Junkyard of Heroes

Chapter 4

Brynn blinked her eyes open, much like a curious kitten blinks in the harsh light of the world. She yawned loudly, and fully opened her eyes. Her grey ones met with dark blue ones. Her eyes widened, and his looked exasperated.

      She found the eyes were part of a long, thin face. The nose was narrow, the lips pink and plump, the jawline almost unnaturally defined. The face was framed with loose dark blond hair, almost as wavy as her own.

      He seemed to be staring intensely at her. Until she screamed. Loudly.

      His large hands moved up to cover his ears and he winced at the noise. "She's awake!" he yelled out when Brynn finally shut up.

      A woman of about 30 wandered out of a room behind him. Her ice-blonde curls bounced elegantly when she moved, and when she walked past the boy she hit the back of his head with a tea towel.

      "Jared!" she said sharply. "Be nicer, if I woke up with you staring at me I'd scream too!"

      The boy known as Jared rolled his eyes and got up from his chair. As he stalked away she told him to "go get Leo!" before taking his place on the blue swivel chair.

      Meanwhile Brynn slowly sat up on the couch, gazing wide eyed at everything around her. There was a blanket placed over her, and she noticed she still wore the hospital gown from earlier.

      A flood of memories crowded into her mind from that room with Tom, and her head hurt like hell.

      "You're probably very lost, and confused, and scared. But it's okay sweetie, you're safe here. We won't hurt you." Elodie spoke to her in a calm, soft voice. She sounded vaguely Welsh, like she hadn't been to her home town in years and was slowly losing the accent.

      Brynn felt slightly less scared though still remained on full alert. "Where am I? How - how did I get here, where's Tom? Where's Jake?!"

      "Sshh, shh sweetie,  it's okay. You're in our house, in Chester. Jared, the boy you just saw? He and another boy, Grayson, they saved you from Tom and brought you here. I'm sorry but I don't know who Jake is, but if you have any other questions I'll be happy to answer them."

      Just as Elodie finished speaking Jared came back in with a tall beefy looking man. Elodie turned around and smiled at him, and he gave a short nod in return. He pulled a chair up beside Elodie and sat with his elbows resting on his knees.

      He looked at Brynn. She sensed there were to be no pleasantries in this conversation and sat up a little straighter.

      "Name?" he asked gruffly. Elodie frowned at him.

      "Brynn. . ." said Brynn cautiously.

      "Leo," responded the man. "And I believe I just saved your life last night."

      "Look," Brynn began slowly. "I don't know who you are or where you brought me but if you could just bring me home, that'd be great. You don't even have to explain anything, I am just not okay with waking up in an unfamiliar setting twice in one night so I would like to go home. Please."

      Leo studied her face a moment. "I thought you'd at least say thanks." Brynn looked blankly back at him.

      "What?"

      "I told you, I saved your life last night. You could thanks me."

      "Are you going to bring me home or what?"

      "Just one little word of gratitude?"

      "Leo!" Elodie came in. "For god's sake, you're useless at this. Go make the girl some tea or something."

      From the way Elodie seemed to know and boss around Leo Brynn could guess they were together. Leo rolled his eyes and walked around the large coffee table to where she assumed was the kitchen.

      "Okay," Elodie began. "Last night you were . . . taken, by a man named Tom. Tom works for a bigger man called Donovan, who leads the biggest gang in the UK. With me so far?"

      Brynn nodded, and so Elodie continued.

      "You've probably noticed on the news people going missing a lot recently. They're generally being taken to this place called the Factory, where Don has his gang set up. No one knows what's been happening to the victims, and none of the victims have ever survived to tell. No one, that is, until tonight. That's you, sweetie.

      "However Don is a careful man. The Factory is so well hidden even we don't know where it is. The only reason we found you is because Tom didn't take you to the Factory, he took you to the basement of his old apartment block. But because you survived, you could easily tell people what he's been taking people for, so he will try to kill you as soon as possible. When Leo said he saved you last night, well that's true but we're still saving you right now. Donovan can't get to you here. You're safe. Okay?"

      This time Brynn was a little slower to nod. It was a lot to take in, and her head began to hurt again. Unsure of how to react, she looked around the place. Would she really have to stay here? Like, forever?!

      Elodie watched her analyse the dark green couch she sat on, the glass coffee table hidden beneath magazines and cups, the unnecessarily large computer screen on a dark oaken desk. She saw fear behind Brynn's curious eyes and wondered just how well she was reacting to this.

      Brynn's dark pink lips opened briefly, then closed again. Her tongue ran over them. She inhaled, then exhaled. Her mouth opened again.

      "So . . . so if I leave, I could, um . . . die?" she asked nervously. "How do I know you won't hurt me?"

      Elodie blinked. How do you prove to a somewhat terrified teenager that you aren't going to murder them?

      "You're not exactly the first person we've, er, that we have living here," she began. "Me and Leo, well we kind of look after lost kids. It's a long story sweetie, but we have 9 other teenagers living here, and we look after them well. You can meet them a little later, but I think it might be a little too much right now."

      Brynn narrowed her eyes. "Does that mean that boy isn't, like, your son? Jared?"

      Elodie almost laughed and shook her head. "He feels like a son to me, but I think he'd be weirded out if he knew that. All the kids here feel like my children, and Leo and I look after them well. Please try not to be worried, or scared."

      "I'm not scared. Not really, not anymore." said Brynn. "It's just a lot to take in."

      Elodie nodded as Leo walked back in. He said something quietly to the woman and she nodded again. She looked at Brynn.

      "I know it's sudden but they're coming any minute now. So," said Elodie. "Ready to meet the gang?"

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AUTHOR'S NOTE

I AM SO SORRY FOR THE SHITTINESS OF THIS CHAPTER SERIOUSLY UGH I just really had to update so this is what I ended up with it's bad dear lord I'm so sorry.