Using the money from his college fund, Matthew, bought a small and dirty apartment, located in a bad area of a town close to his own. It was honestly a horrible place, but it was the only place where Matthew could afford it and still have some savings.

For days after this incident, he tried to tell his parents he was targeted, and that someone spiked his drinks, but they didn't believe him. He even went to others hospitals a few days after the incident, but the drug already went away from his system.

It was a dark time for Matthew. He even considered going to the police to file a report against Daniel, but he knew it would be unfruitful, ' If they could buy the doctor, I doubt then can't do the same to the police.'

Matthew contacted his friends, too, but the response he got was quite bad. Not a single one of them believed him.

So, for the first time in his life, Matthew drank alcohol. He did it one time to ease the pain and it worked. But only for a moment.

So he drank another bottle. Then another. Another. Another... until he was addicted to it.

3 months after the incident, Matthew officially couldn't sleep without drinking at least 20 bottles of beer. He still has a quite considerable sum of money saved, but even that was draining, and draining fast.

Matthew knew he was running out of time, so even though he, at this point, had undiagnosed crippling depression, he still knew he had to move forward. While that was a must, it was difficult for him to get up from bed, let alone work.

But Matthew pushed forward. He landed a job at 7/11 on the night shift. It was easy because no one wanted that shift.

But it also meant he had to sleep almost the whole day, then go to work from 10 P.M. to 6 A.M.

It was easy for him to enter the job because no one wanted that shift. But Matthew didn't care. He just wanted money. And if a thug tried to rob him at a gunpoint or something like that, he didn't mind dying.

There were times he wished someone would kill him, but no such luck. And he continued this life of drinking without stooping, until, finally, the tab arrived.

Matthew just arrived home after his shift, when he suddenly felt sick. He started to vomit and had to call 911. Arriving at the hospital the doctor told him if he didn't stop drinking, he would die.

That made Matthew honestly quite happy. But the doctor continued saying, '' I have no idea what you've gone through, but there's light at the end of the tunnel. Even if you think everything is going bad, I can say that there's hope.''

Matthew chuckled a bit, '' Doctor, I lost everything. There's not even a tunnel for me to look for.''

The doctor smiled at what Matthew said. ''I'm pretty sure there is, you just need to look better.'' He then looked around his office and grabbed a card. He passed it to Matthew,'' Take this.''

Matthew took the card and noticed it was written A.A. He knew what it was right away.

'' Go to one session. If you don't like it, just stop going there. But, promise you'll go one time.'' The doctor was pushing Matthew quite hard on this.

Matthew finally said, '' Okay, okay. I'll go... But can you tell me why are you pushing me so hard?''

The doctor smiled sadly, '' While I don't know what you went through, I see a lot of my younger self in you. So, I just wanted to help, just like people did for me.''

Matthew looked at the Card once again. His life was already at rock bottom, so he didn't mind going one time. '' Ok, doc. You convinced me.''

'' Good. Now go, and remember to stop drinking.''

Matthew smilled, '' I will.''

He did not stop drinking. And he had to pay a couple months of his salary just because of the ambulance. US hospitals are very overpriced!

Matthew continued to drink, until one day, he decided, '' You know what, I'll go to one of those meetings. I had nothing else to do anyway.''

So Matthew went to that A.A. reunion. Incredibly, while he continued depressed, he did stop drinking.

He continued to live his life as a nobody, but he wasn't an alcoholic anymore.

---

END OF FLASHBACK

And to this day, no one listened to him when he said he and Karen were drugged. Not even Karen sent a text or called him. While that was expected, it hurt him quite a bit.

Taking his gaze away from that beautiful whiskey, Matthew returned his attention to the TV, ' My life is shit.'

He looked at the clock and noticed it was just 3 P.M. He still had time to kill while his shift didn't start. ' What can I do to pass time?'

Looking at social media was a no-go since he would be even more depressed if he saw every one of his group being happy while he was living like this. He can't go out drinking because he was an ex-alcoholic.

Matthew literally had a lot of time, but nothing to do, ' Should I just sleep more?'

Just then, his phone rang. That made Matthew's eyes widen like mad. Mind you in those 4 years, Matthew never changed his phone, in hopes his parents would talk to him, and now someone did.

He carefully unlocked his phone and checked his WhatsApp. Sure enough, someone did talk to him. But it wasn't his parents. It was Karen.

Matthew hesitated a bit to open the message, but at this point, he was craving human interaction, even if through the phone. So, he opened the conversation. It had a simple, ' HI.'

So, Matthew, who at this point really just didn't care about anything, responded with a, ' HI'.

To his surprise, Karen responded immediately, ' I'm sorry for not contacting you for years, but you have to understand me. I almost got sent away from my home, I had to lay lown.' - K

' You don't need to explain. You're a victim in this situation just as much as me.' - M

' Thank you... We didn't have any news from you this entire time. How are you doing?' - K

'We?' Matthew noted that part. Still, he responded, ' Quite bad. I got into alcohol as soon as I left home, and it spiraled out of control. I'm sober for a year now, but it's hard. I have no one to go to, I'm totally alone.'

This time, the response came a little while later, ' I'm sorry.' - K

' Thank you.' - M

After that, it was silence. Even though Matthew found this entire situation just weird, he was happy someone talked to him, ' I feel alive once more.'

He was feeling that just through a phone conversation. You could see his mental fragility just from that.

But that simple text from Karen made him feel good. Matthew spent the rest of his free time happy. He then went to work.

At first, Matthew was extremely surprised and afraid of Karen's message, but after a few days of reflection, he decided to open up again. It also helped that Karen had literally been through the same thing as him.

Matthew's manager at the 7/11 store noticed that he was happier. ''I've never seen you this happy... or happy before.''

Again, Matthew's situation these past few years had been horrible. He had considered suicide many, many times, but in the end, something always prevented him from going through with it.

Matthew smiled at the man in front of him, 'He was one of the only people who reached out to me after everything. I owe him a lot.'

Then, Matthew didn't hide what happened, ''I was contacted by an old friend, one I can trust, and we are slowly reconnecting. It brought me something I'd forgotten about for years, happiness.''

The manager smiled, 'Finally something good has happened to him.' He knew Matthew's story and had already asked him about it. Matthew had told him everything that had happened, and, incredibly, he believed the poor boy.

And now, seeing him smiling genuinely for the first time since he had met Matthew, the manager was happy for him. ''Good for you. Let me know if you need anything, I'd be happy to help.''

Matthew thanked the gesture, "Thank you. I'll let you know if I need anything.''

After some more time talking, the manager left, leaving Matthew alone in the store in the middle of the night. But, the difference from other times was that now Matthew was a little happy.

Whenever he heard a ping on his cell phone, he looked to see if it was Karen, but since it was late at night, his cell phone rang only a few times. But this didn't take away Matthew's happiness, and he was relaxed.

'We got back in contact less than a month ago, so I'm probably not on her priority list. '

But anything Karen said was something good for Matthew.

Over the next few days, even the A.A. members noticed that Matthew was happy.

Matthew was easily one of the saddest members of this group, and everyone thought it was a miracle that he hadn't returned to drinking for so long. And now, seeing him all happy like this surprised everyone.

''Matthew, can you explain to us what happened?'' One of the members who knew Matthew a little asked what everyone wanted to ask.

Matthew smiled and didn't mind explaining. He explained the whole situation and everyone in the group was happy for him.

''Good for you, kid!'' A man who looked about fifty years old was happy for Matthew. He couldn't imagine what made this young man become an alcoholic, but Matthew finally found an escape valve.

"Thank you!'' Matthew then attended the session and went home hours later. Because of his work schedule, he had to come to specific sessions on specific days. But as the manager understood the situation, he would release Matthew earlier in the day to come to the session.

And so, Matthew life's continued. While it was still not even worth mentioning compared to the one he had before, he now was slowly regaining a part of his former self

3 MONTHS LATER

Those past 3 months have been good for Matthew. Karen was speaking with him daily now, and his spirits have been lifted. He was genuinely happy. He almost looked like his past self, the Matthew he once was.

And, today, he received a text from Karen, 'Hey, do you want to meet personally?' - K.

At this point in time, both of them 'reconnected' after 3 months of daily contact. So Matthew accepted, ' Sure. Do you have a place you want to go?'

' I found a cabin in the woods that is renting. It's cheap and we can go there to chill and see each other again.' - K

Matthew was quite happy with that. After everything that happened, a cabin in the woods didn't seem bad. Besides, he could see Karen again, the only person who could start to say she felt the same as him.

' When are you planning on going?' - M

' When you're free.' - K

Matthew thought for a while, ' In the last 3 years, I didn't have a vacation. If I ask the manager, he probably will let me take 2 or 3 weeks of rest.'

It was Tuesday today, so Matthew texted, ' How about this Friday? We will have time to prepare everything... How long are you planning on staying there?'

Matthew knew that while the rent of this cabin was cheap, if they stay there for a week or two, they will need something to make their life easier, ' Mosquitos repellents, food, water, a gun, etc.'

' How about a week?' - K

' Perfect.' - M

Matthew was happy. He was thinking that this meeting could be the turning point in his life. He needed to see a known face and talk to others.

In the last 3 years or so, the only person he talked to was his manager at 7/11 and in the A.A. reunions.

What Matthew didn't know at that time, was that this trip would change his life forever.

---

FRIDAY MORNING

It was combined that they would meet there, in the cabin. Matthew got the address from Karen and noted the cabin was very very secluded. It was in the middle of nowhere, a few hundred KM from his location.

He looked at all things he brought for this trip, ' Water enough to last for a week or so, food, pans and cups, and a ... bat.'

Matthew didn't buy a gun because he was afraid of what he could do on a bad day.

' That's all. I'm excited!' Even though Matthew was a smart person, this time he didn't sense anything weird, besides the fact that it was Karen who talked first. But that feeling soon went away because he knew she was the only other person who went through the same things as him.

Matthew took one more look at his shitty apartment. While it was shitty, it was still his, so he tried his best to keep it clean and tidy. He checked the windows once more, turned off the lights, then finally went to the door. He opened it and went out, ' Let's go!'

While he had money, Matthew didn't buy a car because he didn't feel like it. He didn't have the energy to care. So he didn't have one. Because of that, he took a bus towards the town near the cabin, then when he arrives there, he would go on foot.

Matthew went toward a bus station, with the ticket he bought beforehand and waited. In the meantime, he was daydreaming about his reencounter with Karen. While they were not a lover and just friend before, this was the first encounter Matthew had with a person from his old life. And this one understands his situation.

While he was daydreaming, the bus stooped and it made Matthew break out of his trance. He entered it, showed his ticked, and went to his seat. He put his backpack away, the one who had his supplements, then sat down.

Soon enough, Matthew had nothing to do, and he would definitively not look at his social media, so he just went to sleep.

HOURS LATER

'' ---ke up!''

Voices coming from far away sounded in Matthew's head. He slowly woke up and looked around. He noted a man was shaking him, '' ... What?''

The man who woke him up was clearly mad, '' Wake up. We are at the destination!''

That made the sleepiness go away, and Matthew got up in a hurry. He looked around and saw he was the last one on the bus, '' Sorry about that.''

'' Just get your things out and leave.'' The man sighed and went away.

Matthew did just that, grabbed his things, and left the bus. He grabbed his phone and sent a message to Karen, ' I arrived at the town.'

Looking at Karen's photo, Matthew saw the last time she saw her WhatsApp was the morning of this day. It clicked in his mind, ' Right, she did say she would arrive earlier, and that the cabin didn't have a signal.'

Just as Matthew was going to put away his phone, he decided on a whim to send a message to his parents, ' I'm on a trip with friends.'

It was just that. While Matthew had sent some messages to his parents before, this was the first time in a year he had done so, and he didn't knows why. He did, whoever, send messages to his sister every week. She never resposdend his text, but Matthew knew it would take time until she would be able to see the truth and he didn't mind waiting.

' Done...' Putting his phone away, Matthew then started to go toward the cabin. The path there was quite long, and he would go on foot.

'5 K.M... I can make it in 1 hour or so.'

And so Matthew went towards the cabin.

-

WITH LUCIA

Just like any other time, whenever she heard a ping on her phone, Lucia would check to see if it was something important. Looking at her screen, Lucia could see it was her brother.

She put on a complicated face, ' It's him again...'

For the last 3 years or so, Matthew had sent a message to her every week. At first, she didn't read them, but as time went by and the messages didn't stop, she started to read them.

It wasn't something like he trying to say it was not him, it was him just saying he missed her and some updates on his life.

And today it was the same. He explained to her he was going to meet Karen personally for the first time in 4 years.

Lucia frowned. She knew the stories of what happened that night and knew Karen was supposed to be a victim of rape. She also knew they started to connect once again in the last months, as Matthew told her.

' But why...? She was supposed to be a rape victim, why would she visit her aggressor?'

Something kept nagging Lucia's head and she didn't have a good feeling about this whole situation. While she didn't like what has become of Matthew and what he did, she still didn't want anything bad to happen to him.

' Bro, stay safe...'

-

WITH KAREN

She felt bad. What she was about to do was terrible. She knew, but she had no choice. Or so she tells herself.

' I'm not strong, I couldn't live without my family and friends.'

----
4 YEARS AGO

So, 4 years ago, right when Matthew left, Karen would go beg for forgiveness, even though she knew she was drugged. She went talk to Daniel first.

KNOCK KNOCK

This was the first week since Matthew left, and Karen was knocking on Daniel's door. They marked to meet here.

No one answered, so Karen knocked again.

KNOCK

This time, someone did answer. But to Karen's surprise and horror, it was Sarah who opened the door.

Sarah was smiling, '' Ohhh, it's you.'' She gave way to Karen to enter, '' You can feel at home.''

Karen hesitated, but she knew that by coming here, she already made a decision, and she would've to live with the consequence. She entered the house, and Sarah closed the door behind her.

Sarah took the lead and passed Karen, '' Follow me.'' She then went towards the kitchen.

Karen followed and, sure enough, Daniel was there. He looked 'surprised' seeing Karen, '' It's you! I thought you chicken out at this point, but no! You must be really desperate!''

'' Just tell me what I need to do, for you to clean my name and accept me back.'' Karen was truly defeated.

Daniel smiled sadistically, '' HAHAHAAH, you don't need to do anything. To be honest, you're literally an unfortunate victim in this whole situation. But it was necessary, to bring that Matthew down!''

When Daniel said Matthew's name, it was filled with venom.

Karen was petrified. While she knew from the begging someone planned what happened to her and Matthew, for Daniel to say it so brazenly, was a shock.

And it didn't stop. Sarah chummed in, '' Matthew was in the way, so we had to get rid of him. We almost didn't manage to go through with the plan because he would leave the party, but Sheryl 'helped' us, without knowing, in that regard.''

'' .. You are involved?''

'' Of course. While I didn't have that much of a grudge against Matthew, our friend here did.'' Sarah pointed at Daniel, '' All of it because of a woman.''

'' SARAH!'' Daniel shouted and slammed the table.

Sarah jokingly raised her hand, '' I surrender!'' Then she started to laugh, '' No, but it's the truth. Matthew had his life ruined mainly because he was dating Sheryl.''

At this point, Sarah was laughing quite hard, '' HAHAHAH, It's amusing, honestly.''

'' Enough!'' Daniel said so, and Sarah stooped. He looked at Karen, '' Regarding your situation, we will just say you're raped.''

'' ... ''

'' What? It's technically the truth! You just have to go out there and blame it all on Matthew.''

'' His life will be ruined. He could even be arrested.''

Daniel smirked, '' So what? ... Okay, okay.'' He changed his tone when he saw Karen's face, '' Just say he raped you, and ill make sure he's not arrested. Do we have a deal?''

Daniel extned his hadn.

Karen was in a daze. To her, Daniel looked like a demon, and he was making a bargain. But at this point, Karen didn't have a choice.

She accepted the handshake, and the devil's bargain, '' Give me my life back.''

Daniel smiled widelly, '' I promise you.''

---

And now, the entire group of friends decided to 'end' Matthew's life. While they would not kill him directly, they would finish putting the nail in his coffin. They would break his mind in this cabin.

Remember that only Daniel and Sarah knew what really hapenned. The rest of the group didn't knew the whole truth, just what Daniel told them. When Karen returned to the group, everyone was nice to her because they now knew she was a victim. So they didnt mind 'torturing' Matthew, the monster.

Karen had to take part because Daniel threatened her. '' If you don't do this, I'll make sure your life is turned into hell.''

And Daniel had the power to do so. While everyone in the group had rich parents, Daniel's had power. He was the son mayor and had everyone in the city under his thumbs. That's why the Doctor lied.

So, after being threatened, Karen began to 'reconnect' with Matthew. It didn't take long too, as the man was already broken and in need of a friend.

It shattered Karen's heart seeing him like that, but she had no choice.

She now was at the Cabin, with all other of her friends. The group accepted Karen back after Daniel and Sarah convinced them.

The group was here to party, but only 3 people knew the real reason they were at the cabin.

Daniel left his girlfriend, Sheryl, aside and came to talk with Karen, '' So, he arrived?''

Karen didn't look at him, '' We don't have a signal here, so I don't know. But you know him, he does not go back on his words.''

' He's a better human than you.' Karen didn't say that last part out loud.

Daniel looked pleased with himself, '' Yeah, I know him well enough. He will definitively kill himself after today.''

'' ... Why this much hatred for him?'' Karen was genuinely curious. 'It couldn't be just because of a girl... right?'

Daniel stared hard at Karen,'' You would never understand what I went through. I was the son mayor, I was supposed to be the ESPECIAL and the BETTER one.''

'' BUT NO! Matthew had to come and steal MY THUNDER, MY FAME, AND MY GIRL. I felt shame, rage, and hatred all at once, and decided it was time to do something. So I did. And now I'm the better, the famous, and I got his girl.''

Karen was disgusted but didn't show on her face. ' A small man from the start.'

Daniel got his satisfaction so he left Karen alone, '' Oh well, now that I know you did your part, I'll leave you alone. See you later.''

Karen watched as Daniel went away inside the Cabin. She stayed outside, feeling sorry for what is about to happen to Matthew, ' Forgive me.'