Chapter 14 - Callie
“Everything is going to be alright”, Sheila assures me. “Like I said, this isn’t the first time I’ve done this sort of thing.”
“We really need to have a talk where you tell me everything about yourself before meeting me because… You have a much more interesting life that I ever could have imagined. It’s a bit scary.”
“My life is interesting? You’re the one that’s about to poison your brother.”
“You’re the one who has poisoned people before.”
She stays quiet for a moment before agreeing with me, “Fair point. You got me there. I guess my life is pretty interesting. But if you think poisoning is the peak of how wild my life is, then you are in for a ride, let me tell ya.”
“I feel sick.”
“Oh, that’s the pre-poison jitters. Don’t worry, even if he eats the entire cupcake, it won’t kill him…. Or it might and then, y’know, we just dispose of the--”
“No, no, I feel like I’m going to throw up.”
“Oh shit. You didn’t have any of the cupcake, did you?”
“Be serious, Sheila. God. I feel… Shit. What day is is?”
“Still Thursday the uh, 16th. Why?”
I’m late. With everything that’s been going on as of late, I haven’t been able to keep track of my period. But if today is Thursday the 16th, then I’m a week late. I should have had my period either at the end of last month or at the beginning of this one.
“Oh, shit, Callie. Did you let Declan raw you?”
“No. I don’t… He wore a condom every time, I don’t understand.”
Screw understanding the situation, now I have something else to deal with on top of everything. A possible child. Declan’s child. Jesus Christ, I’m way in over my head.
“Do you want to turn back?”
Turning back would be the smart thing to do. But I can’t turn back now, we’ve come too far. I’ve come too far. After seeing Jake this afternoon, I thought about how good it would feel to watch the police take him away along with Miranda. But the more I thought about that circumstance, the more I was reminded of all the horrible and gross things Jake has done to me. He has pictures of me, videos of me. If I’m able to knock him out cold, I’m going to grab that phone from his unconscious body and wipe everything clean. This mission isn’t just for Declan, it’s for me. Jake isn’t going to come out of this with a single victory.
“Just keep driving, Sheila.”
“Alright, but if you throw up in my car, you’re paying to have it cleaned.”
When we arrive to Jake’s place, Sheila tells me to regulate my breathing so as to not look to nervous. Unfortunately, my breathing keeps getting interrupted by dry heaves.
“Oof, that smells… sinister. Are you sure you don’t want to turn back now? I don’t mind wasting the gas. ‘Sides, you could always pay me back. I certainly wouldn’t be against that.”
I take a deep breath and look straight into her eyes. “I’m good. I’m good. We’re here. Just… Look, I don’t know how long I’m going to be in there. But if you hear any screaming coming from me, please come and get me.”
“Holy shit, Callie, what do you think is going to happen in there?”
“Jake has been known to be violent. If he’s somehow able to shake himself awake or if I have to pepper spray him before he takes a bite out of the cupcake, then I might be in for a fight. I don’t know what Jake’s limits are, but just go up the street a little bit with your window rolled down and your engine running.”
“You can count on me, Callie. Are you ready to go out there, though? Don’t you think we should call the cops for backup”, she asks.
“Definitely not. Cops are useless. Forgive me if that’s a controversial statement--”
“No, no”, she laughs, “I agree wholeheartedly. I strongly believe that cops are just assholes with badges and guns.”
“Right? Getting the cops involved before retrieving the flashdrive would be counterproductive, anyway. That’s what Declan did and nothing came of it. No crime has been committed yet. Not one we can prove anyway.”
Sheila shakes her head dismissively but decides not to speak what’s on her mind. Instead, she turns over to me with a hopeless smile. “I’m ready whenever you are. And you seem pretty ready.”
“Not quite yet”, I tell her. I open her glove compartment and pull out a miniature camera and pin it to the front of a heavily patched jacket I found in Goodwill back in high school. Who knew this ugly thing would ever come in handy?
“What.. You’re wearing a body cam?”
“Not just any body cam. A body cam made from Declan’s designs that Jake sold. Karma’s a bitch, huh?”
Sheila leans forward to study the small contraption. “Why are you going to record this?”
“If things go terribly wrong, there’ll be evidence.”
“If you’re going to be recording everything, then you better pepper spray him. I really want to see that”, Sheila jokes.
“I’ll see what I can do.”
After some more deep breaths, I swing open the door. Sheila runs out of the car and tries helping me up. Sheila’s got the best intuition because the second I was on both feet, I felt so nauseous I thought I’d be throwing up everything I’d had to eat this past month.
“Ooh, Callie, right now is probably your best chance to blow chunks before going in there”, Sheila warns me as she rubs my back delicately.
I shoot back up and grab the box hiding the poisoned cupcake from the car.
“Just stay close, Sheila. This might be a long night.”
We shared one last hug before I venture off into the belly of the beast. I look back at her and wave as she drives off to a nearby but unseen location. Walking up the steps proves difficult with the nausea I’m going through but I endure it and manage to make it to the front door. I only knock once before being greeted by the grand creep himself. He hugs me and squeezes my ass. I push him back roughly and tell him to be careful with the present I brought him.
He starts asking about the present, but we’re both distracted by the loud screeching of tires.
“Holy shit, sounds like someone’s about to get into a car crash. Wanna check it out?”
“NO”, I shout. “Uh… It’s probably nothing. Let’s go in so I can give you your present.”
Jake chuckles sleazily and closes the door behind him. He walks circles around me like a vulture before making a jerking motion towards me and grabbing the box from my hands. He opens it and scoffs.
“A cupcake. Huh. I thought it was gonna be some nice lingerie I could take off of you.”
“Sorry”, I mumble.
“Hey, it’s the thought that counts”, he says as he takes a bite from the tainted treat. “Dang. Well, that is good. Maybe keeping your bakery open isn’t such a dumb thought. Anyway, follow me.”
Jake starts walking deeper into the house but leaves the cupcake unfinished in the box.
“Don’t you want to finish the cupcake?”
“Huh? Oh, I’ll finish it later.”
“But it’s best eaten warm”, I insist.
“Callie, that thing was stone cold. I mean, it was still good, but.. I think it’ll be fine if I don’t eat the rest right this second. Do you want the flashdrive or not?”
Prying any further is just going to piss him off and make him suspicious of the cupcake, so to keep his temper at a tolerable level, I follow him to the farthest room from the front door.
“Welcome to my actual bedroom.”
I feel as though I’m in a seedy motel in the 80’s. He’s got a waterbed and some very tacky blue sea-themed wallpaper.
“It’s… different from your room at Jacob’s house.”
“Yeah, I just squat at that place. Here you can get a bit of my personality, y’know, who I am, all that.”
“You’re into the ocean”, I ask. The more I learn about Jake, the more confused I become.
“Well, no. Just the color blue. It’s my favorite color.”
There’s an awkward silence after his declaration of his favorite color, that ends when I ask him if I could have the flashdrive.
“No. I already told you, I’m going to help you one of the designs on the flashdrive to get money for your little shop of cold cupcakes. You’re not getting the flashdrive”, he reminds me angrily. “Just sit there and look pretty for me. Maybe take your shirt off. Whatever you want.”
“I’m going to have to anyway, aren’t I?”
“You’re definitely not getting any of the money unless you’re naked, so… Yes.”
Since he’s got his attention focused on his laptop trying to find a buyer, I find it pointless to start undressing. It’s not like he’s paying attention to me. I watch him scroll through a bunch of folders and type a description of the design he picked out from one of the many open folders. I try to inch a bit closer so the camera can get a good look of what’s on the laptop screen, but Jake turns his head towards me when he hears my chair squeak.
“Don’t… move… You move again, and you’re going to show me those tits”, he growls. “No, you know what, get ‘em out. You don’t seem to be taking me seriously. Take your shirt off.”
“What, what are you talking about, I was just--”
“Show me your tits, Callie”, he said in an extremely threatening tone. “I’m not playing around.”
The evil with which he spoke was undeniable. He was serious. If I even thought about stepping out of line, he would force me to do the unthinkable or worse. My only hope for getting out of Jake’s house unharmed is the melatonin flowing through his veins.
“Hold on”, I shout, “I’m sorry! I swear, I was trying to look at what you were doing. I was just trying to adjust myself. I’m really sorry if it looked like I was doing that, Jake.”
“You think I’m dumb?”
“No, I don’t!”
“Do you?!
“No!!’
He studies my face before slowly turning his attention back to the laptop.
“Don’t look at what I’m doing”, he grumbles. I hear him mumble to himself under his breath, “dumb bitch. I’m gonna see those tits anyway.”
I’m failing to understand what the big problem with me looking at what he's doing is. He knows that I've already figured out that he stole from Declan, he’s already risking a lot by agreeing to give me money he made by selling a stolen design. I won’t say anything to upset him, though. He already seems on edge, and I don’t want to push him any further. He’s unhinged, there is no doubt about it.
He has his back against his bedroom wall so I’m completely blind to what he’s doing but Jake seems to be more pissed than I realized. He keeps looking up at me and typing slower. This may end up proving to be in my favor, as the longer he takes, the more likely it is that he’ll fall unconscious before he’s able to finish posting any listings and finding a buyer. He needs to be distracted
“So, Jake”, I start in an innocently flirtatious voice.
He groans and looks up at me with an annoyed, gnarled expression. “What do you want?”
“I was just wondering why you have this place. Isn't Jacob's place bigger?”
He’s not having any of it. He sigh and says, “Sure, it's bigger but there's no privacy there. I can't bring chicks over when there's the chance that Dad could cock block me at any given moment. Besides, I can’t really tell chicks that the mansion is mine when it’s littered with pictures of Dad and Amelia.”
“So you bring women here to bang them?”
Jake shrugs. “Yeah. That and for business dealings.”
“What kind of business goes down here”, I ask.
“I guess you could say I’m a photographer. I bring people here, take pictures of them, sell them to people online. Just to make little side cash, y’know?”
“Sure. We’re all trying to make our own money.”
“Right. And I guess photography for me is like baking for you. It’ just something I’m good at and like to do.”
His demeanor seems a lot more relaxed now though I wish I didn’t have to listen to him speaking as if he’s a normal human being.
During his verbose explanation of his hobby, Jake slowly closes his eyes and starts to trail off. The cupcake is finally kicking in. It looks as though he's trying his hardest to keep his eyes open but looks like the melatonin is rendering his attempts fruitless. He looks up at me calling me a bitch before collapsing face first onto his laptop.
There’s no time to lose.
I grab a nearby backpack and stash the laptop with the flashdrive in the largest pocket. I make my way over to him and remove his phone from his jeans. Since I don’t have any idea how much of me is saved onto his phone, I do complete wipe and throw the phone on the floor. I stomp on the device until it’s just a bunch of broken glass and plastic.
I did it.
I run out of his room and head towards the front door. Only half way through the living room, I heard the rapid footsteps of someone approaching behind me. I lunge at the door but Jake grabs me away from it and throws me down on the floor, sending my purse and the backpack with the laptop sliding across the living room.
“You bitch, I don’t know what you did, but did you really think you’d get away that fucking easy? I’m trying to help you and you try to steal from me?”
Jake sends a stinging slap across my face and plunges two of his fingers down the neck of my shirt and with his other hand rips it down the middle, revealing my breasts covered only by a slipping bra. In another quick movement he tore my bra off. I try covering myself from him but he holds my hands down.
I shout for help at the top of my lungs, but the only response I receive is some laughter from Jake.
“You think anybody’s going to come for you? I have this house for a reason. Seclusion. My nearest neighbor is a mile away, Callie. But don’t worry. I’ll make this as enjoyable as possible.”
Jake continues to hold my down while he manages to slide his pants far down enough to reveal the shriveled up shrimp he calls a cock. My worst fears are realized when he starts trying to remove my pants while he disgustingly runs his tongue up my body.
My screams don’t stop the entire time he’s assaulting me and they’re finally answered.
Somebody slams their body against the door a few time, finally making Jake stop and put his pants back on. He gets on his knees just as Declan successfully kicks down the door with Sheila right behind him. The both of them stare at us with disgust and fear in their faces.
Disgust quickly turns into rage as Declan hops over me and tackles Jake to the ground. During the ensuing fight, Sheila picks me up off the ground and buttons my jacket.
“Wait”, I shout breathlessly. “The backpack.”
I escape Sheila’s caring embrace and make a break for the backpack. I ensure that the laptop didn’t fall out when the bag was dropped on the floor and equip it.
Before running back to Sheila and away from this horrible situation, I look over at Declan and Jake’s fight. To my dismay, it seems as though jake is somehow getting the upper hand. He’s like The Hulk. The angrier he gets, the more powerful he becomes. Declan is able to land some major blows against Jake’s midsection but this doesn’t do much to slow him down. I shoot my gaze back down to the living room for and search for my purse.
The second I find it, I walk over to the fight and yell at Declan to cover his face as I cover mine. Jake looks up at me and gets some pepper spray directly into his eyes. This sends him flying right off of Declan and onto the wall. The would-be rapist uncontrollably slams himself against the floor and walls of his home while he shrieks into the night.
“You girls get out of here. I’ll deal with him”, Declan declares with clenched fists.
I nod at him, allowing to do whatever he wishes to do to Jake. For a moment after seeing him fall unconscious, I was actually worried that the melatonin laced cupcake may have killed him. Just for one moment, I worried for his well being. But right now, I want Declan to cave his face in so Jake can look as ugly as he on the inside. I leave him and continue walking away from the action as I hear some crunchy blows landing on an already wailing Jake.
The cracking noise of his crumbling skull starts to turn into a more gooey noise, making me believe that Declan may be taking care of Jake for good but the punches slow to a halt just as Sheila takes me in her arms and walks me through the threshold to her car. We sit in silence for a second to recover from what had just occurred.
“We should go, right? Are you okay? Should we go?”
I don’t have very many words to say to Sheila. I was nearly raped by my own stepbrother. He held me down. He did everything but penetrate me and it would have happened had I not kept on screaming. Sheila and Declan saved me. After raping me, who knows how far Jake could have gone. He was clearly unhinged. He deserves every single direct punch to the head Declan delivered. He deserves much, much worse.
“You’ve got the backpack, right”, I ask Sheila.
Sheila removes it and shows it me. I nod upon seeing it and close my eyes for a moment. The darkness helps me focus. I’m able to gather my thoughts and recollect the events of the night. I hope this is all worth it.
“It’s Declan”, Sheila shouts looking at through the rear view mirror.
I turn towards the house and see a weary Declan walking out with some very bloodied and bruised knuckles. There’s no way to discern whether it’s his or Jake’s blood dripping from his still clenched fists, but there’s a lot of it. There’s some folded up cardboard sticking out of his pants.
I leave the car and slowly walk towards him. He notices me and turns in my direction when I’m only a few feet away from him. His chest is bouncing from his heavy breathing, but he seems to relax a bit when he gets a good luck at me. He grabs the cardboard from his jean’s waistband and hands it over to me.
“Best not to leave any trace that we were in here”, he says breathlessly.
I grab the cardboard and unfold it. It’s the pastry box I brought the cupcake in.
“Thank you, Declan.”
He shakes his head slowly. “What were you doing, Callie? What… I’m glad you’re safe but what happened? Sheila tried to explain it to me but then we heard you screaming and we just ran inside.”
“I’m sorry. But… I got your designs back. We have proof that a crime was committed. We can go to the cops with this”, I tell him.
There is a long pause between us. I’m not seeing much of an expression on his face. He’s got the thousand yard stare, but I can tell that he’s nonplussed about me continuing to pursue his stolen work. But surprisingly, Declan looks over at me and thanks me.
“I should have… I’m sorry. I was really sensitive. I should not have pushed you out of my apartment without hearing your defense and… Thank you for caring so much about me that you put yourself in danger. Just… don’t do it again.”
“Thank you for saving me”, I tell him.
“Do you want to go back to my place? We should probably leave the scene, but if you would like to talk a bit more, I’d be open to it. But you don’t have to. You’ve been through a lot today and I don’t want to put you through more distress.”
“Believe me”, I tell him, “nothing will be as distressing as the trauma I just survived. I’d love to go home with you. I definitely can’t go back home to an empty bed right now. I need someone. I need you, Declan.”
“I’ll be waiting in my car.”
The two of us embrace. Despite the horror I endured, this feels comforting. Being in his arms is like being swaddled by two firm pillows. He kisses the top of my head and whispers in an almost inaudible voice that he’s so glad I’m safe. I look up at him and kiss his lips. He seems shocked at first but he doesn’t back away. Declan, instead, holds me close and reciprocates the tenderness.
We split ways for a moment so he could get the car started and I could retrieve my purse and Jake’s backpack from Sheila.
“Are you going to be okay with Declan”, she asks.
“I will be. Thank you so much for helping me with everything, Sheila. You’re the best. I’m certain nobody else I know would have helped me drug a cupcake. If there’s anything I can do for you, you let me know.”
“A raise would be nice. I’m kidding. Just get home safe and get out of here. Who knows when Jake is going to wake up… if he’s even alive. You should probably ask your guy there.” She raises her hand and places it on my face. “You’re going to be okay, Callie. Take care of yourself and feel free to call if you need anything.”
Sheila drives off into the horizon like the hero she is. I truly would not have been able to pull off anything that happened tonight if it hadn’t been for her. She may have to get a raise.
Declan helps me into his car and transports us back to his apartment. We’re sitting in silence but it’s not an uncomfortable. After the night we’ve had, there’s not much that can be said that would carry any weight. The best thing for us to do right now is get some much needed rest.
When we arrive, the first thing I do is go into the bathroom to grab the first aid kit he thankfully owns, like a responsible adult. Declan washes his hands off with cold water revealing some significant damage done to the skin on his knuckles. I suggest that we should shower before I take care of his hands, and after closely inspecting his still bleeding hands, he agrees. We strip down and hop in the shower, still not exchanging many words.
I step out of the shower first and get the first aid kid ready. Declan steps out soon after an sits on the toilet allowing me to take care of his hands. I place them over the sink to run some alcohol to disinfect the wounds completely.
“This is going to hurt”, I warn him.
“I know. I’ve seen movies, heh. Thank you, Callie.”
I clean his wounds and dress them with the gauze tape though I fear that he may have to get some stitches. I’m just a baker, though, I don’t know much about wounds or whether or not a person needs sutures. I know very basic first aid and that’s all I can provide at the moment.
The two of us then move on to his bedroom where we lay on top of the covers looking up at the ceiling before finally breaking the prolonged silence.
“Let’s go sailing tomorrow”, Declan suggests. He doesn’t turn to look at me, he keeps his eyes trained onto the ceiling of his bedroom, almost hypnotized.
“Sailing?”
“Yeah. We have a lot to talk about… Again. I think the most productive conversation we ever had was while we were on the sailboat.”
I think about it and come to the conclusion that he’s right. I don’t have the energy to talk about any serious subjects at the moment. Tonight has been far too much.
“Sounds like a date.”