Survival

Chapter 26

Elsa's father hasn't bothered her as much. He spends more and more time in the basement working on something. Elsa doesn't know what.

She isn't allowed to go down there. And that's just fine with her. Whatever keeps him distracted from her.

It's been a week since she's seen Jack. They have spoken on the phone and all, but she wants to see him.

If she didn't know better, she would think he was avoiding her.

But when he called her in the afternoon that day, he wanted to know if Elsa was available to hang out with him and his friends.

She really wanted to be alone with Jack. But she also wanted to get the hell out of the house.

So, Elsa said yes.

She bundled herself in a sweater and scarf. She was about to grab her phone from her nightstand, when the door rattles opens.

Elsa stops in her tracks when she beholds the two large men in the room. And both appearing drunk as they stumble a step closer.

"Look at you," one of them slurs. He was slightly taller than the other. And his hair was gray and thinning. He looked middle-aged.

Her breath gets caught in her throat as they corner her and reach to touch her.

The smaller of the two men reaches a hand to pull off her scarf.

Elsa glances past them at the door which is open.

If she runs, she can possibly make it.

"Look at you. What a...beautiful face," and he proceeds to cup her face while she tries to look the other way. But his grip tightens and he forces her look their way.

"Look at us when," hiccup "when we're talking," the man rasps out.

When they begin to unzip her jacket, she hopes they're drunk enough to lose their balance as Elsa pushes through and runs past them; going as far as the door when they pull her away.

"No!" She cries as they forcibly grab her hair and pin her to the bed.

"Enough!" And one smacks her across the face.

One of them holds her down, while the other laughs, "I'm gonna hit the bathroom. Don't start without me."

As one uses her bathroom, the other continues to pin her down. He forces her legs to open and plants himself between them.

"You and me? Were going to have fun." The many plants his weight over her, his legs adjusting in the process.

Elsa manages to regain mobility of one of her legs. She uses the chance to knee him in the groin. With a pained moan, he rolls off her. And Elsa quickly grabs her phone and jacket and sprints out of there. She almost falls down the stairs trying to get away.

She slams the front door open and continues to run.

Elsa runs and runs until her legs feel like they're going to fall off. She makes it to town and hides in an empty alley, where she rests against the dirty brick wall.

She tries to catch her breath, but fails to do so.

"You're okay, Elsa," She tells herself.

You're okay. You're okay.

The more Elsa repeats it, the more it feels like a lie.

Just then, her phone rings with a message.

Jack: Hey, where are you?

Oh, god. How can Elsa face Jack with what almost happened?

She steadies her breath which takes a good while. Elsa steps out of the alley and begins to walk to the designated location; a café