Promise

chapter 3

A month later

Avery
It had been a month since I saw Mr West nearly shoot that guy in a alley. Nothing much had changed, I was in the closet for an entire week, miss eliza called telling the school I was ill, they probably thought I was a very sick child with the amount of ill days I take, all because miss eliza was never done punishing me. I got a glass of water on the Wednesday and a slice of stale bread. That was all I ate that week. After being let out of the closet, she hit me and kicked me, I think she broke a rib but since then her behaviour has worsened, I havent eaten in a week, i get a piece of bread and a glass of water each week, it's not enough to survive I know, I am being hit everyday, weekends were the worst, she locks me up in the closet from friday evening to sunday evening, she let's me out to do my chores which usually take till 3am and then I have to be up at 6am so I can get ready for school and walk there for 8 30am. I'm exhausted and i wouldnt very suprised if the teachers knew, i passed out once in class and was taken to the nurse, i gave her a excuse but she didnt buy it, she told me if it happened again then I would have to go to the hospital. The thought of telling her the truth did cross my mind but every family has been abusive, the home was abusive so I figured if I was relocated then it would be the same. No matter where I am I will get mistreated so why bother.
Today was friday, i was on time for once and it was another adoption/fostering day. I had about 2 hours until I'm back in the closet and 40 minutes till the families start to arrive. I was behind on homework so I got some out and started to catch up as I waited at the desk, I could probably catch up on it all whilst the families are here since no one will be coming to talk to me.

Meanwhile.

Elijah

Even though it's been a month since I saw the girl, my mind was constantly thinking about her. She looked familiar yet so unfamiliar. A week ago I had enough with the girl consuming my thoughts so I called one of my men to find out everything they could, they found nothing on a girl called ellie and at that point I knew she definitely gave me a fake name. I wasnt angry though, I felt proud, it was a weird feeling but I was proud of her that she didnt give me a stranger her real name. I wanted to know more about this girl and the only way to do that was ask her, so I looked on the homes website, they had a adoption day today and I figured it would be a perfect time to ask her some questions. It started in 40 minutes so with that in mind I got in the car and drove straight to the orphanage.

The same woman I saw that day who pulled the girl inside answered the door. She looked at me, clearly suprised I was here "mr west, may I ask what you are doing here, surely you're not adopting or fostering" she asked, I didn't like this woman, not one bit. "I am actually" I tell her. It was a lie, I had no intention of adopting or fostering. I had a little girl out there and I would never give up on looking for her, she was my child and I would never give up.
I walk in before she could say anything else, i saw a family head into a room and I followed them. I entered a massive hall filled with children, some as young as 3. I looked around and eventually I spotted her, she was sat in the far corner, reading a book and highlighting. I smiled, she was hardworking. I head straight to her but before I can even get there the woman who answered the door appeared "the younger children are over there, that girl is no good" she says which I find strange, I thought she would be encouraging everyone to adopt any child no matter what yet she doesnt want me near this girl "why is she no good" I ask glancing at the girl who was still looking at the book, she was unaware of what was going on around her. "Well shes disobedient, shes also 15 which isnt exactly the greatest thing" she says and I shrug and make my way towards the girl.
My girl would be 15 by now
I ignore that thought and take a seat at the desk. The girl doesnt even look up but she speaks "you know the younger kids are at the other side of the room" I couldnt help but think that this girl had been made to believe everyone wanted a younger kid. "Yes I'm well aware of that ellie" I tell her purposely using the fake name she gave me, upon hearing it, she looks up and her eyes fill with fear. "I didnt tell anyone i promise" she says and I roll my eyes, I really didnt care about it. No one would believe her even if she did "what's your real name" I ask, not wanting to mess around, I wanted to be out of here, the only reason I'm even here is because I need her to answer my questions. "Why are you here" she asks ignoring what I asked "because I'm curious about you" I answer. "And how did you find me" she asks and I didn't know how to answer. I finally thought of a semi appropriate answer "I was driving past here to get home and I saw you enter" I respond but it doesnt look like she believed me. "So you just thought you'd come and interrogate me" she said and I couldnt help but chuckle, she was the one who was interrogating me if anyone. "Your name" I ask again, this time she answers "avery"
My mind went straight to my daughter, she was called Avery of course she was probably living in a lovely house now with her mother and god knows who else. When Avery was 4 months old, sarah my girlfriend knowing before we even had a child that I was head of the mafia decided that I was unfit to be a father and so she ran away with my darling avery and I've searched ever since, of course there was times were I thought she was better without me, after all I am a criminal but I just wanted to see her even if it was one more time. Sarah was good at hiding, she always had been and I knew nothing about my daughter, not even what she looked like now, it was like finding a needle in a haystack, but I'd never give up on my girl.
"And how long have you been in care" I ask her and she looks at me wary but she was scared and so she answered "since I was 5" i really didnt like the idea of her being in this place nevermind since she was 5. "What happened to your parents" I ask and she looks hesitant but I give her a look which clearly scared more than I intended. "My mother died and I never knew my father, hes dead too though I think, they could never find him so he was presumed dead" she replies and my mind wanders to my daughter, could this be her?
"When is your birthday" I ask, part of me hoped it was her.
"10th august" she replied and my heart stopped. My daughter was born on 10th august, at 8 46 am to be exact.
The girl in front of me held so many similarities to my girl.
1.name
2.age
3.birthday
4. Missing dad
"What was your mother's name" I ask, I expected a response but instead she looks terrified, she shakes her head and stands "I'm done" she says, as she speaks I notice how thin she actually was, she wasnt like this a month ago. "AVERY" we both turn and see the women who answered the door. I looked back at avery and she was on the verge of tears "I'm so sorry mr west for her behaviour, shes a troubled kid" the woman apologized in a sickly sweet manner, I really didnt like her. She turned to Avery and a wicked look passed her face "you upstairs now, I'll deal with you later" she snarled. Now yes I'm a cold hearted criminal but I have standards and rules I live by, one would be no child deserves to be treated like avery just was. I guess ever since the loss of my daughter, my vulnerability was always children. "Yes miss Eliza" the girl said shakely and ran out the room. So this woman's name was Eliza. Good to know.
"What do you know about the girl" I ask Eliza before she can walk away. "Shes been in and out of here since she was 5, no family wants her, her mother abused her so she got taken away, there was no father so she was brought here, a year later her mother died of a overdose" eliza said with hatred and my guess was that hatred was directed at Avery.
Sadly I knew as soon as she told me the mother was abusive, she wasnt my avery. Sarah was kind and loving, the reason she left was so Avery wasnt in danger or got hurt, there was no way sarah would ever abuse her and yet I still felt a connection to avery.
Maybe I could take her for a while, no that would be cruel as I dont want her, it would be cruel to my family, I dont want to give them hope. "The mother, what was her name" i ask part of me hoped it was Sarah the other part hoped it wasnt. I wanted my little girl back but I didnt want to find out she had been abused. "Sarah Miller" she replied.
Now the similarities were to much to be ignored
5. Mother with same first name.
Of course Miller was a fake name if it was her, I fully expected sarah to change her name.
I took a deep breath before continuing. I couldnt ignore the signs
"I'd like to temporarily foster her, like for a few weeks" I say, this was probably the best solution.
Few weeks I can find out if she is my Avery, if not she goes back and she will already know that it's only temporary. My family wont ever have to know.
"Ok sir, you will regret it but I'll go get the paperwork" and she disappears. I grab the book and other pieces of work Avery had at her desk and go upstairs in search of her. I find her sat in the hallway outside a old closet with what looked like nails stuck in. It gave me an idea for a new torture technique but then I went back to my sane side. Why was she sat here, she had her head tucked into her knees. "Avery" I slowly ask and she looks up, her tear stained face made me want to kill whoever was the reason for her tears. "I..I'm s...sorry s..sir" she stuttered looking at me with fear. "Its ok, actually I want to take you with me for a few weeks" I tell her, I thought she would be happy to leave this dump but I was wrong. If I thought she looked terrified before well I was wrong. She started to hyperventalate repeating the word "no" over and over. Fuck. "Avery I wont hurt you, I promise. Come on I'll help you pack and we can get pizza on the way back" I say calmly trying to calm her down. I hated seeing her like this. My Avery or not everyone who was responsible for this would be killed. "Avery please" I say. Wow. I have never said please, not since sarah left with my girl. "T...they a..all s..say they w...wont h...hurt me and they d..do" she stutters and I slowly make my way closer "not me" I say as I slowly and carefully lift her to her feet. "You almost killed a man that day" she said and I look away, if she was my daughter then I would hate to have shown that side of me to her. "But I didnt" I tell her, not mentioning that I killed him a few days later. "Let's go get your stuff" I tell her and she is frightened I can tell but she walks to a door, I guess her room. When we enter I feel anger, her bedroom was small, it had no windows, a stained matress no bedding, the springs could visibly seen popping out. A small wardrobe with half the door missing was in the corner, she grabbed a old backpack which had holes in and stuffed two tshirt, 1 hoodie, a pair of jeans and some underwear into the bag. That was all she had. "Is that it" I ask and she shakes her head and goes to the matress. I watch as she lifts it up and removes something from under it.
I look closely and when I see it, I knew then, this was my Avery.
The necklace I had made for her, even though it was a choking hazard I still wanted to have her wear it. The necklace was a simple A inside a heart.