(Jasmine's POV)

Margaret pulls out a small notebook and a pen from her jacket pocket. She opens up the notebook somewhere in the middle before lifting her gaze to meet mine.

"So, Jasmine. You know why I'm here."

I nod my head in response. "I presume Chief told you."

"He did. I am so sorry to hear what you've been through. You didn't deserve any of that."

I look down at my lap in discomfort. I don't quite know yet how to respond to comments like that. "Thanks, Margaret."

I hear Ruby shift in her chair, and I turn to look at her. She smiles at me and I feel so much love and support from her.

"Before we get started into what you've been through, can you give me a bit more information on your boyfriend?"

"Ex-boyfriend." I surprise even myself with the fierceness in my voice.

"My apologies," Margaret says, an underlying note of pride in her voice. "Could you tell me about your ex-boyfriend?"

"Greg is from Jacksonville. We met in college. He's older than me but we were in the same classes."

"What's Greg's full name?" Margaret asks.

"Greg Anderson."

"And, how old is he?"

"Twenty-nine."

"What does Greg work as?"

"He's a sales representative for a pharmaceutical company." I pause as Margaret makes a note on her notebook. "That's why he travelled so much."

Margaret nods her head, indicating that she heard every word I spoke. "Ok, Jasmine. I would appreciate if you could tell me as much as you can about what you went through while with Greg. I understand this will be difficult for you so take your time."

I nod my head before swallowing the lump in my throat. "W-what would you like to know?"

She gives me an encouraging smile. "Can you tell me when the abuse started?"

"A-about two and a half years ago. We were living together for almost a year. I came home from college and he slapped me. He apologised straight away; said it was an accident." I look down at my hands and furiously blink away the tears that are threatening to fall. "I believed him."

I sniffle and wipe away a tear that is trailing down my cheek. "The second time it happened, I had burnt his toast one morning at breakfast. He slapped me much harder, so hard in fact that I fell to the floor. He didn't apologise that time. He just stepped over me and left the room."

Ruby hands me a tissue from the beside locker. I take it from her with a sad smile.

"You're doing great, Jas," she tells me as I wipe away my tears.

I turn back to face Margaret before continuing my sorry tale. "I should have known that day. If he could hit me and not apologise for it what else was he capable of? I should have put two and two together and got myself out of there. But I didn't. I didn't see his true colours."

"When did the abuse become more physical?" Margaret asks, her pen flying across her notebook.

I pause as I ponder her question. "About two years ago. Greg came back from a work trip. It didn't go well. I remember because he came home in a towering rage. I asked him what had happened, and he flipped. He punched me in the stomach. I remember dropping to the floor in shock. It was the first time that he had done anything other than slap me. The pain of it was so bad. It started to bruise almost instantly from the force with which he hit me. I remember I started to cry in pain but that seemed to infuriate him more because he just started kicking me." I let out a shaky breath, doing my best to hold back my sobs. "He wouldn't stop. I heard cracking. There was blood. The pain was excruciating. I begged him to stop. I think he enjoyed that because..." I sobbed and I raised my two shaking hands to cover my tear streamed face. "Because t-that was also the first night he r-r@ped me."

I hear a sniffle beside me and drop my hands to see tears racing down Ruby's face. "I'm so sorry I wasn't there for you."

"It's not your fault, Ruby," I cry as I reach for another tissue. I blow my nose before grabbing another tissue to wipe away my tears. They roll down my face as if from an endless waterfall.

Ruby stands and pulls me into a hug. I bite back the cry of pain as she pulls me to her. "Oh! Shoot! Sorry!" She releases me immediately as if hearing my silenced cry.

Ruby bursts into a fresh wave of sobs but quickly stifles them as she reaches for a handful of tissues herself.

I don't know what to say to comfort her. She couldn't have known what I was going through. How could she? Hell, I didn't even fully realise what I was suffering through at the time.

I blow my nose again and wipe away my tears once more. I shut my eyes tight, willing myself to stop crying. Crying only leads to more pain and punishment. I learned that the hard way. When Greg was discipling me, as he liked to put it, the more I cried, the rougher he'd be. My suffering turned him on. I quickly learned how to shut my emotions off and just endure the torture in silence.

"Jasmine?" Margaret calls softly.

My eyes flicker opened. "Yes?"

"Are you ok to continue?"

I nod my head. "Yes," I repeat. My voice is different, cold almost. I can tell Margaret notices the change. She frowns slightly before a look flashes across her face. It's gone before I can register the meaning behind it. Ruby also notices the change. Her crying stops almost instantly but I pretend not to notice either of their reactions.

"After that night," I continue in my cold, almost dead voice. "Greg assaulted me almost every night. It varied from a slap across the face, a kick to the stomach, his hands around my throat or all of the above and more."

"You say that was the first night he r@ped you. Did he r@pe you again after that?"

"Oh yeah," I let out a cold laugh. "Almost weekly. He used to say 'you think you'd be used to this by now' when I'd cry and beg for him to stop. He grew bored pretty quickly though, so he'd come up with ways to keep himself entertained."

Ruby lets out a choking noise and I turn to face her. She looks horrified; terrified almost.

"How so?" Margaret asked.

I turn to face her again. "Rope, handcuffs, anything really he could use to tie me up with. He also used a camera and camcorder."

"Do you know where he kept all that footage?"

"On the computer in our apartment I presume."

Margaret nods her head and makes another note. "Can you tell me about mealtime with Greg, please?"

"I cooked all the meals in the apartment. Once Greg started to get physically violent, he also made rules for me. I was only allowed two or three meals a day, depending on whether or not I behaved. He decided what was good behaviour and what was bad. If I was allowed to eat a meal, he'd eat more than half the food on my plate as well as his full plate of food and give me the leftovers. Some days, I wouldn't be allowed any meals."

I watch as Margaret bites her lip. Her eyes look to be glazed as if filled with unshed tears. "Y-you mention that he put his arms around your throat. Can you tell me about what would happen when he'd do that?"

"If I spoke or irritated him, he'd put his hands around my throat. It was his favourite way to shut me up. The first time it happened he only done it as a warning; to scare me, I think. It worked. I hated when he done that. I think he realised how much it terrified me because he used to do it more and more, each time squeezing my throat for longer and longer periods. I'd often wake up on the floor in our living room or bedroom after I passed out."

Margaret pauses for a moment as she watches me. Her eyes travel over my face, searching for something. She makes a final note in her notebook before closing it and returning it and the pen to her jacket pocket.

"Thank you so much, Jasmine. All this information has been a huge help to us. I have a team in the station dedicated to your case so I'm sure we'll be seeing each other very soon."

I sit in silence for a moment. I blink a couple of times, hiding my cold exterior until I need it to protect me again.

I give Margaret a soft smile. "Thank you." I look down at my fingers nervously. "Please," I say. "Please get him before he finds me."

Margaret steps forward and takes my hands in hers. The look in her eyes is full of sincerity. "We will do absolutely everything to get him in custody as soon as we possibly can. I will arrange for an officer to be stationed outside your room for the remainder of your stay here."

I wipe away a lone tear running down my cheek. "Thank you."

Margaret gives me a smile before making her way towards the door. "If there is anything else you can think of, please give me a call. Take care of yourself, Jasmine."

"I will, thanks again."

With a final smile to me and a wave to Ruby, Margaret leaves the room and shuts the door behind her.

****

Hello lovelies!

I hope you enjoyed this latest chapter. Please let me know your thoughts in the comments!

Until next time,

Di xx