"Hello?"
"Where are you?" Celine demanded right away.
Prue couldn't help feeling nervous. Did Celine know she hadn't come home last night?
"Are you home?"
"Yes—-"
Celine breathed a sigh of relief. "Your aunt told me that you went out clubbing last night, but I told her that was impossible. And thank God for that!"
Prue's heart was racing. "Did something...did something happen to Alta?"
"I'm not sure of the specifics, but according to the investigator handling her case—-"
"Investigator?" Prue asked in confusion. "And what case are you talking about?"
"Your cousin was abducted from a club last night. And she was apparently drugged, and..."
Prue tried not to feel impatient at the way Celine's voice trailed off. "Mom?"
"She enjoyed being with ten men, Prue! Ten! That's why she's in the hospital. She requires treatment after...oh, you know what I'm talking about!"
Prue couldn't speak.
"Anyway..." Celine's tone became brisk. "Your father and I won't be home until evening, and I'd rather you not leave the house until we're back. You can never be too safe these days..."
Prue's mind was reeling as she descended the stairs and waited in the living room for Klaus. There was too much coincidence between what happened to her and Alta, but...it had to be just that. A coincidence. Couldn't it?
Khadem couldn't be involved. Just couldn't. Because if he was...then didn't that mean he had deliberately ordered to have Alta kidnapped, drugged, and later on sexually taken advantage of by ten men?
Prue forced all such thoughts out of her mind when Klaus finally arrived. She knew she should focus on finding the right words to break up with him, and to let him know that this was all her fault and not his—-
"Did you hear what happened to Chip and his friends?"
Prue could feel herself start to pale. Chip. Now that Klaus had mentioned it, she remembered too late that Oily Jerk's name was Chip.
"There seems to be a hundred versions of what happened, but man..."
"What happened to them?" Prue asked unevenly.
Klaus looked uncomfortable. "I don't know how to say this without sounding vulgar—-"
"Just tell me."
"They had their, um, things chopped off."
Prue ran to the toilet and threw up.
God.
Oh God.
Why?
She heard Klaus outside the door, and he sounded worried as he asked her if she was alright.
Which she wasn't.
How could she be alright when she now knew—-
God.
Why?
How?
Prue couldn't make herself stand as she took her phone out of her pocket with shaking fingers. She remained seated on the floor as she made the call, and she could barely breathe when Khadem answered after the first few rings.
"Are you done?"
His voice was low and sexy. Beautiful. But now the sound of it made her want to cry.
Khadem felt like punching someone. "Are you scared of being alone with me now?"
She wished she could say yes, but she couldn't.
"I told you I would never hurt you, and I meant it."
She knew that, too, but it didn't matter.
"I did what I had to do to protect you—-"