CHAPTER TWO

Chloe slept with the light on that night, letting the things she’d written down for Max reverberates in her head. Her hand had shaken as she wrote down all of the ugly names he used to call her and all of the ugly things he would say. The worst part had been when she had to put on paper the things he’d told her that night about how worthless she was and how she needed to die and how he was going to be the one to kill her. He’d whispered to her even as he was lying face down in cuffs and the medics were working on her that he hoped she survived so he’d be able to see the life drain out of her eyes when he killed her.

It still made her sick to think about it. It was still frightening and painful to remember. But she had to remind herself how far she had come. She wasn’t that weak young girl any longer. She barely retained any part of that person. It was like Kelly’s memories had somehow gotten into a different woman’s head and planted themselves there. She was a strong woman now and Jesse was a coward.

She could use that knowledge to her advantage as well. She knows that he’s not going to come at her if there are people around who might help her. He won’t risk that she’ll see him coming either. He won’t want her to have the slightest advantage. He’s going to sneak up on her and like he had Chantelle, he was going to attack her in the dark. That frightened the hell out of her, but the thought also caused an adrenaline surge that she coveted. The adrenaline would be another part of the armory she’d gathered over the past couple of years. She was going to be ready for him, no matter what she needed to do in order to prepare.

When she woke up the next morning, there was a tiny little voice in her head that wanted to call Max and cancel. That was the part of Kelly that was left. The part that wanted to tell her not to fight…it would only make things worse. Chloe was well practiced by now at snuffing out the voice and she worked through the anxiety it provoked by talking herself into taking the day one step at a time. The way she had to do it when Jesse used to rule her world with fear. Her first step was getting up. Then, she got in the shower and then dressed. She made herself eat something although her stomach wasn’t really telling her that she was hungry. She knew that she needed the energy and the protein. Before she left for the studio, she took out her journal and began to write.

July 16th,

I told one more person about my past. I guess the fact that so many people know now means this is real and it’s finally coming to a head. Part of me is terrified of that prospect to the furthest recesses of my soul and part of me is…almost relieved. I’m almost relieved that it will finally be over and I can move on with my life. I can’t think of it any other way than that. I know that the confrontation with Jesse will be unavoidable. He’s sent me that message through what he did to Chantelle if I didn’t have it clearly in my head before.

All I can do is be ready for it and keep the knowledge firmly in my head that I can do this. I have to do this. Jesse has to be stopped and my life must start again. I have all the tools at my disposal to do that. I just need to be ready to use them when the day comes. I need to keep everything that I’ve learned in the forefront of my brain along with an image of Kelly and what he did to her that night, an image of poor, sweet Chantelle who only ever wanted to help, an image of Roxi and Lexi who are firmly in my corner and most of all, an image of Derek who has become a staunch supporter and who I look at as my future. I’m ready. I’m strong. I’m capable. I will no longer live in fear.

She closed the journal and put it away, taking a deep breath before she opened the front door to the world and headed for the studio. When she got there, Max greeted her at the door. “Are you okay?” he asked her.

“I’m a little nervous,” she said. That was a huge understatement.

“That’s okay. Channel it,” he said. “Use it all, every emotion.”

Chloe nodded. “I’m ready,” she said with a deep breath.

“Okay, remember if it gets out of hand and you need it to stop, you say my name. Otherwise, I’m Jesse. Tom will be outside the window watching and filming. The only copy of that tape will be the one you take home, okay? If you want me to look at it with you to evaluate what you do right and wrong, I’ll be happy to.”

“Thanks, Max.” He reached out and clapped her on the shoulder.

“I’ll see you in there,” he told her.

Chloe went inside the glass-walled room. Knowing Tom was watching both comforted her and unnerved her at the same time. It was creepy standing in the dark, knowing that someone was watching you. She’d worn her street clothes like Max had told her to. Everything they did was to add another element of realism to the exercise.

As soon as the lights went out, the adrenaline flooded her system like an intravenous drip. Her heart was pounding and she felt like it was on the verge of exploding. Her eyes were wide, and doing their best to adjust to the lack of light. Her body was ready for flight, but first, she was going to defend herself. She was going to incapacitate him so that when she did run, she would know for sure that he wasn’t coming after her.

Chloe heard the door open and shut. A sliver of light came in and she didn’t see him, but she assumed that Max had too. She listened carefully allowing all of her senses to take part. She could hear the soft sounds of him breathing and she turned slightly, quietly slipping out of her shoes at the same time, so that she would be facing him. He wore a solid black, armored suit for these exercises, so he blended in with the darkness but as she concentrated, she could detect just a hint of his dark silhouette against the darkness of the room.

“Kelly,” he whispered. She shuddered at the name. The next time she heard it outside of these walls would be from Jesse’s mouth. “I found you, Kelly. You knew I would, didn’t you? Have you been waiting for me?” Her chest hurt and she could feel her respirations trying to rise. She concentrated on controlling them. “I hope you know that you’re going to pay for hurting me. You’re going to pay for ruining my life. You’re a stupid little cunt if you think otherwise.” God, Max was good at this. Chloe felt the goose bumps rising on the back of her neck. The voice was so close, almost upon her. She just needed him a little bit closer.

“I’m going to kill you bitch, but I’m going to make sure you suffer first.” Chloe struck out and a scream escaped from deep in her throat. It was a primal sound that would have normally unnerved her, but in this situation, it felt good. She felt her knuckles connect with his neck and at the same time she brought her knee up sideways and simultaneously kneed him in the soft part of his side. Then she moved back so quickly that she felt the brush of his gloved fingertips brush against her hair as he reached out for her. Attack! Retreat!

“You bitch! You think you can beat me?” he was coming towards her again. Attack! This time she brought her fist up in an undercut and caught him underneath the chin…Retreat! He charged at her and she spun around to run and his strong arms came out, wrapping her up in a hold with her body crushed back into his massive chest. She couldn’t breathe and she felt herself begin to panic. Max put his mouth to her ear and said, “I think I’ll wait until you’re dead to rape you…it won’t be much different. Sex with you always was like fucking a corpse.”

Channel it, Chloe…don’t let the panic take over. Turn it into anger.

She brought her foot up and kicked back hard, hitting him right on the knee cap. When he stumbled forward, his hold on her loosened and she was able to twist out of it. Attack! She turned and brought her knee up, hard. She felt it land against the suit Max wore but in her head, it was crushing against the soft tissue between his legs. Max went down to his knees cussing her as Jesse would. Retreat!

“Fucking cunt! You’re only making this worse for yourself.” He was talking in a winded voice and for a second Chloe started to worry that she had hurt Max…then she snapped back into the zone. Attack!

While he was on his knees, she kicked him hard in the face. She heard the crunch of Max’s face guard and she imagined it was the cartilage in Jesse’s nose breaking. Retreat! He fell back to the mat, but she wasn’t finished with him yet.

With Max’s words reverberating in her head… If there’s nowhere to run, you have to be prepared to kill him; she took a step back towards him. She felt more than saw his arm shoot out towards her feet. Using every ounce of strength and weight, she could muster she brought her foot down against it. He yelled and as he pulled it into his body, it drew him slightly over on his side. She began kicking him, low in the kidney area and then getting out of the way before he grabbed her. When he had curled himself into a ball, she brought her knee up and her body down. She slammed into the side of his head with all of her weight behind it. The lights came on and she saw Max there in his suit, lying on his back.

“Oh shit, Max! Are you okay?”

He laughed and pushed himself up. Pulling off the helmet he was wearing that would likely leave a nasty bruise on Chloe’s knee he said, “I’m fine, Chloe. I don’t feel a thing in this suit. But you know what?”

“What?”

“If I’d been Jesse and you would have landed that strike on my head, I wouldn’t have gotten back up.”