Chapter 28: That Night

Daphne approached me after the party and asked if I could give her a ride home. Of course, I agreed to give her a ride home. We bade Christian farewell and wished him luck. "Take care always. We'll miss you," I said to my dear friend.

"Yes, we will," Daphne said.

"If you have time, you can pay me a visit there," Christian said.

We both hugged him.

I opened my car door for Daphne and let her in first. Then I got into my car.

"Daphne, do you mind if we come to my house?" I asked her. "All I want to do is talk to you."

"Sure," she said.

My driver brought us to my house.

We had entered my bedroom. It was completely dark. I switched on the light.

"What do you want to discuss?" Daphne asked.

"Nothing," I replied. "I just want to spend tonight with you."

She laughed. Her smile shone brighter than mine.

"We haven't talked in a long time," I said.

"Yeah, it is," she confirmed. "May I take your guitar? I'd like to play you a song.

“Sure,” I replied.

She took up my blue guitar and began playing a song she had written herself.

Her voice was ethereal. The song's melody was depressing. The words were ominous.

When she sang the song, she was ravishingly beautiful and sexy. I wanted to take off her dress, lay her down on the bed, and make love to her with all my love, passion, and manly strength at that moment.

"That song is really lovely. What exactly is the title?" I asked.

"It's called 'Shadows of Betrayal,' and it's about a girl who is betrayed by a friend she has trusted her entire life. It's called 'Shadows of Betrayal' because when someone is betrayed, he or she blames themselves rather than the traitor. In my song, the girl hides herself in the shadows of shame and never comes out to forgive herself for trusting that person.”

I started kissing Daphne on her lips. She returned my kiss. For a long time, we kissed passionately.

But then she stopped and said, "This is wrong. We should not be doing this.”

"No, this feels right," I said as I kissed her again. But she gently pushed me.

"I have a girlfriend who I love," she explained. I slapped her on the right cheek. In shock, she opened her mouth.

I kissed the back of her neck and shoulders. While I was kissing her, she kept saying "no."

Then I removed her dress, bra, and underwear. She whimpered as I removed them.

She pushed and kicked me repeatedly. I fell from the bed.

She jumped out of bed and dashed to the door.

I ran faster, went in front of it, and blocked her path. Then I shut the door.

She was about to kick me in the stomach when I punched her. In pain, she grunted.

I punched her in the face. She became unconscious.

She was on the verge of collapsing.

I carried her down the bed and then pinned her down. I licked her pink nipples and kissed her breasts. Then I moved my tongue down her stomach, towards her cunt.

Then I opened her legs and entered her.

I admired her fair and slender figure. For a long time, I enjoyed her feminine scent, softness, and wetness.

After that, I slept next to her. She was still unconscious.

I awoke the next morning to find her gone.

On Monday, I went to school as if nothing had happened. But I was worried that Daphne's parents would find out about what I had done to her and come to my house to confront me. Or that the cops would arrest me in my own home one day. That, however, did not occur.

Daphne's mother called me two weeks later. She was sobbing uncontrollably.

"What's the matter?" I asked. Oh no. Maybe she knew what I did to her daughter, I reasoned. I attempted to appear innocent. That was easier because I wasn't face to face with her mother.

"Daphne committed suicide!" She sobbed even more.

"I'm sorry," I apologized. I was crying.

A few days later, I went to Daphne's wake and funeral in Brookeville. Her family, friends, attractive girlfriend, and relatives all arrived. They were all in tears for her. Daphne had had an impact on their lives. She was kind to everyone. She was an angel on earth.

A mass was held during the funeral service. The priest explained our temporary existence on Earth and the eternal life that awaits us. He claimed that when we die, we go to either heaven or hell. God awaits us in heaven, where we will be eternally happy if we are good.

But if we sin, Satan awaits us in hell, where we will suffer the fires of eternal damnation. Our mission on Earth is to serve the Lord and do good. If we want to enter heaven – and we all do – we should always praise the Lord, keep our faith in Him, do good to everyone, renounce Satan and avoid his temptations, and ask God for forgiveness when we sin.

Conscience and Forgiveness

The priest then said a brief prayer. We bowed our heads in prayer. We later delivered our eulogies.

We were instructed by the priest to place a bottle of holy water in her coffin. We each poured a bottle of holy water into her coffin. Daphne was hauntingly beautiful in her death. As corny as it may sound, she appeared to be a lovely angel.

"I'm sorry," I muttered under my breath as it was my turn to pour it into her coffin.

She opened her eyes for a split second. I blinked, unsure if it had all happened. Her eyes, however, remained closed. She was sound asleep in her coffin.

We buried her six feet under a few minutes later. It poured heavily. The sky was crying alongside us. People around me opened their umbrellas and walked directly to their cars, either to go home or somewhere else.

I was wearing a black hood and had my hands in my pockets. I got into my car and drove back to my house.

I went straight to bed and thought about what I had done to Daphne.

So my best friend and the love of my life committed suicide with a knife. After I raped her, she blamed herself. She blamed herself for trusting me that night, just like the depressed girl in her song. I was the one who pushed her to commit suicide.

There were times when Daphne haunted me. Even when the windows were closed, a draft would enter my home. Windows and doors would occasionally open and close on their own. At night, the lights flickered. Even though the air conditioner was turned off, my room became cold. When I looked in the mirror, my face was covered in blood, and a knife was pointed at my neck. That's probably what Daphne wanted to do to me if she had the guts to do it. She intended to murder me.

Her face appeared on the walls, doors, and cabinets. She screamed, cried, and frowned. But I ignored her apparitions. I told myself that it was all in my head.

I'd hear her strumming the chords of her original song "Shadows of Betrayal" in my blue guitar at midnight. She quietly sang it. Her voice moved as quickly as the wind. It was gentle and peaceful. The words were barely audible to me.

The next thing she knew, she was singing it loudly. It was filled with anguish and hatred. I could clearly hear the words.

When I made love to one of my flings, Ellen, in my room one afternoon, I saw Daphne's face instead of Ellen's. I screamed and shoved Ellen away. Daphne's face vanished. It was Ellen's face once more.

Ellen, startled and disgusted, shouted, "Freak!" She then left me.

When I took a shower in my bathroom, instead of clear water, droplets of blood came from the showerhead. I didn't shower for several days after that.

Daphne appeared in my dream one chilly night while I was sleeping. She was dressed in a red gown and had fair skin. She was suspended in mid-air.

"Hello, Alex," she said.

"Daphne," I stated flatly. "Why do you keep scaring the shit out of me?" I asked.”

She laughed hysterically.

"Have you forgotten what you did in this room to me?" she asked me. Her angry expression was distorted.

"I'm sorry," I said.

"Sorry is not enough! How could you do such a thing to me? You were my best friend!" She retorted angrily.

I didn't respond.

"What you did to me was heinous. Because of what you did, I suffered in hell. That's why I'm following you around. I intend to make your life a living nightmare!”

"What exactly do you want me to do to stop haunting me? So you'll be at peace? I'll do anything you ask of me." I told her.

She replied: "Tell the cops about your crime against me. That's the only way I'll forgive you and put an end to your pain."

She then vanished. I woke up.

The next morning, I went to my city's police station and informed them that I had raped Daphne Rose, my beloved best friend and the love of my life. I did it because I loved her madly, passionately, and dangerously enough to commit a heinous crime against her. My best friend was betrayed by me. As a result, she committed suicide.

At first, I assumed that the officers would arrest me and take me to jail right away. Of course, they looked into the matter and looked for evidence. When the police learned of information that would lead a reasonable person to believe that I had raped Daphne, they arrested me and sent me to jail.

I am currently incarcerated. I was bored here, so I wrote this story.

My friends never visited me in jail. My modeling job is gone. My billboard advertisement did not appear. My manager was probably aware of my crime, so they did not place my ad on the billboards. The last I heard they were looking for a new underwear model. I've been completely uninterested in it since Daphne's death. Because she's no longer alive, she'd never see me on billboards.

Renee, the person who always saw the good in me, did not come to see me in jail. She was probably ashamed of me because she saw me for who I truly am—a disgusting, evil, and selfish creature. I haven't heard from her since.

This is a true story. Although some of you may think I'm insane for believing Daphne truly haunted me. You're probably thinking I just imagined it or made it up. But, to be honest, I don't give a damn what you think.

Now I'm awaiting my hearing, which is scheduled for next week. Justice moves slowly in this country. My case has yet to be decided by the judge.

But at the very least, I did my part. Daphne will receive the justice she so richly deserves.

Finally, her soul will be at rest.

-Alexander Pierce

February 21, 2018

End