Beaten

Beaten Chapter 4

Hi everyone, sorry it's been so long since I uploaded! This is quite a short chapter, but I'm still just setting up the story. I hope you like it, and please comment and vote! Feel free to tell me anything that I could do to make the story better. I would really appreciate it!

Thanks, Ginger.

Chapter 4: 

“Charlotte, you’re awake!” exclaims Matt, evidently trying to hide the look of surprise on his face.

“I have been for ages,” I say, and my voice comes out stronger now. There is a small moment of silence, as Matt, Sadie, Oscar, Nadia and Andrew exchange concerned looks.

“What?” I say, trying to sit up. It’s only then that I notice the throbbing ache in my back. It’s not as painful as it was yesterday. In fact, it’s hard to believe that it was only a day ago that I got beaten up.

Sadie gets up, noticing that I am in pain.

“Here,” she says, piling numerous multi-colored cushions behind my back and helping me sit up properly.

“Thanks,” I murmur, trying not to wince.

“So anyway,” I say, looking around cautiously at the others. “What was it you were going to tell me?”

I feel almost rude being so blunt with people I’ve only just met, people who rescued me! But I need to know, I hate being left out of things.

“Just that…” begins Matt, and I find myself desperately hoping he’ll tell me the truth. “Just that you broke your wrist last night,” he finishes, looking strangely proud of himself. I lift my arms out from under the covers and examine both wrists. My left wrist has been wrapped tightly in a bandage, but the other is bare, still covered in bruises, cuts and fingernail marks. He’s clearly telling the truth. But could there be more to it?

“You see?” says Nadia. “You’ve been very badly injured! All in all, you have a broken wrist, a sprained ankle, two black eyes, a cut lip, and about a bazillion other cuts and bruises throughout your body. Seriously, who did this to you?”

I’m in shock. I mean, I always expected to be injured, but a broken wrist? I’d never been injured this badly before.

“Why didn’t you take me to the hospital?” I ask, trying to hide the traces of anger in my voice, but failing.

“Well…” says Matt, not quite meeting my eye. “Nadia and I are pretty good at medicinal…things.”

“Yeah,” says Nadia. “Matt took a first aid course and I, er, paid attention in class!”

I nod slowly, still unsure whether I trust these people.

“Well, shall we go Andrew?” asks Nadia forcefully, and I feel the van start to jolt forwards a little.

“Go where?” I ask, hoping they’ll tell me they’re going to take me home.

“We just have to do some things quickly,” says Andrew. “Then we’ll, um, take you home.” There is something about the way they are talking to me, something suspicious. None of them can quite meet my eye, and they all seem to be hesitating when they talk. But they wouldn’t lie to me, I tell myself. They just don’t seem the type.

The van rumbles on through the woods. We must be driving through some sort of a clearing as we haven’t swerved to dodge a tree once. It’s quite strange.

“You hungry, Charlotte?” asks Eira, turning around in the front seat with an odd smirk on her face. I suddenly realize that I’m not hungry, not at all. In fact, my stomach feels oddly content, as though I have just eaten a reasonable sized meal. This is strange, as the last meal I ate was breakfast yesterday morning. In retrospect, I should be starving.

“Er, no,” I say, trying not to notice that everyone is glaring at Eira. “I’m surprisingly not.”

“That’s ok,” reassures Sadie. “You’re just shaken from being so badly hurt. I expect you’ll feel hungry sooner or later.” I decide to take her word for it. She’s probably right.

“So, you know all our names, right?” asks Matt some time later.

 I nod. “Yeah, I heard you all talking when you thought I was asleep.”

“You should have said something,” says Matt, looking sheepish, and he sits down on the bed beside me. I see a look of jealousy flit across Eira’s face and can’t help feeling slightly content.

“So you’re feeling a bit better than yesterday?” Matt asks, looking concerned.

“Yeah, a little. Yesterday was pretty bad, obviously.”

“Mmmm,” agrees Matt. “You know, you should really tell us what happened. We could help you, and it’s nothing to be afraid of. You shouldn’t keep it all bottled up inside you, ok-” he tells me, but is cut off.

“Jeez, Matt. She doesn’t have to tell us yet! Stop pressuring her. Just lay off, and she’ll tell us in her own time!” I know immediately that the person talking is Oscar. I look up at him, and notice that his cheeks are flushed bright pink. He’s obviously quite a shy person. This sudden outburst must be quite out of character for him, as everyone is staring at him in shock.

“Okay, okay,” says Matt. “I just thought it might help her, you know?”

“She’ll tell us in her own time!”

“Um, excuse me?” I say, trying to step in and take control of the situation a little. “I appreciate it a lot, but I’ll make up my mind about when I tell you what happened, okay?”

"Okay, sure," says Matt, looking a little huffy. I look up at Oscar, who is still staring at me looking a little flushed. Thanks, I mouth at him, smiling to show that I'm grateful. He smiles back, dimples showing, blue eyes sparkling. A shy smile, but a smile all the same.