Let Me Down | John Murphy

He Left Me

Chapter 8

Four days ago...

I remember being beaten. Near dead.

I wanted to give in. To let Billie win this torment over me. I wanted to leave her and check-in to heaven, where I hoped Rory would be waiting for me. But I couldn't. No matter how bad I felt, I knew Dawn was out there, calling for me to hold her and never let her go. So no matter my situation, hanging from a tree, with my wrists and ankles tied, I couldn't let go.

Billie had left me there so she could go for a wash down by the lake. It shocked me to the bone by how much torture she believed I deserved just because our lives were different. She wanted me to know the pain she felt growing up with the grounders. She wanted me to know that it could've been me in her position had she been born first. And I understood why she felt hurt by that being the reason our parents sent her down to die. I would've been hurt, too. In fact, I was. I had missed out on knowing my twin all because of some stupid 'one child only' rule. I had wished it was different. That the world was kinder, but it didn't make a difference. I had also told Billie that our mother was no one worth knowing, but that didn't help, either. In Billie's eyes, I deserved this torture, and there was no stopping that.

Well, at least that's what I thought until I saw John coming towards me. His face was blurry, due to the lack of blood, but I knew it was him. I couldn't stop grinning.

"John," I whispered, forever grateful to see a familiar face, especially his. He looked bloody hot.

No, I'm serious. His face was bloody, yet still hot.

"Quinn?" His voice seemed broken. Hurt, even.

Did I look that bad?

Stupid question! Of course I did. I felt like pure and utter crap!

"How... how did this happen?"

I never saw him so upset in all my life. He looked devastated, but why I don't know.

"Long story." My voice hoarse.

I watched him pull out a small blade, to which I immediately shook my head.

"You can't, John. She'll come back soon and-"

"Who will?" He asked.

"The grounder who tied me to this tree," I replied. "If you leave now, you should be able to get away without her capturing you, too." I knew Billie only wanted me to punish, but who knew what she would've done with John had she caught him.

"I can't just leave you here, Quinn," he told me before he climbed up and cut me down.

I hit the ground. Hard! Which did make John feel bad, but like I had told him, I'd rather feel that than any more pain from the hands of Billie.

He dropped down and helped me, slinging my arm over his shoulder. "I'll get you home, Quinn, I promise."

God, I had wished he just kept his mouth shut because the minute that promise was made, I never wanted to let it go.

"We need to go," I reminded him, knowing full well she'd be back soon.

"Okay, let's go."

We started walking for only a moment before a blade was thrown in our direction. We both ducked, luckily, and it managed to hit the tree instead.

Our eyes flew back to the grounder who threw it, and unfortunately it was her. Even a barely clothed Billie, terrified the hell out of me. Sure, her war paint was gone, but her fight wasn't.

"Run!" I yelled, despite knowing I'd never keep up with him.

When he noticed my troubles, I was thrown over his shoulder and he started fleeing for both of our lives.

We made it a fair distance, past dozens of trees, and across a lake. Yet our problem wasn't any of those things; it was the ditch.

Billie had been on us since we left, and we had been too distracted by the chase, we completely missed our feet slipping into a ditch full of thorns and nettles.

"Fuck me!" I cursed, falling back onto the ground off of John's back.

"We need to get out of here!" John told me, trying to grip the sides to pull himself out.

"Let me give you a boost!" I offered, rushing over and giving him a leg up.

Once he seemed stable, he used the rest of his strength to pull himself up and out of the ditch.

I was relieved when he was out because I thought there was hope for us. I should've known I was wrong.

The sound of Billie's horse had become alarmingly loud, and only then I knew, my fate was sealed. Not because she was close, and not because I couldn't run, but because of John's expression.

"John?" I tried jumping up to reach him. "John, help me up!"

He didn't offer me his hand like I had hoped he would.

"John, please. Help me up!"

He looked across at the horse, I presume, before back at me.

"I'm sorry, Quinn," he shook his head. "But I will not go back to being tortured again."

I watched him get up and slowly begin to back away.

"John, no! Come back!" I pleaded. "Please, come back!" I couldn't handle another day being a doll for Billie to play with. "Please, John! Don't leave me! Please!"

He started running and I started crying.

"John Murphy, you're a coward!" I screamed after him before dropping down to the ground and putting my head to my knees.

He left me. He left me... again!