“I’ll show you, you trollop… Show you what a real man can do… Kissing her when you never even…”

It goes on and on to the point where I can’t hear it anymore.

Tears, and pain, and my own pleading voice are all I register as Royce takes from me what I willingly gave to Vera.

Every sob seems to spur him on, but when I whimper, “Vera…” he loses it completely.

That is when my nightmare truly begins.

That is when he starts beating me.

That is when his friends join in with cheers of, “We’ll teach you, doll-face.”