Abandoned

Chapter 12

Madeline POV

My body hurt so badly. My head felt like I’d been punched repeatedly. I couldn’t even open my eyes.

What day was it? How long was I asleep?

Oh, crap, I didn’t even go to school.

What would happen? Would they try to call my parents? Would they figure out that I lied about everything?

I would probably have to move. I couldn’t stay here anymore.

It was for the better anyway. I hadn’t had the best start in this school. Maybe I would really be better somewhere else.

I tried to move a little, but it hurt too much.

I took a deep breath and tried to open my eyes.

“Madeline?” I heard someone calling my name, and I froze.

Did I imagine that? Was I hallucinating?

Suddenly, I felt something soft beneath my body. I felt something warm on top of me. I felt hands holding mine and caressing my cheeks and forehead gently.

Oh, God, I was definitely hallucinating.

Was my fever so high that I started to imagine things?

What would I see when I opened my eyes?

“Come back to us, Maddie.” I heard another voice. “Come on.”

Come back to them? Who were they? Someone wanted me back? What the hell was going on?

I squeezed my eyes shut and took a deep breath. It hurt to breathe.

I opened my eyes slowly and looked around.

I wasn’t in my tent.

I was in a room.

An unknown room.

What the…?

My eyes fell on a boy to my right, and my heart stopped beating.

It was one of the boys from school.

He was smiling at me, but I could see tears in his eyes.

He was smiling? At me?

I glanced to my left and saw the other boy, the one who told me never to lift my head.

“Hey, Maddie.” he said softly.

My eyes widened.

Why was he so nice to me? Why was I here? How did I get here? Where was my tent?

“I know that you have so many questions.” the boy continued. “I will answer them all, but before I do, I want you to know that you are safe, Madeline. You are home, and you are safe.”

Home?

Was he crazy? Was I crazy? Was I imagining this? Was I dreaming? But why would I be dreaming about the two boys who hurt me so much?

“I need to go.” I mumbled as I tried to get up.

Both of them stopped me.

“No, Maddie.” the boy said. “We can’t let you go.”

My heart raced. Did they bring me here to hurt me?

Oh, God, they did. They would hurt me, wouldn’t they? Would it be as bad as when my stepfather hurt me? Would they…?

Tears fell on my cheeks, and I tried to get out of their hold.

“Let me go.” I cried out. “Please.”

Fighting them was useless. My body hurt so much that I could barely move. They were so much stronger than I was. I didn’t stand a chance against them.

Would my life end like this?

I never got to go to college. I never got to have friends. I never got to have a boyfriend. I never got to be happy.

“We won’t hurt you, Maddie.” the other boy cried out as he pulled me to his chest. “We could never hurt you.”

He buried his nose in my neck, and I froze. I could feel his tears on my shoulder. I could feel his body shaking. Why was he crying?

“Look at me, Maddie.” his brother said as he cupped my cheeks and made me look at him. “You are our sister, Madeline. We won’t hurt you. No one will hurt you ever again.”

My heart stopped.

Sister?

Oh, God, he really was crazy. I got kidnapped by two crazy guys.

That really did sound like something that could happen to me.

“Do you remember your childhood, Madeline?” the boy asked, caressing my cheeks with his thumbs. “Do you remember anything before you left us?”

Left them? I didn’t leave them. Someone left me on the side of the road.

But I did remember something. I remembered two boys. I remembered playing with them. I remembered laughing with them. But I imagined that. I didn’t have a family. I didn’t have brothers. I was alone.

The boy who was holding me tightened his arm around me.

“I don’t know what I did.” I said quietly. “Whatever it was, I am so sorry. Please just let me go, and I will leave. You will never have to see me again. Just please don’t hurt me.”

The hurt I saw in the boy’s eyes made my heart break.

“We won’t hurt you, Maddie!” the other boy cried out, lifting his head and leaning his forehead on my cheek. “We will never hurt you. You are our sister. You are our triplet. You can’t leave us. Not again.”

I kept my eyes on the boy in front of me the entire time. He glanced at his brother and took a deep breath.

He really did have some of my features. We had the same eyes. We had the same hair.

But it meant nothing.

“I don’t have a family.” I said. “I don’t have brothers. I was left on the side of the road when I was four. I grew up in foster care. I am not your sister.”

The anger flashed in the eyes of the boy in front of me. The boy holding me froze, and his arms around me tightened even more.

“You were left on the side of the road?” the boy in front of me asked.

I nodded.

He tightened his jaw and took a deep breath.

“You are ours, Madeline.” the boy said. “I know it. We look the same. We have the same birthmark on the backs of our necks. We found your birth certificate.”

“And if that isn’t enough, we did a DNA test while you were asleep.” the other boy added, lifting his head. “We are still waiting for the result, but we know that it will be positive.”

I turned my head to the right and looked at him.

“You did a DNA test?” I asked quietly.

The boy nodded.

“We are sorry that we did it without your consent, but we needed the results as soon as possible.” the boy said. “We needed proof that you were alive.”

I gulped and took a deep breath.

“We are so sorry for all the things that we did when you came to the school.” the boy continued quietly. “We are two fucked-up people, and we have been fucked-up since they took you from us.”

They?

“We know that’s not an excuse.” the other boy said, making me look at him. “We know that we fucked up and that we have a lot to make up for. But it did fuck us up, Maddie. We were lost without you. We didn’t ever realize how much until you came back.”

I couldn’t let myself believe that they were telling the truth.

I couldn’t let myself believe that I had two brothers who loved me.

I couldn’t let myself believe any of this.

It wasn’t real. It couldn’t have been real. It was either a dream or a mistake. The DNA test would come back negative, and they would hurt me.

I needed to leave as soon as I could.

I needed to go back to school to get my tent, and I needed to run away from here.

I would do it as soon as they fell asleep.

I would run, and I would never look back.