Promise

Chapter 29 - abuse

   After Zayne left Leo's house on the day Eli was taken in by him, Leo became cold and unwelcoming, totally opposite of how he was acting in front of Zayne.

     Leo stood at the door and watched Zayne walk down the street before turning back into his house. Eli was already sitting in the living room and playing with some toys on the floor.

     "Do not go into any room other than yours, do you understand?" Leo instructed as he stood a distance away. His tone had completely changed from the originally cheerful one to a threatening one.

     Eli nodded then watched as Leo disappeared up the stairs. The next few days, Eli did not see Leo around only in some instances when Leo came down to get coffee before disappearing up the stairs again.

     And when he saw him, they did not speak and Leo walked past like Eli wasn't even there. Then one day, Eli was sitting on his bed playing with some toys like he always did when suddenly a pair of hands appeared from behind him and pressed a piece of cloth onto his mouth and nose.

     Eli struggled in the tight grasp as he tried to pry the hands off. He kicked at the sheets and his toys fell to the floor. The cloth was making it hard to breath and there was a weird smell coming off it too.

     After a few more breaths, Eli lost his strength. His hands fell limp at his sides and his legs stopped kicking. He could feel his eyelids getting heavier while his body felt like it was floating. 

     His eyes shut and he was in darkness for the next few hours. When he came to, Eli found himself facing a wall. He groaned as he rolled over to his other side.

     There were men scattered around, some were playing cards while others were just talking. Nobody was paying attention to Eli so he pushed himself up and started crawling towards the open doors of the warehouse.

     Along the way, he made sure to be as quiet as possible. There was a chance he would be able to run away and he wasn't going to throw that chance away.

     He was almost there when he was sent flying into the wall. Someone had seen him and came to stop him. Eli groaned in pain as he crouched over on the ground.

     Glancing around, he realised that this man was the only one that saw him, no one else was paying attention. It's now or never.

     As the man pulled his leg back to kick Eli again, Eli forced himself up and made a run for it. "Hey! Stop him!" Eli could hear the man shout as he ran out the door.

     He didn't stop running as he turned to look back at the men shouting. He can't believe he made it. If he kept running, he would reach somewhere eventually, he thought just as he ran into someone and stumbled onto the floor.

     He quickly scrambled away and looked to see who it was. Eli relaxed when he saw Leo squat down in front of him. He thought that Leo was there to save him.

     Leo reached out towards Eli and grabbed his neck. Eli didn't have time to react as he was pulled to his feet. He clawed at the hand that was wrapped around his neck as he tried to breath.

     Leo scowled at him and dragged him back to the warehouse where he finally released Eli and dropped him onto the floor.

     Eli crouched over and gasped for air as tears flowed down his face. Leo looked down at him in disdain, "I hate kids" he grumbled before driving his foot into Eli's abdomen.

     Eli skidded a few meters away from Leo and curled into a ball from the pain. "Tie him up and put him in the cage." Leo ordered.

     The man from earlier approached Eli and forcefully grabbed his arms and started tying his wrists together. When he was done, he moved to Eli's ankles and did the same.