MadMax

Home Alone.

I have been at Mike's house for a week now. Time moves so slow here. Nancy refuses to let me even go outside because she is worried my parents will find me. Hopper knows everything and is currently trying to find any evidence to lock them up for good. Everyone has just been pitying me, even Mike which is extremely odd. I've been sleeping with Nancy in her room, she slept on the couch the first night but I have been having bad nightmares so she has been sleeping with me now. I have opened up to her about a lot. I told her about Neil and how he gets drunk and goes after me. How he has raped me countless times and my mom didn't care nor did anything. She is hardly ever home, she gets to avoid him. She has been staying at her moms house and left me alone with Neil. I showed Nancy a few of my scars from him. The ones on my back from him kicking me and throwing things at me. The one I have on the back of my head from him smashing a broken broom on my head and one of the jagged pieces cut it open. A few on my stomach from him using me as his personal punching bag. I can't show her my legs. Not right now.

None of the party has been over since the night I came back, Karen says everyone just needs to give me space. El calls here everyday but I haven't had the strength to answer yet. I do not want her to know about any of this, she will be too worried and I don't want to upset her.

Mike walks in announcing that he's leaving for school. He grabs a pop-tart and heads out the door. I watch him out the window as he gets on his bike and pedals out of the distance. Nancy left for school before I ever woke up. She left me a note reminding me to take my medicine and that my lunch is in the fridge. She has been putting singular doses in little zip lock bags for me and leaving them on the counter. She hides the bottles and just leaves out doses.

"Hey hon, we are going into town to pick up some groceries. Don't forget to eat your lunch. We will be back shortly." Karen declares.

I nod my head in agreement and watch her and Ted leave. I have the house to myself for the first time ever. I walk into the kitchen and find my lunch. It is a peanut butter and Jelly sandwich with some strawberries on the side. Nancy makes me lunch everyday before she leaves as if I couldn't do it on my own. It is cute though so I never say anything. I grab the sandwich and throw it in the trash covering it with paper towels. I eat two bites of a strawberry and then throw those away too. I just can't handle all this eating stuff right now. I lie everyday and tell Nancy the food was delicious but I haven't eaten a single lunch she has packed for me. I never eat breakfast and they let that slide. At dinner, I just pick around and make an excuse about why i'm not hungry.

I wander back into the living room and plop down onto the couch. I grab a blanket with plans of taking a nap while everyone is gone. Just then, I hear a pounding on the door. I jump up and creep over to the living room window. I inch the curtain a tiny bit over and I see Neil standing on the porch. I drop down to the floor and freeze, I don't know what to do. I sit there frozen in fear and just hope that he will leave since none of the Wheelers' are home. I am sitting here for what feels like an eternity and I decide to peer out the curtain again. He's gone. I sigh in relief and head back to the couch. Then I see him. He is standing at the kitchen window staring right at me.

I jump up and head for the phone. I am shaking while I attempt to type in Nancy's number. As soon as I get her full number in, the front door swings open. Shit, I didn't lock it. Before I can even think he is charging right at me. I freeze again. He grabs me by my braids and drags me outside to the car. The concrete scraping against me made me wail in pain. He kicked me ordering me to shut up. He opened the car door and threw me in. He then got in himself and sped out away from the house. I laid on the floor of the backseat still trying to process what just happened. He does not speak a word, I can tell he is planning something and it can't be good. I dare not to make a noise. We pull up the house and he drags me out of the car the same way he dragged me in. We walked inside and he threw me on the floor while he bolt-locked the front door. He then drags me over to the basement stairs and kicks me down them.

I black out.