SAVE ME

Ch#20 Found My People

Ch#20 Found My People

Everyone went back to sleep after the little group hug that we had. Except for Riley, Yohan and Bethany.

"You did great, Alana. Proud of you, child." Yohan patted my head dramatically while I smiled at him in reply. "But how to did you leave the Base? Last time too you did it, but how?", Bethany inquired.

I told them about the stack of cover page and the following. And also how last time the door was just open and so I could leave. They were surprised too at how easy it was to escape the Base. But from now on Dave is going to be extra cautious about that door. We knew that we won't be able to leave the Base anytime soon.

"But why did you leave, Alana?" This time it was Riley. I shot her a smile and took out the memory card from my back pocket.

"I deleted all those pictures from his camera, Riley. And even got the memory card. You need not be scared anymore. He can do nothing to you." I patted her arm. She was taken aback by my reply.

"You did this for me?" Her eyes welled up with tears.

"Nah girl. You see that wall there, I did it for that wall", I replied her sarcastically pointing at a random wall. It brought a smile on her face. Suddenly, she pulled me into a hug.

"Thank you so much. This word is too common, so I don't know if my grateful heart can be reached to you. Seriously, thank you from the bottom of my heart, Alana." I hugged her back.

"Now let's go back to sleep. I am super sleepy", Yohan interrupted our sweet little moment with a yawn. We told our goodnights and went back to sleep. But Bethany called me out before I could leave.

"Alana, wait."

I turned around to face her. "Yes, Bethany?"

She shook her head with a smile. "Beth. You can call me Beth now." I smiled back at her. "So now we are close enough I guess."

"Yeah."

"Alright, Beth. I thought you were really stupid and bitchy back then, you know." I laughed recalling about it.

"But what is it? You called me just to tell that?"

She shook her head. "No, not that. Everyone just saw how you got rid of the fear within ourselves. But I saw that you even protected Ellis. He would never thank you from his own mouth. So let me do it on his stead. Thank you so much, Alana. I don't even want to think about what Dave would have done to him this time." Her eyes shined with worry. I smiled at her and held her hand. "You're welcome, Beth. Besides, he too is a member of the Base right. I couldn't let Dave hurt anybody. And that is why I stood for him. Although he is an asshole who called me a prostitute." She laughed at that. We too then bid our good nights and went to have a good night's sleep.

Morning came soon enough and the usual day began. I had my breakfast and joined the Leaders' circle together with Riley. This time, Ellis didn't walk away. I expected him to leave as soon as I came. But he actually, for the first time, acknowledged my existence.

"Guys, why do you think Dave held us captive here?" I blurted out suddenly.

"It's not just Dave. Hudson too works with him", Beth replied.

"You sure? 'Cause on my first day here, he was really sweet to me and it didn't seem like he knew that I had broken into the Base." They were a little surprised about my impression of Mr.Hudson.

"But that aside, why are we stuck up here?" I brought them back to my question.

"We have no idea, Alana. We were all thrown here by our family. And therefore nobody has come looking for us." Yohan's voice withered towards the end.

"Thrown by your family?", I asked in confusion.

The Leaders looked at me with pain in their eyes. I suddenly regretted asking that question.

"I lost my parents two years back in a terrible car crash. For the insurance money, my aunt took me in. She never really bothered about my feelings. All she ever cared about was my Dad's money. Never once had she ever asked me if I was alright, if I miss my parents. I never had anyone who actually cared for me and wanted me. Each day was a living torture. I prayed day and night to God, 'Why didn't you take me away as well? Why did you let me stay behind in this cruel world with people who don't even care about me'. I even had a severe case of insomnia after the death of my parents. Later, I started rebelling against my aunt. And she found this Academy and dumped me here. Although I am trapped in here, I found true friends who actually care for me and aren't behind my parents' money alone." She looked at Ellis and Yohan and smiled at them. "Yes, life is hell at the Base, but it was even worse before I joined here. Even if it's hell here, at least I've got my friends beside me."

I was surprised by her confession. I never knew that she had such a story behind her. Really, one can never judge a book by its cover.

"I guess it's my turn now." Yohan laughed awkwardly.

Is this story telling time or what?

Shut up! They are sincerely opening up about their painful past and you are making fun of them? Shit face.

That's Dave! Not me.

I ignored my other half and nodded at Yohan to begin his story.

"Before I joined here, I was severely bullied for being an Asian. The students called me names and I always ignored those. Those mere words never affected me. But things got worse soon. They started physically abusing me. In the beginning, I used to fight back. But they never stopped. Instead their scale only kept getting bigger. If they threw rotten eggs and milk on me before, later they made me drink those rotten eggs and milk. And if I puked after drinking that, they would make me lick my puke from the floor. They even used to beat me up whenever I talked back to them. Many a times I was admitted in hospital due to loss of too much blood. If it was someone else's family, they would have sued those bullies, right? But my parents, instead of supporting me, ended up hating me for being such a weakling. They began to despise my existence. All those years when I was bullied, I never once thought of ending my life. But when my family turned their back against me, I lost hope." His eyes glistened with tears as he pulled apart his stack of bracelets.

My eyes widened at the sight. His wrist was covered with several cuts. He had lost hope in life.

"I used to cut myself. That pain used to give me relief from the pain I received from my family and my bullies. But due to this step of mine, I became a burden to my parents. That is when they found about this Academy and enrolled me in here paying loads of money. They were ready to pay any amount of money to get rid of me. After enrolling here, I found my life back again. Just as Beth said, yes, life is hell here, but it was no rainbows and cupcakes before. I found people who valued my existence and didn't make fun of me for being an Asian." He glanced at Beth and Ellis and continued, "I found my people."

Who knew that these people who always had a smile plastered onto their face were actually hiding their pain behind that smile. Who knew behind their body was their soul fighting to live. Beth lost her parents in an accident and Yohan lost his in their existence itself. Both of them had great losses but both came by even greater people in the form of friends. In three months time span, these three idiots became great friends who healed each others wounds. My eyes suddenly welled up recalling my past. I never had friends beside me to lean on at my low point. But I at least had my family. A family that cared for me, loved me and would do anything for me.