Chapter 74

Rowena

That day passed by in a blur. Everywhere I went, it felt as though a thousand eyes were trained on me—judging, scrutinizing my every move for any hint of guilt or truth. I knew that no one could tell yet that those were my glasses taped to the bulletin board, but the weight of it all still felt like it might crush me.

I kept my head down, avoiding conversation and eye contact wherever possible. Dr. Reynolds’ battered face had quickly become the center of attention, and Heather’s rumors were on the verge of becoming a veritable witch hunt.

That day, I didn’t see Eric. I wished that I had.

I wanted nothing more than to confide in him, to find solace in his presence. But I knew I couldn’t. Not with this—not when even the slightest slip-up could wind up revealing everything.

Or at least, not when it could reveal Heather and Dr. Reynolds’ twisted version of the truth.

Around lunchtime, I thought that I might be able to get through the remainder of the day without incident. No one had guessed who was involved in the scandal yet, and I figured that if I just kept my head down and went to my classes, that everything would be fine.

That was, until the headmistress’s voice came on over the loudspeaker.

“Attention warriors,” her voice rang out, causing the loud cafeteria to fall silent.

“Effective immediately, there will be a full investigation launched concerning the incident that took place within these grounds.” She paused, and there was a murmur throughout the cafeteria. “Rest assured, the perpetrator will be identified and disciplined to the fullest extent of our school’s policies—no exceptions.”

I felt my stomach drop as the cafeteria returned to its earlier din, murmurs of anger and hatred filtering through my ears. “Good!” I heard voices say. “Find the witch! Find the rapist!”

I wasn’t sure exactly what happened after that; all I knew was that I was standing from my seat, leaving my unfinished lunch behind, and moving.

I didn’t stop moving until I was safely ensconced in my bedroom back home, the door firmly bolted behind me as I sank onto my bed in a daze. This was it, I realized with a sense of dread.

This was the beginning of the end, one way or another—either my dirty little secret would be exposed, or Dr. Reynolds would get away with what he had done.

And, perhaps most importantly, Heather would win either way.

Gripping fistfuls of my hair, I squeezed my eyes shut and fought the tide of panic that threatened to drown me. I had to feign illness, take the rest of the week off of school. But no, that wouldn’t work either; people would notice my absence. The rumors would spread.

I was fucked. Thoroughly fucked.

My eyes snapped open at the sound of a soft knock then , my head whipping around toward the doorway.

“Rowena?” Eric’s muffled voice drifted through the door. “Can I come in?”

With a resigned sigh, I rose to my feet and unbolted the lock—although I made no move to actually open the door. Eric let himself in, his brow furrowed as his gaze swept over my no doubt haggard appearance.

“Do you want to talk about it?”

I opened my mouth to respond, to wave off his worry with a dismissive quip, but… nothing came out. Unable to summon the words, I simply shook my head and sank back down onto my bed—hugging my arms across my chest as a shudder quaked my shoulders.

Eric’s expression softened. With a soft sigh, he crossed the room and settled onto my bed next to me. For a long, tense moment, neither of us spoke.

“Rowena,” Eric finally began, “I know that this whole thing with Dr. Reynolds has to do with you. I need you to tell me everything if you want me to help you.”

I stiffened, feeling as though I had just been utterly exposed. But then again, it made sense that he knew; it was all too obvious. Of course he knew. Maybe not the finer details, but… he knew.\

With a shuddery exhale, I dipped my chin. I squeezed my eyes shut against the sting of hot tears pricking against the backs of my eyes. “He… he attacked me,” I whispered, keeping my eyes closed as though that would somehow make it all easier. “He tried to force himself on me when I was alone with him at the infirmary. I didn’t know what else to do, so I grabbed an ashtray and hit him. Hard. And then I ran.”

The next few seconds seemed to stretch into an eternity as my words hung between us. Then, without warning, Eric’s arms were around me—his strong frame enveloping me in an almost painfully-tight embrace as he pulled me flush against his chest.

“I’m so sorry,” he murmured fiercely against the top of my head, his lips brushing my hair with each word as he pressed a lingering kiss there. “I’m so sorry that sick fuck did that to you, Rowena. I swear to god, I’ll make him pay for what he did…”

I clung to him desperately, balling the soft cotton of his t-shirt up in my fists as the first sob escaped my lips. No matter how hard I tried to hold them in, they came one after the other, shaking my frame and making me feel utterly pathetic and weak.

But Eric simply held me tighter, rocking us gently back and forth as we sat curled up together in the dim light of my bedroom.

“What are we going to do?” I finally managed to rasp out after what could have been hours or just minutes—I couldn’t even tell anymore. “If we go to the headmistress, to the police… He saw what we did in my office, Eric. And he said he would tell everyone.”

For a long stretch, Eric was silent—drawing back just enough to cup my face in his calloused palms, his thumbs brushing away the damp trails of tears streaking my cheeks.

“I wish we weren’t siblings,” I choked out with a wry, mirthless laugh. “This—everything—would be so much easier.”

As soon as the words left my lips, Eric’s shoulders went rigid. His jaw clenched hard, his lips pressed themselves into a thin line as he studied my face with an inscrutable expression burning in those blue eyes of his.

When he spoke again, his voice was like a choked whisper.

“I know, Rowena. Believe me, I know…” With a sigh, he drew me back into his embrace, cradling my head to his chest as he began to rock us again. “Don’t worry. I’m going to handle this, just like I always do. You’ll be safe. I promise.”

I clung to him as fresh tears spilled out, silent this time but just as painful. Eric continued to hold me, whispering softly against my hair as his hands rubbed slow circles on my back.

I wasn’t sure, exactly, how long we stayed like that; but it was long enough, apparently, for exhaustion to finally take hold of my body.

At some point, I felt Eric move us up toward the pillows, draping a throw blanket over the two of us. He cradled me there against his chest until the soothing rhythm of his heartbeat finally lulled me to sleep.