Kidnapped

twelve

TRIGGER WARNING: // small mention of s*xual assault. please be cautious.

When Abigail woke up two days later, Elliot was back in the bedroom. Elliot was sitting alone in the corner of the room, her knees pulled to her chest as she rocked back and forth. Abigail sat up on the bed, staring confused as she tried to think of what to say.

"Elliot?" Abigail croaked, her throat still sore and dehydrated. "Are you alright?"

Elliot remained silent, her eyes staring towards the floor. Her face looked damp from crying, her cheeks pink.

"Elliot?" Abigail pushed herself off the bed, kneeling down to Elliot's side. "What happened? What did he do to you?"

Abigail rested her hand against Elliot's shoulder, rubbing her thumb against her sleeve. Elliot tensed at the contact, rocking faster. Abigail frowned, lifting her hand warily from her friend.

"Elliot, what did he do to you?" Abigail asked once more, the pieces in her head beginning to fit together. Elliot slowly raised her head from her knees, staring at Abigail with her bloodshot eyes.

"You know what he did to me." Elliot whispered, her lip trembling as she tried to prevent from crying once more. "He kept doing it until he knew."

"Knew what?" Abigail asked, watching Elliot lace her fingers tightly through her own.

"Until he knew I was pregnant." Elliot squeezed her eyes shut, biting on her lip to keep from sobbing.

Abigail fell silent, holding Elliot as she cried into her hands. She pressed her cheek against Elliot's scalp, running her fingers through the hair. "It'll be okay, I promise. I won't make you do this alone." Abigail squeezed Elliot's hand tightly, feeling her shirt grow wet from Elliot's tears.

"Abigail, I—I'm fifteen, I can't deliver a baby," Elliot sobbed, wiping her nose with the back of her hand. "What am I supposed to do?"

"I need to talk to Kyle." Abigail declared, rising to her feet to avoid Elliot's question. She walked towards the door, turning the doorknob for a small portion to let herself out. Kyle seemed to have forgotten to lock them inside.

Abigail descended down the stairs, surprised to see Kyle waiting for her with a laptop in his hands. "Good, I was just about to come get you!" Kyle smiled cheerfully, nodding towards the kitchen table. "Let's sit, shall we?"

Noah was already at the table, shuffling a deck of cards to pass the time. Abigail sat in the seat closest to him, keeping an eye out for Kyle as she pulled the inhaler from her pocket. She skidded it across the table to Noah, whispering a silent "thank you" before Kyle sat beside her.

"I need you to help me order baby products from Walmart," Kyle opened the laptop in front of Abigail, keeping the screen between the two. "I need this baby, I need to buy whatever I can get my hands on to make sure this runs as planned."

"You're fucked up," Abigail hissed, beginning to rise from her chair. Kyle grabbed her shoulder and pressed his thumb into the pressure point, sitting her back in her original spot. Noah only seemed to watch silently.

"I want that boy, Abigail. I will raise him to be just like his father," Kyle leaned in closer to Abigail, his eyes full of hate. "Just like him."

"What if it's not a boy?" Abigail asked, pushing Kyle away from her face. "It's a fifty fifty chance."

Kyle only chuckled, turning back towards the laptop. "I know it'll be a boy, I can just feel it."

"If it's not?" Abigail raised her eyebrows, fumbling with the bedsheet around her palm.

"Then there's no use for her." Kyle shrugged, typing mindlessly on the laptop.

Abigail glanced towards Noah, her mouth gaping open in disbelief. Noah rested his cheek against his fist, rolling his eyes towards Kyle.

"How big are babies usually?" Kyle typed in cribs into the search engine. "Do I really need to spend $70 for a crib he'll sleep in for a few days?"

"You mean up to three years?" Abigail scoffed, pointing towards the ages used for the crib. "Have you ever seen an infant before?"

Kyle shoved the laptop towards Abigail, slamming his fist on the table. "You find the shit then, I'm going out for a drink." He stood from the table and grabbed his coat by the door.

"Noah, send Abigail upstairs once she's finished finding baby equipment, I'll be back later." Kyle slammed the door shut, leaving Noah and Abigail alone.

"Why do you work for him?" Abigail redirected her attention from the laptop to Noah, her finger tracing circles on the mouse pad.

"I don't have a choice," Noah shrugged once more, heaving in a sigh. "He helped me get off the streets after my parents kicked me out, gave me a place to stay with clean clothes. The only exception is that he has at least twenty years in prison and I'm counted as an accomplice."

Abigail shook her head, staring back at the laptop to look for diapers. "I just cannot believe you almost let him get away with these things and not interfere."

"I can't, he knows where my boyfriend lives, Kyle would kill him," Noah stared at the front door, pursing his lips together. "Kyle's a scary man, I just do what I'm told, even if I know it's the wrong thing."

"Even as you watch him beat us, do things to us?" Abigail raised her voice, digging her nails into the wound in her palm, blood soaking the bedsheet. "You're just as bad as Kyle is."

Without saying another word, Abigail picked up the laptop and left the kitchen, leaving Noah alone to his thoughts.

Edited ; July 10, 2018