November, 1917
Rose shivered even though a fire was roaring in the fireplace. She pulled the blanket tighter around her. It's your imagination. You just miss Jack.
Jack, like so many other men, was in Europe, fighting the war to end all wars. It had been six months since he left. Rose wrote to him daily, telling him everything about her day. Once, she had come down with a cold, and her letter simply said that she was lying in bed and wishing his arms were around her.
Again, Rose felt like she was being watched. She got up from the broken down couch and went to close the curtains on the window. Her eyes scanned the view from the window, and she scolded herself for being silly. It's just the weather that's creepy, Rose. As it was November in Chippewa Falls, the air had turned cold, and the days were short. But it was raining, and the wind was blowing. Nights like this had always made Rose feel on edge.
Rose flipped the curtains closed. Instantly, she felt better, as if she really was blocking someone's view. She sat back on the couch and picked up her book. It didn't take long for her to fall back into War and Peace. Rose became so engrossed, however, that she didn't have time to react when the door to her home was kicked in.
Everything happened so fast, but to Rose, it felt like an eternity. She tried to run, but he grabbed her by her long red curls and pulled her down to the floor. Her vision blurred for a second, but it came into focus when his face was above her, only inches away.
"Hello, Sweetpea." Cal's breath smelled of alcohol and cigars. The scent mixed with his expensive clothes and aftershave. The familiar odor made her gag.
"Get off of me, Cal!" Rose screamed and clawed at his face. One of her nails hit its mark, and she left a deep scratch in his perfect cheek.
Without warning, Cal's hand made contact with her face. She screamed again, her cheek stinging.
"Listen here, you little bitch," he hissed in her ear. "I'm here for one thing, and one thing only. The diamond. I've been searching for you for years. I will not leave without it." Rose tried to squirm away, but Cal grabbed hold of her wrists and pinned them to the floor above her head.
"I don't have it!" she spat at him through her teeth. Rose made eye contact with him, even though she was lying. "We sold it." In reality, it was safely stashed under a loose floorboard below their bed.
"We," he said. He knew Jack Dawson was alive, and Cal hated him for it.
"Jack and I," she said to him. Her voice was fierce, assuring that Cal knew that despite his attempts to keep them apart, she and Jack were happily married.
"I know the little rat lived and I know he married his little whore." Rose didn't respond. Instead, she continued to try to get out from under him. Cal smiled and evil flashed in his eyes. "Well, if I can't have the diamond, I will have something else."
Rose felt her blood run cold. The look in Cal's eyes was so dark, so menacing, that Rose felt paralyzed with fear. With one hand firmly pinning her wrists to the floor, Cal reached down and unbuttoned his trousers and yanked her skirt up. He leaned closer to her face and pressed his lips to hers.
Cal yipped in pain, pulling away. He tasted blood on the inside of his lip, where Rose had just bitten him. "Fucking cunt!" he growled at her. He hit her again, this time with a fist. A silver-toned white light flashed behind Rose's eyes as the pain exploded in her head.
Rose's vision blurred. The room spun on her ever so slightly. She tried again to wiggle from Cal's grasp, but even with the tiniest moves, pain seared through her skull. Rose felt him hard against her.
"Cal, don't," she said weakly. "I have the diamond." Rose had no plans to give him the diamond. She was just hoping she could gain the upper hand.
Cal's grin widened. "Good. I'll get both things I want tonight."
Due to the fact that her home with Jack was on the outskirts of town, no one heard Rose's pain-filled screams mix with her cries for help.
*****
Cal moved off of Rose slowly, smiling down at her as he did. Her body was shaking, her bottom lip trembling. Tiny whimpers betrayed her, escaping her throat. Except for a smug look of satisfaction, Cal's face was void of emotion. He stood, buttoning his pants, smoothing down his jacket, and straightening his hair.
Rose bit down on the inside of her cheek to keep the tears from falling. Her right eye was almost swollen shut; the pain was unbearable in her face. Her wrists burned from Cal's grip. Her inner thighs were bruised and there was an ache deep inside of her. But no matter how much pain she was in, Rose refused to give Cal the satisfaction of seeing her cry.
"Where is it, Sweetpea?" Cal stood, his arms crossed, and watched as she struggled to get up. Despite the overwhelming urge to vomit with each tiny movement, Rose managed to stand, though she braced herself against the back of the couch.
"Get out," she demanded through clenched teeth. "Get out of my house."
"Not quite yet. The diamond, Rose." Cal stood there, haughty as ever. Money and power just seemed to ooze from his pores.
Rose didn't know where she found the strength to fight back. "You already took what doesn't belong to you!" she snapped at him. "I don't have the diamond," she lied once more.
"I know you're lying to me, Rose. I also know that you thought that if you gave it to me, that would be that? Rose, you're such a silly girl." He crossed his hands behind his back and walked slowly toward her. His eyes caught sight of a notebook with her handwriting. A brilliant idea came to him. "You know you can't write to Jack about this, right?"
"Get away from me," Rose said bitterly.
Cal ignored her. "If you tell him about this, he may just go AWOL. The Army won't take too kindly to that. You wouldn't want your poor, pathetic husband to go to jail, would you?"
"Leave," she said again, sternly.
"And you're lying to me about the diamond. I'll give you two weeks to give it to me. If not, I'll leave your body for Jack to claim."
Rose drew in a breath. "Get." She drew in another. "Out!"
She didn't make a sound when her body hit the floor. Her face began to swell more, due to very hard contact from Cal's fist. A darkness was closing in on her. She struggled to stay conscious.
Rose was unable to see Cal grab her notebook and shove it into his pocket. She wasn't even sure she heard the door slam before the darkness swallowed her.
*****
Cal pulled his coat closed around him. He smiled to himself. He was confident that Rose wouldn't write to Jack about this. He patted the pocket which held her notebook. With a sample of Rose's writing, and enough money, Cal knew he could pay someone to forge a letter to him, giving a very vivid description of the attack.
Then Cal would have Jack exactly where he wanted him.