I woke up on my bed with bruises and bandages all over me. My brothers were sitting on Alex's bed looking sad and nervous with genuine fear on their faces. Johnny and Layla and Risha were there too.
Risha told me that she found me passed out and naked behind the bushes with blood all over the place. She told me what all happened. When she found me, she called for Alex and Allen and they came quick. She said that she had never seen them so mad before. When we all got home she and Layla cleaned up all the blood and bandaged everything up. I asked her how long I was out and she said almost a day.
" Glory, you're awake ! We were so worried about you " Alex announced.
" Addie, I know you probably don't wanna talk about this but, what happened ? " Allen asked.
I felt like hiding and never coming out. I was so embarrassed I couldn't even look at anyone. It also hurt to sit up so all I could do was hide under the blanket. Knowing that 5 people, 3 of which were of the opposite sex saw you like that is mortifying.
" I- I can't tell y'all " I explained in between shaky breaths.
" You don't gotta tell us right now if you don't want to. I'm sorry for getting all nosy, we're all just really worried and we wanna know if you're okay " Alex replied.
" All I wanna do is drink chocolate milk and die " I whispered. I don't think they heard me.
" Would it be easier to tell just one person ? " Risha offered.
" If I tell anyone he'll kill me ! " I yelled. I didn't mean to, in fact I didn't even know I was yelling.
" Give the kid some space " Layla suggested. " She's probably still scared "
" Alright. Addie if you need anything just ask " Allen said as they all walked out the door.
Once they were all gone, I just about cried a river. D.A.G.G.E.R.S don't cry in front of people, some of us never cry at all. Alex isn't scared of anything, and even he cries sometimes. I'm scared of everything, and I cry like a baby, but nobody ever notices because I can hide stuff pretty good.
Allen knocked on the door every now and then to make sure I was okay. I didn't come out from under the blanket the whole day. My brothers tried to get me to eat but I didn't want to. Even a slice of bread made me throw up.
I still didn't know if he cared about me or not. He yells at me a lot and everything I do isn't good enough for him. If I was outside with my friends, he wanted me to come inside and study. If I was inside studying, he wanted me to be outside with my friends. If I wasn't hungry, he wanted me to eat dinner. When I ate dinner I ate too much. He really only cared about Alex. I guess since he's 17 and I'm only 15 he's easier to take care of. Allen gave up a lot for us, though. He gave up his scholarship so we could stay together. He started working 2 jobs so that he could pay all the bills. Maybe he did care about me.
I didn't know why, but I felt dirty. It felt like I needed a million and a half showers and some Holy Water to be clean again. What that guy did was my fault. I was the one who was stupid enough to try and fight him. Everything I looked at reminded me of him and made me feel like dying. I could really use one of Layla's joints.
Eventually, my eyelids started to feel heavy and I couldn't stop yawning. I tried to stay awake, but I just couldn't. I don't know why I let myself go to bed, I knew I would have a nightmare.
Sure enough, I woke up screaming, breathing fast and my heart beating out of my chest. The worst part is it hurt too much to get out of bed.
Someone knocked hard on the door. He must have been worried sick because he came right in.
" Addie ? Addie are you alright ? " It was Allen.
" He's gonna kill me ! He's back and he's after me ! " I yelled. I sat up somehow and it felt like rusty nails were being stabbed into my gut and a knife was sawing through my head.
Alex woke up too and he was just as worried as Allen was.
" Addie ! Addie ! Slow down ! What the hell are you talkin' about ? " Alex said.
" He's gonna kill me, he's gonna kill me, Alex " I whispered. I was too scared to yell.
" It's okay, it's okay. Just cool it. Ain't nobody gonna hurt you no more " Allen said. He sat on the bed next to me and Alex fell asleep on his bed.
Allen and I both stayed up the whole night. Going back to sleep was out of the question after that horrible nightmare. Allen kept on asking if I was okay and told me he would take me to a doctor in the morning.
" I ain't goin' to the doctor " I protested.
" Why don't you wanna go ? " he asked.
" I can't. What if he does the same thing that he did ? " I replied.
" Who's he ? And it would be a lot easier to sort this out if you told me what happened" Allen said.
" The guy who's gonna kill me if I tell anyone " I explained.
" Addie, ain't nobody gonna kill you. And I have to take you to the doctor " he reasoned.
" I said I ain't goin' and I mean it " I repeated. Why did he think I needed a doctor ?
" Addie you were passed out for a day and there's bruises all over you " he said, as if I didn't already know that.
" I just feel so.... wrong " I sighed.
" What ? "
" It's my fault anyways. I'm such an idiot " I admitted.
" Addie what the hell are you talkin' about ? " he asked.
" Don't play dumb. You know what I'm talkin' about " I said.
" I ain't playin' dumb, Addie. I really don't know what you're talkin' about " he replied.
I took a deep breath and decided to tell him so he would quit bothering me.
" S - someone told me th- that if I did him a favor he'd let Johnny go and I knew it w - was a t - trap but I thought I could f - fight him.... I'm such a fucking idiot. He t - took off...... " I couldn't tell him the rest. It was too awkward and I was crying so much I could barely understand myself. I just wanted to die, I couldn't live with myself knowing I was dumb enough to let that happen.
" Addie, good Lord I'm so sorry, kid. Do you know who did it ? " he asked. His eyes were getting a bit watery. I had never seen him cry before.
" It was someone from the Silver Flames " I answered.
" I'll talk to Layla in the mornin' and see what I can do " he offered.
" I can't go to school tommarow. I'm barely even 15, why'd this have to happen to me ? I know I sort of asked for it but I'm just a kid, Allen. What would Mom and Dad say ?" I said.
" Addie, nobody asks for somethin' like that. It ain't your fault. You're not the one who did it. I shouldn't have left y'all. I'm sorry, kid "
