Daryan, 5 months later

Daryan Payne sits in her new living room, near a row of empty aquarium tanks. She and her boyfriend just moved into the home where they hope to build a new life.

Everything in their old one was too hard to face now after Daryan told police she was raped.

Daryan lived in the Beaufort area her whole life, but she moved three days after she reported her Dec. 6, 2016, attack. There was too much at home to remind her of that night, too many people she didn’t want to see.

But that night followed her.

Her car was impounded by the Chesterfield County Sheriff’s Office after her accused rapist, Brian Walls, was found and arrested driving it. Five months later, she still hasn’t gotten it back. She has no transportation of her own and splits a car with her boyfriend, sometimes waiting hours for rides.

Daryan continues to receive bills from Beaufort Memorial Hospital for her rape kit. She’s been told she needs to apply for funding so the cost can be covered but hasn’t yet gone through the paperwork. So far the bills total more than $2,200.

In March, Walls’ attorney subpoenaed her high school records that show she dropped out of school when she was 16.

The day the subpoena arrived, Daryan cried.

“What are they trying to show?” she asked her mom on the phone. “What does the fact that I dropped out have to do with what happened to me?”

It’s like they’re trying to convince her not to testify, Daryan thinks. She’s had moments when she worried testifying would be too hard but says she knows she needs to stay with the case.

She doesn’t want her accused attacker, Walls, to hurt anyone else.

Daryan is also frustrated because four other people she told police were present in the hotel room during her attack have not been charged in connection with her crime.

She’s been told it could be more than a year before her case is resolved. She hopes it won’t take that long.

Daryan hopes to work to bring attention to what rape survivors go through in the legal system. She wants to push for a law to limit plea deals in sexual assault cases.

Daryan now works at a retail store. She recently started classes at a nearby college that is allowing her to work toward her GED while earning college credits. She hopes to become a nurse one day.

Daryan has not had any counseling since her attack but believes she could benefit from it.

She still can’t go to crowded public places alone. Her boyfriend accompanies her to places like Walmart.

“Is that guy following us?” she’ll ask him when a stranger passes. “He’s getting too close.”

Daryan still has nightmares, reliving the attack.

Most nights, she’ll wake up screaming. Her boyfriend will get up with her and talk to her until she calms down.

She plans to stay away from Beaufort, but it comes at a cost.

She had to leave everyone she knows. She had to leave her mom, Terry. They still talk every day on the phone, but it’s hard to be far away from her. Daryan dreads the day Terry has a health problem that she won’t be there for right away.

Daryan hopes she’ll eventually be able to go a whole day without thinking about what happened to her. She’s hoping she can heal.

But it all feels far away.

This story was originally published May 6, 2017 at 12:00 AM with the headline "Daryan, 5 months later."