The truth about Jessie's .

(Author's Note: Jessie's **** is addressed head-on in this chapter. If you don't want to read something depressing, you may want to skip this and message me for a synopsis.)

During the uncertain afterglow, Leon managed to retrieve Cammy from the floor without causing a commotion. Jessie had yet to open her eyes, but he could only assume that he wasn’t interrupting whatever thoughts were swimming around in her head because she didn’t stir.

Well done! You have found Jessica’s 4th key. Jessica has learned that she can put complete trust in you during sexual encounters. Behind every strong man is a little sister giving him footjobs. Rank 5 benefits will display shortly.

She really trusts me that much?

Jessica Marshall, Rank 5
-Moderate Miracle, Guardian Angel. You can sense when Jessica's life is in danger, and teleport to her in such situations. Observers of this power will have their perception altered to believe you arrived naturally.
-Jessica will allow you to touch her anywhere you want without having to ask for permission.
-Jessica is now willing to fully discuss her trauma with you.

The moment should have been cause for celebration. Jessie’s complete sensual trust in him, getting the okay to touch her wherever and whenever he pleased, having the ability to teleport to her side anytime she was in danger... it was all stupendous. All so damn stupendous, except that the terrible thing he’d thought of earlier finally clicked into place. There was no way he could leave the room until he knew if his awful suspicion was true. The Chronicle System made sure of that.

He got up and took a dirty towel out of her bathroom. Without asking, he meticulously wiped the cum off of them both. Jessie’s brilliant blue eyes slid into view as he finished wiping her. She looked lazy and peaceful.

“Mr. Photographer thinks he can do whatever he wants now, huh?” she said with a smirk.

“It was Dad, wasn’t it?” Leon asked without any warning.

The instantaneous transformation on Jessie’s face was heartbreaking. The smirk fell from her face and crumpled into gut wrenching sorrow, and he felt the guilt of taking that away from her mingle with the dread building up in his very core. This was the end of something; he could feel it.

“Yes,” she said.

Blood pulsed through his veins like acid, and in that terrible moment he was faced with the certainty that he was capable of murdering his own father.

“When? When did it happen?” he asked. His tongue felt like sandpaper against the roof of his mouth.

A sardonic laugh twisted the angelic melody he’d grown accustomed to. “The first time?”

“Yeah.”

“Right before I ran away from home, technically. The first time you found me at a gazebo.” She smiled sadly at the memory.

I’m the reason she got ****, Leon despaired. I called him right over to her. Doomed her to her fate, and got pissy when Dad didn’t reward me for it.

“Once Mom proved that she wouldn’t be an obstacle, it happened every single time he was home. Sometimes for hours. He wouldn’t stop no matter how much I begged and pleaded with him... I don't know if he ever even saw me as family, or if I was just born to be his plaything all along.” He thought he'd been able to empathize with her pain, but he hadn't understood how deep the wound was at all.

“Jesus Christ... How long did this go on for?”

Jessie looked at him with pity in her eyes and started sobbing in earnest. “Leon... oh my sweet, sweet Leon. I thought you would have guessed, or I would have made it clearer... but... it never stopped.” The tears were for his sake, and he loathed himself for that.

“Last time he was home... he was rough enough that I thought he was going to break me, down there. All because he was excited that I was finally 18, and then he went on and on about sharing me with his friends next time he was in town. Said they’d been waiting to ‘get their fill’...”

She gripped his hand, but he couldn’t find the strength to grip hers back. “And then you found me again. I didn't think about it like this until just now, but I guess I wanted to know what it felt like to feel good on my own terms, before they...”

Leon must have been in the house. Under the same roof at the exact time his father (no, not my father anymore) was brutally **** his sister just a few rooms away. For 10 whole years Jessie had lived in a nightmare right under his disgustingly oblivious nose while he bitched and moaned about being lonely. Boo-fucking-hoo for him. If he had paid even a little attention to her, had spent any time with her at all, who knew how many times he could have deterred that scumbag just by being there?

Anger and despair exited his eyes as stinging tears running down his cheeks. I could have helped her!

“Leon? Leon please talk to me. Say something. Anything. I need you to tell me I can make it through this. If I hear it from you...”

He couldn’t bear to look at her now that he knew the full extent of the part he played in her ****. Tortured over and over and over again, and now they’ll **** her more. I can’t let this happen.

“I...” he started to say, but got choked up on his tears. His fist pounded ferociously against his leg, but he hardly felt the pain. It was nothing compared to hers.

“FUCK!!!” he screamed so loudly that his throat felt raw the second after his voice died away. Jessie flinched and pulled herself up to try to comfort him. It pissed him off that she was the one having to take care of him, when she was the one who’d suffered; the one who still suffered.

“Don’t,” he said, and she wilted at his anger. Her low self-esteem made her think all of this was her fault.

“Screw both our parents, we’ll talk to the police ourselves.”

“I won’t,” she said firmly.

“What the hell do you mean!? You can’t just lie down and accept what he has in store for you! Are you insane!?”

“Maybe he’ll stop, after his friends have a go... maybe that’s what he was waiting for all along.”

“Have a go? Have a fucking go!? You’re not some goddamn carnival attraction that everyone gets a turn on! Who knows how many sickos he has lined up for this? I don’t care how strong you are, Jess. I’m not waiting around while you get gangraped so that I can hold your hand afterwards and tell you that you survived.” Leon was weeping pathetically but he couldn’t stop. “They’ll slaughter everything you have left. You won't be the same person when they're through.”

“If you go to the police, I’ll lie. You don’t have any proof,” Jessie said, and let go of his hand.

“Why are you acting like I’m the bad guy here!? Let the police get you out of this, Jessie. Please.”

“AND DO WHAT!? Send Mom and Dad to jail!?”

“YES! OF FUCKING COURSE! AND GOOD RIDDANCE!”

“I don’t know what the process is for this stuff, Leon! They’re still our parents. If it were just Dad... but it's not. Mom’s life would be over too.”

“So the fuck what? She should have fucking helped you when you needed her!” he said heatedly.

“And what about us? Me and you, Leon. Think about it. What if they find some kind of evidence of what we did? Pictures or semen samples or... I don't know what else. Anything! If they found out about our... our ****... they wouldn’t just let you off the hook. Prison or not, we’d be separated for sure.”

“Great. Just great,” Leon said and slammed his fist down on his leg again. “So now I’m the obstacle that’s keeping you in Hell. Fine then, let them fucking arrest me too! I might as well be an accomplice. Our whole family is fucked in the fucking head! All of us.” He stood up angrily, preparing to get dressed, and get the fuck out of the house. Maybe for a few days. Maybe longer.

Jessie started to panic, overwhelmed by all the anger and disgust she thought was directed toward her. “Please Leon! Please please please don’t leave me. We can figure this out... me and you, together...right? You can’t just... just leave me here like this. Please. You don't understand how bad I need you!” She begged for all she was worth.

The guilt of leaving Ophelia behind haunted a corner of his mind. What if Jessie...? I'll know. The System will tell me and I'll teleport right back here and stop her. I just need to be alone right now.

“I’m sorry, Jess," he said with a shake of his head. "We'll talk things over when I get back. I promise I'll come back."

He thought to kiss her goodbye, but the shadow of his guilt halted him before he could. Better just to leave, until he could sort out the shrieking thoughts tearing his brain into ribbons. With a smile that was meant to be reassuring but must have been anything but, he turned and began walking away.

"Stay with me..." he heard her whisper desperately behind him. He didn't look back as the door closed between them.

A mismatch of dirty and clean clothes were hastily thrown on, and then he stormed down the stairs. He saw his mother's car pulling into the driveway through the window right before he walked out front. If he couldn't trust himself to stay with Jessie, he definitely needed to steer clear of his mom right now. Dark thoughts might propel him into darker action if he tried to deal with her.

Instead, he veered and went out the backdoor. He hopped the fence and disappeared into a black night that had only just been ushered in by two young lovers lost in the throes of passion.

It would be a long time before the sun rose again.

End of Part 1: Introduction