Dorhaven, 20th November 2010
"Hows she?"
A young man named Kale asked with a voice filled with worry. His eyes kept taking a glance at the girl who was sleeping soundly in a hospital bed. The girl seemed at peace as if she had no burden. But he knew it was only a fake reality. His sister was not okay. He saw the terror on her face when she first woke up yesterday.
What surprised him was, despite feeling scared, Kathrina didn scream. Instead, she only looked restless while everyone was busy examining her. She had not spoken yet, but he and his family were still trying to make a conversation with her.
"Better than yesterday. She asked for a hug this morning."
His mother replied. There was a sign of exhaustion mixed with guilt in how she answered.
"How about the case? Have they found the culprit?"
"No, they haven . They wanted to talk with her, Kale." His mother said while sobbing, "They wanted her to remember everything she did with the culprit. They wanted my daughter to describe every single thing, Kale. Everything."
Kale took his mom into his arms. His moms body shook uncontrollably. It has been like this since last month. His mom always got hysterical when she thought about Kathrina. Kales heart bled each time his mom cried in agony. He, too, wanted to go crazy but couldn . His mom and dad need him to be a pillar. They needed someone to hold on to. So, he had to be the calmest in this situation.
"We should let them talk to her mom. It will help them to catch the culprit. We don want Kathrina to live in terror, don we?"
He felt his mom nod in his arms. Kale exhaled with relief. Now he only needed to talk with his sister.
***
The second Kale entered her ward, Kathrinas stomach felt weird. She looked at him and noticed a glass of coffee in his hand. She froze with horror, and fear started to climb on her skin. It must be her imagination. The man won be here. She was safe. There was two police officer in front of the room, and they should arrest him. Why would they let him pass so easily? Did they work for him?
"Kath?"
That voice. The man was here to take her back, and no one would help her.
"Kath, hey…" Kale touched his sisters stiff body. Alarmed, he pressed the button near her bed. "Kath, can you hear me?"
Kathrina was gone in her mind. She could feel the mans hand stroking every inch of her body, and he laughed at her with satisfaction. Why couldn she die? Why did he have to torture her like this? It might be better if he finished his needs and killed her.
See you soon, Kath. His words kept ringing in her ears as a sign that she would never be free from him, and now he came to claim her as his.
Tears flowed down her face as she felt him touch her hand and feet. He wanted to tie them again. She tried to kick the hands that touched her, but her strength didn match his. In the end, she always came as a loser.
"Sleep, sister."
Kales voice broke, and he blinked his tears. His sister, he couldn watch her like this. He wanted his carefree sister back. He needed to solve this. He had to slay his sisters demon, or he would go crazy.
***
Dorhaven, 29th November 2010
Kale, his mother, and his dad stayed silent as they watched Kathrina and the detective talk. She had given her permission to the detective yesterday. His family still forbade her before, but she said she wanted to be free from her nightmare, so they accepted her wish.
"The one who took me is a man," she started. Her eyes wander to the windows. She didn want to look at her family or the detective. She didn want to burden herself with their guilt and pity. She had had enough of those. "I think he should be in his early twenty."
A loud gasp from her mother broke the calmness in the room. She looked at her mother for a while and smiled reassuringly. After that, she stared at her wrist, and there was a horrible red mark on it. After that, she fell silent for a few minutes. No one else dared to open their mouth. They were waiting for her patiently.
"He said he knows me and also claims he loves me. He never hit me. He feeds me, helps me bathe, and hugs me to sleep." She stopped to calm her beating heart. "Nothing else happened. He is a touchy man. He always…." A shudder ran through her as she recalled the moment he touched her private part. She bit her lips, trying to stop herself from crying. "He always touches me."
"Where? Did he try to touch you there?"
"He did."
Once again, a loud gasp came from her mom. She glanced at her family. Their complexion turned pale. She knew that her last words managed to shatter their heart. She mouthed the words its okay, hoping it could give them consolation.
"Detective, I think its enough for today. My family needs to rest. If you still have questions, please wait until my family is ready."
"Okay, thank you for your time, Miss Reed. We will see you again. I hope you will feel better soon." The detective stood from their chairs. He gave her a nod before leaving her ward.
After the detective left, the room went completely still. She waited for her family to make their move, but they stayed in the same place.
"I want to be alone."
Kale stared at her for a while, his face devoid of any expression. "Can I trust you with yourself?"
She hummed in response. She had no energy to communicate anymore. She only wanted to cry her heart out, and for her to do so, her family had to leave her. She didn want to give them more pain.
"Okay, if you need anything, just call me."
As soon as the door closed, she detected her mother and dad weeping. It was the most heartbreaking sound she had ever heard. She didn hear her brothers voice, but she was sure he was crying in silence. Her heart broke to pieces for them and also for herself.
Kathrinas eyes stung, and she started to choke on her tears. She changed her position to lying on her stomach. She used the pillow to muffle her voice. How could she live with this excruciating pain? How could she face her family without letting them know their beloved Kathrina had died?
Tonight, no dream came to the Reed family as they spent their time awake and drowned in their sorrow and guilt.
Novel Bin 