Chapter 4: Prayer

“God, whoever, whatever you are, if you are out there, hear my prayer”

I did not speak to the woman by my side, letting her know where I was going. She asked me what was wrong as I slowly got up and left the room but I uttered no reply. I grabbed my shirt that hung on the door on my way out and began to button it up, ignoring the voice of my client

“She is everything to me, she’s my every care God please, if you’re out there...”

I walked down the hallway, mulling over in my mind the things Venetia had said, and the things I suspected I knew. “…guy just got rough with one of the girls…”; “is the girl okay… who was it, anyone you know?”; “I… I don’t know” I remembered hearing about Ziyi – a companion at Crescendo many years ago who was the victim of abuse at the hands of a “wild card”. She was raped and beaten, to the point that she no longer resembled her former self.

I became consumed in my own thoughts

Thoughts of Frankie, thoughts of the intruder and in my mind’s eye I imagined what could have taken place. Nothing substantial formed, only flashes - flashes of her being pushed around, smacked, held down and ultimately humiliated. They weren’t pretty thoughts and I wished I could ignore them – they were conjured up in my mind after all – but I couldn’t shake them.

“Let me find her well. Please don’t take her from me. I love her, I need her. My dear Frankie”

I muttered words to myself, in an attempt to console myself. “It’s not her, it’s not her. It’s nothing. Just the usual client got carried away, perhaps stole something. It’s not serious. It’s NOT Frankie.” As hard as I tried though, I couldn’t convince myself it was all in my head; I needed to prove to myself that I was just imagining things. I needed to see her. I needed for her to be fine and to tell me “everything is okay”

“God, whoever, whatever you are, if you are out there, hear my prayer”

**********

Our rooms were situated at opposite ends of the house. The entrance hall was at the centre of the building, the left corridor twisted and turned and eventually led to my room whilst the right led to Frankie’s. There was a fair distance between our two rooms, but on that day, they felt even further apart. The corridor seemed to go on forever before I reached the first turn. But, much to my surprise, it was upon turning that corner that my so called never-ending journey was brought to an abrupt end.

I had discovered where the trouble had started. It was there, in a west wing corridor of the house - the gathering of a dozen or so residents lingering outside a room told me as much.

I breathed a sigh of relief, thankful that it was just my imagination running wild.

It wasn’t Frankie. He wasn’t anywhere near her, though the fact that he was mere rooms away from me was a little unnerving

Gazing at the crowd a little longer however, my feelings of relief and thankfulness soon turned to feelings of guilt. Those few residents had gathered for a reason. Something had happened; someone must have been hurt, even if it wasn’t Frankie. The evidence was there with the people: many had hands to their faces either to wipe their eyes or nervously bite fingernails; most waited anxiously in shock and in anger. Recognising where the crowd were lingering and outside whose room they gathered, I realised who must have been the one involved.

Victoria. Victoria was a companion that had transferred to Kara from Shadow. Although she had had more experience than me thanks to training elsewhere, she had not spent long at Crescendo, perhaps only a few months. She has only just got here… and this, this is what she gets! I had been selfish, thinking only of myself and my feelings, praying that the person I cared about most was not the one involved. Don’t let it be Frankie, anyone but Frankie. Whatever happened to Victoria may have not been my fault, but I sure as hell couldn’t help but feel lousy.

I hesitated before approaching the crowd. I did not want to seem like a prying Pandora, eager to catch a glimpse of the poor victim and hear the juicy details. But at the same time I needed to know. Maybe I was being nosey, or maybe my feelings of guilt were driving me on in the hopes that I could at least be of some use. I don’t think I was the only one. Everybody else seemed to be lingering, not because they wished to pry, but waiting in hope that they could be used in some way to help out. I spotted Kal first. Kal was a couple of years older than me who had practically spent most of his life in the house and although Victoria hadn’t been there long, he had formed an attachment to her. He seemed to be waiting aimlessly, lost as a child, looking around with arms folded and lips clenched. After catching his gaze I sidled up beside him and discreetly asked him. “It’s Victoria right… is she okay?” “Yeah it’s her. She’s okay but…” he paused as his voice broke “she’s… he messed her up good” He bit the inside of his lip as he tried his damndest not to break down I looked away, not only in anger at the situation but also in the hope that by not staring at him, he might be able to regain his composure. At that, I heard commotion coming from the end of the hall. I raised myself onto my tiptoes so that I might see over the heads of the crowd and down the hall to discover what the bustling was about. It was no good. Although I didn’t want to seem rude, I had no idea what was going on and so I had no problem in pushing my way through the crowd to see. There, heading towards us were two men dressed in blue suits. “Finally” Kal muttered behind me The paramedics jogged towards us carrying the usual medical bags. “Make way!” one of them ordered, getting an instant response from everybody as they cleared the way through to Victoria’s room for them. I was the only one who seemed to hesitate, still trying to take in the situation, whilst the men rushed by me. Turning my head, I followed them through with my eyes and it was only in that moment that I caught sight of Victoria as the door was pushed open for them She was sitting huddled on her bed, resting her head on Madame Daae’s shoulder, their hands held tightly. Kal was right, the wild card had messed her up and good. Victoria was a beautiful girl, as most were of course, but she was a natural beauty, one who didn’t need make-up or elegant wear to attract others. Now though, her beauty was hidden by cuts and welts to her face and neck. Her long blonde hair was cut and savaged, no doubt by the same scissors that had been used to cut her skin. Her legs too were cut and bruised. These were just the injuries I could make out from a second’s glance from a distance. She was covering herself with a silk blue negligee, so what the full extent of her injuries were I could only guess. But the red stain of blood that seeped from the towel she kept pressed close to her shoulder proved that the wounds were not merely superficial. As the door closed I remained still in shock. Others too must have caught sight of her but didn’t seem as taken aback as me, made evident by the fact that some had already begun to disperse seconds after the door had closed. Perhaps they had already seen her condition before I got there, or maybe they just felt that there was nothing more they could do – the paramedics can help her now. But even so, I was shaken to my core. How could this happen? Here? Again after what had happened to Ziyi

Ziyi herself was never the same afterwards after her experience, both physically and emotionally. She presumably still lived the rest of her quiet life back home on Ariel, but her companion days were long behind her. And to make matters worse, the man responsible was never caught. It seems he skipped out of the place and off the planet before anyone knew anything about it. Maybe that’s why Cutter no longer takes any nonsense – he’s still living with the guilt of not stopping the perpetrator that day, or any other. Whether it was the same man responsible I did not know, all I was worried about was Victoria She doesn’t deserve this. Then again, who does? What kind of life would she have now? Will she recover and just go back to work, or would she in fact turn her back on her life as a companion?

The door remained closed for a while. It seemed that whatever the paramedics were doing to help, it was being done in that room. Maybe she couldn’t face travelling to the hospital – it was a long distance after all, and if it was just stitching that needed to be done, it could be done with the equipment they had, even though it may not be the ideal environment. “We look after out own here”, Madame Daae often said, and I could imagine her saying the same thing to the paramedics had they insisted on having her transferred to a hospital. “Do what you can and we’ll take care of the rest, we’ll make sure she’s looked after”

We look after our own. The words echoed in my head. It was true. Even though not all of us knew each other that well, if one was in need, we would all pitch together to help out. It was an unwritten rule that we take care of our own, of our family. That’s what we were – family.

**********

“He’s going to pay” a voice muttered behind me I turned around and found myself facing Kal. “What?” “You heard. The guy that did this, he’s going to answer for it” he scowled “Yeah he is” I agreed, before adding “but you’re not the one who will do it” “Is that right?” “Yeah. He will be arrested and he will be tried for it” “You don’t honestly believe that do you? What good have the "authorities" done of late? He’ll get away, just like before” “Before… you think it’s the same guy from years back?” “It doesn’t matter, if one got away before, another can” “Cutter won’t let that happen. He’s gonna catch him” I tried my best to be positive “He didn’t before” “Well he will this time, he’s closing in on him” “Cutter - Cutter’s going after him now?” “Ye… “I started before realising I had given out information I probably shouldn’t have considering Kal’s state “Right”, he acknowledged. “Where is he now?” “What does it matter, you’re not gonna…” “What? Help Cutter track him?” “That’s not what all you’re thinking of” I told him “You think I’ll kill him? Maybe, maybe not. But I ain’t gonna wait around here, especially since the guy who did this is still in the building!” I sympathised with him. It was only a few minutes ago that I felt the same way when I feared that Frankie was the one involved. Why was it I feel I have any right to tell him no? Would it do any good? Would I listen if it was Frankie in there and it was him discouraging me from taking such action? Victoria means a lot to Kal, that much is certain. Who am I to deny him vengeance?

“I know how you feel but you can’t do this?” “You know how I feel huh? Then tell me, why can’t I do this?” I didn’t know how to reply. I didn’t want him to make a mistake he’d regret but I couldn’t honestly say I wouldn’t do the same thing in his position “Where’s Cutter? Where is the guy who did this?” he repeated, angrier than before I certainly didn’t want to get in his way, he was taller and in much better shape than me, not to mention that he was determined. “Down there” I pointed down the corridor towards the entrance hall, “in the east wing”. I just couldn’t risk him losing control and possibly being arrested himself for assault, or even worse, murder, so I lied. I lied through my teeth Trouble was, he didn’t buy it