Chapter 1

I liked Sweetwitch'es story Shelter From the Storm so much I had to try my hand at writing a similar story. I hope you like it.

Author's note: My soapbox time. As a retired police officer I have seen the effects of rape on the people who are involved. This is a story that deals with the effects of rape on a teenage girl and the others who come in contact with her. Due to the limitations of writing a story I have had to compress the effects and recovery of the victim. Most victims recover within months with support, but others suffer the effects for years or the rest of their lives. Remember rape is not a sexual act; it is a crime of violence.

"How could he do that?" Susan cried out to the silent woods. "I loved him!" Susan had been repeating these words and similar sentiments to the silent trees for the last two hours since abandoning her out-of gas car on the unpaved forest road. She stumbled as she walked through the ankle deep snow, the large fluffy flakes covering her body when she fell. Picking herself up, she continued along the road. "I can never face my friends again! I'm so ashamed!" As she continued she remembered the last time she had seen Eric.

The party had lasted a long time and most of the other people were gone. Only Eric and his fraternity brothers were left, along with several sorority sisters who were going out with the frat brothers. Susan knew several of the girls but didn't really get along with them very well. Most of them were rich and drove BMW's or Lexus's to school and lived on Greek Row. Susan came from a middle class neighborhood and was the first of her immediate family to attend college. She was at the college on an academic scholarship and was living at home. She drove an old Ford Escort that had seen better days. That's why she couldn't believe that the handsome Eric had chosen her as his date to the party.

She had fallen in love with him when she tutored him to pass his math class. He hadn't shown that much interest in her at first but lately he had showered her with gifts and attention. Tonight he had invited her to go to the fraternity Christmas party and had introduced her to many of his fraternity brothers as well. He had been bringing her champagne to drink all night long and she would have been drunk if she hadn't poured most of it in the bushes. Eric brought her another glass as she stood there watching the few remaining people. "Are you trying to get me drunk?" She asked flirtatiously when she took it from Eric. "I need to get home soon, Eric."

"Just one more drink and we'll go."

Eric remained by her and she was unable to dispose of the drink in the bushes this time. Smiling at Eric she drained the glass and began to move toward the door. Eric grabbed her hand and pulled her to him. "Wait a bit until the mess outside clears up some more. It'll be easier to get out then", he told her as he pulled her onto his lap in the chair. She remembered getting sleepy as he held her. After that things got fuzzy. She seemed to be dreaming of being in a bed with several men while being watched by people on the periphery of her consciousness. After that everything was a blank.

When she woke up it was daylight and she found herself naked in a bed with two men she had seen at the party. Frat brothers of Eric, she thought. She tried to remember what had happened after the party ended. She remembered the drink, Eric holding her and the dream that followed. Scrambling out of the bed she looked for her clothes and found them neatly stacked on a chair next to the bed.

Susan groaned to herself when she got out of the bed. Her entire bottom was sore and her legs felt like they had been hyper extended. Looking at her body she noticed bruises around her shoulders and lower legs. Stumbling out of the room she heard noises from the fraternity living room. Glancing in, she saw Eric with his arms around Lisa, one of the sorority sisters she had met last night. They were kissing each other dressed in little more than their underwear. They and several of the fraternity brothers were watching a porn flick on the TV.

"Eric, what is going on? Why am I here and why was I naked with those two men?"

Eric looked at her casually, "Did you meet Lisa last night? I don't think I introduced you to each other." He turned to Lisa, "Susan, this is Lisa, my fiancée. Lisa, this is Susan, last night's entertainment." He turned toward the TV and Susan followed his eyes. There she was on the TV being fondled by several men while she had a cock in her cunt, her ass and her mouth. Susan stared at the scene on the TV, like a mouse staring at the eyes of a snake. Putting her hand to her mouth, she screamed and ran crying out the house, hearing the laughter of the fraternity members behind her as she ran. Fumbling with her purse she found a wad of money in the top of it.

Pulling it from the purse, she threw it on the ground and grabbed her keys. Crying she peeled out of the parking area, hitting several cars as she left. Cries of outrage sounded behind her as she drove away. After driving a couple of miles she stopped and parked by the side of the road and began crying in earnest. She pulled out her cell phone and called home. "Mom?" All she got was the answering machine asking her to leave a message. "Mom, you were right! All he wanted to do was use me. They raped me and took movies of it. I'm so ashamed." She began crying again, "I'm going away where no one will ever find me. I'm sorry! I should have listened to you! I love you!"

Closing the phone, she started to put it in her purse. Looking at it, she threw the phone out of the window and onto the road. Crying she headed toward the mountains as the snow began to fall. She wasn't paying attention where she was going; just taking whichever road seemed less traveled as she went. Finally the Escort ran out of gas and she continued on foot. It was snowing harder now and Susan was beginning to stumble more frequently. She left the shelter of the woods and was in a clearing of some sort. It seemed to her that she should recognize something about the clearing she was in but her mind felt fuzzy. She stumbled again and couldn't seem to get up. She was so tired. It was strange but she had been so cold before, now it seemed like it was warm. She decided to sleep for a while.

"Youngling, many things are hidden from the casual observer", said the old dragon." Michael was sitting at the table trying to write more on his new book when Gerick, his beagle, decided it was time to go for a walk again. Ambling over to the chair he put his paws on Michael's legs and stared at him with his soft brown eyes. When that didn't get him moving he began barking, a high-pitched noise that made the mantle on the kerosene lamps ring. With an annoyed expression on his face Michael gave up trying to write. Grabbing his coat and hat, he stomped into his snow boots and followed Gerick as he wandered around the small farm, in the standard beagle position of nose down, butt in the air and tail going like a metronome.

"Damned spoiled dog. Too stupid to stay indoors when it's snowing. I don't know why I put up with you." Michael grumbled as Gerick dragged him from tree to tree, sniffing at smells that told him who knows what. Stopping at a mound in the field, Gerick began digging. Idly Michael wondered what Gerick was trying to dig up now, a mouse or one of the many rabbits living on his small farm. Deciding that he had been outside long enough, he called to the dog, "Gerick, come here!"

Usually that was all he needed to say to get Gerick to go back to the house. Today he was being stubborn. "Damn it Gerick, I said come here!" Gerick refused to budge, with only the tip of his white tail sticking out of the hole he had dug in the mound. Swearing in frustration, Michael walked over to the hole and began to uncover Gerick and get ready to drag him away. Michael finally had him unburied and began to pull him away from the hole when a piece of cloth caught his eye. "Somebody lost a coat?" Michael couldn't figure out when this had landed here, but he could swear that it hadn't been there this morning. He began to pull at the exposed cloth.

Gerick went wild barking. With an annoyed look at the beagle, Michael pulled harder. The damned coat seemed stuck to something, but he was damned if he was going to leave it there to mess up his plow next spring. Suddenly he found himself with the body of a young girl coming out of the mound. Dropping to his knees he felt for a pulse, after the initial shock wore off. He took off his glove and thought he felt a pulse at the girl's throat. Picking up the young girl he hurried back to the house. Reaching the house he placed her on the floor on several blankets and quickly examined her in the light of the kerosene lamps. He wondered why a young girl was in the woods so far away from any open roads. Michael thought she couldn't be eighteen, although he wasn't terribly great at estimating the age of teenagers.

Removing her wet clothing he found her to be in remarkably good shape. She showed signs of frost bite but there was little evidence of any real damage. Her toes and fingers were pale but nothing appeared to be frozen. The biggest problem he could see was her face had gotten burnt by the cold and the glare off the snow. Patting her dry after removing all her clothes he could see that she was breathing. Michael pulled out his sleeping bag and laid her on the inflatable mattress next to the wood stove that he used for his main heating source.

Sitting back on his heels after wrapping her in warm blankets, he considered what he should do. Michael had come to this remote location in order to have privacy for his writing. He was a freelance writer and was self sufficient for almost everything on the small farm that he owned. In order to ensure that he was not disturbed, he had made sure that he didn't have anything that would allow contact with the outside world. He hadn't been worried about his health, as he was in excellent condition for a man of 29. He had had enough food stored to last until well into the spring and had chickens, goats, a bred sow and two cows for fresh meat or milk. He had tried solitude when working on his last book and felt that he did better work without distractions from the outside world. Taking care of the animals allowed him breaks from his writing.

Scrambling to his knees, Michael sat in the comfortable chair next to the stove and watched the girl. He wished now he had made arrangements to have someone check on him before spring. Looking out the window he saw that the storm was getting worse. There was no way he could get out to a location with a phone in this weather. Like it or not the girl would have to make it with what he had available here. He had done everything he could think of and now it was time to wait for the girl to wake up.

The knock came at the door again. "Eric, get the damn door will you! My head is splitting!" One of the fraternity brothers called out. Grumbling Eric disengaged from Lisa and headed for the door. Opening the door he found himself facing several deputies.

"Is this the DKE house?" asked one of them.

Leaning in the doorway, Eric yawned and scratched his arm. "Yeah, what do you want?

"We have a warrant to search the house for evidence of the reported rape of Susan Winwood."

"She's claiming she was raped? That's crap!" He waved the officers into the living room where they could see the other brothers watching the video of Susan having sex with multiple partners. "See! She wasn't protesting. Besides we paid her."

"Sir, Susan Winwood is 16 years old. That makes it statutory rape in this state regardless if she was willing."

"But she's in college!" Eric protested.

"Sir, that doesn't make any difference", the officer said as he pushed his way in with the warrant.

Susan woke up in a strange room. Fuzzily she remembered walking in the snow. "Where am I?" She wondered drowsily. "This doesn't look like home." She turned her head and saw a young man in a chair next to her asleep with a beagle sleeping at his feet. Suddenly she remembered what had happened and sat up.