A Cry in the Dark

Author's note. This is a sequel to "You", and has some tough emotional moments, including the allusion to a sexual assault. Read with care.

It was quiet in the hospital, with only the soft sounds of the machines to keep the girl in the bed company. Once in a while a nurse would come in, but otherwise, the girl had no visitors. This gave the girl a chance to think, especially about how she ended up here.

It started with one tragic fact. Although she knew she was a girl, to the people around her, she appeared to be a boy.

And she had started to despair of being able to change their minds.

Finally, one summer day, while her parents were gone, she snuck into her sister’s room, and tried on her stuff.

Seeing herself as herself made her weep.

Then she made the decision that would end up leading to her laying in this hospital bed.

She decided to go out dressed.

Things went well at first. She went to the local store, and nobody seemed see anything wrong with her. In fact, the person at the counter called her “miss”, and her heart soared.

She was on the way back to her house when the man came, and grabbed her.

Laying in the hospital, she reflected on the irony. Of all the things she had been afraid of going out the door, passing so well as to be a target had not been one of them.....

By the time she was able to get away, she had been savaged, both inside and out.

The man had been taken into custody, but even the police treated her like a freak once they realized she wasnt a full girl. No one seemed to think she was worth punishing the man for.

Worse, her own parents blamed her for the attack, saying if she hadnt been “behaving like a sissy.”, she wouldn’t been hurt.

They refused to even see her after that.

So then she began to speak to whatever might be listening of her need for justice.

For vengeance.

And she felt sure that someone, something had heard her, and she rested for the first time since her attack.

Days went by and then weeks, and slowly, her body got better. Her mind, however, remained a fractured mess. It didnt help that the hospital really wanted to release her, but her own parents simply refused to let her come home.

So she remained while they tried to find a place for her to go.

So she lay here, trying to sleep, wondering what could possibly happen to her, when someone came into her room.

It was like a woman, but it had wings, and claws, and she squeaked in fear.

“You have nothing to fear from me.” it said.

“Who .... what are you?”

“I heard your call. And I answered it. I have taken vengeance on the man who hurt you.”

“What?”

“Let me show you.” it said, and suddenly the girl’s mind was flooded with images. The man who had used her, transformed into a woman. No, not a woman, an obscene parody of womanhood. A wet dream brought to life, an object lusted over by every man and woman who came near, and worse, unable to even end that existence.

At first, she was happy that he had been punished, but she looked again at the images, and something broke within her.

She found herself weeping for the man who had hurt her.

The creature seemed confused, saying “I’ve given you what you asked for. Yet you weep?”

The girl just kept crying, and then the creature faded.

Finally, the girl managed to speak, even though the creature was no longer there.

“I’m sorry.”

“I was wrong.”

“This... thing that happened.”

It was wrong.”

“I take it back.”

“Please.”

“I take it back.”

But there was no reply, only the sounds of the machines, and the girl, weeping.

“Please. Take it back.”