The Good in You

In the Eyes of Drake: Ellie

I woke up. I thought I died.

I looked around. I wasn't on the ground anymore. I was in my room, snuggling in my bed.

I looked down at my arms. I had bandages over them. I looked under the covers.

My feet were in band-aids too.

Who's the angel that did this? I thought.

And then, someone came into the room.

Client 21.

She gasped when she saw me.

She looked scared.

She walked up closer to me, took a cotton ball, and poured a clear liquid on it.

She then placed it on my head.

"Ahhh! Ahhh! What is that?" I yell, "Are you trying to kill me?"

She didn't answer. Just looked down on her lap.

"What is that?" I grabbed the bottle from her hand.

Rubbing Alcohol.

She was trying to help me.

But why?

"Oh," I say, putting the bottle on the night-stand, "Alright."

She continued to heal my bruises.

"Don't think this changes anything." I remind her.

She doesn't look surprised.

When she was done, she gave me a cup of tea.

I owed her a thank you. But I just didn't have the strength to say the words.

It wasn't that I was too weak. I felt like the words were impossible to get out of my mouth.

But there was an urge in me telling me to do something in return.

Whatever that urge was, I didn't know what to do.

But then, I got an idea. I never expected myself to do such a thing, but I was going to do it.

I sighed. I needed to.

I grabbed some handcuffs from my nightstand and placed them in my pocket.

I walked outside.

Client 21 was sitting peacefully on the couch.

"Come with me," I say.

She follows my orders and I lead her outside to my car. Her car was parked in the garage for no one to find it.

I drove her to this beautiful lake.

I haven't been here for years. My little sister and I used to go here.

We get out of the car.

I grabbed the girl's wrist and placed a handcuff on it. I was wearing the other side of it so she won't run away from me.

We sat next to the lake.

"What's your name?" I ask.

She looks at me, "Ellie,"

"How old are you?" I pull a cigarette out of my pocket. 

"24." She says.

"So, you're a teacher?" I light up my cigarette.

"Yes. I'm an art teacher." Ellie says.

I nodded.

There was a bit of silence after that.

Then I had the strength to ask her, "Why didn't you run away? And why did you help me?"

Ellie looked back at the water, "Four of my student have been abused. The last thing I told them before I got kidnapped was to be nice to people who are mean to you. Even the people who abuse them." 

I nodded again.

"I've been abused before. In my high school years. So I know how they feel." Ellie said.

"O-oh," I exclaim

"What's your name?" Ellie asks.

"Drake," I say. It was the first time I told a client what my name was. It was also the first time anyone has told me their name.

I knew I had the chance of getting caught by telling a client my name, but I did it anyway.

"How old are you?" She asks again.

"34," I say.

"How long have you been doing this? You know, get paid to kidnap people." Ellie says.

I look at the sky, "Ten years."

"Do you do have any family?"

I sighed, "No, not really. My dad and brother have been in jail for twenty years now. They killed my mother and my sister when I was 15 so now they have to have a life sentence imprisonment."

"How old was your sister?"

"Six."

"Wow," Ellie exclaimed, "Well, you've seen the punishment your father and brother got. So why do you still do all these bad things?"

I didn't answer. I was still thinking about what I should say.

"Do you want to know why I still do these things and why I only do them to women?" I finally said.

Ellie nodded.

"Because my brother and dad did the right thing. Women are stupid. There should be less of them in the world." I blow the cigarette in her face.

She coughs and wheezes.

I finished with the cigarette then told Ellie we had to go.

But Ellie kept me thinking.

Why do I do these things? And was it really worth the money?