As police work tirelessly to find Ella before it is too late, Ella works tirelessly to overpower her captor so she can escape this Hell she has created for her.
She realizes after the event she survived in the kitchen, that her last tactic did not work so well. It almost got her killed.
She is going to have to find a new method of distracting Shawna now. She knows talking back will only get her shocked. She wants to avoid that at all costs.
She walks around the large house to find Shawna. Along the way, she finds a mirror. She stops when she catches a glimpse of her reflection.
Ella barely even recognizes herself anymore. Small cuts and bruises cover her emaciated face. She slowly shifts the collar around her neck to reveal the skin beneath it. Burns cover her neck to the point where blood has clotted around the metal collar and her shoulders.
Ella continues on her way, not wanting to see this image of herself anymore. She finds Shawna sitting on the couch watching tv. She stares at the door to her left. She could run and take a chance at escape but the shock collar around her neck is enough to deter her from even risking it. She has learned better by now.
"Shawna?" She asks, walking up beside her.
She smiles as Ella comes into view. Her heart beats faster as she addresses her by her name. She can't believe Ella remembered it after all these years. She begins to cry with happiness. "What is it, baby?" She knows that because she remembered her name after all this time that they are definitely meant to be together for eternity.
Ella begins to cry too. She just wants to go home. "Please let me go home." She steps back as she stands off the couch.
"I can't let you go home." She replies simply, cocking her head to the side.
"Please! I wont tell anyone where you live. I wont say anything. Please just let me go." She tries to convince Shawna that she will be okay if she releases her now.
"Now that I finally have you, I am never going to let you go." She cups her cheek in her hand. Ella wants to pull away from Shawna but she knows that if she does, she will never allow her to do anything she wants.
Ella sighs. She knows she is not getting through to her at all by begging to go home. She needs to change the subject if she wants to get anything out of this conversation. "Please just let me call my parents then. I want to tell them I am okay."
"Why would you want to talk to them?" She tilts her head back straight up.
"Because I miss them, Shawna, please." She tries to appeal to her humanity. Ella knows there has to be at least a little bit of sanity left in this woman's brain.
Each time she addresses Shawna by her name, a small piece of her protective shell falls off and shatters on the floor.
"Okay." She smiles softly. She wants to give her the world.
Shawna grabs her cellphone out of her pocket and hands it to Ella. "Thank you, Shawna." She quickly dials her mother's cellphone number. "Mommy?" Ella cries as someone picks up the other end of the call. "Mommy it's me. Please you have to help me. Go to the police. She's back. No, I don't know where I am. It's a hous-" Ella stops talking abruptly as Shawna claws at her face to cover her mouth.
Shawna lifts Ella off the ground in a fit of rage and throws her into the kitchen as she screams and kicks in the air. She throws Ella, causing her to hit her head on the edge of the counter.
Ella's screaming stops.
Shawna rushes to the phone. She hopes it is not too late to stop the police from tracking this call. She lifts her foot over the phone and smashes it under his shoe to make sure Ella can never make another phone call ever again.
She catches her breath and places her hands on her hips as she stares at Ella's limp body. Reality hits her as she sees Ella is no longer fighting back.
She really hurt her.
She walks over to her slowly, fearing the consequences of what she has done to her. She hopes she has not fatally injured her. She does not know what she would do if she died because of what she did.
She pictured their perfect future together. She saw them growing old together and raising their kids. She never saw this coming.
