Thirty minutes later I'm finally at my house. Surprisingly, no one arrested me and I didn't get myself killed.

I park my car on the driveway and I look for my old keys—which I hope I have somewhere here because I don't want to wake up my mom yet since it's 1 am.

Found them.

I look at my phone and I see twenty missed calls from Nicole and Shanice. I hope nothing happened to Derek.

Ah, she is probably calling me because she saw our muddled dorm after I told her I'd come back quickly to Shanice's room.

I can't think about them right now, I need to quickly find that damn box and leave again so I can be back on campus this morning.

I accidentally slam my car door and I walk to my porch. The lights are all turned off, even in the yard which is a bit weird. My mom always keeps them on.

The neighbors are all sleeping too.

I realize my mom's car isn't here... maybe it's in the garage but I don't have the key so I have to go there from inside the house. I suddenly regret not calling her before coming here. I hope the noise doesn't scare her too much.

I unlock the door and turn on the light in the hallway.

The house looks unusually clean and empty. I don't see my mom's shoes and coat where she usually puts it.

I feel a weird sense of dread in my stomach.

I still have to check her bedroom and if she is home wake her up. I wanted to let her sleep but this is just... strange.

I put my jacket on the chair in the dining room and I run upstairs. I don't know how to go to my mom's room without scaring her. Knocking will scare her anyway since she doesn't expect me home.

I turn the light on in the upstairs hallway and I decide to just knock and say it's me.

"Mom, I'm Veronica," I say loud enough to wake her up.

I knock a few times. Nothing. No response.

"Mom?"

I open the door slowly and I immediately notice the bed is made and tidy.

She isn't home.

My mom is almost always home... unless she is dating someone but she would still bring them over. There is nothing she loves more than her own house.

I immediately try to call her as I walk to my bedroom.

It's weird seeing everything so organized. She cleaned my room too. I throw myself on the bed while trying to call my mom again and again.

No answer.

Why is no one answering today?!

Okay. She is with someone for sure. I came here for the box, I can talk to her tomorrow and miss the business class. It will be only once.

I stand up again, slightly dizzy since I didn't eat anything other than popcorn and a horrible breakfast meal. I'm exhausted, I frankly just want to sleep.

I can't believe Cyprian ruined my day like this.

I can't remember where I put that damn box... even my mom couldn't find it. Or maybe she realized her mistake and took it back and blamed it on me for losing it.

She isn't crazy. She is a good mom. Way better than my biological parents or any other adoptive family.

I know it was in my old car and I moved it when Irène and Derek gifted me the new car... but I know it's not there. I put it somewhere else.

I put my phone on the bedside table as I look under the bed and in the closet.

Nothing. It's not in my room.

It must be in the garage when I took it out of my old car I must have put it there. How did I not think of that?

The problem is that our garage is a mess. It's a small box and I'll have to dig through the whole clutter to find something.

I go downstairs to the garage. My mom's car isn't here either so I know for sure she isn't home and not coming back tonight. I left her another message on the phone to call me when she is available but she is probably sleeping. I should have called my grandma... I just didn't want to scare them.

I desperately look everywhere, making a mess. My mom will kill me but this is more important.

I exhale a heavy sigh of relief when I spot a small wooden box on the top of the shelf.

It's too tall. I'll try to climb the shelves and hope I don't fall.

It's not long before I pick up the box and I get safely back on the ground.

"It's this box!" I exclaim. No wonder my mom didn't see it. She is shorter than me and it's insane how chaotic this place is.

We didn't clean it since dad left... he used to work in here a lot. It hurts to move the things he used. 

I wish I could just run away and throw this box. It would ruin me to know my mom and my dad hid such an important information from me. It would destroy me.

A tear slides on my cheek and I quickly brush it away.

"Dad... please, I just want one normal day," I plead in my mind.

I hope this box has nothing to do with Cyprian and I hope it's not as bad as my mom made it seem.

I sit on the dirty floor and I try to open the box but it's harder to open than I thought.

I'm this close to slamming the box against the walls. I just want to sleep.

I stand up to try to find something sharp when everything suddenly turns pitch black.

I try to switch the light on and off and it doesn't work. The electricity went out. I put my hands on my back pockets and I realize bothered that I forgot my phone upstairs on the bedside table.

Ugh, my life is always unlucky. This day can't get any worse, there is just no way.

I don't know how I'll see anything to walk from here to the stairs and not trip.

It would be very unfortunate to die like this.

I can wait for the power to come back on... or I can try opening the garage door.

Sadly, it can only be opened by power or key. And I don't have both.

I walk to the garage doors and when I notice a hint of light coming from outside, I almost faint.

The garage door is slightly opened. The edges are ruined. It was forced.

"Oh my God..." I say as the realization hits me.

Is my mom even okay? The door was surely forced. Someone tried to break in.

I try to lift the big door and open it up more but it's impossible, especially with the power break. This isn't enough space to get under it. It's barely one foot.

I need to calm down, maybe my mom forced the doors when she left... maybe they just didn't close fully.

I take a deep breath. It can be anything. The house looks okay, perfect even, the main entrance isn't forced. Even the garage is exactly how I left it.

If only the light came back on...

I grab a knife from one of my dad's shelves and I hide it behind my back. Just to be safe.

When I step into the hallway, I try to stupidly turn on the light again but it's still turned off. Right now it's impossible to see anything. I have to just remember my path from memory and hopefully not trip over something.

I hear footsteps behind me and I turn around frantically, trying to see what is happening and who it is.

"Mom?" I ask scared. It has to be her.

I'm suddenly grabbed and I start screaming but the person covers my mouth.

I try to use my knife but he forces it out of my hand and I hear when it falls on the wooden floor.

I start crying as his dirty hands press on my mouth.

"No, no, please," I whimper but I know he doesn't even understand what I'm saying.

He presses me against the wall, my face glued to it and his hand travels to my jeans.

I try to turn around which makes him press me against the wall harder.

He frees my mouth and I scream as hard as I can. The man suddenly turns me around and I feel his stinky breath on my face.

"Did you miss me, little one?" he says in a low, dark voice and the blood freezes in my veins.

It's him. It's the man who raped me two years ago and he came back for more. He knows where I live... he's been waiting for this.

Why does this always happen to me? What did I do wrong?

I gather all the courage and strength I can find in my body, the adrenaline is the only thing keeping me going. I don't want to be a victim again.

Salty tears reach my mouth and I use all my force to push him away.

He trips over the chair and falls. I am in the dining room...

As he is about to stand up, I look for my knife that he dropped and I finally grab it.

"Don't c- come near me." The knife is trembling in my hand to the point where I could drop it again.

"Don't worry, slut. You will enjoy it." His voice sends shivers down my spine and I know I either need to flee or stab him.

But he doesn't listen. He comes closer to me and I stab him with the knife, hoping I hit something that would make him collapse.

"Ah," he groans in pain. "Fucking whore."

I sense he stands up again and I try to run towards the hallway but I can't see anything...

I trip over the carpet and I hit my elbow and hands.

As I'm about to stand up, he pulls my hair and forces me back down.

He gets on top of my legs and tries to strangle me.

My head feels like it's already exploding as he is crushing my esophagus, but I raise my knife and I hit his face.

He yells in pain longer this time and he collapses to my side. I quickly stand up without leaving my knife and I run again towards the hallway.

"Whore, you fucking whore, I'll catch you. You will never be free from me," he screams over and over again and it's all I can replay in my head as I finally reach the main door.

I can feel his blood on my hands as I touch the doorknob. When I see the light from the streets outside I am completely lost.

I hear footsteps behind me again so I run to my car. I can't call the cops now, my neighbors didn't even hear anything.

I get into my car as fast as I can and just as I'm about to drive off, he tries to hit my windows but they are resistant. I only stabbed him across the cheek, he will survive.

I quickly drive away, only looking behind me as he throws rocks on my car trunk, completely shattering the back windshield.

I can't breathe. I need to keep driving.

The neighbors must have heard something.

But his disgusting voice plays in my head over and over again.

"You will never be free from me."

I didn't even put my seatbelt on but I don't even care, I just want to be away from here.

He is following me, I think as I look in the rearview mirror and there is not even one car or person on the street. Everything is silent.

But he is here to get me. He will find me.

I hit the accelerator pedal and I don't even stop at the stop sign. I keep driving faster and faster just so I can get to the highway.

Tears flood my face as the realization that I was about to be raped once again sets in.

"I want to die," I whisper to myself not even caring how fast I'm going. I want to be free from him.

I'll never be free from him.

A car passes me as my vision gets more blurry and I lose control of the steering wheel, completely turning it to the right.

I try to hit the brake pedal but I already know I'm going to hit the tree at full speed.

~

I slowly regain my vision and open my eyes. The first person I see is my mom sitting on the hospital bed near me. Then I notice Derek and Nicole and I feel even more disoriented.

I suddenly sit up confused and terrified.

He will come back for me. He will ruin me. I'll never be free from him.

"Please, don't move. You are injured," my mom says and I look down at my body noticing the bandages and how horrible I look. I realize my stomach is wounded. My head is throbbing and when I bring my hand to it, I feel the blood-soaked bandage.

Derek looks at me worried but I can only think about my rapist... it was going to happen again... I saved my life.

My heart jumps out of my chest as I can't breathe. I desperately want to breathe but I can't.

He is here. He will find me. Every time. I'll never be safe.

I let out a blood-curdling scream. They try to calm me down but I keep moving and I don't even realize I'm supposed to be hurt. It's my deranged mind that is going to make me sick.

"Mom... he is here," I yell through cries, and Nicole and my mom look at me like I'm insane.

Derek doesn't.

"What are you talking about?" Nicole asks terrified. She must have seen the dorm... and my house completely ruined.

"He will do it again," I mumble to myself. "He will never stop." I burst out crying and my heart rate monitor starts going up.

The nurses suddenly burst into the room and they try to calm me down.

"Mom, I need to tell you because I know I'll never say it again," I say terrified. He will be waiting for me out of the hospital... maybe when my parents leave.

My mom asks the nurses to leave as I try to calm down and my heartbeat goes back to normal. I have to explain to her what I thought I'd never say out loud.

Derek and Nicole aren't saying anything as my mom grabs my hand and caresses it.

"What happened to you, sweetheart?"

I look away from her at the white wall as if I'm remembering the day when it all started.

"I was so ashamed of myself. I thought it was my fault. Maybe it is, but please don't judge me. I beg you," I mutter while shaking.

"Sweetheart, I'll never judge you. Never," she reassures me.

I try to speak but my throat tightens up.

I look at Derek but I immediately look down, ashamed of what he is going to think of me.

"Almost three years ago I was going to work at Kaylee's cafeteria. It was-" I stop to wipe away my tears. "It was a normal day. I thought it would be."

Nicole and Derek listen carefully to every word I say and I feel even worse that I'm about to tell them the truth... I'm just so terrified of what they will think of me but I'm more afraid of my rapist.

"What happened?" my mom asks, again.

She wipes away my tears with her thumb in a comforting manner.

"Mom." I pause as I close my eyes. "I was raped."

End of Gone Girl 2