One Wild Night

"Are you saying that because you think he deserved to die for doing that to you?" Alicia asked Lucy knowingly since she did not doubt that she too would murder the motherfucker in cold-blood if he came an inch near her with his madness. 

"I don't know how I would have lived sanely knowing that he was alive after all of that," Lucy said in all honesty.

"What did he do to you, Lucy?" Alicia asked as she tried to put herself together, while Sonia took Lucy's trembling hands, wanting her to focus on her so that she would remember that she wasn't alone.

Tears fell from Lucy's eyes as she turned to meet Sonia's teary gaze while her mind traveled back to the events that took place eight years ago.

Although she was still feeling drowsy, seventeen years old Lucy opened her eyes slowly and then shut them because of the sudden onslaught of light in the room. The first thing she realized as she came to consciousness was that there was something inside her mouth, and her lips were sealed. And then she shivered involuntarily because of how cold the room was. She stiffened when it occurred to her that not only was the room cold, but she was also lying there naked without her clothes. She tried to move her arms but soon realized that she couldn't move either her arms or her legs. They were tied. She realized that she was lying on a bed.

Where was this place? What was happening to her? Lucy wondered, and then her heart skipped a beat, and she panicked when she remembered what had happened. Jamie! He had come to her house. She remained on the bed with her eyes closed as she tried to calm herself while also listening for any sound to know if someone was in the room with her. Where was this place? She wondered without moving any part of her body so that she wouldn't alert anyone in the room that she had regained consciousness.

What could she do? Fight? She could neither fight nor scream for help. Not when he had sealed her lips and tied her arms. She was at a disadvantage already because she didn't even know where this place was. 

She slowly opened her eyes again this time as she tried to take in her environment. The place looked like an apartment that was under reconstruction. The paint was peeling from the walls, but the ceiling still looked new.

"I see you are awake," Jamie greeted from behind her, his head hovering over her, and immediately Lucy twisted her neck so that she could look at him with her eyes which were wild with fear. 

She made a sound in her throat as though she was trying to say something but Jamie only smiled at her as he moved closer to the bed, "Don't worry. You don't have to say anything," he said as he reached out to comb his fingers through her hair.

"Did you know that your hair is what first caught my eyes the first time I saw you?" Jamie asked with a creepy smile that made her skin crawl as she tried to move away from his touch. 

"Your hair is too long. It hides your beauty," Jamie said with disapproval as he brushed her hair away from her face, and his fingers grazed her face in the process making her cringe.

"We should get rid of some of it. Only then will you look perfect," Jamie said as he walked away from her and then returned a moment later with a pair of scissors.

"Don't worry. I'm not going to hurt you. I wouldn't have brought you here in this manner but it seemed like you were avoiding me so I had to come to get you when I couldn't bear it anymore," Jamie said with a sigh as he grabbed some of her hair and cut them off using the scissors. Lucy closed her eyes as tears rolled down her cheeks when she felt her hair fall to the ground. 

"Your body is responding to my touch," he said with excitement in his tone when he saw her hardened nipples, and Lucy's eyes widened as she quickly shook her head, trying to let him know that it was because she was freezing.

She tried to roll away when he reached for her boobs, but her movement was limited because she was tied so he grabbed her boobs effortlessly and smiled as he teased her nipples, while she made pleading sounds as she squirmed.

"You are enjoying it, aren't you?" He asked, misinterpreting her plea to stop as a go-ahead.

Lucy shut her eyes tightly as she tried to endure the violation of her body, and the humiliation she was being faced with. Her whole body shook with shudders each time she felt his hands on her. 

"You mean he did all of that to you?" Alicia asked in a shaky voice, cutting off Lucy's narrative.

"He did so every day. Sometimes he would just stand there and jerk off while leering at me. He said that was what he did with the pictures he had of me. He said watching the real thing was even better," Lucy said, and they could all hear the tremor in her voice as she spoke with tears running down her cheeks. She had to be one hell of an actress to be able to sound so convincing.

By now Sonia was crying profusely as she listened to Lucy who was sharing her tale as emotionlessly as she could manage even though her body was trembling in reaction to the memories. She wished she could stop Lucy from going on with the story, but she also knew that Lucy had to get it all out, and if this was the method Lucy chose to use, then she could only offer her support.

Tom who was standing behind the camera was seething with barely controlled anger. He hated that Lucy was being made to share such a personal and humiliating experience to the entire world because of a silly stunt that Anita had pulled. He wanted to walk away and stop listening, but he couldn't because he knew that his presence there meant a lot to Lucy.

In Lucy's apartment, Lucy's father held her mother as she sobbed helplessly, "My baby went through all of that and I had no idea. How did she manage to bottle all of that up this whole time? How did she ever keep it to herself?"

"This whole time I pressured her about getting into a relationship without knowing all these details. I failed my daughter. We failed her as a family. We just assumed that she lost her memory of it while she kept it all inside. We should have insisted that she get help! We shouldn't have let her be," Lucy's mother continued beating herself even as her husband held her.

"She will be okay now, don't beat yourself over it," he tried to assure her even though he was very upset himself. He wished the bastard wasn't dead already so that he would deal with him for hurting his daughter.

Although Lucas wasn't happy with Lucy over what had transpired between them earlier, he couldn't keep still as he watched his twin sister on the screen sharing her painful story. He knew that he had his faults in all of this. If only he hadn't been so focused on Rachel. If only he had paid more attention to his sister, maybe she would have confided in him from the start. If only he had insisted she go with them that night, instead of leaving with Rachel because she didn't want to wait for Lucy... If only. He had many regrets, but this wasn't the time for regrets. He had failed as her twin brother in the past, he wasn't going to fail now. Seeing how glazed her eyes were, he feared that something might happen to her if she continued that way and he doubted that there was a doctor in that apartment with them. 

He stood up and walked out of the apartment without saying a word to his parents. He needed to be there for her. He wanted her to be able to look across the room and see him standing there for her. 

At the hotel where Harry and Jade were still busy watching the interview, Jade sobbed quietly as she listened to Lucy, and Harry stood up and walked away. He returned a moment later with a box of tissues and handed it to her before picking up his phone and walking away. He didn't know how to comfort her, and he didn't want to keep watching the interview. His anger seemed to be increasing with each passing second and he could only imagine how angry Tom was feeling about this. 

Once he walked into his bedroom he dialed a number, "Have you been able to find anything about the transactions she made yesterday?" He asked once the other person received his call. Although he had said he was going to get back to Tom regarding it the next day, he wasn't sure he could wait that long for it. 

"Yes, sir. I checked her bank records. She was at the bank for two separate transactions. She made a withdrawal the first time, and then she did a transfer the second time," the bank manager said. Tom and Harry were two of their biggest clients, so it was an honor to help Harry in whatever way he could. 

"Did you check the account she transferred the money to?" Harry asked hopefully.

"Yes, I did. It was to someone called Simon Bell. I will send you the details of the transaction."

"Simon Bell?" Harry asked thoughtfully.

"Yes, sir."

"Alright, then. Thank you for your help. I will recommend your bank to some of my friends," Harry promised before hanging up. 

Now all he needed to do was to confirm who Anita had made that transfer to. She might have made the transfer because she couldn't give the person cash, and that was likely because the person lived in a different city.

First, he would need to confirm from either of the Hank siblings if someone named Simon Bell worked for Bryan. That would enable him to narrow down his search. Walking out of the bedroom he returned to the living room where Jade was still staring at the television screen.

He cleared his throat to get Jade's attention, "Sorry to interrupt you. I need to confirm something from you. Do you know if anyone named Simon Bell works for your brother Bryan? Or maybe he is a friend?" Harry asked curiously even if he doubted that the person was Bryan's friend.

Jade turned to him with a slight frown, "Simon? Yes. Why?"