“Sweetheart, I frankly don’t give a shit.”
* * *
Elle couldn’t move a bone in her body as the tears slid down her cheek. She had watched the face of the beautiful girl named Chloe kick her in the ribs. Elle had nothing left anymore, becoming numb and paralyzed by the second person in the group to beat her.
Elle had begged at first—pleaded—but it all had still led her to the continuation of the beating. So, Elle had given up, thinking maybe lying there broken would be enough to get them to stop.
The laughing still punctured her ears along with the jokes. Those had hurt just as bad as the various shoes kicked at her face and body.
“Let’s get out of here,” she heard one of them say. “The bitch got the message. Good job, Chloe.”
Elle couldn’t help staring up into the gray eyes, trying to deliver her message. When Elle could no longer see her, she had known Chloe had understood.
Elle lay there, wondering how long it would take for death to come and rescue her from her nightmare. She closed her eyes, feeling the warm, red liquid start to coat her body. She knew it was coming soon. Soon, she would be free…
Elle heard the rapping of the door enter her dream. “Sweetie, don’t you work tonight?”
Elle tried to open her eyes, blinking back the wetness that had formed in her sleep.
The sound returned. “Elle?”
Elle finally saw her bedroom door before her and was able to remember where she was at. “Yeah. Sorry, Mom. I fell asleep.”
“Okay, sweetie. I was just checking.”
Elle rubbed her eyes as she heard her mom walk away. She barely remembered how she had ended up here. Finally waking up enough, she remembered the whole day. If only I could forget.
When Elle had returned home from school, she had been mentally exhausted and gone straight for her bed. She’d curled up into a ball, not being able to help thinking about the day.
Nero had given her space, never walking too close to her and staying far behind. He hadn’t sat next to her at English, lunch, or even Art. He’d sat at another table that had some football team members. At least he didn’t sit with the bimbos right in my face.
Elle admitted it had been hard seeing him again. She had grown used to being around him in the short time they’d had. For some reason she didn’t know, he had grown on her.
Now Elle had to deal with Vincent. He wasn’t bad. Okay, he is terrible, but there’s worse. Elle was glad he had been there when Cassandra had found her; otherwise, she wasn’t sure what would have happened to her. He had taken her to and from classes with no one giving her any trouble. That, she was thankful for. Furthermore, even though she would rather not see Vincent because of Nero, she would deal with it because he’d made sure she and Chloe were safe.
Elle rolled over, looking at the time. She needed to start getting ready for work. Tonight she had the late shift and was the one to close again.
Elle yawned, wishing she could stay in bed just a little longer. About to rise, she glanced at her bookshelf and noticed something that didn’t look right.
Elle studied the bookshelf that was jam-packed and full of different things, yet to Elle, she knew something was missing from it. Elle looked at the space that used to hold her photo album. It was gone.
Elle rose up and went to the shelf, wondering if it had been moved. She went through the whole thing. Not here. Elle looked around her room. Nothing.
Elle distinctively remembered Nero putting it back on the shelf. Nero!
* * *
Nero couldn’t believe he was going to suffer through another night of watching Elle go to work as she boarded the bus. Why the fuck can’t I talk to her?
Nero had no idea how to win her back. He’d thought he would find some way during school, but no opportunities had been presented.
Nero followed the bus to the stop Elle got off at. As she departed, a sick feeling in his gut appeared. He had noticed a guy wearing a dark hoodie had kept a few paces behind her.
Nero kept his eyes glued to Elle as he went to park his car, his gut feeling too strong. When he got out of the car, a bus passed in front of him, blocking his view. His instincts started screaming at him to run to Elle, but he had to wait for the bus to move out of the way for him to go. When the bus sped on, he looked for Elle.
Where the fuck did she go?
Nero ran across the street, looking for her or the guy in the hoodie, yet he couldn’t see either of them. Shit.
As he noticed an alleyway just a few steps ahead of where he had seen Elle standing last, he began running as fast as he could, making a sharp left. Nero’s heart stopped along with the world around him.
* * *
Elle was pushed into an alleyway.
Before she could scream, her mouth was covered. Elle kicked and hit at the person, holding her from behind. The boss came for me.
Elle knew she probably wasn’t going to get out of this alive, but she was going to do whatever it took to possibly survive.
Shutting her eyes, she bit at the hand over her mouth, just how she had seen the man who had been murdered do. Fuck, he died.
Elle bit harder when the guy didn’t remove his hand. She felt her body being thrown into a brick wall, and then she heard the sound of her skull hitting the brick. Elle slid down the wall, slowly feeling herself lose consciousness.
“Shit, I didn’t…” she heard a deep voice say as he held her face in his hands.
Elle tried to fight the feeling of darkness, but her lids became too heavy for her to hold. Stay awake! Elle held her eyes open a moment longer to see the face of a man she had seen at the diner. It was the college guy who had dropped the fork. Why would he…?