Pain Is What Lead Me To You

Chapter 12

**WARNING: this chapter contains some very disturbing, descriptive violence. If you don't want to read this chapter, that's okay.**

I slowly come to, but everyone is black. The sound of a car engine surrounds me, and I'm in a small enclosed space. That's when I realize where I am.

I start panicking as I notice what's happening. My hands, ankles, and mouth are duct taped and I'm in a trunk. Fuck, my mother found me.

Okay, calm down, I think to myself. What do you do when you're in a trunk?

I take my hands, even though they're tied together, and look for the wires connected to the break lights. Pulling them apart, I disconnect the wires, which turn off the break lights. This way, it will draw attending and hopefully a cop will pull her over.

I try freeing my ankles. I kick off my shoes, then try pulling apart the tape. After ten minutes, I succeed.

Taking my taped-together hands, I pull off the duct tape on my mouth, crying quietly from the pain. I use my teeth to peel off the duct tape.

"Okay," I whisper, "time to kick this thing open."

Kicking hard, I try busting the trunk open, but it's no use. It's locked, and very hard to breathe in here. Tears flood my eyes and I try kicking harder, but nothing happens.

I try looking for my phone. It's habit I always hide it in my bra. I find it, and quickly dial Nathan's number.

"June? Where the hell are you?"

"Nathan," I cry, tears streaming down my cheeks, "help me. I'm in my Mom's trunk and idk where I am."

"Did you call 911?"

"I'm going to right now. Please help me! I'm scared!"

"Okay. I'll be there. I'll come find you." The hint of fear in his voice breaks my heart.

"I love you."

"I love you too. Call 911."

We hang up and I quickly dial 911, telling them everything I know. They tell they they're tracking my phone and have cops on us right now.

"Okay, I'm in a car, and the tail lights are disconnected."

"Okay, calm down honey, keep the phone on, and hide it on your body."

"Okay."

Doing as she says, I hide the phone back in my bra.

The engine quiets down until the vibration stops. I hear the car door open, and prepare myself for what's going to happen. Now that my limbs are free, I can fight back.

The trunk opens and that's when I start flailing.

"Don't touch me!" I scream, kicking an punching the air. "Help!"

"You scream again I will kill you," she commands, covering my mouth with a cloth soaked in something that makes me pass out instantly.

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I wake up once again, a cloth tied around my mouth, gagging me. My arms are zip-tied being me, and my ankles are tied to the chair. I can still feel my phone in my shirt, now stained with blood.

"You got away from me," my mother says, slowly walking around me. "You're not getting away this time."

I notice that we are back home, in my basement. God, how long have I been out?

"Care to explain how? And with who?"

I shake my head, tears pouring out of my eyes.

"You tell me now, or I will make you tell me."

My mom removes the gag around my mouth, and looks into my eyes. The smell of alcohol and cigarettes make me gag. "I will never tell you," I sneer, glaring at her.

"You asked for it."

She takes a blade, sliding it down my arm. I scream and cry and thrash, trying to make it stop. She cuts my sweater off, leaving me in a white tank top, and my jeans. She just across my ribs, then holds the cold, wet blade, dripping with my blood, against my cheek. "Tell me, who helped you?"

"No one...no one...please stop."

"Tell me," she slides the blade down my neck, pressing it into my skin. I cringe as I feel it dig against me.

"No one, please stop! Please!" I scream again.

"I know you're lying! Just tell me how you got away!"

"Okay!" I scream. "I snuck out my window, I hid a screwdriver in my room. But that's all, I swear!"

"You bitch!" she curses, back handing me across the face. It stings with her slap, and I swear it started swelling almost immediately.

"I'm telling you the truth! Please let me go!"

"No, I'm never letting you leave ever!"

I think of something to say, to give the cops a hint of where I am without spoiling that fact that I'm hiding my phone.

"Mom, if you let me go, I'll never leave Los Angeles, ever. I'll stay in this house, and I'll do as you say, I promise."

My mom looks at me, a confused, yet angry look on her face.

"No, I don't trust you, and I never will." Just as she lifts the blade again, the doorbell rings. "You move, I'll kill you right now."

She places the blade across me, out of my reach and makes her way up the stares. Once she's gone, I start moving my chair towards the blade.

Suddenly, hands cover my mouth from behind me and I start screaming.

"Shh! Shh! June it's me! It's Nathan."

"Nathan? You need you leave!" I cry.

"No," he answers, grabbing the blade and cutting my ties.

"No Nathan you need to leave now. She'll kill you."

"No she won't. We have an undercover police man upstairs. And the house is surrounded with the SWAT team."

Nathan helps me up, then stops as my mom comes down the stairs, no cop behind her. "I knew you called them," she sneers, looking right at Nathan.

"Mom don't you dare hurt him," I spit, hiding the blade behind me.

"I said I would hurt anyone who helped you. I killed that cop, I can kill him too."

Just as she approaches us, cops break through the windows, grabbing my mother and pinning her down. They quickly handcuff her, and drag her out.

Other cops approach me. "Honey, you need to go to the hospital, you're bleeding pretty badly."

"Where's my mom going?" I stutter.

"We're arresting her. She won't get to you. You need to go to the hospital."

"No, I'm okay. Just patch me up here, I'm not leaving."

Hesitating, the cop helps me up the stairs, Nathan close beside me. They sit me down on the couch, patching me up and wrapping those grey blankets you see around victims in tv shows and begin questioning me.

I tell them everything. My dad, the beatings, the sneaking out. Then they go and question Nathan, and then shortly after, they leave.

I cry and shake in Nathan's arms, telling him how much I love him, and how much I need him. I mean it, I love him and need him so much. He's my everything.