Two, to be precise.
High school and university.
It was hard to reconcile the cardigan-wearing, shapelessly dressed young woman I’d met with the version I uncovered.
Then I found the video.
It wasn’t just a gang bang. It was a queue. A line of men waiting to use her.
I ignored everything else and focused on her face. Then her eyes.
Blown out.
Unfocused.
She wasn’t coherent.
No. That wasn’t just alcohol.
Anger flared hot in my chest, and I slammed my fist against my desk, barely registering the clatter of objects shifting on its surface.
Did she even know she’d been drugged?
It was common enough now, on campus and off. Convictions never matched the frequency.
Her parents were fucking awful. They wanted it buried. I’d remained neutral when Stella described the rules her mother had imposed, the conduct, the restrictions. But the entire arrangement was oppressive. Intrusive. Punitive.
I ground my molars together until my jaw ached.
There was something vulnerable in Stella’s cat-like eyes and now I understood it. She left my house relaxed and calm. Part of me wanted to message her and ask how she was, but it would be a mistake this early on.
I sighed and spent the rest of the night sending takedown notices and search field removal tools to remove her content online.
It wasn't hard searching up redhead content and finding all the URLs.
The only issue would be if people re-uploaded the content.
Fuckers.
???
Over the next few weeks, Stella improved. She held eye contact now. The dark circles beneath her eyes had begun to fade, and the tentative smiles came more easily.
There was nothing she disclosed that surprised me.
When she excused herself to use the bathroom, I reached for her phone where she’d left it on the arm of the couch.
It took a moment.
I keyed in the passcode.
Month and year of birth. I’d watched her unlock it enough times to catch the pattern. Simple, but memorable—for both of us.
The screen opened.
I moved quickly, forwarding the viral link from my phone and uploading it to hers. The progress bar slid across the screen while the house remained silent around me.
Done.
