Breaking the Chains

Chapter Twelve

Eli had brushed Riley's hair every few minutes to make sure there were no knots as they both sat comfortably on his bed. Her hair was drying more and more after every passing second. They had been talking about random memories and whatever came to mind before Eli had to ask some of his questions.

"So, why did High-" Eli took a breath and fixed his mistake," Alison take you?"

Riley got quiet and even though she was smiling only seconds ago, she only had a frown on her lips. "She blamed me for everything. She was," Riley closed her eyes and rested her head against the wall, "I don't know. Before she was adopted by that new family, she was with a family that abused her by hitting her and beating her. But she was also forced to do other things and she slowly lost it before her older foster brother called child services and got her a new home. He ended up being separated from her and his family but she got into a better home. But her new dad was a recovering alcoholic so he had slip ups sometimes and he'd beat her and she slowly lost it. So when I became friends with her, I guess I was the only one left to blame."

Eli let out a breath and faced Riley. "So she tortured you because she blamed you?"

"Well, at first it was just name calling when I was locked in her basement without much food but then she ran away from home while dragging me with her and," Riley paused and opened her eyes as she sighed, "It's such a long story."

"I know," he whispered gently and wrapped an arm around her very carefully. After a few seconds of silence, there was a knock on the door. "Come in," Eli said in a louder voice before two boys bust through the door.

"Eli?" One of them asked as a smile grew on his face. "Man," he said quietly before plopping on the bed beside Eli's. "Where the hell were ya, man?"

"Long story," Eli said with a bitter tone.

"Who's the chick?" The other one asked after plopping on one of the smaller beds in the other corner.

"This is Riley," Eli said kindly. "She and I met about a month ago."

"Mm," one of the guys hummed before taking a swing of beer. "She's hot."

"Danny," Eli said in a deep voice, which made Riley jump just a bit. "Back off."

"What? I was just stating facts." Danny winked at Riley but Riley just wrapped her stinging arms around Eli. Danny frowned and rolled his eyes. "Whatever, Princess. Have fun with him." Danny gently placed the bottle on the ground by his bed and walked out. "Oh, and Eli?" Danny said, giving a glance behind him.

"What?" 

"Next time, come back soon enough so I don't have to worry about you." And with that, Danny was out the door with Johnny close behind him.

-Twenty Minutes Later-

Riley and Eli had been told to eat by Nona. There was chicken noodle soup with grilled cheese on the dining room table for them and though Riley felt like she was more nauseous than hungry, she forced herself to finish the soup and take a bite of the sandwich. Eli did the same thing except he took two bites from the sandwich.

"You're not hungry?" Nona asked Riley, looking toward her from the opposite side of the table. They had been called down before everyone else was so Nona could talk to them about what had happened. Riley had been too shy and scared to talk so Eli had to do most of the talking. Riley shook her head after a second of letting the words sink in. "Okay." She looked toward Eli and offered a smile. "So, what happened?"

"I was out with the boys when this girl came from behind me." Eli tried to think. He couldn't remember all of the details even though it only happened about a month ago. "I don't remember everything but she took me to this weird building and locked me up in this room in chains. She had Riley in the same room and made her seem like she was the one who kidnapped me." Eli closed his eyes and tried to remember. "I don't remember much. I mean, Riley and I began to talk more. But that girl beat me up a few times."