-noah-
"Ellen's been gone for a long time," Logan remarked from next to me, staring at her empty seat. There was a beverage that was untouched, and some mac & cheese that was half gone because I had been stealing from it all night.
"Yeah," I sighed, leaning back. "You know, I think I'm going to go check the bathroom. Maybe she fell in or something."
I hopped up from my seat and walked around the restaurant a bit until I found the bathrooms. I poked my head in the girls one and called, "Hello?"
After waiting a few moments with no response, I headed in. It was strange being in a girl's bathroom- they were different. Not better or worse, necessarily, just different.
I searched under all the stall doors, and then kicked them open, but there was no one. The bathroom was empty.
Confused, I left the bathroom. Just as I was headed back to the table, I bumped into Logan. His eyes were wild and he looked frantic.
"Noah, Noah, look at this text I just got," he panted. "It's from Ellen."
Need help down the street smaller building red bricks side door downstairs
"What the hell is that supposed to mean?" I asked, perplexed. "Need help, okay... what from?"
"Does it matter?" Logan asked. I could tell he was trying- and failing- to stay calm. "We need to get to Ellen. So she's down the street in a smaller building with red bricks, it has a side door, and she went downstairs. I think that's what it means, anyway. Now come on, I already paid for our stuff."
We rushed out the door and turned left, going farther away from the RV. "Logan," I said, patting him on the shoulder to get his attention. "Shouldn't we grab the RV? That way we can just hop inside and take off, you know?"
He furrowed his brow, considering it. "Yeah, I guess that's probably best," he said finally. "But we need to hurry."
We tore off down the street, tripping over sidewalk cracks and shoving people out of our way. Logan would offer the occasional "Sorry!" or "Excuse us!" but I didn't show any manners at all- I think I actually knocked a kid down once or twice. I was going much faster than Logan, probably because I was more athletic than him.
Once I found the RV, I unlocked it and hopped into the driver's seat, pulling away before Logan was even fully inside. There was a lot of traffic but I still managed to keep my eyes peeled for a smaller building with red bricks like Ellen described.
"Here, try here," Logan called suddenly. I looked to my left- indeed, there was a building that matched Ellen's words. I veered to the side of the road and fled the RV.
The road sprawled in front of us was busy and a challenge to cross. I had to run in front of cars that narrowly missed me, amid the yells of passing people and the honks of impatient drivers. Logan was having worse luck than me, though, a car tire barely grazed his left heel. He howled in pain and stopped in the middle of the street, clutching it, but I hollered at him and he moved on.
"Okay, okay," he sighed once we were safely across. "Let's formulate a plan. Obviously something is keeping Ellen down there, so we're going to have to fight it off. We should probably rely on speed rather than brawn, seeing as both of us are sort of shrimpy."
"Hey!" I said indignantly. "I am not- oh, never mind. We've got bigger things to focus on. Ready?"
Logan swallowed nervously. "This is probably the riskiest and most dangerous thing I've ever done."
"Me too," I replied. "But it's for Ellen. Let's go."
And the two of us, a most unlikely duo, burst into the side door and tromped down the stairs. It was a dingy and disgusting basement, and a dark one at that. It took a moment for my eyes to adjust, but soon I saw a figure slumped in a chair in a far corner of the room.
I signaled to Logan and we stealthily headed over there. As soon as I reached what was indeed Ellen, I had to bite my tongue to keep myself from crying out in horror.
Her hands and feet were tied together, and she had a gag of some sort in her mouth. Her eyes were swollen and watery, and her face was splotchy as if she'd been hit several times. Just a few hours ago, her hair had been perfectly styled, but now it was disheveled and messy. She was breathing heavily.
Once she saw us, her eyes grew wide and she looked both relieved and worried at the same time.
I quickly undid the gag that was tied around her face and she sighed. "You have to stay quiet," she mumbled. "Nate's coming back with someone else."
"Nate?" Logan whispered. "Who's he? Are you okay?"
"No," Ellen said impatiently. "Just please, untie me."
Logan and I quickly got to work, with him untying her feet and I her wrists. There was nasty ropeburn on her arms, and it made me sick to my stomach. I wanted to pummel this Nate character, but I wasn't sure if I would get the chance. I was hoping we could get out of there within the next couple minutes.
We worked wordlessly and efficiently, and within a minute she was free. She rubbed her wrists and sighed, then pointed to the door. "Out."
We quietly left the building. Ellen was shaking, maybe because she was cold, but probably from something else entirely. I was worried and I watched her carefully as I walked up the stairs behind her.
She bounded up to the top and then looked from left to right, her hair swinging behind her as she did so. "I'm scared," she whispered. "Nate is... terrifying."
She crumpled to the ground in front of Logan and I. We exchanged a glance and then scooped her up. It was sort of like Logan and I formed a basket with our arms and she was in the middle of it, curled up into a tiny, pathetic ball.
We rushed her out to the RV, this time taking a little more time and a little more care when crossing the road. Then, we set her down on the passenger's seat and I drove away as we tried to calm her down.
"Okay, okay, Ellen," Logan was speaking in a soothing, slow voice. "Do you want to talk about what happened?"
"No," she covered her face with her hands. "I can assure you, that's the last thing I want to do."
I gritted my teeth and clenched the wheel a little tighter. I was worried for Ellen and I wanted to make her feel better, but I had never been good at talking things out. If I were Ellen, I wouldn't want to talk about it, I'd want to get my mind off of it.
"Can you at least tell us what happened?" Logan pleaded. "Just so that we know what to do?"
Ellen shuddered and said in a quivering voice, "Nate. He did bad things."
I drew in a sharp breath and then let it out in a slow sigh. "We were too late, weren't we?" I asked gingerly.
Ellen nodded. "Yes. Much too late. But it wasn't your fault, I couldn't get my hands on my phone until he left for a couple seconds."
"Ellen, we need to report this," Logan said solemnly. "To the police, definitely, and then you might need counseling or something. People don't just walk away fine from this."
"I'm not fine, no," Ellen said. She was still in her dress but Logan had wrapped a fluffy blanket around her, so she wasn't shivering too badly. "I'm really not fine at all. I've been penetrated and played with like a doll- he called me his babydoll, no lie. My head hurts and I can't breathe, I'm so scared because there's so much that has already gone wrong, and I just want to give up. I went on this trip to find myself but all I'm finding is how weak I am and how much pain it takes to get through this seemingly endless sadness."
Silence.
It wasn't quiet silence, though- actually, it was deafening. I've never heard silence that loud. It was the kind that begged to be filled, with a kind word or just a hug. The silence that, if you didn't do something about it, would grow and grow and swallow you whole.
So I filled it.
"Ellen, you know I love you, right?"
"What?" she asked, taken aback.
"You're my best friend."
"I know." she said dismissively.
"When was the last time that someone actually told you, came right out and told you, about how great you were?" I insisted.
Ellen shrugged and bit her lip. "It's been awhile," she mumbled.
"Exactly," I replied knowingly. "Now you go change into your comfiest, warmest, most favorite outfit, and then meet me back up here. I'm going to get the hell out of Iowa, but after that we'll have hot chocolate and watch your favorite movies."
She smiled a tiny bit. It didn't reach her eyes. "Okay."
She got up and padded to the back. I listened to her footsteps retreating, and then I nudged Logan.
"Follow her," I murmured. "Make sure she doesn't... do anything."
Logan nodded once and slipped into the back to join Ellen.
I sighed. There was so much bad in the world, when I thought about it. So many people who got joy from pushing you down and then tearing you up. It was sick, because it genuinely did make them happy. Sometimes, for those sick people, there was nothing else that could give them that satisfaction. They didn't care about the effect it had on other people, it didn't matter to them.
"I'm back," Ellen said quietly.
I took my eyes off the road to admire her for but a moment. She was in a big fluffy sweater, some grey leggings, and black socks with blue toes that I had never seen before.
She shyly sat back down in the passenger seat and began looking through her iPad. "I picked out some movies... I mean, if that's okay,"
I nodded. "Yeah, yeah, I'm sure you have better taste in movies than me, anyway. Unless you want to watch all of the Paranormal Activities."
"Nope," she and Logan said in unison. I rolled my eyes. Wimps.
We decided on some of Ellen's classic favorites like Mean Girls, Clueless, and You Again. They were all chick flicks, but I didn't really care. We made popcorn and hot chocolate, then piled all of our pillows and blankets on the ground and settled in for some movies.
Ellen was curled up against the couch in a tiny ball, clutching a fluffy white pillow. The fur on it looked like you had skinned a persian cat and used it all for the pillow, which sort of creeped me out.
Logan and I were sitting on either side of Ellen. During the entire movie night, we were shooting each other looks over the top of her head. They carried sadness and worry, but I think we were also trying to assure each other of something. Maybe that Ellen would be okay; that we would be okay.
About halfway into the third movie, Ellen fell asleep. Logan and I both stared at her for a really long time, it was probably sort of creepy. But I knew for sure that I was never letting her out of my sights again, and Logan probably wouldn't either.
Ellen was a feisty girl, I could only imagine the type of sassy remarks she hit this Nate guy with. But I also knew that she was a bit unsteady on the inside, and I was incredibly nervous that she had already cracked.
(A/N) What up? This chapter was kind of challenging to write, I'm really running out of inspiration here :( But fear not, I will continue to write until my fingers fall off.
Hope you enjoyed! <3