Chapter Eleven

Noah had imagined all the worst-case scenarios he could encounter as they drove around town looking for Ava, but never did he imagine what the worst-case scenario would be.

After endless hours of searching with Pedro and Daniel and after getting nothing they headed back into town when Daniel's phone rang.

At first, Daniel ignored the call, and honestly, Noah didn't blame him. The poor guy was too exhausted to pick a call.

But after the continuous ringing the fifth time, Daniel grabbed the phone.

"What?!" He growled the moment he answered.

Noah observed the sudden change. It went from anger, weariness to intense joy and then back to anger and sadness.

"Thank you, Officer," he finally spoke and hung up.

"What's the matter?" Noah asked immediately.

"An officer spotted Ava at the outskirts of the town," Daniel replied.

"That's like a five-hour journey from here," Noah said.

"Yes, and they offered to drive her back into town, but she refused, pointing two guns at them and demanding for me," Daniel replied.

Noah felt a painful tug in his chest. She hadn't demanded it from him.

"What is she doing with a gun?" Daniel wondered.

"We can't get our answers by staying here," Pedro reminded them.

Noah nodded. "Speed up, Pedro. We need to get there before nightfall."

Pedro nodded and drove off leaving Noah to his thoughts which weren't pretty.

***

"Just put down the gun and come. Your brother is on his way!"

Ava cocked the gun in her hand as she remained seated on the bare ground.

"One wrong step and this thing goes bad!" she said.

The officers grumbled then left her alone.

She had been raped brutally by those pigs and she wasn't trusting herself with another man except her brother.

She glanced behind her, a part of her still scared that one of the men would come after her and despite having about ten armed policemen around her she didn't feel safe.

But what gave her assurance was the condition she had left those men in.

She would sit here patiently and wait for Daniel. He would come and get her out of this place and away from these people.

"No one can convince the girl to drop the guns?" One of the officers asked.

"She won't listen to us," they replied.

"Given the ordeal she went through, I won't blame her," he said.

Ava looked away. She didn't want their pity; she just wanted to see her brother. She suppressed the wave of dizziness that hit her.

No, she can't fall asleep, she needed to be awake to protect herself till Daniel arrived to protect her.

It was getting so cold and late, why wasn't he here? She wondered as she suppressed another wave of dizziness.

Then she heard his voice.

"Where's my sister?"

And she scrambled to her feet.

"Daniel!"

***

The car had barely skidded to a halt when Noah jumped out of it with Daniel following behind. They headed straight to the police officers who were waiting for them.

Noah had imagined the worst-case scenario, but he hadn't imagined seeing Ava standing behind the policeman dressed in a black jacket that barely covered her butt.

Her legs were bare, and her body was bruised and dirty. She was pointing two guns at them.

"Ava?" he called, concern flashing in his eyes.

"Don't you dare come close to me!" Ava screamed, pointing the gun at him. "This is all your fault, bastard!"

"Miss, please put the gun down!" one of the policemen yelled.

"Ava, calm down," Daniel said, rushing towards her. He was able to get to her and pulled the gun away from her.

"Don't let them come close to me," she cried, holding his hands.

"I got you," Daniel sighed.

She collapsed into his arms, and he scooped her up, gently wrapping his jacket around her legs.

"What happened to her?" Noah asked, masking the hurt he felt.

"She crawled out of a cave not far from here. She was badly bruised and sobbing, pointing guns at us," the policeman explained.

"She was kidnapped according to her brother and the phone call we got from headquarters. Her kidnappers raped her. Three men," another one added.

Noah felt his blood run cold. "Where are the three men?"

One of the policemen shrugged. "They were beaten up with stones, their dicks were ripped from their bodies and their heads smashed to a pulp."

Noah gulped. "Ava did it."

"No idea," the man said, "All we saw was an injured lady who needed our help."

Noah thanked the police officer and headed to the car.

He saw Ava sprawled on her brother in the back seat. With a sigh, he entered the car and they drove off in silence.

His mind kept wandering as thoughts of who could have been behind this attack kept racing through his mind.

She was right to blame him. It was his fault she got hurt and now she was scarred for life. Being brutally raped by three goons wasn't something she would forget in a hurry.

"It's not your fault," Daniel said quietly.

He shook his head and smiled bitterly. "Yes, it is. If I hadn't sent her away, then maybe she would still be fine."

"You did what you did to protect her," Daniel said.

"Get her out of this city, Dan. I can't protect her when I have no idea who's after me," he replied sadly.

Daniel nodded.

Pedro eyed him curiously before giving him a subtle nod. Noah gave him a weak smile. He knew Pedro was beating himself up for encouraging him to stay away from Ava, but this wasn't anyone's fault.

It was his fault for falling in love with her again.

***

"Ava! Wake up, you're home!!"

Ava jerked up at the sound of her brother's voice.

"Oh my gosh! I'm home," she cried.

"Yes, it's alright. Stop crying, you're safe," Daniel assured her as he pulled her into a tight hug, kissing the top of her hair.

"I saw them in my dream but in that dream, I couldn't escape," she cried.

Daniel caressed her hair. "You're safe now ok. I promise you nothing is going to happen to you again."

Ava sniffed and relaxed in his warm arms. "Thank you, Daniel."

"Don't thank me. I'm your brother, it's my duty to protect you from harm like how you've always protected me."

Ava smiled. He was her little brother but now she knew she could depend on him. She wiped off the sweat coating her brow and a smile formed on her face.

"Did you tell Mom?" she asked finally.

He shook his head. "I figured you didn't want much attention from her, so I kept my lips sealed."

For the first time in years, she felt powerful. Like she could do anything and get away with it. She was stronger than most girls. She was a survivor, and she wouldn't succumb to a pity party.

"Earth to Ava!"

Ava blinked and saw her brother snapping fingers in her face, hollering her name.

"Daniel, calm down," she chuckled.

"I thought you've gone to die inside your head," he cracked a joke then winced, "Sorry Ava, didn't mean it like that."

Ava smiled. "I know. I'm not dying anytime soon by the way."

"Damn right, you aren't," he affirmed.

Ava smiled at him and nodded while waiting for him to say more. She arched a perfectly arched brow at him.

"So?"

A puzzled look crossed through Daniel's face. "So what?"

"I need an update, Daniel," Ava groaned.

"Oh," Daniel smiled sheepishly, then a frown formed on his face. "Aren't you…I don't know, sad?"

A sad smile played on her lips. "I need to know If I'm fine."

"The doctor said that you lost your virginity through a brutal means and that it affected a part of your body," Daniel stated.

Ava sensed a slight edge in Daniel's voice and her heartbeat picked up speed.

"What part of my body?"

"Ava, you were unconscious for a week with a lot of tears and internal injuries," Daniel replied.

Ava frowned. "Daniel, you're a doctor, why didn't you check up on me?"

"I couldn't," he choked out.

Ava frowned. "Couldn't or wouldn't?"

"I wanted to be sure," Daniel cried.

"Sure, about what?"

She was met with an eerie silence, and this added to her fears.

"Daniel, please tell me," she cried.

"I tried to get the other doctors to tell you, but they wouldn't accept, saying it would be better coming from me," Daniel sighed, running a hand through his hair as he wiped off the sweat coating his brow and adjusted his glasses.

"Can you tell me and stop acting like I'm one of your patients?!" Ava yelled.

"I promise I'll keep trying to help you and get yourself back," Daniel vowed.

Ava gave him a warning glare.

"Spit it out, Daniel!"

"It's not going to be possible for you to have a child…for some time," Daniel said.

"Just for some time? I can cope. It's not like I'm getting married now," she shrugged.

"Ava, you can't have a child…ever."

The weight that settled in her heart was too much. She had gotten a permanent scar after what happened to her. Even though she had managed to kill those guys it was all in vain.

"How is that even possible?" She asked in a whisper.

"Tiny particles of the broken bottle were found inside your body and that's what caused damage to your womb," Daniel explained.

Ava shivered as she saw a flashback of what had led to the bottle. It wasn't a pretty vision she would like to remember.

"What did they do to you, Ava?" He asked sadly.

"Unspeakable things that made me cut them into pieces," she replied.

Ava shook her head to rid her thoughts and not think of how her one wish in the world has been stripped away from her.

She curled up on her bed and cried herself to sleep wishing she could sleep for an eternity.