Porcelain

Chapter 61

Ponyboy knew that Estelle was not going to take that long taking a piss. He knew something must be horribly wrong right then.

"Soda, I think something's happened to Estelle," he said, grabbing his brother's arm.

Soda checked his watch. "Well she's been gone, eleven minutes, we'll give her a few more, and if she's not back then we'll go and look for her."

He shook his head. "She wouldn't take this long, she knows we'll come after her. Somethings wrong."

Sodapop gave him a strange look. "Are you sure?"

"Certain."

Sodapop slapped Two-Bit's shoulder, and told him what Ponyboy had told him.

"Steve, you go find Dally, we need to go find Estelle," he said seriously.

The group stood up and quickly went in different directions, looking for the blonde couple.

As Steve ran off, the others split up and looked around in the area around the bathrooms. But there was no sign of her. If she had been there, she was gone. There was no sign of her ever being there.

_____
Steve rushed through the crowds, looking for one person only. His gaze shifted rapidly as he tried to scout out the tow headed greaser.

He eventually found him, sipping a bottle of beer and talking with Buck. He seemed to be fairly on edge, which given the outcome of the race, made sense. He seemed to be agitated in his movements and words, talking angrily at Buck rather than to him.

"Dally!" He shouted.

The blonde greaser snapped his head to him, immediately picking up the look of desperation and distress on Steve's face.

"What's wrong?" He snapped.

Steve heaved a deep breath, trying to explain and breath at the same time. "Estelle, left for a moment, didn't come back. Don't know where she is," he got out.

Dallas slammed his beer down, and immediately started heading in the direction Steve had came from, while the other greaser rushed after him.

_____
Whatever they'd given her hadn't lasted long, as Estelle blinked her eyes and slowly came to her senses.

"What do we do with her? Hold her ransom or some shit?" The first voice snarled.

"I don't fucking know! But her little boyfriend or whatever, just cost us a lot of money. And he's gonna fucking pay, and we can use her to do that."

She felt a shiver go through her, there were a few different things she could foresee happening to her, and none of them ended with her being able to go back and live her life normally.

She started blocking out the voices, she couldn't stop them whatever they chose to do, but it would only hurt for her to draw attention to herself.

She felt a sharp pain in her leg, a blade of some sort. She then felt a kick in her belly, followed by the feeling of a knife slicing into her face.

"Ruined your pretty little face, did I?" The voice crooned. "Sorry it had to come to this, princess. But your little boyfriend cost me a lot of money, and I can't let that go without punishment."

She didn't respond, she forced herself to stay as still as possible. She focused on breathing evenly as she felt blood running down her neck, soaking into her shirt.

The pain didn't stop there, she was subjected to all kinds of punches, kicks, and cuts as her assailants did whatever they wanted to her. She curled around herself, using her energy to try and protect her unborn child. She wrapped her arms around her belly and tucked into a ball as best she could.

She then heard a loud bang. A gunshot, no doubt about it. She had no way of knowing who or where exactly it came from, but it gave her a moment of relief as her attackers took in the situation.

Something made them leave without her. She had no way of knowing how long it had been, as she floated in and out of consciousness. She tried to lift her head, and figure out where she was.

Train tracks. There was the train tracks. She recognized the area, she'd ran through it on multiple occasions. No one would be around to help her.

So she would either have to draw people in, or get them to her. She let out a bloodcurdling scream, as her ribs burned and blood flowed from multiple wounds, one on her head dripping into her eyes and obscuring her vision.

She didn't want to stay there. She couldn't. She would not die there. She would not let it be the end of her.

_____
Dally moved further away from the racetrack as he looked for Estelle. He gritted his teeth. He had warned her, not to come, it was dangerous. He had told her, he had told the gang. And still this had happened.

He kept an eye out for any people, or any forms that could be her.

In the distance, he heard a bloodcurdling scream. He'd never head that scream before, but he immediately knew that it was her.

He sprinted off in the direction, hoping that the rest of the gang was as well.

He kept running towards the train tracks, until he eventually stumbled into an empty lot, slightly obscured from the public by a few trees.

He saw a form on the ground, struggling to move, and instantly knew that it was her. He rushed forwards, assessing her condition. She was covered in cuts and gashes, wounds from a blade, as well as many kicks and punches that would be bruising faster, had it not been for the rate at which blood was pouring from her body.

He ripped his shirt off his body, and tried to stop the flow of blood from the worst of her wounds. He then tore what was left of her denim jacket off of her, and started using it to mop up what he could of the blood. Two-Bit's knife fell from a pocket, but he let it fall to the ground. It wasn't important.

"Goddammit Essie, I told you this would happen!" He shouted, ignoring the pain that her state was causing him.

Sodapop and Steve tore in a moment later, before Sodapop left, probably to call for more help. Steve threw his shirt to Dally, as they fought to keep her alive.

"Is she breathing?" He asked.

"I don't fucking know!" Dallas shouted.

Steve glanced to her chest. She was still breathing, but not fast. Sodapop was already calling for an ambulance, but he didn't know what to do.

"Don't just stand there, fuckwit! Help me!" Dally screamed.

He started applying pressure to the large cut on her thigh. Even with them working though, things looked grim. It looked like a scene from a horror movie, with pregnant Estelle covered in blood, as Dally and Steve fought to save her, being coated in her blood as well.

Dallas could hear sirens screaming in the distance. For once he hoped the would get there faster. Well, second time really. How ironic, for the second time, he was relying on the people he hated so much to save what he loved. To save his life.