Breaking the Chains

Chapter Thirteen

Riley fell asleep the moment her head in the pillow. It took her seconds to be in her own world in her head. She was back at her home, but she felt like she wasn't really there. She felt like it wasn't her's anymore and she thought it looked different. The house was a darker blue than it was before.  The roof was a grey instead of a black. And since when did they get a Golden Shepherd?

"Mom?" Riley called out as she walked toward the front door. No one answered but as she took another step, the house looked torn apart. Riley jumped back before it went back to how she first saw it. "Dad?" She called.

But suddenly her little brother ran out of the house, but he wasn't a boy. He was a girl. A little girl with the same coloured pig tails began running in circles on the field. Riley frowned before she smiled and ran after the girl at a light pace. "What's your name?" Riley asked as she spread her arms to her sides and flew like an airplane. Her hair flew back and the wind blew into her face with ease.

"Daddy!" The little girl said happily as a car pulled up. Riley blinked and slowly stopped running. She clenched her jaw as she watched her father step out of his car.

"Snookums!" Her father said back as he ran toward the girl and picked her up. The little girl giggled as Riley realized what was happening. The little girl was her. Riley woke up and sat up quickly, taking in a deep breath. Eli was right beside her and immediately wrapped his arms around her.

Riley jumped and pushed Eli away immediately, shocked that someone had touched her. "D-don't touch me." She curled into a ball and tucked her head in, as if she were preparing herself for the beatings that she would always get when she woke up. She felt tense and her body was shaking, and she couldn't help it. "Don't hurt me," she kept whispering.

Eli frowned and tried to hug her again but she kept shrugging him off. "Riley, it's me. Breathe." But Riley didn't relax. Instead, she just shook more.

"Stop tricking me." Riley whispered loudly as she tightened her ball.

"It's Eli, Riley," Eli said soothingly and successfully wrapped his arms around her after the fifteenth try. Riley slowly uncurled herself and almost immediately wrapped her arms around him tighter than he had around her. "It's okay. She's not going to hurt you anymore. I promise you," Eli said in a soft voice, but he had to admit even he had his back hairs standing up when he woke up after an hour of sleeping. Riley had been passed out for about three hours.

"She's going to find me," she breathed out shakily as she tightened her hold around him. Eli did the same as he gently pressed his back against the wall, pulling her carefully with him. She hardly winced as he moved. Her head was placed on his chest near his heart and his arms were wrapped around her torso tightly. One of his hands ran up and down her spine to send tingles through her so she could calm down.

"She's not going to. I won't let her." Eli said in a determined whisper as he continued to stroke her back. He could hear the clock tick in the background of their breathing for a moment before Riley spoke up again.

"I'm scared," Riley admitted after a few short moments of silence.

That was the moment when Riley finally cried. She had cried when Eli had cleaned her up but Eli assumed that was because of the pain and the fact that she was free. Now, he knew it was fear. He stroked her back and gently as he could, knowing that there were still bruises and open scars. She was whimpering like a dog which made Eli close his eyes so that he wouldn't break. He bit his tongue as well as he continued to hold her.

"It hurts, Eli," Riley said through sobs, but her words were muffled because of his shirt. Eli frowned and held her softer but Riley continued to nearly crush him. "It hurts so bad." Her sobs grew more rough after every second. Eli continued to hold her and stroke her back to help her relax, but nothing seemed to work. "It hurts," she said again, quieter than the last two times she said it.

"I know," Eli whispered gently as he held her. "But you're safe." Riley nodded shakily as she continued to tremble.

"I want to go home," Riley said quietly.

"Okay," Eli said hesitantly and gave a nod. "Then we'll find your home."

Eli opened the car door for Riley before he got in beside her. Nona and Darcy were in the front seats, getting out the map to see what roads lead to where. Eli held Riley's hand gently as Riley stared out of the window, admiring the outside world. Eli looked at her and frowned, knowing that she couldn't see him.

"Which way are we going?" Nona asked as she turned around to look at Riley. Riley looked at her with shock before her face twisted into a scared confusion. "Never mind. I think we'll go to Sandren village first. We'll find our way around from there."

"Sandren?" Riley asked quietly as she looked toward Eli. Eli smiled quickly, trying to hide the frown he had on.

"It's a little town that has a popsicle shop. We go there in the summer." Eli took a breath and continued. "Does it sound familiar?" Riley shook her head after a moment of thinking. She looked away from Eli slowly and focused outside.

"Road trip," Darcy said under his breath, bringing the map toward his face so he could focus more. Eli was staring at Riley, trying to figure out what was going on.

Sandren was torn apart, just like most of the towns, but there were still tons of people walking around the streets and sidewalks. Some were wearing grey and black clothes while others were wearing reds and blues. Most of the girls had their hair up while guys had their hair gelled back. Eli watched Riley watch them before Riley unbuckled herself and opened the car door when the car stopped for some of the people who wanted to cross the street. Eli quickly unbuckled himself and followed her but Riley wasn't just walking, she was running.

"Riley!" Eli yelled as he ran after Riley, but she was running through the crowds of people. Eli kept asking to be let through even though he pushed most of those people just to get closer to Riley, but when he got to the other side of the crowd, she wasn't in front of him. He looked around quickly, growing with panic. "Riley!" He said loudly again before jogging in the direction he thought she went in before he saw movement to his left. It was just a bird who started to fly above the villagers' heads. Eli began to breathe heavily as he began to spin when he saw Riley sitting by a bench at the end of the block. Eli exhausted all the air in his lungs and quickly ran toward her.

"Riley," he breathed out before he knelt in front of her. She frowned at him and looked down to her lap as she breathed heavily. "What's going on?"

"I'm weighing you down, Eli." Riley said quickly, stumbling over her own words. Eli began to shake his head as he looked at her a brought a hand toward her face, but Riley only continued. "I'm weighing you down, Eli. You have family you need to be around and I have mine I need to find. Do you know what Alison said to me while I was locked up? That my brother was dead." Riley took a sharp breath and looked away from Eli all together. "I need to find home, Eli. And you need to stay here with your family."

"Nona, Darcy and I will help you," he said soothingly as he gently rubbed her shoulder with his thumb.

"They can't, Eli. They have things to do. It could take days or weeks to find it."

"Riley-"

"I need to do this alone," Riley said as she looked toward Eli. "Goodbye, Eli." She said quietly before she kissed him quickly on his slightly open lips.

That was the moment tears began to drip down his face.

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Hey guys! So here's the thing: chapters are going to be uploaded/updated a little later than usual just because now I need to write them entirely. I'm thinking a chapter every couple of days, if you're curious.

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Peace out Secrets and God bless you all!

-S