After painful weeks of studying, the hell called finals were over. The high school students could now breathe an air of relief. Winter breathed in the cold air of the mid-last December, shivering.
She stepped in through the café backdoor and was welcomed by Lucy, who pulled her in a bear hug. "I missed you so much!" she squealed.
"Why? You bothered me every day by calling me during your work time," Winter hissed and pulled apart from the hug.
"I was just checking whether you were slacking off or not," Lucy replied. When Winter narrowed her eyes at her, she added, "Also, because I was bored."
"Oh, really? Should I go back then?" Cedric let out, sarcasm dripping from his voice, as he emerged from behind Lucy.
"That's my cue to leave." Lucy gulped and scurried out of the staff room.
"Why did you come here today?" Winter asked him.
"It's just because Lucy wasn't sure whether you would come today or not," Cedric answered. "I can't leave her alone here, you see." With that, he followed after Lucy, leaving Winter confused.
"Why can't he leave her alone here?" Winter murmured.
"Close the door first if you're going to talk to a ghost here," Zane commented as he closed the backdoor after entering the staff room.
"Oh, hey, Zane," Winter greeted with a cute smile.
"Hi, Winter. It's been a while," he said and leaned against the locker. "How did your exams go?"
Winter was about to reply but was reminded of an incident that happened a few days ago. Zane suddenly got chills as she narrowed her eyes at him. "It went well, thank you." She gave him a menacing smile and grabbed her uniform before marching towards the changing room.
"Winter, is—" he was cut off as Winter slammed the door with a thud. "Did I do something to make her mad?" he wondered. "But we haven't even talked to each other for days."
Zane decided not to rack his brains and went back to his work. He was working at the counter when he heard a familiar giggle, which usually made him happy, but now it only made him see red.
Winter was talking to a customer, who was probably in his mid-twenties. She was laughing at something the customer said.
"She doesn't have to fake her laugh to please the customers," Zane mumbled.
"It doesn't seem fake to me," Leon commented.
"They look pretty good together, don't they?" Lucy squealed in delight.
"Yeah, just like you and me, Lucy," Cedric added.
"Shut up. No one asked you guys," Zane derided, crumbling the one-time cup in his hand. "And they definitely don't look good together."
"But he's handsome," Lucy blurted out.
"Just because he is a blonde doesn't mean he is handsome," Zane and Cedric spoke up at the same time. Leon stifled his laughter at their synchronization.
"Okay, my bad. No one is more handsome than you two," Lucy let out in defeat.
"What about me?" Leon chirped.
"You are uglier than my pimples," Lucy retorted, and Leon pouted like a child.
Meanwhile, Zane's eyes were boring holes in Winter, who felt uneasy but continued conversing with the customer, who was a cartoonist. Since there weren't many customers, she took the time to hear his stories.
"Their conversation seems endless," Leon started again.
"I still say they look cute," Lucy said.
"I have my doubts now," Cedric disagreed, which resulted in an argument between the three of them.
Zane clenched his jaw and shot them a glare. "Why don't you guys go back to work? And Cedric, why are you still here?" he snapped, being annoyed by their constant chattering.
"I took the whole day off. I have nothing else to do." Cedric shrugged. "Let me just enjoy the show." Leon and Lucy nodded their heads in agreement.
Zane sneered at them and glanced back at Winter. He noticed how the man's eyes were hovering over Winter, obviously checking her out. Now he had enough.
"I would love to talk to you more about my work, but I think you need to go back to your work. Can I have your number? We can—" the man was interrupted as a black card was slammed in front of him. "What?"
"Congratulations, sir. You are one of the five lucky customers to get a black card this year through the lottery," Zane let out, flashing an intimidating smile at him.
"What? You can't do that to me—" the man cut himself off once he received the death glare from Zane, who screamed, 'if you ever look at her in a dirty way, you are dead'.
"Please get going, sir. Have an unpleasant journey on your way home." With that, Zane took a hold of Winter's wrist and went to the staff room. "What's wrong with you, Winter? Did you not realize that man was flirting with you?"
"Was he?" Winter was confused. "I didn't think that way. I just thought he was trying to chat with me," she mumbled.
Zane sighed, putting a lid on his anger and jealousy. "Look, just be careful of the people that seem over-friendly. They are bad news, alright?"
"Alright," she replied.
Zane looked at his wristwatch and said, "Oh, I need to leave. Ellie needs me for some Christmas shopping." He was walking towards his locker but stopped as he was reminded of something. "Why were you mad at me earlier?"
"I still am," she spoke up. "You didn't receive my call."
"When?" He tilted his head in confusion.
"Last weekend."
He tried to remember his activities from that day and grumbled when he realized what had happened. "It might sound like an excuse but I thought it was Leon bothering me, so I put my phone away in silence. I'm sorry."
"As long as it wasn't intentional, it's fine. You should get going." Winter was back to normal, giving him her usual cute smiles.
"I'll see you later, then." Zane got a bad feeling suddenly. As if he shouldn't leave her here. But he shrugged off that looming thought and prepared himself for leaving.
°°°°°
The café was closed for the day as all the customers had left already. It was only Winter and Lucy left for cleaning up; Cedric didn't count as he was busy with his laptop in one corner.
Winter and Lucy were wiping the tables with the rag when Cedric told Lucy, "There's an emergency. I need to leave right away."
"What happened?" Lucy inquired.
"Some scandals with the cops. C'mon, I'll drop you guys home," Cedric said.
"I will leave after I'm done cleaning up," Winter insisted.
"Screw that. It's not safe for you, Winter," Cedric let out.
"It's fine. You guys should leave. I can take care of the rest," Winter tried to assure them.
"Are you sure?" Lucy asked.
Winter nodded and gave a pat on her shoulder, encouraging her to leave. "What could even happen? It's only nine."
Cedric and Lucy left reluctantly, not getting a good feeling at all. Winter locked the doors properly and continued her work.
She was humming a song to herself when she heard the click of the backdoor, which she was sure that she locked. She shrugged it off as her mind's mistake until she got goosebumps. There was a presence behind her.
She was about to turn around, but she was pulled back by her waist and a hand was pressed on her mouth. Immediate panic crossed her mind. She tried to scream but it was in vain as the assailant seemed strong.
The person leaned closer to her ear and breathed out, "Hello, Winter."
Winter's eyes went wide as she recognized the voice immediately. Hot tears stung her eyes.
"I have been waiting for this opportunity for so long," he whispered sensually.
Winter kicked him in the shin, making him fall over his knees. She bolted out of the shop as fast as her legs would take her, without caring about the cold outside. Anywhere was better than being in there.
In a state of panic, she took the wrong route and ended up at a dead end. She panted, rasping for her breath. She turned around only to let out an agonizing scream.
His amber eyes squinted at her in lust and face covered in fury.
Winter took a few steps back towards the dead end. "Please, please, please don't do this to me," she begged, choking on her own words.
"Why not?" he asked, stepping forward, despite her desperate cries.
"I'm like your daughter, please," she breathed out. She couldn't understand this was all happening to her. She never thought that those impure touches from him would lead to this.
"Sadly, I don't have a daughter." With that, he took a large step towards her and pulled her by the hair before pushing her into the wall. It stung as it sent swells of pain through her body.
"Please, Mr. Tanner…" Winter begged for the last time, her voice cracking.
"Rylan would sound way better from your mouth," her boss said and rested his chin on her shoulder, his lips clamped down to her ears. They were light at first, and then he bit down harder.
Winter squirmed against the wall, trying to kick him like before, but it didn't work, rather he made her kneel on the ground. She tried to scream but it went unheard. She was sure that even if someone heard them, they turned a deaf ear to it.
The teeth turned to a tongue. It slid over the rim of her ear and caused her to cry. Two hands slid down her sides and landed on her waist, just above the hem of her skirt.
She didn't know what to do. She hoped that this was a cruel joke, a nightmare. She had never been more scared in her life than now. The lips moved down to her neck and nipped at her tender skin.
Winter knew this would be bad. Her skin was bruised so easily, she knew it would make a mark. Rylan began to suck at her skin furiously. The more she tried to resist, the harder he would push her against the wall.
After all, she has been through, she didn't want to end up as a molested victim. She had enough depression to fight with already. She didn't want this to happen to her, neither could she want it to happen to anyone else.
More than ever, she wanted someone to save her. But who would save her? She had no one to count on, no one to care for her. Her dad didn't care, her step-mom didn't either.
Maybe it would have been just better to die that day. At least she wouldn't have to be raped today.
