Adopted

Chapter 5 : Late night chat

Chapter 5

Later...

Riker POV

I'd just taken a shower. I finally felt clean and a lot better. I got changed into pjs, and went to my bedroom. Ell was there already.

"Feeling better, Rik?"

"Yeah..."

It'd been a long day...

"Ell?"

"What?"

"We need to get out of here."

"Riker, you just need to cooperate, and everything will be ok."

"It wasn't even my fault the bathrooms weren't cleaned! I didn't feel good, and I didn't know, and he wasn't being fair!"

"Riker, I'm not talking about that. You didn't need to go down and yell at Mr.Mark, and tell him you were going to report him or whatever."

"I couldn't help it! It's 100 percent not ok how he's treating us! Normal people don't lock bathrooms so you can't go, lock you in dark closets, or deny you food for messing up! Normal people would take away your phone, or make your bedtime sooner!"

"Riker, I get that he's not being fair. And I get that how he treats us isn't ok. But before we do anything drastic, we need evidence. If we go to the police, it's our word against his. And we don't have any evidence against him yet."

"So then what are we supposed to do!?"

"Well, for starters, we can be quiet so he doesn't hear us and punish us."

I sighed.

"Seriously, Riker. We need to keep this on the down low. If he suspects we're going to do something, then he's going to do anything he can to stop us. And I don't doubt that he would hurt us. He already punched you in the stomach today. I don't know what else he'd do, but I bet it'd be worse than that!"

"I want to go home."

"Stop saying that. I know it's hard being here, but you need to be stronger, Riker. You can't be crying all the time and acting like a baby. You're 14, not 5!"

I turned over, and pulled the blankets over me.

"Rik, I'm sorry. But we need to be strong if we're going to make it through this."

"Why do you have to be against me now? I feel like I'm all alone."

"You're not alone, and I'm not against you. I'm just saying you need to be stronger."

"Well maybe I can't be! Did you ever think of that!?"

"Riker, we're going to get in trouble if you don't keep your voice down."

I sighed, and tried to hold back my tears. Everything that happens to me hurts a lot. I still haven't gotten over my parents dying. And I was practically reminded of it every day. My dad's name was Mark, and now I'm living with this evil Mark. They're nothing alike, and it only makes me miss my parents even more!

"Riker, look. I'm sorry. But Mr.Mark is right. You need to man up a little."

"It just hurts, ok? You have it so easy! You didn't know your parents, and they didn't die right in front of your eyes because of something that was your fault!"

I felt him sit next to me, and cover my mouth. I struggled to get away, but he pinned me to my bed, and I couldn't move.

"Riker. Keep your voice down! Seriously! We're going to get in trouble!"

I licked his hand, and he took it away.

"Was that really necessary?" Ell asked, annoyed

"Yes, because it got you to take your hand away!"

Ell sighed.

"Can we at least come up with a plan?" I asked.

"A plan for what?"

"For getting the hell away from here!"

Ell sighed, and stared me in the eyes.

"Only if you shut up! I don't want to get in trouble because of you!" Ell said, pushing my shoulder.

"Ok, fine..."

Ell sighed.

"You're not going to like this. But I'm almost positive this plan would work... I've been thinking about it all day because you're right. We need to report this. And get away."

"Lay down and tell me. You're sleeping here in case I get nightmares."

"Ok."

I moved over, and Ell laid down next to me.

"So... We need evidence for the police to believe us, right?"

"Yeah...?"

"Well... We'd have evidence if he beats us. We'd have bruises. I know what you're thinking, and you're thinking, Ell, you're insane, but I'm not! This would work. All we have to do is pretend to slip up, and he'll want to kill us. The question is, which one of us?"

"Why not both of us?"

"There's no reason for both of us to get hurt. We only need one person to get hurt for the evidence."

I sighed.

"Well who's going to do it?" I asked.

"You're older, and Mr.Mark seems to hate you already."

"Aw, please don't make me do it! Haven't I been through enough!?"

"Riker, he already hates you. And I know you hate him just as much if not more."

"I don't want to get hurt though!"

"Rik, once this is over, we can go to the police, and we'll get out of here. This isn't a permanent thing. This is only temporary."

"What if he kills me? Like seriously!?"

"Riker, I doubt he'd kill you. He loves torturing us too much."

I sighed.

"Fine... When do we start, and what do I do?"

"We can start tomorrow. When he comes to wake us up, don't get up. Stay in bed, and pull the covers over your head. Make him have to pull you out of bed. And then argue with him."

I sighed again.

"I'm going to get hurt..."

"The pain is temporary, Riker. Wouldn't you rather go through some pain now, and then have it be over with, rather than live here for the rest of your life?"

"I just wish we could sneak out or something."

"Riker, we'd be in so much trouble."

"I know, but I hate it here!"

"Just go to sleep. We'll talk about it more tomorrow."

"What if I die tomorrow morning?"

"Rik. Go to sleep."

"Ok..."