The Special Girl Read online

  Chapter 23

  Maura

  Kylie, Maddie and I make it back to our dorm Saturday afternoon by 2 o’clock. We all unpack and take our laundry to the laundry room on our floor. As we are waiting for our laundry to dry, Kylie gets a call from Blake. A bunch of his frat brothers went on a trip to Mexico. They arrived back this morning. Since they had sufficient time to relax, they are planning a small party for tonight at their frat house. Kylie is excited. She wants to see Blake. Maddie is happy also. I, on the other hand, am not interested. I don’t want to be in the same room as Alex. Maddie protests that if she goes with just Kylie, she will be left to fend for herself because Kylie will presumably spend all her time with Blake. But if I go, she will have me to hang around with there. She begs me to go. Most of our friends aren’t due back until tomorrow.

  After hours of nagging by Maddie, I agree to go. I understand why she wants me to go and I reason in my head that I can just stay with Maddie and stay away from Alex. He doesn’t ever talk to me anyway; in fact, he acts like I am invisible. That is fine with me. We take a nap and then get up and get ready to go. It is a last-minute relaxed party so casual attire is in order. I wear a pair of jeans, a short-sleeved blouse and ballet flats. Kylie and Maddie dress similarly but wear some new clothes they acquired on our trip. I am saving those outfits for when I go out with Zack.

  Zack and I spoke earlier in the day when I first got back. He told me he was probably going to hang out with the guys tonight and then get a train in the morning. I can’t wait to see him! I have decided to tell him in person that I realized how much I need him and want him in my life permanently. I also need to tell him that I love him because I do, and he needs to know that. I just need to get through tonight and I will have a fantastic day tomorrow as long as my revelations do not spook him away. But I don’t think they will.

  The three of us walk the five minutes it takes to get to the frat house around 9 o’clock. Dalton Kelly opens the door and welcomes us in. “Hello ladies! Step right in. There is beer in the fridge and Joe is working the bar over there for all your mixed drink needs tonight,” he announces. We all say thank you and find a spot to sit. Blake runs up and greets us warmly. He gives Kylie a small kiss hello and she can’t stop smiling. He asks what we want to drink. I don’t really want to drink because I don’t plan on being here too long and I don’t want to be hungover when I see Zack tomorrow. I opt for a water. He brings back two beers for my friends and a bottle of water for me.

  It quickly becomes apparent there aren’t very many females at this party. There is about twenty frat guys and eight girls here including us. As predicted, Kylie spends every moment with Blake. They play pool together, dance and then finally disappear somewhere, maybe upstairs. Lots of guys shower Maddie and I with attention. Maddie has paired off with a nice guy named Teddy. They are playing darts in the other room and I am planning an escape since my services are no longer needed.

  We are never without a drink whether we want one or not. I have drunk two waters and two beers since I got here, and I need a bathroom. There is a line of three people at the powder room on the first floor. I don’t think I will make it back to my dorm, so I decide I need to wait in that line. As I wait in line, I look around the house and realize I haven’t seen much of Alex tonight. I saw him earlier when I first arrived but not after that. I’m glad. Dalton walks by and reminds me there is another two bathrooms in the hall upstairs I am welcomed to use. I thank him and head up the stairs.

  I find the bathroom I used before when I visited Alex here. I use the bathroom and step out into the hall and I am met with the glazed and dilated eyes of none other than Alex himself. I startle at the scene. He apologizes, “I’m sorry Maura, I didn’t mean to frighten you.” “Oh, it’s Ok, you didn’t frighten me,” I lie. He stands in front of me blocking my exit. “You look beautiful tonight as always,” he says. This statement surprises me, and I decide he must be intoxicated to be saying those words to me. “You know I have something of yours in my room. You must have left it here when you came to see me last,” he says calmly. My body goes rigid. Something is not right, and I feel panic. My brain screams at me to push, run, yell, anything but go in that room with him.

  As I am formulating a plan in my head a door opens next to us and Kylie steps out into the hall. She looks up at me and says, “Hey Maura are you alright?” I realize Alex has disappeared probably into his room and I relax. He was most likely startled by Kylie’s entrance into the hall. “Yeah, I’m good. I just used the bathroom. I’m gonna take off back to our room now,” I say. “Oh, should we walk you home?” she says gesturing to the closed door I assume Blake is behind. “No. Really I’m alright. You be careful,” I say with a wink. She winks back and enters the bathroom I was just in. I start back down the hall when all of a sudden, I am cloaked in darkness. There is something over my eyes and a hand is pressed hard over my mouth. I am lifted off the floor and then dropped onto a bed. My arms are restrained by a strong arm and my mouth is still covered by another hand, but my eyes are uncovered, and I can see Alex is the one holding me.

  Just then, I feel the vibration of my phone in my pocket. I push as hard as I can against his arm that is holding my arms and get my right arm free. I quickly grab for my phone and hit every button. He tries to grab at my arm and the phone and inadvertently removes the hand over my mouth for a few seconds. I hear Zack saying, “Maura, Maura, are you there? Maura, can you hear me?” As soon as the hand is removed from my mouth, I yell, “Help me Zack! It’s Alex!” But Alex swiftly regains hold of me and drops the phone on the ground and stomps on it breaking it into hundreds of pieces.

  He slams me onto the bed and grabs a cloth and shoves it so far down my throat, my eyes begin to tear. He puts his entire body weight on me. I can hear Blake at the door. He is knocking hesitantly and asking Alex if everything is alright. Alex says, “ Yeah man sorry, I got a girl in here. We’ll try to keep it down.” Blake chuckles and says, “Oh I get it. Sorry!” Blake must leave because I don’t hear him again and Alex uses a belt to tie my arms to the headboard. He turns his TV on and turns the volume up significantly. He looks like a monster when he glares at me. He starts ranting at me, “What the fuck was wrong with me? Why didn’t you want to fuck me anymore? I wasn’t done with you yet! You owe me bitch!” He rips my shirt off of me and pulls my jeans down my legs roughly. He gets scissors and cuts my bra off of me. He cuts the skin on my chest as he does this. The entire time he is doing this, I am trying to scream, and I am shaking my head pleading incoherently for him to stop. His eyes look dead. The Alex I once knew is gone.

  He starts to cut at my panties but suddenly I hear what sounds like a huge crash. Alex is ripped off of me and I hear screaming, yelling and lamps and furniture crashing as someone is beating Alex viciously. My head spins and I feel like I am dreaming. Suddenly I see Kylie standing over me looking horrified at me. Then she removes the cloth from my mouth and throws a blanket over my exposed and bloody body. She struggles to remove the belt binding from my arms. Someone comes to her aid and they finally gets the binding off. As I sit up panting for breath, I realize Zack is the one beating Alex. I think everyone in the house enters the room. Everyone is shocked at the sight. Several guys finally pull Zack off of Alex telling him to stop before he kills him. Alex is a bloody battered mess. He crumples to the floor like a purple rag doll.

  Zack jumps across the bed to me and picks me up and holds me in his arms so tight, I feel like I could break. I can’t speak nor move my body. He tells me he is so sorry and carries me out of the room stepping over the debris. He carries me down the stairs to where the campus police are entering the house. An EMT crew follow close behind the police. I still can’t speak. I can only take in what is happening around me. One of the EMTs is the same woman from when I broke my ankle. She recognizes me and asks Zack to lie me on the couch. She picks up a radio and says into it, “We need another unit please.” She tries to get me to speak but I can’t. Words don’t reach m
y tongue. All I can do is look at her.

  More police enter the house and I see police officers surround us as the EMT takes my vitals and hooks me up to a monitor. They bring in a stretcher and Zack insists on placing me in it. Before they can wheel me out of the house, they whisk another stretcher out of the house ahead of me and then I hear sirens driving away. That must have been Alex. A police officer accompanies me and Zack to the hospital. Zack is forced to leave my side at the hospital. I am given some kind of sedative and then finally I fall fast asleep.

  Zack

  On Saturday morning, my dad has a rare Saturday off. They finished a job yesterday that was scheduled to finish today, so a day off. I sit with him on the back deck and we talk. I end up telling him almost everything about Maura and me. I explain everything that has happened up until then and I admit my strong feelings for her. He gives me some advice about staying true to myself and not changing who I am for a girl. I reassure him, I have not done that. Any changes I have made were for myself. Then he tells me not to be afraid to give all of myself to the woman I love. He explains that he had trouble doing that with my mom. He said he did love her, but he was guarded, and he never let her all in. He feels that had a lot to do with their divorce. He has learned with Dana that in order to truly love someone completely, you must give them all of you. No secrets, no lies. She has to know every part of you, good or bad.

  After we talk, I decide I want to go back to school sooner. I want to go back and see her today. I need to tell her I love her, and she is already there. Why wait until tomorrow? I take one last ride on my bike. I think about everything I will divulge finally to my beautiful Maura, my love. I am totally sure I am ready to open up to her and hope she accepts and maybe even reciprocates my feelings. I have to tell her either way, miscommunication is what sidetracked us last time. I can’t let that happen again. When I return, my dad is waiting to drive me to the train station.

  When I return to campus, I drop my bags in my room and run to Maura’s dorm to surprise her. There is no answer at her door nor Izzy and Maddie’s door. A girl walking down the hall with wheeling a suitcase asks if I am looking for Maura or Kylie. She tells me they are probably at a party at the frat house. She also received an invite but has just made it back to campus. I thank her and head towards the frat house. I am a little bothered that she would choose to go there for a party. But then I understand maybe she just wanted to do something with her friends and not stay in her room alone. Now I am wishing I had told her I was coming back early. As I am in the elevator in her building, I call her cell. It rings several times and then it answers. At first there is a muffled sound. I say, “Maura, Maura can you hear me?” into my cell. Then I hear Maura’s cries. All I comprehend is, “Help!” and “Alex!” then the line goes dead. As soon as the elevator door opens, I’m running as fast as my boots will take me.

  I get to the frat house and burst in the door. Every head turns to glare at me. I’m panting from running so fast, I yell, “I need to know where Alex is?” A girl points to the stairs, “I think he is up there. His room is the door with the football helmet decal on it!” she yells as I have already made it to the top of the staircase. I frantically check each door for the decal. I am considering breaking down every door. Then I see it. I back up and with everything I have kick the door with my booted foot. It comes crashing down. It takes less than a second for me to survey the scene. Alex has scissors and is over my beautiful Maura trying to cut something on her. She is bare breasted, bleeding from a chest wound, gagged and tied to the headboard. Her eyes are as wide as saucers. She looks terrified!

  I am murderous as I tear Alex off my girl and then beat his body over and over again until I am forced away by multiple strong arms. One voice stands out amongst the chaos. A male voice repeats, “Stop before you kill him!” over and over again. I drop my hold on him and he falls lifeless to the ground. I may have already killed him; my mind tells me. I jump across the bed to get my baby. She is being consoled by Kylie and another guy. They have covered her body, removed her gag and untied her bindings. I gather her up in my arms careful not let the blanket fall. I hold her tight to my body letting her feel my heart racing and my arms holding her. I will always protect her. I will never let anyone ever hurt her again. I should have been here earlier. I shouldn’t have taken that last ride on my bike. It’s all my fault! “I’m so sorry baby, I’m sorry,” I tell her. I carry her out of the room and down the stairs.

  As I reach the living room, EMTs and police are entering the house. The same EMT that took care of her before when she fell on campus is here. She recognizes us and asks me to lie her down on the couch. I do as she asks. As she works on her, she calmly calls for more help. This makes me nervous. Maura isn’t talking, she is only blinking a lot, and her eyes are wide open. “Is she in shock?” I ask the EMT. She looks at me sympathetically. “Don’t worry. We will take good care of her,” she answers.

  Police officers start to surround us. I can hear girls and the frat guys telling the officers that Maura was being held by Alex. They describe what they witnessed as they entered his room. They tell the officers I came in and rescued her from him and only beat him to save her. This story is being repeated over and over again. These people, Alex’s people, are vouching for me.

  I ride in the ambulance with Maura to the hospital accompanied by the EMT and a police officer. When we arrive, they whisk her away and have me wait in a waiting room. I can’t call her parents because I don’t know their number. Kylie runs in with Maddie and several other guys. Kylie tells me she has Mrs. McDevitt’s cell number. I call her from Kylie’s phone. Maura’s mother is understandably upset and says they will be here as soon as they can. Kylie and Maddie are inconsolable. They tell me they had talked her into going there with them and she didn’t even want to go. They feel responsible. I reassure them it is not their fault. Many more people show up. It looks like everyone from the frat house has come to check on Maura. Several frat guys and presumably friends of Alex, have approached me and apologized. Many say they had no idea that he would do anything like that.

  A couple of detectives come into the waiting room and escort me to a room I assume is a staff break room. They ask me to tell them everything that happened. I tell them everything from looking for her at her dorm room, receiving that call, breaking in his room and beating him. They recorded the interview with my permission. They ask me to voluntarily provide a urine sample and they photograph my bruised and cut hands. They advise me not to leave the area until the case has been reviewed. I wasn’t going anywhere without my girl. She has to be alright. I need her. I haven’t even told her I love her yet.

  Chapter 24

  Zack

  Maura’s parents arrive a few hours later. We are all still sitting in the waiting room. The doctor and police speak to her parents privately. Her parents tell me that she was given a sedative because she is experiencing an acute stress reaction from the traumatic event. She has a superficial cut to her chest that was probably accidental in the attack and not deliberate. Her parents also reiterate that she was not raped but the police believe he was attempting to do that. Her underwear was in the process of being cut from her body as she was rescued. The police told her parents that I had saved her from all the accounts they had heard, and they didn’t want to charge me with anything but were awaiting official word from the DA. Mr. McDevitt tells me to call my parents. So, I call my dad. Mrs. McDevitt insists that I get treated for the hand wounds I received while delivering the blows to Alex.

  My dad and Dana arrive here in record time. My dad is panicking. He is scared to death that I will be arrested. He asks me a hundred times to tell him what happened. A detective asks me, dad and Dana to come into that break room. It seems the detective thought Dana was my mother. My dad wasn’t sure if I wanted Dana to come. I reassure him I do want her with us. She obliges and comes along. The detective gives us an update of the case. He explains that every witness has given statements supporting my versio
n of the events. He says it is probable that Alex would at least be charged with kidnapping, attempted rape and assault if not more. He says no charges will be brought against me, as I was acting in defense of Maura and attempting to free her from her captor. The detectives and the DA want to speak with Maura when she is able before they reach a final conclusion.

  After we speak to the detective, my dad visibly relaxes. He inspects my bandaged hand and then hugs me. “I don’t want to ever lose you Zack. I love you so much,” he sobs. He pulls away and looks at me with red eyes, “I am so proud of you!” he says. Dana hugs me and tells me she loves me as if I were her biological son. She gives me a kiss and then hugs my dad. My dad asks if I want to go to a hotel or back to my dorm. I explain that I need to stay here with Maura. He agrees and says he will wait here with me. He and Dana speak to Mr. McDevitt. I had forgotten that dad had already met him when his company had remodeled the McDevitt’s kitchen a couple years ago. Mr. McDevitt tells my dad he was so happy his daughter had me to look after her. He tells my dad he is proud of me. This makes my heart tighten. I should have been there sooner. Then she wouldn’t have had this horrible night.

  After we rejoin everyone else in the waiting room, a commotion is heard at the emergency entrance. A middle-aged couple is loudly and nervously asking about Alex. “We received a call that our son, Alex Stanton was brought here after being attacked!” the woman could be heard saying. Everyone in the waiting room hears her and glances over at me. As they pass by us on their way to see their son, his mother recognizes several of Alex’s fraternity brothers. “What happened? Who attacked my boy?” she asks them. They are speechless. One guy, I think his name is Blake, tells her to speak to the police officers and they will let her know. She thanks everyone for being here for Alex. Everyone cringes at this remark. She is directed towards a hallway and scurries away with her husband.