AT THE CLEAR OPAL MANOR
As soon as Pete walked into the mini lounge on his way to retrieve the said camera, he thought he saw a moving shadow. As far as he knew, no-one was supposed to be in that suite, so he told myself that maybe he was just exhausted and stressed; thus seeing what was not there. He entered the bedroom and looked around. Pete knew that if anyone had wanted to record the rape incident, they would have placed the camera in the bedroom. He looked around but did not see any. After flipping the pillows in search, Pete knelt down to search on the floor, just in case the camera had fallen under some piece of furniture. Finding no camera, he was about to enter the bathroom when the curtain moved. Were the shadows and movements still in his imagination? Pete greatly doubted it.
Looking around, Pete saw a tissue paper holder lying on the floor. He grabbed and held it tight. The idea of calling the cops never entered his mind. Slowly and fearfully, he approached the curtain.
"Who's there!" he asked. No one responded.
He approached slowly, and when he was still far from where he had seen the curtain movement, he pulled hard on the curtain, and it drew to him easily; exposing a shaking Raelynn standing there, with a camera in her hand.
"Raelynn!" Pete thought that his eyes were deceiving him.
"Raelynn! When Logan said you were behind this, I swear I refused it with all my heart. I was prepared to defend you with my life! You are behind this?" Pete could feel the anger boiling up inside him.
"I…I can…let me explain!" Raelynn tried to hold Pete's shoulders but Pete backed off.
"What's there to explain, Raelynn? You set Anisha up? You wanted her to be raped? You are a woman, and you find joy in seeing the suffering of another woman? Raelynn!"
"I…it wasn't me. L…l..let me…." she stammered.
"Then what are you doing here, Raelynn? Why on earth are you hiding behind a curtain, with a camera in your hands? You planned all this, Raelynn? You brought Anisha here, to be raped by that stupid boy Logan? And you even helped him escape, didn't you? How did Logan know about the fire escape staircase? And the security guards? Was it you who told them to vacate the western exit? How did you do that?" Pete could not help but send as many questions as he could.
The two of them stood staring at each other, Raelynn wishing for the floor to open up and swallow her whole; Pete wishing if only it could be a dream.
Then something hit Pete and he said out, "Ohh! Now it makes sense! It was you! It was you who deleted the CCTV footage. Raelynn! What are you doing? I mean, what are you! Who are you! What do you want! Raelynn!"
"I…I didn't do it on purpose.!"
"Stop talking nonsense! This whole plan was well executed. You can't say it was an error, because it wasn't! How can it be an error! You planned all this! You had this all planned out, Raelynn. But my question is why? Why would you want to harm Anisha? Did she do anything to you?" Pete asked, without necessarily expecting Raelynn to respond.
He shook his head and continued, "I remember after the dinner you complained to me that Anisha outshone you. You told me something about her wearing a dinner gown which was much more beautiful than yours...but still, could it be the reason why you wanted to harm her? You planned for her to be raped? Raelynn, I still cannot believe this!"
"I did not…"
"To think that I was going to marry you in the next two weeks!" Pete found himself saying that.
"What do you mean, you were going to marry me? Are you not going to marry me anymore?" the lady went down on her knees, holding Pete's hands.
"No Raelynn, please don't touch me."
"Pete! Pete Rockridge! It's me, Raelynn! Your Raelynn! Will you leave me just because of a small error?" she began to cry.
"A small error, you say? Drugging someone and conniving for them to be raped…you consider that a small matter; Raelynn?"
"I didn't mean to do it." She said, failing to find any more reasonable words to use to redeem herself.
"Guilt is written all over your face! What made you do this? Talk to me! Were you jealous of her? Did it anger you that much when you thought that she wore a nicer gown? Well you could have asked me to buy nicer gowns for you, Raelynn. I would have gladly bought some for you. I didn't know that the matter was that serious to you. And your gown was also very beautiful; I told you countless times that you looked beautiful in it! Now you have to face time in prison for…"
"No! no Pete, no! I will not go to prison please, you will have to protect me! Your dad runs Lakeworld's best law firm and …"
"My dad will need to know the facts, Raelynn! And I cannot even ask him to help you, seeing that you're guilty and you're not even talking! Why did you do this? Did Anisha do anything that hurt you?"
"No. N…not really."
"What do you mean 'not really'' what did she do?" Pete was becoming more and more confused as the web of Raelynn's tale continued to engulf him.
"Nothing! She did nothing! Pete please help me, I cannot go to jail."
"You better start talking, Raelynn!"
Pete snatched the camera from Raelynn's hands, and started playing it. Raelynn did not move an inch, she had no strength to snatch the camera back. She stood still and cursed the day she ever agreed to be part of that dirty deal.
Pete pressed play, and he saw Logan with his devilish smile, talking "you can take off your dress, or do you want me to help you?" .
He saw in the video Anisha weakly pulling a pillow and using it to hit Logan. Logan just smiled and started to unbutton his shirt and took it off. He unbuckled his belt and threw it on the bed.
"w..why? Why a..are y..y..you d..doing this?" Pete saw and heard Anisha speaking in the video.
"This is good for you. Raelynn just told you that she drugged you. You need a man. And I am here! You and I will have fun. I will make love to you until you cry, whether you like it or not! I'm just following Raelynn's orders, sweetheart!" Logan spoke.
Pete cursed out lout and swirled around in anger. He faced Raelynn and made as if he was going to cry real tears. He replayed a part of the video. Logan's voice could be heard loud and clear, "…..Raelynn just told you that she drugged you... I will make love to you until you cry, whether you like it or not! I'm just following Raelynn's orders, sweetheart!"
Pete stared long and hard at Raelynn, and he felt a tear falling off one of his eyes. The other eye also gave in, and tears rolled down both his cheeks.
Failing to help it, he played the part again.
"…..Raelynn just told you that she drugged you... I will make love to you until you cry, whether you like it or not! I'm just following Raelynn's orders, sweetheart!"
"Will you help me not to go to jail? I am your fiancé, Pete!" Raelynn asked him, her imagination running wild, as she could not believe that there was a possibility of her going to prison.
Pete did not respond. He just stared at Raelynn and slightly shook his head.
"If you ever loved me, Pete Rockridge, then you have to help me!" Raelynn moved from pleading to demanding. "You are the man that I love! You promised me love and care, and now you're leaving me because I have made an error? Well, be a man, Pete, and stand by your woman! Be a man and…"
"I am being a man, Raelynn! And a real man will not support in any way people who plan for another to be raped? Rape, Raelynn?"
"Why are you supporting her?" Raelynn shouted back. "You're in love with me, not Anisha! Stand up for me and support me!"
"I will NOT support crime!"
"Oh so you're saying you won't support me?" Raelynn's eyes bulged furiously. "I thought you loved me."
"Loved; you are right. I loved you, Raelynn. I was willing to stand by and support you in everything; but not to the extent which you have gone."
"Even if you won't help me, my dad will help me escape! Money can buy freedom after all, in case you're not aware of that!" She sounded like a little girl showing off to her friends.
Pete looked up and sighed. He could not believe that Raelynn even had the guts of talking about her dad helping her; right at that moment.
"If I go to jail, I won't go alone." She stated firmly.
"You and Logan together," Pete spoke it as a matter of fact.
"And that lady who you value a lot and view as a mother! That lady who you love so much, talking about her daily, telling me that you see a mother in her, describing her as kind and gentle…she too will go down with me! She is the mastermind behind all this. If I go down, she also goes down. Mrs Shimmer de Milo will have to come with me!" she snapped.