“Still no sign of her?” Matt asked from the doorway.
“Nope.” Nick answered, still staring out the window. “What time is it?”
“Ten till seven. Her boyfriend is gonna be here any minute and we are going to have to tell him that we don’t know where she is. That’s gonna go over well. Jesus, she’s been gone for almost 4 hours.”
Nick sighed with realization. He missed Ally and he wished on everything that she would walk through the door any second with her usual sarcastic, “Oh look it’s Nick Carter…oh, wait, I don’t care.” (That’s just a joke…trust me). His mind raced with “if only’s” as he continued to watch the rain drip mercilessly down the windowpane. A sudden honk from a nearby car brought Nick back to reality.
“I bet that’s the bastard now.” Matt said. “Some nerve. He can’t even come to the door to get his girl in a rainstorm.” Matt walked out into the main hallway and towards the door leading outside. As he opened it, he saw a figure walking towards him dressed in a large overcoat and dripping with rain. As the light from the cabin spilled out into the darkness outside, Matt could see that this figure wasn’t Ryan. It was Ally. She came closer and closer until she was standing right in front of Matt. It was only then that Matt could see the large cuts and bruises that were on her face, arms, and legs.
“Oh my God,” Matt whispered. “What the hell?” Seconds later, Nick appeared along side Matt. On shock, his mouth dropped wide open.
“Ally…are you okay?” Nick said dumbfoundedly.
Ally burst into tears for what was obviously not the first time today. On impulse, Nick enveloped Ally in a close and loving hug and together they stood in the doorway as the rain fell around them. Ally didn’t want Nick, or anyone else for that matter, to see her crying, but by this time, she had lost all the strength to fight Nick’s hug even though his embrace felt so right. She knew that she still didn’t deserve this much support because she was a lying back-stabber, but there was nothing else she could do. By this time, a few of the cast members, who had heard someone crying, were also standing around the door, their faces full of shock and disbelief. Because Ally was so weak from sobbing and from the obvious fight that had taken place, Nick had to practically drag her inside out of the rain. “What happened?” Nick said as gently as he could despite the anger rising inside of him. "Who did this to you?" There was no answer from Ally. Only the continuous string of crying. “What happened Ally?” Nick repeated, sitting both of them on the nearby couch and holding Ally in a hug. “We need to know?”
“Yeah Ally,” Rachel said sarcastically while walking past all the commotion. “What happened to you? How much attention do you want now? We are all dying to know.”
“Shut the fuck up Rachel and get your ass out of here, ” said Sophie who was one of Ally’s three roommates and an extra on set. Rachel rolled her eyes and smiled curtly towards the group before walking back to her room. Sophie then reverted her attention warmly back to Ally. “C’mon Al. Breathe. We need to know what happened so we can help you.”
Ally motioned for the pad of paper and the pen, which lay on the side table. Sophie grabbed them both and handed them to Ally. Ally cautiously took the cap off the pen and, still crying, pressed the pen to the paper and wrote the word “Ryan” before she sank into another fit of tears.
“Ally,” Sophie called. “The police are here. They need to talk to you about Ryan.”
Reluctantly, Ally stood up from the couch where she and Nick had been sitting together side by side only moments earlier. “Thank you Sophie,” Ally said as she gave her a hug. “I owe you one.”
"No you don't Al." Sophie said, reassuring Ally. "This is what friends are for."
Ally walked slowly towards an empty room, which had been set aside for questioning. Nick was right at her side. “It’s okay Al.” Nick soothed. “I’m here for you.”
Ally knew that Nick meant it, but she couldn’t accept that he had actually forgiven her.
“Ally Parker?” the officer questioned once Ally and Nick had appeared in the doorway. Ally nodded her head in response. “Please take a seat,” the officer instructed. “We need to ask you some questions about what happened today.”
Ally sat on the edge of one of the three beds in the room. Nick took the seat beside her and the questioning began.
“Now, Miss. Parker, what happened after you left the beach? We need to know every detail in order to convict Ryan Blancherd.”
By this time, Ally had calmed herself down, with help from Nick, and had cleared her head enough to remember details. “I remember that I reached the beach parking lot just as Ryan was backing out of his parking space. I wanted to avoid everyone, including him, so I cut through a small path and the next thing I knew, I had been knocked down from behind and was being…” Ally voice broke into small, broken sobs. “I was being kicked and punched until I didn’t think that I could take anymore. I struggled to fight back, but the person was extremely overpowering. When the fight finally paused, I looked up to see Ryan’s face staring back at me.”
Nick was amazed at how surreal all this seemed.
“Is this the first time that you have been beaten up by Mr. Blancherd? In previous abuse cases that I have handled, often if the attacker is that overpowering, they know your weaknesses.”
Ally looked down at her hands and began fidgeting with one of her rings, ironically, the promise ring that had been given to her by Ryan. “No,” she finally answered. “This isn’t the first time that Ryan has beaten me up.”
Nick sighed with the realization of what he was hearing. Almost involuntarily, Nick held out his hand for Ally to hold. Tears were streaming down her bloodstained face and her body was shaking from all the emotional stress that had been placed on her.
“Miss. Parker…I am going to ask you a very serious question but also a question that is hard to answer. Are you in an abusive relationship?”
Ally struggled to maintain her composure. Her mind was fighting back the urge to answer the officer truthfully. She kept her eyes on the floor. Her silence was an unspoken answer. Finally Ally spoke up. “No…I was in an abusive relationship.” Ally choked out.
After a few seconds, the officer continued with his questioning. “What happened after the attack?”
Ally took a deep breath. “I stood up and tried to scream for help, but I was punched before I could even get the chance. I tried to run away, but Ryan grabbed my leg and knocked me down again. Before I knew what was going on, I was being dragged along the ground and shoved into a car. The next thing that I remember, we were driving down a deserted road. I’m not from California and it was extremely foggy so I didn’t know where I was. The only thing that I know is that we hadn’t been driving very long. I’m not even sure if Ryan knew where we were. Suddenly, Ryan pulled off the side of the road and pushed me out of the car on to the road.” Ally was amazed that she had, for the first time, told the truth about Ryan, about the abuse that he had put her through. She thought about all the hell that she had gone through every time that she had to explain that she had just been clumsy when she showed up in class with a huge bruise on her face when in fact Ryan had punched her for some stupid reason.
Nick sat next to Ally in extreme shock. His anger that Ally hadn’t told him about Ryan had completely disappeared and was now being shifted towards rage against Ryan.
“Were any words exchanged between you two?” the officer asked.
“Not many, but one phrase sticks out in my mind,” Ally said.
“And this phrase is…”
“When Ryan pushed me out of the car, he reached over to shut the door so that he could drive away. I don’t know how, but the next thing that I heard come out of my mouth was, “This is over, this is fucking over. After all your bullshit, this is over. Leave me the fuck alone. I never want to see you again.” I remember screaming parts of this over and over again until I thought that he had finally gotten the message.” Then Ryan got extremely mad and screamed, ‘You think that this is over. You fucking little whore, this is far from over. You think that you can flirt with any guy that you see when I’m not around. Well, this isn’t the last time that you will see me and the next time that I see you, you will be lucky if you leave alive.’ And then he slammed the door and drove off.” Ally found herself loosing control again. She swallowed hard and closed her eyes as if all of this was just a bad dream. Nick looked over at Ally. She was a mess. Her beautiful brown hair was covered in blood from cuts on one of her cheeks and her forehead. A huge bruise covered most of her other cheek. It was then that Nick realized that Ally was still wearing her swimsuit, although that too was ripped. There were a couple of cuts and bruises on her stomach and a very clear mark from a heavy shoe on her left shin.
“How did you get home?” the officer continued.
“I remember lying on the side of the road and listening as the cars passed by. Then the sound of cars was replaced by thunder and lightning and it started to rain. Finally, a man in his mid-fourties pulled over to the side of the road and got out of his car. The next thing I knew, we were in the city and the man was asking me where I was staying. I think that I thanked him for getting me back home, but I’m not sure.” Ally paused when she realized the irrevelency in her comment. “He gave me his card in case you need him for questioning.” Ally said as she handed the card over to the officer.
“Thank you Miss. Parker. This will be useful.”
The questioning lasted about 10 more minutes. When the officer had left, everyone, except for Rachel, gathered in the room with Ally and Nick and more questions began. Ally wasn’t sure whether or not she had hugged so many people before in her life, but she felt extremely lucky to have met such a caring group of people. 45 minutes later, Mike, the director stormed into the room, which for now only contained Ally, Nick, Matt, Sophie, took one look at Ally, and began a long string of profanity. “How do you expect me to continue my movie with you looking like this.”
“I’m sorry,” Ally said softly. “I didn’t mean for this to happen. I’m so sorry.”
“Don’t be sorry Ally.” The director started. “I didn’t mean for it to sound that way. We’ll get you cleaned up and take a week off of shooting for you to heal.”
“I really am sorry Mike, but thank you.” Ally said.
After Mike had left the room, Ally headed for the shower. Nick was so afraid that she was going to pass out, from the physical stress placed on her body, that he waited outside the bathroom until the water stopped running and Ally stepped out in a towel.
“Thanks Nick, or should I say, Shower Guardian?”
“Hey, as long as it’s a girls shower guardian, then you know it,” Nick said.
Chapter Nine
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