Clean cut American kid ~ Stranger things

CHAPTER FOURTEEN

They've drugged me again.

I'm floating.

My body is numb.

I lull my head to my right. There's a man there in a turtleneck and a white coat.

"How are you feeling miss Harrington?"

I lull my head to my other side. Richie is standing there.

"Where were you!?" He turns into Steve. "Where the fuck were you!?"

I feel someone crawl over my legs. I look down. It's a man I've seen before though not in over a year now.

"If you don't have the money you'll have to pay some other way."

I'm scared to say something so I just nod.

A searing pain erupts between my legs.

I scream.

It spreads to my arms. I hold them up.

Blood seeps from pungent slashes perfectly aligned along my forearms.

My blood drips onto my forehead.

My arms are pried away from my face and I see the hands holding them belonging to my father. He delivers a swift punch to my face. Then my throat. Then my side. Then my stomach.

There's so much inflicted torture all over my body that I start to numb. I don't feel his blows though my body tosses back and forth with the force. A blow to my left cheek and my head flings to my right where I notice the man in the coat again. He his staring intently at me though his lips are curled into a small smile.

"How are you feeling miss Harrington?"

I wake up and flail my limbs around to protect myself from everything that was haunting me just a second ago. My heart is pounding in my chest as I try to blink away the tears clotting my eyes and control my breathing.

I lay down again and the arm around my waist shifts. Recollection hits me like a truck. The police is after me and I'm in Billy's car in the middle of nowhere, and we... oh god. I shove out of his grasp and punch him in the arm for good measure. He snickers and roll onto his back.

"You didn't hate that no matter what you're trying to tell yourself." He places his hands under his head and stretches out as best as he can in the small space we're crammed into. The view of his naked top half is something I'll save in the back of my mind, but I would never admit that.

"Didn't take you for a cuddly person." I say instead and focus on finding my clothes.

"Well I don't usually cuddle with my conquests, but I felt bad for you, didn't feel right to let you whimper through the night alone."

I clench my teeth to withhold myself from saying "fuck you" because I know he will twist those words with a disgustingly smug grin on his fucking face, so I punch him in the arm again instead. This means he now knows I have nightmares. Nobody except for my therapist back at rehab knows that. Silence erupts the car and once I'm dressed I climb into the front seat. I smoke a cigarette and listen to the only sound being Billy fumbling around to get his clothes on. He gets into the driver seat and we both sit quietly and smoke and stare outside for a while. The distraction I was offered last night is now overweighted by everything I wanted a distraction from.

"I got to take Max to school, where are you going?" Billy says as he checks the watch on his arm before he backs out the gravel road and turns onto the big one. I sigh in defeat and rub my eyes with my palms.

"Drive me home." I say when I've made my mind up. He raises an eyebrow at me and I elaborate. "I'm going to pack a bag and skip town." It's my only choice now. I don't know for how long I have to be gone. A few months, a few years. It doesn't matter anymore. Thinking I would be able to finish high school was stupid of me. When has my life ever gone the way I wanted?

"Oh... right," Billy mumbles and cast an awkward glance towards me. We don't say anything else for the rest of the ride. Honestly I don't really mind. It's not like I expected Billy Hargrove to come with some confiding and encouraging words. Will he miss me at all? Surely not, even though he won't have me to fight with. It won't keep him from picking on his stepsister or my brother.

We drive through town. I involuntarily sink down in my seat as we pass the same buildings I passed yesterday when I ran from Larry. I hate feeling weak and like a victim. I used to not get affected at all from stealing and being followed. It used to make me feel alive and in control of myself. Like I was untouchable. It gave me an adrenaline rush as opposed to anxiety. There are a lot of people out this time of day, driving to work. They have nothing to worry about except what to eat for dinner. I will never have what they have. I will never have a life, living in a house with a family and a boring day job. It will never be me. Not that I want it. It seems boring doesn't it?

I direct Billy through town with a few words when he asks for directions. I tell him to drop me off before the sign to Loch Nora, and tell him he should get Max and that I'll walk the rest of the way. I step out and listen as the loud roaring of his car fades away and leave me in silence in the pompous neighbourhood. I walk slowly, as if to bide time, because once I come home I will act quickly before leaving. I admit that the neighbourhood is beautiful. These buildings are beautiful and surrounded by tall trees with orange leaves. Their lawns are raked neatly because the people living here know their houses are beautiful and they care about the facade. What's behind the facade is less important, since nobody else will notice it. It's very much like my family. My parents thought that if they sent their problem away so they wouldn't see it it would seize to exist. The problem was me. I came back, and now I'm leaving again. I stop in front of my legal home even though it never was the home in my heart. In all honesty I don't know where that is. It's probably for the best. Homes get wrecked. I'm free with nothing to lose.

I carefully slide the front door open. It has slipped my mind that I have no clue of what time it is, so when I slip through the front door I'm surprised when I hear voices from the kitchen. They belong to my parents. I take cautious steps up the stairs, surely they wouldn't even care if they heard me. I've been out the whole night before.

"Sherry." The gruff voice of my father startles me. I was wrong. I turn on my heel to face him.

And I feel like I'm doused in ice.

It wasn't my father. It was chief Hopper. I stand frozen as I await the next move.

"You know what this is about right?" Hopper's says, but I am unable to respond and feel detached from my body in the moment.

I blink once and realise what's happening. I dart towards the door and dash through it. I sprint around the house and run towards the trees. The trees are my sanctuary. Once I'm in the woods I'm safe. Me lungs burn as I force myself to go faster. I don't know how many seconds pass before large arms wrap around me and my body tumbles to the ground. My knees and elbows scream in agony as my skin scrapes off but I can't feel it over the panic taking over me. I start to shake violently with sobs. Tears stream down my face. I can't breath. I scream and thrash around but to no avail. If only I could sink through the dirt covered ground.