"Why do you want to see her?" Kayla demanded, glaring at Bradley Pinder. Kayla was immensely suspicious of the man. Ariana had never made mention of him, nor had anyone ever come calling for the redhead either.
"I haven't seen her in a year," he said. "She was a patient of mine." Kayla's eyes narrowed.
"You're a doctor?" she asked.
"A psychiatrist, actually," he replied. "I was the doctor responsible for her rehabilitation after she was rescued. Once she was released from the hospital, she was sent directly to me."
"Rescued?" said Kayla sharply. "Rehabilitation? What are you talking about?" Dr. Pinder shook his head.
"So, she hasn't told you then," he said slowly. He looked suddenly quite uncomfortable. "I'm not sure how much I should tell you. I don't even know who you are."
"My name is Kayla Austin, I'm Ariana's girlfriend," Kayla said quickly. "I live here at the warehouse with her." Dr. Pinder smiled.
"We wondered if Ariana would ever form such a complex relationship," he said. "I'm glad to see she did. Ms. Austin, is she here? I'd really like to speak with her."
"First, you tell me what happened to her," said Kayla sharply. "I don't want you to upset her. She was really distressed today and I don't want to add to it right now. You tell me what happened and afterwards I'll decide if I want you to see her."
"Fine," said Dr. Pinder. "But could I come inside? It's bloody freezing out here!" Kayla stood back from the door and let him in. Dr. Pinder walked over to the couch and sat down. Kayla closed the door and sat down on the far end of the couch from the doctor and looked at him expectantly. He cleared his throat nervously.
"Firstly, you have to understand that by telling you any of this, I will be violating every doctor-patient confidentiality regulation in the book," said Dr. Pinder, looking slightly nervous. "I've only agreed to this because I'm hoping that by doing so, we will be able to help Ariana continue to heal. Her well-being, quite frankly, is worth more to me than my career." He looked down at the floor, seemingly lost for where to begin.
"Okay, Ms. Austin," he said, looking up at Kayla. "I want you to know that some of the things I'm going to tell you are really... unpleasant. Honestly, I still dream about some of the things I saw when I was with her."
"I can handle it," said Kayla. “It can’t be any worse than what I’ve imagined.” Dr. Pinder nodded slowly, his expression grim.
“It is,” His words hung in the air for a long moment. Kayla said nothing at all, she just waited for him to continue.
"Okay... well, I guess I should start by saying that Ariana is a very broken young girl. Her father, Adrian Laine, was the person who single-handedly destroyed her." Kayla leaned forward, her interest rising to insatiable levels now.
"How did he...?"
"He kept her locked in a closet roughly three feet by four feet. He never left anything in the closet except Ariana herself and a single video camera mounted to the wall. He recorded constantly. There were no lights, so she lived in essentially complete darkness."
"She's terrified of the dark," said Kayla emotionlessly. "She had what I can only describe as a panic attack the first day I met her. The warehouse blew a fuse and she just... my God, what happened to her?" Dr. Pinder shook his head sadly.
"Be easier to tell you what didn't happen to her," he said quietly. "I watched the videos, Kayla... all of them. Her father tortured her. In her early years he beat her, burned her, cut her... When she was a little older, he started raping her."
"My God..." Kayla groaned. Dr. Pinder nodded.
"Yes, the videos show he took great pleasure in rape. He taught her to... say things during these... hell, assaults is all you can call them. He made her beg him to have sex with her, to... well, it's really too much to think about. I'll never forget the first time I watched the videos Adrian recorded." He visibly shuddered.
"He had a sick obsession with her hands," he said after a few moments of silence. "He would use a drill on her hands... drill through her palms or nail her hands to the wall above her head."
"Jesus..." Kayla whispered, holding a hand to her mouth.
"There's more, unfortunately," said Dr. Pinder. "You won't have noticed, but all of Ariana's fingers have been broken repeatedly between the second and third knuckle. The son of a bitch liked to put her hands in the door jam and slam the door. The bastard did it over, and over, and over again. That little girl... I don't think I've ever heard anyone scream so loudly before." The doctor broke off, seemingly unable to say any more.
Kayla stood up and began to pace, a rage unlike she had ever known coursing through her. She tried briefly to come up with a word to describe her boiling rage, but none came to her. She wanted to tear something apart, to destroy everything around her just to release the anger. Some sick motherfucker had tormented Ariana. The man who was supposed to protect her, love her, and treat her like a princess had utterly destroyed her.
"Tell me he's dead," said Kayla, rounding on the doctor. "Please, tell me somebody killed that bastard or I swear to God I'll find him and kill him myself!" Dr. Pinder sighed and shook his head.
"He's serving fifteen consecutive life sentences in Stonewall, the maximum security prison upstate. There's no possibility of parole, Kayla. He'll die in that place."
"Not good enough," said Kayla, beginning to pace again, now even faster than before. "What's his name? I'll visit him... shoot the fucker through the glass when I'm talking to him on those stupid telephones!"
"Well, firstly, that glass is bulletproof," said Dr. Pinder calmly. "And good luck getting a gun into a maximum security prison. Kayla, I know you're angry, but Stonewall is a miserable place. I don't imagine you've ever been in a prison like that, but they aren't any fun I promise. He's not sitting around having a good time up there."
"I don't care," Kayla hissed. She glared at him. "How long? How long did he... did he..."
"He kept all of the video recordings of every single day he kept her in that room," said Dr. Pinder. "From age three to age fourteen. She was rescued five weeks before her fifteenth birthday."
"Eleven years?!" Kayla burst out furiously. Dr. Pinder nodded. "Fuck..." Kayla whispered. She sank slowly back onto the sofa.
"How?" Kayla asked suddenly. "How did no one notice that he was keeping a girl locked in a closet for eleven years?"
"That's a question I can't answer, Kayla," said Dr. Pinder quietly. "Nor can I tell you why Adrian did the things he did to his little girl."
"Poor kid..." Kayla whispered. "I... I knew whatever happened to Ariana was bad, I... I could feel it, but I never, ever imagined something like this." She looked up at Dr. Pinder, finally losing the battle to hold back her tears. "Is there more?" Dr. Pinder sighed.
"Kayla, I could sit here for hours and tell you about the tortures Adrian inflicted upon his daughter. The images from those videos are permanently burned into my brain. But what good would it do? You know the truth, you hardly need the details."
"Do you still have the tapes?" Kayla asked.
"I do, and no you may not see them." said Dr. Pinder. "There are things on those tapes, Kayla... things you simply don't need to see. If you start down that road... if you sit night after night watching a little girl crying in pain, alone in the dark... or watch a man burn that little girl with cigarettes while she's screaming for him to stop... your rage will just keep building. I know mine certainly did." Kayla knew she wasn't getting the tapes and in truth she didn't really want to see what was on them. She just felt that, if she watched them, she might at least begin, in some small way, to grasp exactly what Ariana had gone through.
"What about her mother?" Kayla asked abruptly.
"She's dead," said Dr. Pinder. "That's when Ariana escaped. Her father had a lot of guns. He'd threaten to shoot her all the time. One night he was really drunk. He raped Ariana while his wife watched. She watched most of the time, really. She often held Ariana down if she struggled, but she never actually harmed Ariana herself. Anyway, Adrian laid one of his pistols on the floor and... Ariana picked it up and shot her mother in the head."
"Oh, shit..." Kayla whispered.
"I have no idea if she meant to do it or if she even realized what a gun did," said Dr. Pinder. "In none of our sessions did she ever agree to speak about it."
"So, what happened?" Kayla asked. "How was she rescued? What did her dad do after Ariana shot her mom?" Dr. Pinder bowed his head.
"He ripped the gun out of her hand and shot her in the stomach," he said tonelessly. "Then he laughed. He just sat back and laughed until the police arrived. The neighbors called them when they heard gunshots coming from the house next door. They busted in when no one came to the door, and... well, you know what they found.
"Adrian was arrested and Ariana was rushed to the hospital. She survived, but she was very lucky to have done so. She came very close to dying. After she recovered from her physical injuries, she was brought to me to help heal the rest of her.
"Now, Kayla... you have to understand that Ariana did not develop like a normal girl. When she emerged from that hell, she literally knew nothing about... anything. Her parents had taught her only that she was meant to have sex with Adrian and pretend to enjoy it. Her entire world consisted of the closet, a video camera, her parents, and the long, white hallway outside her closet door. Until she was fourteen, she never knew anything other than that existed in the world.
"We were forced to start from scratch, but we had a problem. Ariana wanted to go home. Here's the really sick part of all this. Ariana loved her father, and I'm talking devoted love. She practically worshipped him."
"She worshipped the man who tortured her?" Kayla asked disbelievingly.
"It isn't that uncommon, even in kidnappings," said Dr. Pinder. "But in Ariana's case, it was different. She had been taught that this was her purpose. Her father was everything that mattered to her. She loved him because he hurt her. In her mind, it made sense. To break that took a long time and a lot of hard work for everyone involved. But we did it and as Ariana began to heal, her thirst for knowledge took hold.
"Ariana isn't stupid, Kayla. Truthfully, she's brilliant. She loves books..." Kayla laughed in spite of everything.
"Yeah, you should see her library downstairs."
"She read every book she could get her hands on. She learned to read in a matter of weeks and devoured everything from history books to Harry Potter. She loves to learn and she wanted to just know things. Her recovery was going so well, and we were all so impressed and happy with her progress. But then her grandfather on her father’s side who was her only surviving family member... died. He had taken her in after everything happened and Ariana had immediately taken to him. They grew close very quickly and she really loved him in a healthy way... and then he died and she was devastated.
"Ariana left the program. She was there voluntarily, so we couldn't keep her against her will. She left and never came back. That was a year ago... and it's taken me until tonight to track her down. I can still help her heal, I so want to help her if you'll both let me." Kayla nodded slowly.
"It's up to her," said Kayla. "If she wants to go back with you, I wouldn't try to stop her. But I'm not going to tell her about this tonight. I'll talk to her tomorrow and we'll see what she wants to do. I still need time to sort through all this myself... I'm not gonna dump this on her tonight." Dr. Pinder nodded.
"I understand, Kayla," he said. He stood up slowly and reached into his coat pocket. He took out and business card and a folded up piece of paper and held them both out to her.
"This is my card. Call me once you've spoken with her, regardless of what you both decide. And this is Ariana's grandfather's will. He left her..."
"Two old warehouses," said Kayla. "Yeah, I know about that. Ariana sold one and kept this one." Kayla paused, smiling slightly. "She kept this once because it's red. She likes red."
"She always did," said Dr. Pinder fondly. "But, no... he left her far more than two warehouses. Ariana just never claimed anything else. He left her a massive estate in the Hamptons and over a quarter of a billion dollars. He sold all the shares he had in his company and put it in an account for Ariana to receive after his death. She knows, she's just never claimed it. Everything is still waiting for her." Kayla just shrugged. After everything else, this news seemed trivial, unimportant.
"That's her decision too," she said plainly. "I'm sure she has her reasons for it."
"I'm sure she does," said Dr. Pinder. "Well, I suppose I ought to be going. I've relived enough painful memories for one night." Kayla stood and walked him to the door.
"I'll call you after I've spoken with Ariana," said Kayla. Dr. Pinder nodded.
"Thank you, Ms. Austin,"
"Thank you," said Kayla firmly. "For... everything you ever did for her." Dr. Pinder didn't seem to have a response to that. He just nodded and headed down the fire escape steps. Kayla closed the door and slammed her fist against it.
"Fuck..." she whispered. "Fuck, fuck, fuck!"
"Kayla?" said a soft voice behind her. Kayla slowly turned around. Ariana stood near the sofa, staring at her with those innocent blue eyes. One look into those gorgeous eyes and Kayla knew that Ariana had heard every word that they had said.
Kayla didn't know what to do. For the first time in a very long time she had absolutely no game plan. She didn't know what to say or think or do. Part of her wanted to rush over and hug the redhead while another part of her wanted to stay as far away as possible. Ariana was the one who broke the awkward silence. She spoke quietly, tears suddenly brimming in her eyes.
"I'm sorry, Kayla," she said, her gaze locked on Kayla's knees.
"You... you're sorry? What on earth do you have to be sorry for?" Ariana looked very sad indeed. She sat down on the sofa but when she spoke, she still didn't meet Kayla's gaze.
"I never wanted you to know... any of that," she said softly. "I never wanted you to... to look at me like that."
"Like what?" Kayla asked.
"Like I'm... broken, something delicate and fragile that you have to tiptoe around. Everyone I meet thinks I'm... it's obvious I'm not normal, but you never make me feel like that. Now... now you're scared to even touch me."
"No..." said Kayla, immediately rushing over and sitting next to the redhead. "Ari, I... I love you. And it doesn't matter what everyone else thinks, not after... look, if anyone has a right to be a little different, it's you. You... God, Ari, I don't know how you survived that. If it had been me I think I'd have rather died."
"I did," said Ariana quietly. "I did want to die, Kayla. I told you so. After my granddad died, I wanted to."
"I know, but I meant before that," said Kayla. "I meant... it doesn't matter. None of it matters as long as you're okay. That's all I care about, Ari."
"I'm okay now, Kayla," said Ariana, reaching out and taking the brunette's hand. "I'm okay because of you. I was so alone before you came along, but now... now you're here and everything is... so much better. It'll never be perfect, and Kayla... you need to know that I'll never be completely right. But every single day I'll get a little bit better because I have you."
Kayla wasn't a crier, she wasn't sure she had ever shed a single tear over Claire's death, but right then and there she was bawling like a baby. She leaned forward and hugged Ariana tightly. Right then she wanted nothing more than to gather Ariana in her arms and protect her from the whole world, even though she knew she couldn't.
They stayed like that for a long time, just the two of them, sitting there on the sofa wrapped up in each other. Each of them focusing on the one thing in their lives that made them happy, that kept them going; each other.
They retreated to their bedroom where they lay in bed chatting about nothing in particular. Kayla was doing her best not to think about everything she had learned that night. She didn't want to think about any of it. She wanted to think of Ariana as the sweet, bubbly girl she had fallen in love with, not the broken, tortured wreck of a little girl who had never been loved that Ariana really was.
But Kayla's thoughts finally settled on one irrefutable fact; Ariana was still there. She had survived. She was happy and they were together. Ariana was safe now and Kayla would fight a million battles, brave the fires of Hell, and defy God himself to protect her. Kayla swore, then and there, early on that cold December morning just before dawn, that Ariana would never suffer another day in her life. Kayla would shield her from it all. No matter the cost.
Kayla looked down at Ariana and found that she had fallen asleep. She couldn't be sure, but judging by the thin smile on those full lips, for once she wasn't having a nightmare. Kayla closed her eyes, fixing the image of that smile in her mind. It was the last thing she remembered before she fell asleep.612Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡF4T9yOjk0X
