Graffiti Boy

Chapter 6 - The Alleyway Incident

Elijah sighed, "Please, put the knife down."

I gripped the hilt of the butcher knife tighter, "No, I think it enjoys being in my hand."

"Valerie-"

I cut him off, "You're wasting time!"

Eli ran his hands through his hair and took a seat at the dining table, "Where do I even start?"

"I don't know and I don't care. But, I swear to god Elijah, if you don't start talking now, I won't hesitate to call the cops."

"My uncle sent me to capture you." What? "He wanted me to deliver you to him. Everything I did was planned out for me."

"What the hell?" I asked.

"The way I met you? It wasn't a coincidence."

"What do you mean?"

"I was told your dad was a busy cop and that he was rarely at home. I was supposed to wait for you to be isolated outside and take you to my uncle. But when I saw you there, crouched behind the garbage bins, I was surprised. You weren't afraid like I thought you'd be. I knew I couldn't have abducted you at that moment.

"None of this is making any sense. What the hell does your uncle want from me?"

"I'm not sure, he said something about revenge on your dad."

"What did my dad ever do?"

"I don't know."

I sighed, "So, everything that's happened between us was planned out? Was it all a lie?"

"I didn't exactly plan for you to spill scorching hot coffee onto me," Eli laughed.

"Eli, I don't have time for jokes."

His smile faded, "I guess in the beginning it all was a lie. Me showing up in all your classes? Planned. Coming to your house? Was part of the plan, Ms. Beauregard just aided in the matter."

How could I have been such a fool?

"But when I saw the fear in your eyes, at Stiles' party, I knew that I didn't want anything to do with it. Taking you home? Not planned."

That reminded me, "Do you know who's behind the graffiti?"

Eli held his head down in shame.

"Eli."

He looked up, "I was the one who painted the words at Stiles' party."

I was shocked. Had he done that? And then I remembered the first time I had met him, he had smelled like paint. Spray paint. It was starting to make sense.

"Nothing you've said is helping your case right now."

"Val I promise you I want nothing to do with this. I'm not going to take you to my uncle. I want to help you."

"How do I know I can trust you?"

"I didn't try to attack you did I? I literally told you everything. What else can I do?"

"What if this is just another part of your plan?"

"I swear on my life, it's not."

"Fine. Explain your tattoo."

"Everyone working for my uncle has the symbol with the initial of their first name."

"Like a mark for a little cult," I laughed humorlessly.

Eli answered with complete seriousness, "More like a gang."

I processed the new information. I kind of believed Eli was willing to back out of the whole thing. I mean, giving me a ride back home when he could have easily kidnapped me? Or showing up at my house? That couldn't all be a lie. Or so I hoped. All I did know was I was pissed off with him for not telling me straight out and that he was even caught up in the mess at all.