CHAPTER NINETEEN

Dean POV

"Daddy!"

I looked up at Belle's cry as she rushed into the library. Her eyes were red and puffy like she had been crying and she was shaking.

"What's wrong, Belle?"

"He... He..." she burst into a fresh bout of tears, burying her face in her hands.

I immediately jumped up, heading over and pulling her into a tight embrace. She continued to sob into her hands as I stroked her hair and shushed her softly.

"Do you want Cass?"

"N-no. I-I can't... I can't..."

"Okay, okay. That's okay, we don't need to get Cass. Want to go talk in your room?"

I felt her nod against my chest and I kept my arms around her as I led her down the hall in the direction of her bedroom. Once inside, I shut the door to give us some privacy and guided her over to sit on the edge of the bed. She buried her face in my shoulder and I rocked her slightly, whispering assurances everything would be fine in her ear as she continued to cry.

"What happened, Belle?"

"It was just teasing... He never... It was only ever a battle of words... But then he..."

"Belle, baby, I don't know what you're talking about. You need to finish your sentences."

Her head lifted as she stared up at me, eyes still sparkling with tears.

"He r-raped me..."

My heart dropped out of my chest as I heard the words escape her lips. She was still shaking violently in my arms as fresh tears began to fall down her cheeks. It suddenly made sense why she didn't want Cass near her. Even though she hadn't said a name, I had the sudden urge to head straight down to the school and punish all the teachers and anyone else who had allowed this to happen to my daughter. In my mind, they were all guilty because no one had stopped it from happening.

"Alright. Alright, darling. Come here. I've got you now. No one is going to hurt you any more. I promise."

She cried herself to sleep in my arms. I laid her down gently, tucking her under the covers and pushing her hair behind her ear and out of her face. She was still shaking slightly, her fist holding tightly to the edge of the blanket and tiny whimpers escaping her slightly parted lips every few seconds. I swallowed hard, jaw clenched as I slipped out of her room. When I got back to the library both Cass and Sam were there talking.

"Hey, Dean. Is everything okay?"

I glared between my brother and the angel.

"No, Sam. Everything is far from okay."

"What's going on?"

"Belle's going to spend some time by herself in her room tonight."

"What? Why?"

"Because, Sam, she was raped at school today."

"What?!"

The outburst came from Cass. He made to head to her room, but I held a hand out, stopping him in his tracks.

"She's asleep now. Plus she said she didn't want you near her right now. I'm sorry, Cass, but I've got to respect her wishes."

His blue eyes hardened, darkening as he stared at me and I wondered if mine looked similar but in green right now.

"Dean, I-"

"Leave it for now, Cass."

I watched as his shoulders relaxed and he looked down at the floor, looking completely hopeless. The news was hitting him nearly as hard as it hit me, if not harder. I had just learned that my daughter had been raped... He had just learned his lover had been raped. This would no doubt put some sort of rift into their relationship.

"Did you get a name?" Sam asked.

"No. She didn't say a name. She just said 'he'. 'He raped me.' She also said something about teasing."

"Teasing? So she knew who it was."

"I have no idea. I'm going down to the school tomorrow and finding out what information I can."

A ringing noise sounded then. It was coming from inside Belle's backpack which had been left out here when we headed back to her room. I walked over and pulled out the phone. It was a facetime call from someone named Drew.

"That's her best friend," Cass said, looking at the phone in my hand.

I accepted the call.

"Belle- oh. Hello," Drew greeted. "Where's Belle?"

"She's asleep. Why are you calling her?"

"I wanted to make sure she was okay. She looked really shaken up earlier and refused to tell me what happened after she and Cocky McDouchebag were sent to the principal's office."

"Belle and who?"

"Oh, sorry. His actual name is Ashton Pearce. Cocky McDouchebag is what Belle started calling him because he's always pestering her whenever he gets the chance."

"They were sent to the principal's office?"

"Yeah, they had a fight during English and the teacher sent them out. I don't know what happened after they left, but when I saw Belle again she wouldn't stop shaking and didn't want to talk to anybody. And the douchebag looked like he had won the lottery or something... Do you know what happened to her?"

"I, um... I'm not sure if I should disclose that information."

"Ah... okay. I totally get it. If she's feeling up to it later, can you see if she'll call me back. I just want to know that she's going to be okay."

"Yeah, I'll let her know."

"Is that Cass?"

I looked to my side where Cass was staring at the screen over my shoulder.

"Yeah, I'm Cass. Why?"

"She really loves you, man. You make sure my girl's safe, or I'll come after you, understand me?"

"Of course."

"Great. Bye, then."

"Goodbye."

Drew hung up, the screen going black.

"Ashton Pearce," I muttered. "We have a name now."

"Which will make your trip to the school tomorrow that much more effective," Sam added.

I just hummed noncommittally, slipping Belle's phone back into the pocket of the bag. It was true, that knowing the little son of a bitch's name would make the trip tomorrow more effective. I had someone to blame. How he had managed to get into my daughter's pants if they were supposed to be heading to the principal's office escaped me. I also wondered what they had been fighting about in class that had made the teacher send them out. All answers I intended on getting during my visit.

XxX

Belle hadn't left her room since she had gotten home yesterday. I was the only person she allowed inside, a fact that I could tell was driving Cass insane. He wanted to see her; get first hand experience with how she was doing. But she insisted he stay far away from her. After making sure she had everything she needed to hold her over for a little while, I got into Baby and drove down to the high school. I set my jaw as I entered the building and made my way to the office.

"Good morning, sir. How might we help you?"

"Is Ashton Pearce at school today?"

"We aren't at liberty to discuss student attendance with anyone who isn't a parent or legal guardian."

"Let me rephrase. Ashton Pearce raped my daughter on school property yesterday during school hours and I would like to see him and his parents. Now."

The secretary's mouth fell open in shock, staring at me.

"Um... okay. It, uh, will take a few minutes to contact his parents and get them down here."

"Well, then, you best be getting on top of that," I growled.

"O-of course, sir. If you would please take a seat over there."

I glared across the desk at her before stalking over to one of the chairs lining the wall.

"Oh, and before I forget. Will you also be contacting the police, or shall I do that while you contact the parents?"

"W-we can handle that," she stuttered out, already dialing one of the numbers.

I listened to the secretary's side of the conversations, first with the Pearce boy's parents and then the police. Once they had been contacted they called one of the classrooms and requested the boy in question be sent to the office immediately. Of course, he beat both the police and his parents since he was already in the building.

"I was told I needed to come down here?"

I could tell why Belle and her friend called him Cocky McDouchebag. He was the epitome of the stereotypical jock from his perfect hair to the tips of his shoes. And naturally he had a cocky, lopsided grin on his face as he addressed the secretary, acting like he didn't have a care in the world.

"Just take a seat over there, Mr. Pearce. Your parents will be here shortly."

She had directed him to the opposite side of the room from me.

"My parents? Why-?"

"Please sit down, Mr. Pearce. We'll explain when they arrive."

The kid rolled his eyes as he sauntered over to one of the seats, slouching down and slinging one arm over the back of the chair beside him like he was too cool to be in here. His eyes finally locked on mine as I sent him the hardest death glare I could manage. I had had plenty of practice dealing with all the monsters over the years. He immediately sat up straight in the chair, eyes going wide as he stared back at me, cocky grin gone from his face. I smirked at him, not letting up on my gaze, and I saw him swallow hard.

About five minutes later two officers and a couple walked through the door of the office.

"Mom? Dad? What's going on?"

"That's what we're here to find out, son," the man replied.

Cocky McDouchebag was the spitting image of his father, Cocky McDouchebag Sr. His mom, however, was the exact opposite: dark hair, dark eyes, pale skin. She almost reminded me of Lyla.

"What was so important that both my wife and I had to make an appearance here?" McDouchebag Sr. demanded.

"Well, you're all here because I asked for you to be here," I spoke up before the secretary could say something, standing up from my seat.

McDouchebag Sr. turned to look at me, eyes scanning me from head to two and back up again.

"And who might you be?"

"Keith Griffin. My daughter Isabelle has class with your son. And she came home from school yesterday in tears and informed me she was raped during school hours. By him."

"My son would never-" Mrs. McDouchebag started.

"If we might interrupt, Ma'am," one of the officers spoke up. "Mr. Griffin, where is your daughter now?"

"At home. She hasn't left her room since she got back yesterday."

"And you are absolutely certain this is the boy who supposedly raped her yesterday?"

"Yes. Her best friend called her to make sure she was okay and gave us his name."

"Alright. Why don't we all take a trip down to the station. Mr. Griffin, if you could convince your daughter to make an appearance, we can clear all this up there instead of doing this here."

"We are certainly not spending any amount of time in a police station. This man is obviously delusional and doesn't know what he's talking about. My son would never force himself on another student. And he most certainly wouldn't do so during school hours."

"Ma'am, this is all just procedure. We just need fifteen minutes of your time to ask your son some questions," the other officer spoke up. "Sir, if you would please go get your daughter and meet us at the station in ten minutes, we'll finish up here."

"Of course, Officer. I'll try my best."

With a final glare in the direction of the McDouchebags, I exited the office and headed out to Baby. When I got back to the Bunker, Sam and Cass immediately were asking questions.

"How'd it go? What happened?"

"The police want me to bring Belle down to the station so they can get her statement. They'll also be questioning the son of a bitch that did this to her."

"Will you even be able to get her to leave with you?"

"I guess we'll see..."

I brushed past them and headed down the hall, knocking softly on Belle's door before entering.

"Belle? Hey, baby, are you awake?"

"Daddy? What is it?"

Her voice was so weak as she spoke and my heart broke slightly in my chest.

"Darling, I know it's probably the last thing you want to do right now, but there are some officers down at the police station who want to ask you some questions about what happened yesterday. Will you come with me, baby?"

"They want to know what happened?"

"Yeah, they do. So that he can't do this to anybody else, okay?"

"I haven't changed..."

"That's okay, Sweetheart. They won't care. We have to go right now, though."

"Mmkay," came her timid reply.

She slipped out from underneath the covers and my heart broke even more as I took in her appearance. Her clothes were rumpled from being in bed for nearly 24 hours. Her long brown hair was matted and stringy from not being brushed. What really broke me were her eyes. The usually bright blue-green was now dull and shattered looking. I promised myself that I would help her get cleaned up as soon as we got back.

"Let's go," I told her, putting an arm around her shoulders and leading her out to the garage.

I helped her into the passenger side of Baby before making my way to the driver's side and climbing behind the wheel. Glancing at her small, broken form beside me one last time, I started the engine and drove us to the police station.