Stolen Virtue

This day started like any other day. It was a Thursday the weather was cold, freezing actually. It had started to snow, you could smell the freshness of it everywhere you go.

Clyde had picked me up for school, after my encounter with the triple bitches, he got even more overprotected. Whenever I turned around, he was there. I loved having him with me, but I was starting to feel a little claustrophobic.

It was two weeks since my encounter with the bitches and three weeks since the killings. Things were quiet and everyone was finally accepting me and Clyde as a couple, well almost everyone. I was starting to feel good about living my life without looking behind my back.

I had a new phone, my boyfriend was great, my best friend supported me in my decisions and I’ve been accepted into Harvard University with my boyfriend. Life couldn’t get any better. Right?

Well, everything was good except for the fact that Dillon still wasn’t talking to me. I tried everything to get him to talk to me, but he just passed me by in the halls and would ignore me completely.

I guess I deserved it because I knew he had feelings for me, but I was too selfish to put a stop it. I was so concerned with losing my best friend and by not telling him how I felt, I ruined our friendship anyway. I really missed him and I hoped that one day he’ll be able to forgive me and we can be friends again.

“Ok, so I think I’ve waited long enough. What the hell happened that night at Clyde’s party?”

We were in our free period and from the way Sanity was opening and closing her mouth every few second, I knew that something was bothering her.

I looked at her dumbly, the expression on my face clearly saying I hadn’t a clue what she was talking about. Even though the mere mention of that night brought me deep-seated fear.

Sanity rolled her eyes. “Oh no you don’t, not this time. No more avoiding the question. You are going to tell me what happened that night, you owe me that much Juliet.”

I knew she was right, but I just couldn’t bring myself to tell her the truth. I closed my eyes and sighed. When I opened back my eyes Sanity was still looking at me expectantly. As I opened my mouth to tell her a lie, I felt the guilt weight down on me like a ton of bricks.

“When I left you I ran into Clyde. We talked for a bit then he offered me a drink and I took it. I knew I shouldn’t, but I guess I was nerves and I took it anyway. I got pretty wasted, well we both get wasted, and then we started kissing… one thing lead to another and we ended up, you know… sleeping together.” The last part was said in a soft tone.

I didn’t look up at Sanity, I was sure if I did she would be able to see the lie written in my eyes. After about 2 minutes with no sound from Sanity, I started to think that maybe she’d fallen asleep. I looked up at her to see her eyes wide and jaw dropped.

She blinked a few times seeming to snap out of her shock. She leaned forward and whispered, “You slept with him, you slept with him!? I knew something happened that night, but I never guessed that. I thought you just got wasted and was too ashamed to admit it.”

I frowned at her. “Why would I be ashamed to admit that?”

Sanity gave me the ‘Duh’ expression then answered. “Really Juliet? You’ve got this thing about partying, drinking, sex and having a good time in general. Or don’t you remember?”

I gasped opened mouthed. “I do not, do I?” I frowned.

Sanity nodded sympathetically. “Yep, you do. That’s the reason I thought you didn’t want to say anything. Don’t get me wrong, I knew you and Clyde were doing the dirty, I just never thought that it started from that night.”

I blushed when she said that. However, I was smiling. She pouted her lips.

“Why didn’t you tell me? We’re supposed to tell each other stuff like that. I’m your best friend remember?”

I bend my head in shame. “I’m sorry, I was embarrassed that it happened, and not only that. I was also ashamed because it got a little rough and I didn’t know how to tell you guys. I didn’t want you or Dillon looking at me the way we looked at those girls that Clyde had slept with.”

“We would never…” Sanity trailed off, her eyes finding Dillon, who was sitting in the far end of the room ignoring us.

“Well, I would never.” She corrected. The lost look she had in her eyes matched mine. We were both missing our best friend.

“He’s still not talking you to huh?”

I asked Sanity, my eyes never leaving Dillon. It still hurts me to not be able to talk to him. I missed our time together. For the 14 years I’ve known Dillon, we’ve never argued until that day at my house.

I lost one of my best friends and the cold, empty feeling in my heart lets me know it every day.

“Nope.” She answered, turning back to me. She tried to put on a brave face for me, but I could see the hurt she was trying hard to hide and I knew that she was missing him too.

“I miss him too, San.” I placed my hands over hers to offer comfort. I saw the tears she was trying her best to not show. She sat up and shrugged her shoulders.

“Who cares about him anyway? It’s his loss if he’s willing to throw away our friendship over something so trivial.”

I was about to reply to her but she changed the subject. “I got my letter to Stanford this morning.” I smiled wide, excited for her. “You did, what did it say?” Her shoulders dropped and she looked down.

I felt my heart skip a beat. OMG! What if she didn’t get it? I took both her hands into mine and squeezed. “San?” I asked softly. She looked back up at me and squealed, “I got in, Juliet. I’m going to Stanford!”

I closed my eyes and expelled the breath I was holding. “For a minute there I thought you didn’t.” She smiled cheekily, “I know right, I am such a good actress. Maybe I should take up acting instead of law. Who knows, I might even get married to Jensen Ackles from Supernatural.”

Her eyes were closed and she sighed softly to herself. I wide grin plastered on her face. I laughed, “Isn’t he married with a kid?” Her smile fell and she pouted playfully. “You are such a dream killer.”

I shrugged. “Just thought you should know besides, I think Henry would have something to say about that.” I smiled, wiggling my eyebrows. Sanity blushed, “shut up, we’re just friends that’s all.”

“Friends who want to suck the face off of each other.”Content (C) Nôv/elDra/ma.Org.

I pucker up my lips and started making smooching sounds. It was so silly we both started laughing.

The teacher who was monitoring our free period, cleared his throat giving us a stern look. We quiet our laughing, but we didn’t completely stop.

“He did ask me out though.” Sanity said after we calmed down. My mouth fell open and I grabbed her hands. “He did, what did you say?” She did a little excited dance in her seat then answered, “I so said yes. He’s hot and sweet and he makes me laugh.”

I felt so happy for her, I didn’t trust Henry at first. However, I warmed up to him a lot, since he started to look out for Sanity and she always seems so happy whenever he was around.

Sanity stop smiling and her face took on an unsure look. “You don’t think I’m making a mistake, do you? I mean, he nice and everything but so was Billy.”

She pulled back a little and her unsure look was replaced with sadness. At that moment I wanted to kill Billy Newton myself.

“Maybe I should call it off. I might just be reading too much into this. Maybe he doesn’t even like me, or he just wants to go out as friends and I’m making a big deal out of it.” She was pouting.

“Hey,” I said, “stop that, of course, he likes you. You are an amazing person and Henry sees that. He’d be a fool if he isn’t already crazy about you. So you should go and have fun and while you’re at it, put Billy in the trash where he belongs.”

“Thanks, Juliet, you’re the best.” I smiled boastfully, “Yeah I know.” She rolled her eyes then we both started laughing, earning another stern look.

After my morning with Sanity, I felt like we need some time with each other to catch up on our lives.

“So, you wanna go shopping with me? I’m so tired of being cooped up at home or with Clyde all day, I need some girl company and some retail therapy.” I pleaded with Sanity, my mouth pouted. I gave her my best innocent puppy dog look.

She laughed, shaking her head, “Sorry Juliet, I have to babysit Purity and Clarity. My parents are going to this charity fundraiser and they don’t trust Purity to babysit by herself, so I have to do it. Maybe tomorrow we can get together and have a girl’s night.”

I sighed in defeat, “Oh alright, but I get to choose what we do and we will be discussing what I want for my birthday next week.”

Sanity laughed, “Yeah ok. Well, see ya later then. I’ll call you when I get home to bitch about the two brats I call my sisters.”

I watched as she drove off, still feeling sorry for myself. I turned to head back into the school to wait on Clyde, he had another hour and a half left of practice, before he could take me home.

I was feeling bored out of my mind and very antsy. I wanted to get out of there and do something, have some fun with my best friend. Instead, I had to sit in the hall and wait until Clyde was done. Because going home by myself was just not an option.

After waiting for about five minutes, Amy called my name. I looked up as she came closer.

“Hey, Juliet you still here?”

I sighed “Yeah, I’m waiting on Clyde. Another hour and twenty-five minutes to go. Oh, joy.” The last was said with a bit of sarcasm.

Amy laughed, “Seems like you can do with a little fresh air. Wanna come with me to the mall, we’ll only be about an hour. You’ll be back before Clyde finishes his practice.”

I jumped at the chance to go out, besides I knew I’d be back before Clyde even noticed I was gone. There was no harm in that, right?

Whilst in the car with Amy, we talked about prom and what dress we were going to wear. I told her about being accepted into Harvard and how great it would be going to the same University as Clyde. We both agreed that Clyde has changed since he’s been with me.

Amy said she had to make a quick stop at her Grandfather factory to drop off some paperwork to him.

“We won’t be long, I’ll be in and out in two minutes. Then we can go shopping and get you back before Clyde realises you’re missing and kill somebody.” She laughed.

“You got that right,” I whispered under my breath.

When we arrived at the factory, it looked creepy and abandon. I looked around not feeling so sure about leaving the school anymore.

“Where’s everybody? It looks so dead here.”

“Oh, the factory’s not opened as yet, there’s still a few loose ends my grandfather has to tie up, hence the papers,” she said, waving around a brown envelope.

We got out of the car and I followed her into the building. It was dark and cold, it didn’t look like anyone’s been there in years.

“Are you sure your grandfather is here?”

“Sure.” She said cheerily “He’s at the back in his office. Let hurry so we can get the hell out of here, this place gives me the creeps.”

She was right about that, the place did give off a creepy vibe. I didn’t want to be in there longer than I had too.

We arrived in a back room, it was definitely an office, alright. But one that hasn’t been used in forever. There were dust and cobweb everywhere. I turned to ask Amy what was going on, but she had a sadistic smirk on her face.

I took a step back afraid, then strong arms came around. I stilled for a bit then started to kick and scream. A voice I recognised said.

“Be still Juliet, it’s just me.” I stopped fighting and frowned in confusion. “Dillon, is that you?”

Dillon let me go and I spun around to look at him. What I saw made me stepped back in horror. Dillon was covered in blood, I looked down at the white top I was wearing and saw that I had blood all over it.

My hands started to shake as I grabbed at it. “Ohmygod! Ohmygod! Dillon whose blood is this? What is going on, is this some kinda joke because it’s not funny!?”

Dillon laughed an emotionless laugh. I stared at him, this was not my best friend. This person standing in front of me was a stranger. I looked at Amy and she was smiling like the whole thing was funny.

“Amy, what’s going on?” I asked almost to tears. Her eyes filled with hatred when she spoke.

“What’s going on is, Dillon’s going to take you on a little trip, one that you’re never coming back from.”

I gasped, shaking my head. This couldn’t be right, Amy was my friend and Dillon would never hurt me. Why were they doing this to me?

Dillon stepped closer to me and I backed away. I had nowhere to run, Amy was blocking the exit we came through and Dillon was in the way of the other one. I backed myself into a wall. Dillon came closer, till we were almost touching. I was shaking and crying.

He put his bloody finger to my lips. “Shh, it’s ok Juliet, I’m not going to hurt you… much. I’ve waited a long time for this. I’ve dreamt about this a million times, played it out in my head and now that it’s finally here, I’m gonna have a lot of fun making you scream.”

I shivered from his touch, it felt like hundreds of spiders were crawling all over my skin. He brought his face down to mine and I tried to turn away, but he was too strong. His mouth came down on mine in a forceful kiss and I heard Amy laughing from behind us.

Dillon pulled away then grabbed my hand. “It’s time to get this show on the road.” he started dragging me towards the exit he came thought. I tried fighting and begging, but he just ignored me.

I turned to plead with Amy. “Please Amy, why are you doing this? What have I done to you?” Amy stopped laughing and sneered at me.

“Why? Because of Clyde of course, that’s why. I’ve waited and waited for him to notice me, then you came along with your innocent smile and your virgin Marry act and he just fell for it. Well, no more waiting, I want him now and you have to be out of the picture for that.”

She stepped closer to me and trailed a finger down my face, “Oh don’t worry, Juliet. I’ll be there to comfort Clyde when he hears the dreadful news that you’re missing. I’ll give him a shoulder to cry on and a bed to sleep in, he’ll be well-taken care of, trust me.”

She turned and walked out of the room leaving me there. I screamed for her to not leave me, for her to please come back. I screamed until my lungs burned, but she never looked back.

Dillon dragged me through the door, I screamed and begged. I pleaded with him to think about what he was doing, but he just ignored me. When we were out of the room, the strong metallic scent of blood hit me, making me gag.

My eyes searched for where the smell was coming from. What I saw made me scream in horror. Blood was everywhere, and a blonde girl was lying in the middle of it. Her eyes were open, the terror in them was frightening. Her dress was hiked up to her waist. I knew she was dead and I knew that Dillon had raped and killed her.

Fear so strong took over me, I just started running. I heard Dillon’s footsteps behind me. I pushed myself as hard as I could, I knew if I just get out of the building I’d be free. I was almost there when Dillon grabbed me dragging me back in the direction of the dead girl.

I cried, “No, no, no, no! Dillon, please, please.” I felt a sharp prick in my neck and my world went black. I knew I was helpless. I knew no one would be able to stop Dillon from kidnapping me.