back. Her hair hung in front of her lowered face, covering it like a shroud.
"What?" Lucas asked, sure that he had made a mistake in hearing her.
"Did we have sex last night?" Brooke asked, her voice getting deeper and louder as she tilted her head upwards, just a smidge.
"What! No! Of course not! Why would you even ask me such a thing?" Lucas asked hotly.
"I remember, I remember last night," Brooke went back to whispering. Lucas' reaction had alarmed her, but she needed to defend her questions.
"If you remember last night, you should know that I never slept with you!" Lucas spat back.
"Okay, I don't remember the entirety of last night, but I remember being naked and offering myself to you, to make more babies with you," Brooke spoke truthfully, chiding herself internally. What had her drunk self been thinking?
"I told you that you threw up and then you showered and I helped you. Yes, you said some things, but you were drunk! And do you really think that I would take advantage of you? You really consider me to be that kind of a man! Good to know." Saying that, Lucas slammed the door and walked out.
Brooke cursed herself. Of course, he wouldn't have done that. What had made her think that? Why did she put herself in such a precarious position with him in the first place? She really felt like being alone. So, she locked the doors, shut everybody out and refused to leave her room the entire day.
"Sammy, are you awake?" Lucas asked, knocking on her door.
"No! Because I set an alarm on my phone and you took it!" Sam cried from the opposite side of the door as she got up, getting annoyed that she had no way to connect to her people.
"You know, it's safer for me to have my phone in school. There could be an emergency, I don't know! Remember how you were stuck in school with a gunman? Well, in your case you ran into school despite a gunman!" Sam complained as she opened the door to head to the bathroom.
"It's a great thing that I work in the same school so I'll be around in case of an emergency and Sam, never joke about guns," Lucas said, not taking the joke lightly.
"Yeesh, calm down," she said, closing the bathroom door behind her.
She came down thirty minutes later and complained, seeing that nobody had brewed any coffee that morning. She quickly began to brew a pot. Lucas walked down ten minutes later with Jamie in his arms.
"Where's Brooke?" Sam asked, surprised that her mom was still cooped in her room.
Lucas simply shrugged his shoulders. The truth was that he was deeply hurt by Brooke's accusation. He could deal with the fact that Brooke didn't trust him because he had cheated on her. He could swallow the fact that Brooke hid his son from her because she believed that he and Peyton were together, but the mere idea that she would think that he would take advantage of her left him angrier than he knew he could ever get.
"Are you and Brooke fighting?" Sam asked rhetorically. She wasn't dumb. Brooke had locked herself in her room. She refused to even come out for a single meal. Lucas was brooding and usually he would be all over Brooke trying to get her to eat, yet he hadn't so much as tried to knock on her door. Sam's question was nothing more than a courtesy question to dig further into the root of the problem.
"No," he replied, unconvincingly.
"What did she do this time?" she asked. Sam was an impatient girl. She had tried gently prodding him for the answer, but she preferred a direct approach.
"Stay out of it, Sam," Lucas said in a no-nonsense voice.
"Fine," she said, holding up her hands to prove her innocence.
When it was time to drop the kids off to school, Lucas sighed. Brooke had not even stepped out to say goodbye to Jamie. He didn't know if she was beating herself up about what she had accused him of doing or that she thought he was capable of such heinousness. Either way, Lucas was just fine not seeing her.
"Sam, hi!" Quentin greeted her. He was waiting by her locker for her. Sam couldn't help but smile wide, seeing him there waiting for her. "So, how long is your prison sentence?"
"A month!" Sam whined.
"Oooh! I only got a week! My Mama is used to me sneaking out at this point. So, do you want to sneak out again tonight?" he shrugged it off like it was nothing. Hearing that, Sam felt conflicted. Maybe Lucas was right. He wasn't exactly a stellar example of a boy who followed the rules. She quickly brushed those thoughts away. Sam was really trying to keep herself on the straight and narrow. She had lived the delinquent life and got into trouble wherever she went. She had worked really hard to thrust that part of herself aside. Quentin could open that box very easily. If she messed up epically, Brooke and Lucas could be deemed unfit to take care of her and she could screw up the adoption. Yet, Q was fun! She wasn't stupid. She could follow the rules and choose not to do anything stupid.
"No, I can't. Brooke and Lucas are tough when they lay down the law. I'm on lockdown for the next month," she sighed.
"Are you sure? I have some friends at Duke, boys who played in my Basketball League and were offered scholarships there. We still keep in touch. They told me about this sick party that they are having tonight!" Quentin offered.
"Sorry, Q, but no!" Sam said. She quickly pulled her books out of her locker for the first period and walked away. Sam was annoyed. How was it fair that Q got to sneak out, go to parties, get basically no grounding time and not even follow the limited time he did get while she had to obey and surrender for fear of the adoption going south? It wasn't fair! Why wasn't she allowed to be a dumb teenager who messed up? Even Brooke and Lucas got to be dumb teenagers!
Sam stormed into class, annoyance was clearly written on her face. She huffed and sat down on her seat, folding her hands in front of her chest in defiance. She was getting really mad at Brooke. Her behaviour the previous day was childish, locking herself in the room. Lucas was no help either, keeping Sam in the dark about what was going on. Brooke was still acting like an immature teenager, pouting and refusing to come out of the room, and that was okay. However, if Sam did it, she was grounded. If she misbehaved, she got the think about the adoption speech. It was so hypocritical!
"Hey, are you okay?" Jack asked from the adjacent seat, picking up on Sam's energy.
"Yeah. It's just that Brooke, my foster mother is a bitch and I don't get to be a teenager and there's too much pressure on me. I wish somebody would just put her in her place, put all the stakes on her!" Sam yelled, not thinking twice about the words spilling out of her mouth.
Jack went to say something but their teacher entered and the moment passed.
Brooke never slept that night. She was taking her accusations too hard. She didn't step out of her bedroom until she saw Lucas' car pull out from their large driveway. She felt miserable. How had she been that stupid? It was her mistake to drink a copious amount of alcohol. Nobody shoved the liquor down her throat. Now, she didn't want to face him, which was hard given the fact that they lived together. The only reason that they were even living together was so that he could help her adopt the girl she considered her daughter. He had taken care of her, done her more favours than she could ever repay him in her lifetime and how did she thank him? Another sob erupted from deep within her as she strained herself to control her emotions. No tears fell. She had already cried them all out. She realised that she was spiralling and the best way to get through was by keeping herself busy. Old habits die hard and Brooke was no exception. She had started Clothes over Bro's to get over a broken heart and that day was no exception. Brooke went and took a scalding hot shower. After getting dressed, she left for the corner of Front and Grace. The renovations of the office were almost done. If the last few years had taught her anything, it was that getting your hands dirty and working hard consistently does pay off. She planned on doing just that. Life had thrust her into learning discipline and humility. The boutique space on the ground floor was complete. The store was a soft lavender with elegant mannequins and chic racks and displays. Bright white light fixtures had been installed to help in showing off her designs and it was time to set the hangers and plan the layout.
Brooke walked briskly to the store. She really did need a car for herself. She missed her powder blue Volkswagen bug. Brushing her thoughts aside, she focused on the steps ahead of her. Her stomach welched. She hadn't eaten in a while, but the thought of food made her stomach lurch as it served as a painful reminder of her horrendous accusations.
She really wanted to be alone that day, but she knew that she had to pick Jamie up from school. She quickly picked up her phone and asked Karen if she could get Jamie and keep him for the day as she had work to do at the store. Karen was more than happy to oblige. She texted Lucas that Karen was going to pick Jamie up and keep him, but she offered no details about why she couldn't get him or where she was. She doubted that he cared to know.
When Brooke reached the store, she could hear the drills going off on the top floor which was to serve as an office space. She wanted to be left alone, so she didn't bother going up to greet the workers like she usually would. Taking a leisurely stroll across the boutique, she smiled hearing the sound of her boots against the exquisite and tasteful hardwood floors. She desperately wanted to close her mind, so she picked up a brook and began to sweep the debris off the floors of the newly finished boutique. Soon, she got into a rhythm. The floors were covered in dust, bits of wires and dried cement flakes. She swept and mopped, cleaning the store. She knew that she wouldn't be able to display any outfits yet, but she could plan the layout of the racks. She pushed and dragged objects and planned. When she was satisfied with the layout, she sat in a corner and began to sketch new designs. She stayed there even after the workers were done with their shifts for the day.
The thoughts did not leave her. Her mind was still stuck. It was like someone had made a blown-up poster of Lucas' hurt face and stuck it in front of her line of sight. She couldn't shake off the image no matter how hard she tried. Regardless, she powered through. Her sketches became more detailed and minute as she tried harder to distract herself, but silence was her biggest enemy. She was alone out there. Nobody could distract her but herself. So she sketched until the night grew darker.
The lights in her store were off since she was weary of whether it was safe to use the electricals. As dusk was turning to night, Brooke was using the torchlight of her phone propped up and angled by her purse. She thought about going home, but Lucas' face danced in front of her eyes once again and the 21-year-old self in her begged her to stay put so she did not have to deal with that. Brooke sighed. She knew that she was tossing Jamie's responsibilities on Lucas and she didn't like that, but it felt so much worse to face him.
Brooke added more pressure to the pencil on the paper. She had been holding on to so much. She was only 21. Her life since she could ever remember was to take the blows, dump the pain deep inside and conceal it from the world. Not even Peyton knew how bad the fights were between her parents, how they threw glass objects at each other and never cared to clean up afterwards, forgetting that they had a child in the house who didn't know better than to step on glass. Brooke learned quickly though. Nobody knew how her parents would leave her with the help and take off for days without any prior notice. Everyone knew that Peyton lived alone, but Brooke never told anyone that she did too and that was why she spent the better part of her days and nights at Peyton's. She concealed it well. Nobody knew that the most popular girl in school was probably the most scared of all about not being good enough because her parents never cared to call. Nobody was that worried when her parents lost all of their money or when Lucas, her first and only real boyfriend cheated on her twice. She was skanky Brooke! She would sleep with another jock and get over it, right? After all the best way to get over someone was to get under someone else. And New York was a whole other can of worms. She wondered where her parents were as she coloured into the top that she had been working on, squinting her eyes to see in the minimal light. Did they ever think about her? She had changed her number and never attempted to make contact with them after her mother threw her out onto the streets with only the clothes on her back.
Suddenly she heard the door open and close at the front. Brooke's head shot up. She wasn't expecting anybody. She was proceeding to stand up to see who was there when a hooded figure emerged in front of her.
There wasn't even any time to scream. The man came and threw her onto the floor. She fell facefirst into a display that she had set up with a great deal of precision that afternoon. Brooke whelped in pain and tried to get up and run when the man jumped at her. Brooke did not even know what to expect as the man started punching her ruthlessly. She tried to clamber away, eliciting moans of pain and cries until the next quick blow to her face had blood filling her mouth. He scratched wherever he could as she tried to escape. She tried to fight back, but her weak punches only had him grinning. He punched her face and her eyes until she was so weak that he was certain she would not be able to stand up on her own. Brooke's vision was blurry. She was losing consciousness as she saw him pick up her designs and her phone and purse.
"Have a nice night," he said as he began to walk towards the door. Suddenly his eyes fell onto the diamond ring Brooke had on her finger. He walked back towards her and began to slip the ring out of her finger.
"No!" Brooke tried to say. It came out as a whisper, barely audible. She was losing consciousness quickly. The hooded figure gave one last blow and it all turned to darkness for Brooke.
Lucas and Sam had gone to Karen's after school to pick up Jamie and they had ended up spending time over there with her, Andy and Lily. Sam could not believe the size of the estate that Andy owned and the fact that he had a stream in his backyard. Besides, it was fun running around and playing with Lily and Jamie while she had no access to a phone or the TV.
"Stay for dinner. Call Brooke and ask her to come here, but wait, how will that poor girl get here? Oh, Andy, should we help her get a car?" Karen asked.
"Mom, I have tried. Brooke won't take any more favours from us. But, let me call and check where she is," Lucas replied, exasperated by Brooke's stubborn and difficult behaviour.
"Is something wrong, boy? Are you and Brooke in a bad place?" she asked.
"No, why?" Lucas replied defensively. He couldn't possibly tell his mother what Brooke had accused him of.
"Nothing, just that you don't know where she is," Karen replied nonchalantly.
"Mom, Brooke is her own person and she is an adult. She does not need to tell me about her whereabouts," Lucas defended her to make it look like it was normal.
"Yeah, but you are living together and raising kids together," she said matter-of-factly.
"Yeah, but we aren't together together. I'll call her and ask her where she is, okay?" he asked, to get her off his back.
"That's my boy. Offer to pick her up from wherever she is," Karen said and turned her attention back to the lasagne that she was pulling out of the oven.
Lucas picked up his phone and tried calling her, but Brooke didn't answer.
"Where is she? Is she coming?" Karen asked.
"She didn't answer. But it's alright. There's a tonne of food in the refrigerator back at home. I make sure of it," Lucas said. Both mother and son gave each other a knowing look. Their thoughts had flashed back to the contents of the refrigerator in Brooke's dumpster apartment in New York.
"Did I tell you how proud I am of you? You've stepped up so well this year and you're taking great care of that girl," Karen said.
'If only she thought that too,' Lucas thought to himself but did not say out loud to his mom. He simply gave her an appreciative nod before going outside to call the kids to wash up and get ready for dinner.
Although Lucas had said that Brooke had enough food at their house, Karen packed a plate of lasagne for Lucas to take back with him for Brooke. While they were leaving, Karen gave Lucas another worried look regarding the absence of knowledge about Brooke's whereabouts, but Lucas pretended to not get it.
They got home and Sam offered to help Jamie with his bath and put him down for the night. Lucas had learnt how protective Sam was of Jamie in the limited time that he had been living with them. Yes, Brooke and Lucas helped Jamie, especially with his morning routines, but Sam had been raising Jamie pretty much on her own while Brooke struggled to keep the lights on and set food on the table while simultaneously planning for their futures. It was only natural that Sam was really possessive about taking care of him sometimes. Yes, she enjoyed the freedom and Quentin's company, but she still loved Jamie to bits and Lucas knew that. So, whenever she offered to help with Jamie, he quietly stepped away and let the siblings do their thing.
"It's late. Where is Brooke?" Sam asked, coming to the living room when it was close to 9:30 p.m. "Jamie's down, by the way."
"Thanks. I've actually tried calling her three times while you were with Jamie. I really expected her to be at the house," Lucas replied.
"Does this have anything to do with the fight that the two of you are clearly not having?" Sam asked with an eye-roll, her arms crossed at her chest defiantly.
"I don't know. I guess," Lucas replied, tired of playing games.
"I don't know Tree Hill well enough. Where could she be?" Sam asked.
"A dozen places. The bar, under the bridge, the beach, the river court. I don't know! I can never guess Brooke and her crazy mood swings!" Lucas answered irritably while he tried Brooke's phone again. This time the call went straight to voicemail instead of ringing, indicating that she had turned off her phone.
"Great. She is so annoyed with me that she turned her phone off!" Lucas said bitterly.
"What happened?" Sam asked, feeling a little scared.
Lucas immediately got his tone and expressions in check. "I'm sorry. It wasn't something really bad. Just something to do with Brooke and her excessive drinking at Tric. She is being dramatic. I am sure she will be home soon."
"But, is it safe? She is going to be walking," Sam asked.
"Yeah, Tree Hill is quite safe. Don't worry. Brooke knows how to take care of herself. Why don't you get some homework done?"
"Okay," Sam replied wearily and went to the kitchen table to do her homework.
Lucas put on a game in the living room that he was supposed to review for his coaching job, but his attention was affixed to the sound of the door opening and closing, which never came, and his phone, which never rang.
"Luke, it's 11," Sam said, coming out of the kitchen and to the living room.
"I know. Grab Jamie, let's go," Lucas said, getting up and picking up his keys.
Brooke slowly regained her consciousness. She tried to wake up but she felt extremely dizzy. She tried to sit up and make sense of her surroundings, but it was all dark and blurry. Her head was pounding, her entire body ached and she felt her body want to give up again and completely shut down. Brooke fought that feeling with all her strength as she tried to remember what accident had caused all of that. Suddenly, like a flash of lightning, she remembered the man. Panic erupted from her as she feared the worst. She looked down, but the sudden moment made her gasp in pain as she felt a horrible head rush. Through blurry tear-filled eyes and tried to check if she had all her clothes on and sighed with relief that the man hadn't raped her. Next, she tried to check her body. She had been flung through a table. She could see the shattered pieces of glass and clothing racks spewed on the floor. Brooke could see cuts and bruises all over her hands and legs. She also felt her chest ache, but she could not look through the fabric of her clothes to assess the damage. Her face and head hurt the most. Brooke tried to stand up and leave the space, but she felt so much pain that it was easier to remain on the floor. Thoughts of Jamie and Sam came to the surface of her mind and she tried to stand up again, moaning at the slightest movement.
Brooke looked around for her bag and phone stupidly and remembered that she had been robbed. She cautiously stepped out of her store and looked around every corner before walking in the direction of the house. Everything ached as Brooke hissed with each footstep. Her house seemed so far away at that moment and she was in deep pain. She was scared of coming in contact with her attacker again, she was terrified of passing out in the middle of the road. Hell, she was afraid of dying and abandoning Jamie and Sam. She whispered their names under her breath as she tried to pick up the pace. It wore her out and her entire body erupted into numbing tingles. Brooke stopped to try and catch her breath. The streets were empty. Nothing but a lone car passed by her every now and then. She guessed that it must be late. She wondered if everyone was worried about her. New York was so different, given her job there. She never got home until four or five in the morning. Sam was always sleeping. Even if she were to ever get in trouble, nobody would come looking for her. Sam would simply assume that her job ran late. She couldn't tell if things would be any different though. Sam was probably sleeping and she had fought with Lucas so he could think that she wanted time apart. Yet, deep down she knew that they would be worried.
"Lucas, where is she?" Sam whispered urgently to him as they drove around. Jamie was asleep in the back and neither of them wanted him to wake up. She turned behind to check on her baby brother in his car seat and sighed, grateful that he was still tuckered out.
"I don't know, Sam!" Lucas whispered back, equally tensed. They had checked the Blue Post, Tric, the River Court and the bridge Peyton and Brooke would sit under. Sam had already called Haley and Peyton and both had confirmed that they had not heard from Brooke but they would call back immediately in case they did hear from her. "Maybe she got back home? Try her cell phone once again."
Sam did as she was told, but it went straight to voicemail. "Lucas, I'm worried."
"Don't worry. Your mother is very strong. She will be alright, Champ. I just know it," he replied and began to drive by towards the beach, hoping that they would find Brooke there. "We won't stop looking until we find her. You keep trying her cell phone and look out for her on the streets."
"Should we ask Haley and Peyton to get out and get looking too?" Sam asked. She wanted all hands on the ground. "Should we go to the police?"
"Brooke doesn't become a missing person until 24 hours have passed and we knew she was home in the morning. We will have to wait. I'm sorry. Don't worry. We will find her."
"Can't Andy do something?" Sam asked, feeling desperate. She had no real idea about how safe or unsafe Tree Hill was.
"Wait, Andy! She could be at her store!" Lucas said, swerving the car to drive to the corner of Front and Grace.
Lucas loved the space his mother owned. That cafe had been his sanctuary for as long as he could remember. The smell of his mother's coffee brewing at Karen's cafe was what Lucas associated with home. His mom had opened the shop when he was only a few months old. Keith had been her first customer. Every time Lucas was in a dilemma, he would run there to his mom. When he got older and he didn't go to his mother with all his problems, he would spend hours upstairs with Haley, planning their lives and making predictions every single year. He couldn't wait to share that tradition with Jamie. He had been so upset when Karen decided to close her shop. It made sense since she wasn't living in the country, but it had been a difficult thing to see go down. He was so happy that Brooke would carry on her legacy.
Lucas drove to the store and saw all the lights in the store were off. Sam did not wait though. She got out of the car and began walking to the door.
"Sam, I don't think she will be here. The lights are off. The door must be locked," he called out from his Mustang. He could not leave Jamie in the car. However, just as he said that Sam tried the knob and the door swung easily with a flick of her wrist.
"Wait for me," Lucas said, an eerie feeling creeping in his gut. He went to the backseat and lifted Jamie in his arms. Sam looked at him with worry-filled eyes.
"Can you grab him and wait here?" Lucas asked as he slowly pushed the door to the almost finished store open.
Neither of them was ready for the sight that greeted them inside. They saw shards of broken glass, strewn displays, broken hangars and the worst of it all, blood all over the floor.
"Brooke!" Lucas cried as he ran inside in search of her. Sam ran inside behind him.
"No! You need to go to the car and lock the doors until I come to you!" Lucas yelled at Sam.
Jamie woke up suddenly with the loudness of Lucas' voice and began to cry.
"I am so sorry to wake you, Jamie. Don't worry. Sam is going to take you to the car right now," Lucas said in a hopeless attempt to console his son. The truth was that Jamie was so far away from his mind.
"No! You can't do this alone! We don't know what this is exactly. We need to call the cops!" Sam yelled.
"Not until I find Brooke. Please take Jamie and lock the car. Go!" he reiterated.
"But Lucas!" Sam retaliated.
"Please, listen to me!" Lucas had no time to waste. He did not even look back to check if Sam was headed to the car. He quietly began to check every spot of the building.
Brooke staggered the last steps to her house. She rang the doorbell, but nobody answered. She had no energy to stand. She really hoped that Lucas was on his way to the door. Finally, she gave up and sat on the front steps, completely spent. She leaned her weak body against the front steps of the porch, waiting for Lucas or Sam to come to the door. The perp had stolen her purse, so she did not have her house keys anymore. They had a pair hidden under a plant, but the pot was too heavy for Brooke to lift. She just stared at it until she felt herself passing out again on the steps of the house.
As soon as her eyes began to close, she saw the hooded figure again in front of her eyes. She couldn't stay outside. She had to get in! Brooke felt like she was shredding her insides as she stood up again and walked to the flower pot that concealed the spare key to the house. She almost cried, surmising its weight.
Taking shallow breaths, she tried to stifle her shrieks as she struggled to lift and move the flower pot. It took far longer than it should have, but she finally retrieved the key and walked inside.
She was greeted by darkness when she entered the house. It was empty. She wondered where her family was, but she also had to concentrate on getting up the stairs. Brooke's body was giving up, but she powered through, putting one foot in front of the other. As soon as she was inside her room, Brooke entered her bathroom and looked at herself in the mirror.
Horror struck her when she saw her reflection in the mirror. Her eyes were deep purple and sunken. Her lip was torn and blood was oozing out of the cut. Her face was completely swollen. Her hair was matted with blood and sweat. Her arms had scars like claw marks. She was unrecognisable. Brooke tore off her clothes, wanting to wash away the lingering feeling of the man on top of her. She didn't bother checking the temperature of the shower, she simply jumped in. Her body jerked in response to the rivulets of water falling forcefully on her raw skin. She looked at her body. Her thighs had matching claw marks as her bare hands. She had been wearing a dress. Her breasts had bruises that looked like fists had collided with the soft flesh harshly. Every fibre of her body ached and she couldn't help but scream and cry as she washed away the remnants of the attack and the memories that filled her head.
When she couldn't take the water anymore, Brooke got out of the bathroom. The thought of putting on clothes made her want to cry. Her body prickled as if a thousand stinging needles had been set on fire and were piercing through her bruised flesh. She put on a strapless bra and a pair of panties before crawling into bed. Her back hurt from colliding with a table, so she gently tried to get to her side. Brooke thought she would burst out crying as soon as her head collided with the pillow and she could feel her comforter underneath her. However, that did not happen. She lay there, stoic, with her eyes wide open until the weariness finally beat her and it all turned black.