Broken

Chapter Eight - The Beat Down

-Elizabeth's POV-

Twisting the knob, I push open the door. I'm about to shut it, but before I get the chance to fully close it, I'm grabbed by the wrist and dragged into the kitchen.

"WHERE IS MY BREAKFAST?" My fathers words took a second for me to process, but when I did, I realized my mistake.

"Y-you weren't home for t-two days," I stuttered, cowering away as much as possible. The stench on my fathers breath suggested he was intoxicated and that thought alone scared me more than anything.

Before I had time to put my hands up, my fathers hand came down hard onto my face. The stinging sensation left on my cheek had an almost numbing effect.

The next time I looked up, Adrien stood over my father, shouting words and generally threatening him. I couldn't move, couldn't protest, couldn't do anything. The impact must of knocked a few screws in my head loose.

After a moment, Adrien turned, gently lifting me off the cold linoleum and carrying me out to his car. He put me in the passenger seat, buckling me up and putting my school backpack at my feet.

With a reassuring smile, his lips began to move but words still seemed incomprehensible to me. Everything was slow and before I knew it, Adrien was back at the car with a bag of stuff. I didn't even know what it was, but I knew Adalyn had all my important things so I didn't care all that much.

Ten minutes after we drove away from my house, my head was relatively normal again. I could hear the soft lyrics from the radio and the gentle hum of the engine as we drive towards the other side of town.

I wasn't exactly sure where we were going. I thought about asking, but I didn't want to break the silence and risk having to answer any of his questions. Adi's house was on this side of town so I figured he was taking me there.

The drive seemed to lull me to sleep, causing me to close my eyes and lean my head back. Abruptly, Adrien had a rather quick break. Nothing to harsh, just enough to give me a small rush of adrenaline.

"What was that for?" The annoyance in my voice was clear.

"You could have a concussion."

"You couldn't of gently woken me up?"

"That was gently."

"If that was gently, I'd hate to see what harsh is." I joke, hoping to lighten the mood just a little.

Adrien's face is incredibly stoic, indicating he did not take this lightly. I suppose he was just having a hard time accepting it.

I knew it was no easy feat. Adalyn has always been extremely uneasy about the subject. Often times, she'd beg me to at least think of telling someone, but I often refused. I suppose it was different in this scenario because Adrien had actually seen it happen. Adalyn, in all the years, hasn't actually ever witnessed what my father could do.

Deciding not to push him, I looked out the window. My gaze landed on Adi's house. Before I realized it, we were moving past her house, continuing down the street.

"Where are we going?"

"Somewhere you'll b safe." Well that was a shitty answer. Anywhere was safer than my own house.

I watched as we pulled up to a pretty nice house. Maybe just a little bigger than the Archers residence, but in the same neighborhood.

He pulled into the driveway, parking between two other cars of a rather rich variety. A silver Audi and a red Porsche. On the other side of the drive, a black Cadillac suv and a black F-J cruiser. Adriens car didn't quite fit in, being a black Honda, albeit a brand new one.