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“See?” Uncle Dave whispered, his voice the lowest it had ever been. He reached out, and his hand found my face. Trailing his fingers down along it, he stopped when his thumb ran over my bottom lip. “I knew you could still be my good little girl. You might be a older now, but you still know Uncle Dave has everything you need. Now get off the bed and drop to your knees for me.”
What could I do besides listen? It’s what I’d always done. It’s what Uncle Dave counted on. Hell, it’s probably why he came after me and not Claire. Claire always had a stronger personality. She was loud, always stating her opinion. My whole life, it’d been easy to shrink back and let her claim the spotlight.
Look at where it got me, though.
I slipped off the bed and sank to my knees. His clothes were already off, his dick growing in hardness. I did what I had to. I let him do what he wanted. I didn’t cry. When it came to my uncle, my tears had dried up a long time ago.
When you cried so much your well ran dry, you tended to get used to the emptiness inside. It was easier that way.
Once he was done with my mouth, he took me on the bed. His hands all over my body, other parts of him prodding low on me, I shut my eyes and lost myself to the emptiness that was dissociation. Everything turned hazy. It was like a switch had flicked on, and I couldn’t really feel his hands on me—or his dick. I couldn’t really feel anything.
You couldn’t feel guilt when there was nothing inside.
Above it all, though, I could still hear my uncle murmuring, “You’re my good little girl, Charlie, aren’t you? You’ll always be mine. I missed you so much.” And then, the worst part: “I’ll never let you go.”
No, he never would. People like him never let anyone slip through their fingers. They connived and schemed and did whatever they had to in order to keep what they viewed as theirs, even if it wasn’t right. People like him didn’t care one bit.
I couldn’t say how long it lasted. I didn’t know how much time passed before he was done with me, but when he was, he sat with his legs off my bed, his back straight as a rod, like he hadn’t done a thing wrong.
It was when he sat there with his back to me that he told me, “I want you to break up with Ian. Do that for me, and I’ll keep your little note a secret.” His head turned back to me, his face nothing but a black shadow. “Prove to me you’re still a good girl who can listen to your Uncle Dave.”
When I said nothing, mostly because I still wasn’t quite back in my own body, his hand gripped my face. Along my jaw, tighter than what would be considered gentle. “Do you think Ian would still want you if he knew about us, Charlie? Do you think he’d still choose you when there are plenty of other young, pretty girls out there, hmm? No. We both know he’d never touch you with a ten-foot pole if he knew you were mine first.”
He let me go after that, getting up and picking up his clothes. He threw them on and left my room, quiet as a mouse, making not a single sound.
I didn’t fall asleep after he left. I couldn’t. I lay there, naked and used, slowly coming back into myself. Bit by bit, and once I was fully aware, disgust and self-loathing filled me. I wanted nothing more than to go shower, to wash off every lingering touch, to scrub hard between my legs so I wouldn’t be stained with him.
But I couldn’t, because all I could do was replay what he’d said before he’d left my room. Brett would never touch me with a ten-foot pole if he knew the truth. He’d be so repulsed with me he’d never want to touch me again. Love would turn to aversion, and the only thing good in my life would be snuffed out, just like that.
And then, thanks to the dark thoughts my uncle had instilled within me, I began to wonder something else. What the hell was wrong with me? What was Ithinking? Asking for a serial killer’s help and then falling in love with him? Duh. Of course, it had to end badly.
It was laughable, really. My, Charlie Mulanie, trying to protect myself from a stalker when the darkness had already found me. It had found me, claimed me, pulled me in so deep I could never see the light again. I was too much of a coward to die, and my punishment would be living the rest of my life in misery.
Alone, save for the times when my uncle wanted me.
Because he had me. He could have me, whenever he wanted me, and he knew it. He’d be in no hurry to move out. Why would he, when all he’d ever wanted was right here?
Out of the two of us, Brett was the only one who had a good chance at moving on. He could either go back to Eastcreek and finish what he’d started, or he could move on entirely. Either way, his future was in his hands, not mine.
As much as I didn’t want to admit it, my uncle was right.
Chapter Seventeen – Brett
Time was a funny thing when you were upset. It ticked by so goddamned slowly, hours felt like days. A literal eternity passed before I found myself waiting on the side of the road, down the street from Charlie’s house, waiting to see her car slow to a stop to pick me up. I had my bag slung over my shoulder, full of a change of clothes along with my toothbrush and everything else I’d need to freshen up at the rec.
I couldn’t get my mind off of what happened last night. It didn’t make sense. None of it did. I’d bet my life on seeing someone in her room. My eyes never played tricks on me before. Why would they start last night?
I tried to think about it logically, without letting my distrustful and murderous nature get the better of me, but no matter how I tried to think about it, it all came down to one thing. One person, actually.
The newest person on the board. The one who, when he’d arrived, Charlie had started acting strange around. Quieter than usual. Like she was afraid to call attention to herself around him.
Uncle Dave.
I’d known from the first moment I didn’t like him, but I’d thought that was just because he was yet another man who was more familiar with Charlie than I was. It was what happened with Zak all over again.
Except Charlie never acted this way about Zak. No matter what she said or how she tried to brush it off, she was different around him. I wasn’t blind, and I couldn’t ignore the suspicion bubbling in my soul when it came to the man.
When Charlie picked me up that morning, she was quiet. I got in the car, dropped my bag between my knees, and studied her. She didn’t even look at me, which I found very strange. It was like I wasn’t even there.
