++ C H A P T E R | T H I R T Y - F I V E ++
Elliott rocked on the heels of her feet, waiting for the game to start. Brent was beside her, but he wasn't looking all the ready. In fact, Brent had been acting strangely for the past few days, and coach had noticed. But, he put Brent in as center left anyway, probably hoping for the best.
Elliott couldn't focus on Brent. No, she needed to focus on the game.The starting whistle blew, and Elliott was racing down the field, the ball in her possession. She looked left, but Brent was nowhere to be seen. So, she looked right and passed it to her other teammate.
She looked behind her, finding Brent a few paces behind. His head was clearly not in the game.
Elliott stopped a pass, dodged players, and scored a goal. 1-0.
The rest of the game seemed to be going just as easily. This team was easy and lacked concentration. The team also wasn't together like a good team should be. Passes were made to the wrong team, players seemed distant, and no one knew how to stop Elliott.
It made Elliott's mind wander, as easy games usually do. She could shake the feeling that Mother was here, watching. Waiting. Just like she had been in Kenzie's den.
Elliott shook her head. No, she wasn't there. It was just a dream.Totally normal.
Only, it wasn't. Nothing concerning Elliott was normal. Not the fact that she was raised a boy. Not the fact that she hallucinated Mother's presence. Not the fact that she had urges to hurt people. There was absolutely nothing normal about her.
It was a miracle she even escaped. Even more of a miracle she rescued Mat and Adrian. But, she wasn't a hero anymore. She was broken. Damaged. Crazy.
She was insane. She had to be.
Elliott passed the ball into the net again, and she could hear the distinct cheer of Natasha. Elliott looked to the sidelines, then stopped moving entirely, because beside Natasha stood Wes, his smile bright.
Wes is here! Wes is here!
Elliott couldn't seem to contain her excitement as she waved to him. She couldn't believe that he'd come. It made up for the fact that Adrian and Mat weren't.
Still. Elliott couldn't stop the smile from spreading across her lips at the fact that Wes remembered she had a game today, and he had shown up. Even if he was beside Natasha.
After a few more goals, Elliott was still feeling elated. The other team, not so much. And with the last few minutes ticking down, the other team started getting aggressive.
It happened all so fast that Elliott didn't see it coming. One moment, she was running with the ball, the next she was flat on her back with her chest aching and burning and tears running down her cheeks.
Pain. She was in pain.
She could hear the sirens, and she could hear Brent beside her. "Elliott, can you hear me? You're going to be alright, I promise!"
Elliott couldn't seem to focus on anything but the pain. She ignored the blood seeping through her uniform, but she couldn't ignore the pain that ran through her body every time she took a breath. Something was very wrong with her ribs.
Brent was still beside her, bending into her line of vision. "Elliott, everything will be fine. The ambulance is here, and they're going to take you to the hospital. And I'll be there with you."
Elliott couldn't find it in herself to nod. She just stared at Brent, wondering why he was so concerned. Wondering how he had transformed from bully to friend. Wondering why he used to hate her.
Brent, the boy who had tortured her for the past year. Brent, the boy whose girlfriend broke up with him for her. Brent, the boy who was suddenly too interested in her life, and he was being targeted now.
She was being lifted up now, and not by Brent, though she didn't take her eyes off of his. She couldn't. She was pushed into the back of the ambulance, and she could hear Brent tell the men in uniforms that he was her brother. That he very much needed to be with her so she wouldn't freak out.
The game was over. Brent told her so as he sat beside her in the ambulance, holding her hand. Elliott wondered briefly where Wes was, but it was a fleeting thought because the men in uniform started cutting off her jersey.
"No!" She yelled, finally finding her voice. "Don't take it off!"
The men pushed her down. "We need to in order to see what is wrong. What hurts?"
Elliott struggled against the restraints, which hurt her further. But, she was painfully aware of Brent's presence in the ambulance, and that he was find out she wasn't a guy if her shirt came off.
"Please, we can wait until we're in the hospital!" Elliott begged.
The men didn't listen. It was their job to fix up their patients, and Elliott was bleeding badly. She needed gauze. Perhaps stitches, according to the men.
Elliott felt numb as they cut away her shirt. They'd given her something - stuck something in her arm to calm her down. She looked at Brent, willing him to look away, but he wouldn't. He just tightened his hold on her hand, which she found strange. Brent was holding a boys hand.
Or, he thought he was. But that thought wouldn't last very long.
The shirt came off.
"I thought you said you played on an all boys team." Was the first thing the men said to Brent, who looked away from Elliott long enough to process what was happening. First, all he could see was the large gash on Elliott's chest from the cleat that had wedged itself there. Then, he took in the sight of what looked like an ace bandage wrapped tightly around Elliott's chest.
Then the words registered. "I do."
"Well, I think it's obvious that Elliott's not a boy."
Brent felt confused. Elliott wasn't a boy.
"No, not possible." Was his first response. But, he knew that it was possible. After all, Elliott looked feminine, hence the nickname pretty boy.
Brent felt mildly sick to his stomach. For a moment, all he could think was that she had lied to him. All this time, Elliott had been lying to everyone - the school, her friends, him.
Elliott was a girl. A girl. And he'd been nothing but a dick to her, calling her names and making fun of her appearance.
It made sense - Elliott was small. Her face was round and soft, just like a female's. Everything about her screamed girl, but Brent hadn't made the connection. How could he, when he was sure Elliott was a boy?
Brent felt confused and conflicted. Elliott, the friend he cared so much for, was a girl.
It didn't change anything though. Brent still wanted to be her friend. He still wanted to talk to her, laugh with her, joke with her. Elliott hadn't changed. She was still the same person Brent had been talking to all this time.
Brent couldn't think clearly. He was blinking too fast, trying to catch his breath, but he couldn't. He felt like the wind was knocked out of him. Like he was the one injured. He couldn't fathom the thought that Elliott was a girl. She lied. She was fooling everyone.
Why? Brent couldn't wrap his head around it. Why had she pretended to be someone else? Brent didn't have the answers. He couldn't begin to understand, but he wanted to. He wanted to know everything about her. When they arrived at the hospital, Brent was still very much in shock. But, as he sat next to Elliott with her hand in his, he knew that he wouldn't want it any other way. He felt like everything was clicking into place, and everything was making sense. The reason Adrian was so uptight and protecting of Elliott. The reason Elliott kept to herself, always. The reason Elliott never, ever looked interested in Natasha.
Elliott was hiding this secret. Brent knew Elliott came from a messed up family life, but this was so much worse than he had ever imagined. So much worse than anything he had ever heard of.
Not to mention that Elliott's chest was practically covered from head to toe in scars and skeleton tattoos. So many scars, it made Brent sick to his stomach, and he wondered how many more scars there were. No wonder Elliott wears long sleeves... she probably wears the pants for the same reason!
Brent felt oddly protective and outraged at the person who had done this to Elliott. He had the urge to find them and, if they weren't locked away, to get them put there. But, Brent couldn't do anything.
And before he could even try to formulate a question for Elliott for when she woke up, Adrian came storming into the room. Adrian, who hadn't even been at the game. He looked out of breath and concerned, just like Mat who stood behind him.
"What are you doing here?" Adrian spat at Brent, the look of concern replaced instantly by anger. The room seemed to shrink, and Brent felt suddenly very small when placed against the sophomore. Brent stood up, slowly, as if he was trying not to scare Adrian with his movements.
"I rode with Elliott in the ambulance."
There was a long, thick silence that followed, and Adrian was staring at Elliott who was, while he was under the blanket, clearly not wearing a shirt. Adrian turned towards Mat, whispered something to him, and the closed the door behind him.
It was just Adrian and Brent, locked in the hospital room with an unconscious Elliott.
"How much do you know?" Adrian demanded, jabbing a finger in Brent's chest. It was the closest Brent had even been to Adrian, and seeing him up close, upset and protective, made Brent reconsider all the times he felt that Adrian was nothing but a nuisance to Elliott. From the beginning, he had always sensed that the two brothers were fighting with each other, and being Elliott's friend, Brent had always put the blame on Adrian.
But now, seeing how much Adrian cared, Brent decided that it was Elliott's fault the two were fighting.
"Elliott's a girl." Brent didn't even bother trying to hide that he knew.
"How did you find out, and who else knows?"
"The EMT's took off Elliott's shirt in the ambulance, and it isn't hard to connect the dots once the shirt comes off. No one but myself and the staff of this hospital knows."
Adrian shook his head. "Too many fucking people. Listen, you need to distance yourself from Elliott immediately. She is in danger, and anyone close to her is in danger as well. Now that you know, you're an even bigger target. Our Mother never forgets, and she isn't merciful. We have reason to believe she's still around and trying to get to Elliott. She's a murderer, Brent. You don't want to get caught in the crossfire."
Brent felt his throat tighten up. Suddenly, he recalled the phone call, and now his missing siblings. Of course the two were related. And so was Elliott.
"Your Mother kidnapped my siblings." Brent blurted out. "She took them, and I will stop at nothing to get them back."
Adrian laughed, but it was sad. He placed a hand on Brent's shoulder, and gave him a look of pity. "Brent, your siblings are as good as dead if they're with Mother. And if they aren't dead, then she's never going to let them go."
Brent stumbled back, outraged. "No. No! What the fuck do you mean by that? I'm not going to back down if that's what you're suggesting. They're my siblings, Adrian! Please, you have to help me. You have to help me!"
Adrian shook his head sadly. "Brent, there's nothing I can do. I don't know where Mother lives. I don't know if she has a phone. If you want to find her, then stick around Elliott, because wherever she is, Mother will soon follow."
Brent just stared at Adrian for a moment. "Unless you're involved." He whispered. He ran his hands through his hair and looked at Elliott, who lay unconscious on the bed. "Unless this was your plan from the start. Tell me this isn't your doing. Tell me Elliott isn't involved!"
Adrian didn't know what to say. Of course he wasn't involved with the kidnapping of Brent's siblings, but Adrian didn't know how to make it easier on the boy. He knew exactly what he was feeling - Adrian had lived with Mother for years. Brent didn't even know her.
Brent took Adrian's silence the wrong way. "You're fucking involved, aren't you? Oh my god!" Brent turned and punched the wall. "This whole fucking time, you and Elliott and Mat have been tricking me. Fooling me! I bet you're working for your mother, and this was the plan the whole time. Was it because I bullied Elliott? Is this revenge? First, get me close to Elliott, and then to Mat. I'm his fucking big brother I cannot believe I didn't see this coming!"
Adrian reached for the senior, but Brent dodged him, not even letting him talk. "You're finished, Adrian. You and your whole fucking family are done. I'm calling the police and ending you."
"You don't understand anything!" Adrian yelled, pushing Brent back. "You don't know what you're talking about. Elliott isn't involved. I'm not involved. Mat isn't involved. Is she our mother? Yes. But, we escaped her, Brent. You don't understand what we've been through. We're trying to escape her, just like you. We have nothing to do with your siblings!"
Brent didn't believe him. Couldn't.
"You're finished. Fuck, I can't believe I actually cared for Elliott! I knew you were weird but my god, you've ruined my life!"
Brent shoved Adrian back, sending one last look to Elliott. His heart ached just thinking about what she had done. Brent cared for her so much, it hurt to think she had done this to him. She had played him for some sick revenge act.
Brent pushed out of the hospital room, looking right at Mat as he passed. The middle schooler looked innocent, concerned, worried. Nothing evil, like Brent expected, but he couldn't trust him. Couldn't trust any of the Cole's.
Natasha was right. Elliott was a freak.
* * *
Well, that just happened...
Brent knows. The cat is out of the bag.
Love you all,
xoxo
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