Ellie's P.O.V
The next few days were pretty much the same. Just the two of us cooking meals together and sitting around whatever to occupy ourselves. Of course a lot of snuggling and kisses were present as well. But the day came that our break would end and school was starting again.
I couldn't help but be nervous about going back to school since everything that happened. I've already been out in public with Mason and showed him that he can trust me but it was still nerve racking. Also seeing Sophia and Jaxson again with knowing what I know about Mason made me sick to my stomach.
I was sleeping until the sound of an phone alarm woke me up. I raised my head up off of Mason's chest at the sound, my eyes squinting at the bright light that came through the window.
Mason groaned, dragging his own mind out of sleep as he reached his arm over, grabbing his phone from the nightstand to shut off the annoying screeching. His hand then dropped the phone roughly against the nightstand top as his arm came back over me.
"Do I have to go back to school?" He whined, letting his head fall back into the pillows.
"You probably should because it sucks to miss a day of class."
"Yeah, I guess you're right."
Taking a deep breath I slowly moved from my spot off of Mason, standing up. I stretched a little bit, raising my arms and moving my body side to side to get my stiff muscles moving. Shuffling was heard behind me as Mason got up as well, wrapping his arms around my waist and brushing his lips all over the side of my neck.
"Good morning..." He mumbled against my skin.
"Good morning."
We stood like that for a minute, rocking back and forth before separating to change. Mason grabbed his uniform and left the room to go change while I went to his dresser. Mason had gotten me some clothes so that I wasn't wearing his all of the time but I didn't have a uniform. So I just stood there until Mason came back, looking all nice in his school attire.
He smiled at me, walking up behind me as he stared at me through the mirror. He then unexpectedly scooped me up into his arms, making me squeal out in surprise. He set me down onto his bed again and before I could ask what he was doing the cold feeling of the metal cuff locked around my ankle for a third time. The second I heard it lock my anxiety immediately shot through the roof.
"W-Wait! Mason!"
"Hey hey, it's okay." He kissed my cheeks and rubbed them, kneeling down to gaze into my eyes, "You've been such a good girl sweetheart so this isn't a punishment. I just can't have you going to school yet."
I furrowed my eyebrows in confusion, taking deep breaths in attempt to relax myself, "W-why?"
"Because I don't want you to get taken away from me."
For a second I was confused by what he meant until I realized he meant the police. If they found my sister in the apartment then obviously they would be trying to find the other person living there. Most likely the first place the police would try to find me would be at school.
"What about the coffee shop? I have to go to work-"
"I already took care of that, you don't have to work there anymore."
"But," I grabbed onto his wrists, "Why can't you unlock me? You can trust me."
He sighed, looking deeply into my eyes. I pleaded with my gaze for him to let me go but he wasn't dumb. He knew if I was allowed to walk around the apartment without him around he knew I would try to escape. But I don't even know if I could if I was given the chance. I've had plenty of opportunities to get away from him but I still chose to stay.
He shook his head and gave me a small smile, "I have to go. Be good for me okay?"
With one last kiss brushed against my forehead he left the room, leaving me alone again. I was again restricted to a small area so I couldn't do much. I just ended up crawling into the bed again and sleeping for the time Mason was gone.
...
Mason's P.O.V
Stepping out of the apartment I locked the door behind me and made my way towards school. Even though I didn't want to lock up my precious sweetheart since she's been so good it put my mind at ease to know Ellie was in one spot. I knew I could trust her while I was around but what she do if I had left her alone?
I eventually got to the entrance of school for the first time in two weeks. Students piled in, looking tired and unhappy to be there after a nice long break. I decided it would be a good idea to show my face around school so I didn't draw any attention to myself as well as figuring out what people were currently talking about.
Like I expected the hallways were filled with murmurs about Leah's death. All everyone talked about was how she was found and that the police determined her death was a suicide. It was perfect. The only thing that annoyed me was that the police were on a search for Ellie since she was missing. I was the only one who knew where she was, and I wasn't ever going to let her go.
I hurried off to class and sat down in my usual seat, a little sad Ellie wasn't here to poke me and brighten up my day like she usually does. I noticed before class started the teacher was pulling a few students out into the hallway one at a time that I knew talked to Ellie on rare occasions, Sophia also being one of those people. I watched Sophia talk to the teacher from the hallway, her head shaking every few seconds which was possibly a good thing. As she came back in to sit down we made eye contact, fear surfacing as she quickly adverted her gaze from me. My heart began beating a little faster out of worry.
The teacher then stepped back in and looked towards me, "Mason? May I speak to you?"
Shit. What did Sophia tell her?
Sophia's eyes remained glued to her desk as I passed by the front of the room. Keeping myself calm I stepped out into the quieting hallway in front of the teacher.
I stuffed my hands into my pockets, "Yes?"
"I just wanted to ask you if you knew where Ellie was? She doesn't seem to be here today."
I pretended to think for a second then shook my head, "No, I don't. Why?"
"Well..." She fiddled with her hands, nervousness clear, "You know what happened over the break right? What's been on the news?"
Leah's death.
I nodded, "Yes."
"Ellie seems to be missing and the police are looking for her. I've seen you guys spend time together, weren't you two dating?"
"Yeah." I lightly shrugged like it was no big deal, "We did a little."
"But you wouldn't have any ideas where she went?"
"No. I'm sorry that I can't be more help."
"No, it's okay. You can't know everything. If you see her anywhere though please let me or the police know."
"Okay, will do."
I went back inside the classroom and sat down in my spot in the back. School then started off like normal and was boring as usual but the thought of going back home to Ellie got me through the day. But as I glanced over to Sophia from across the room, I think I might need to stay after school for a little longer.
(Time skip: After school)
Leaning against the wall around the corner I waited for Sophia to come down the hallway. It was after school and I knew she stayed for cooking club, always walking down the same hallway when she was done. This made it perfect to take a chance to talk to her since the hallway was deserted. Then as if on cue Sophia came strolling down the hallway. I jumped into action, pulling out my pocket knife and flipping it open.
Once she got close enough I stepped out from behind the wall, making her jump as she didn't expect me to be there. Before she could say anything and grabbed the collar of her shirt and slammed her against the wall.
"What the hell?!"
"Keep your voice down." I growled, glancing around to make sure no one was coming before looking back at her, "What did you tell the teacher earlier?"
"W-what?"
"When you got called up to talk to the teacher, what did you tell her?"
She shook her head furiously,
"N-nothing! I just told her I didn't know where Ellie was."
"Is that it?"
"Yes!"
Glaring at her again I gave her a small push before letting her go, taking a small step back.
"The teacher was just talking to the people that Ellie knew." She added.
We both stood there for a minute, staring each other down. Sophia had a fire in her eyes but I was still able to overpower her easily. She feared me which is exactly what I wanted.
Sophia adjusted her position against the wall, "Where is Ellie?"
"That's none of your business." I snapped.
"I know you took her."
"Well then, do I have to make sure you won't talk?" I held up my knife, the silver and blue blade gleaming in the sunlight.
She shook her head quickly, her eyes showing the delicious fear I've implanted in her, "No."
"Good. You wouldn't want your precious little sisters to get hurt, would you?"
She stood up straight, "You touch them-"
"Then you keep your mouth shut."
Another person suddenly came around the corner down the hall. I almost panicked until I saw that it was just Jaxson. He looked up to see me talking with Sophia and wasted no time to jump in front of her.
"What are you doing here?"
I gestured to my uniform, "I'm a student here."
He crossed his arms, not happy with my snarky answer, "What did you do with Ellie?"
"That is none of your concern."
"You're crazy."
I laughed at his stupid comment, "I already know this. Be glad I showed you mercy."
"Like you showed Ellie? That's hard to believe." Sophia said from around Jaxson.
I sent her a glare, "For your information, I haven't laid a hand on her. She's already had enough of people hurting her in her life. Although you wouldn't know that because you didn't care."
"We did care about her!" Jaxson shouted.
"Not enough."
I went to walk away before turning back around to face them, "Remember our deals. Your family's lives are in your hands."
...
Ellie's P.O.V
I woke up to the sound of metal hitting against each other and I felt that I was released from the chain. Then a hand came over my head, moving my hair behind my ear. I slowly turned onto my back and hummed tiredly.
"Sorry princess, did I wake you up?" A voice asks as the bed sunk down a little bit.
I opened my eyes to see Mason sitting down next to me, brushing my hair out of my face with is fingertips. I nodded and closed my eyes again.
"I'm sorry."
"It's okay." I mumble.
After a tender moment of his just looking down at me with a loving gaze I threw the covers over my head again. He lightly chuckled at my actions then moved to lay down next to me. Then I felt the covers move down, slowly showing Mason's face as he crossed his eyes. Be both laughed lightly and his hand came back to my face to gently caress it.
"How was school?" I ask.
He shrugged, "Boring but okay. People were wondering where you went but you don't have to worry, I'll keep you safe here."
I gave a quiet hum, silently worrying about what he said. Were people talking about me? Were the teachers worried? It made me anxious to think about it.
For the rest of the week each day was exactly the same. Before Mason left for school he would lock me up so that I wasn't given the chance to run away. As soon as he would get home he would let me go though so I could move around.
One night we were sleeping in bed together, my back against his chest as his arm was around my waist and nuzzled his nose into my neck. Rhythmic vibrating sounds woke both of us up, causing Mason to sit up and stop the noises.
"Hello?" He answered, clearly talking on his phone.
I couldn't hear the other side of the conversation so I just listened to Mason's side.
"You're back now?...Yeah, okay. I'll come and help...No no, you're fine. I'll come and help you. You need sleep as well...okay...okay. I love you too, bye."
He shut his phone, sighing as he rubbed the sleep out of his eyes.
"Mason?"
He turned back to me, kissing the side of my head, "Hey sweetheart. Sorry for waking you. You can go back to sleep."
"Who was that though?" I turned my head to look at him, his bright eyes still visible in the dark.
"Don't worry about it. Just go back to sleep."
After another minute of sitting he stood up to leave. I stayed in the same spot, listening to the noises that came from the dining room. There was a lot of shuffling passing by the door and a new voice was present. So letting my curiosity take over I stood up and left the room to investigate.
The voices were coming from the room past Mason's room so I tip toed closer to see who had came in.
"Is she here now?"
"Yeah, she came over yesterday. I don't think she has anywhere else to go."
"Then she is more then welcome to stay with us."
I peeked inside the room, "Mason?"
His back was to me and he turned to face me, "Hey, you didn't need to get out of bed."
"Sorry, I just heard a lot of noises."
Mason slumped his shoulders and smiled at me. His mom, Isabella, was standing behind him as she had obviously returned from her business trip. Suitcases littered the room, some already opened and spewing out clothes.
She saw me, looking like she was about to cry for some reason as she came up to me and rubbed my shoulders, "Oh Ellie. Are you okay sweet pea?"
I furrowed my eyebrows, "Uhh...yeah?"
She still looked like she was about to cry and wrapped me up in her arms, "I'm so sorry for all that you went through."
I continued to be confused by the way she was acting like this. It made me wonder what lies Mason had fed to her about why I was here.
"Just..." She pulled away and wiped her eyes with her hand lingering on my shoulder, "With what your sister did and you running away with no where to go. You know you're always welcome over here right?"
I looked over at Mason who was standing off to the side and behind his mom. He put his finger up to his lips while smiling, silently telling me to just go along with it. A chill ran through me but I turned my attention back to his mom as she looked down at me.
I nodded at her and forced a smile, "Yeah."
And that was it. With no family to go to and nowhere to live Isabella let me stay in the apartment with her and Mason. Of course he didn't have a problem with that but I didn't entirely mind either. At first I was brought here against my will and Mason committed horrible acts to force me to stay with him but, I've never been happier. Mason loved me, he took care of me, and I fell hard for that feeling of being loved. Isabella was also like my mom as well, she loved me more then my real mom ever did. I was afraid if I ever left or exposed what Mason really did that I would never be able to have this feeling again. So I kept quiet about him and didn't try to escape.
I had to talk to the police eventually since they were searching for me, telling them Mason's story that he had come up with. The story was that Leah had taken her own life and I ran away for a few weeks to collect myself before coming back to stay with Mason. The police didn't ask any further questions and I was allowed to live with Mason and Isabella. And I've never been happier.
I was in Mason's room, on his little window bench while I read a book. He allowed me to open the window to let in fresh air and I couldn't help but stare at my window from across the way. The thoughts of when I first met Mason the first time, when our relationship was simple. Just meeting at our windows every day and talking for hours on end. Suddenly arms came around my shoulders, scaring me in the process.
"Mason, don't do that." I say, taking deep breaths.
"Sorry, I just wanted to hug you." He let me go then sat down next to me, "What are you reading?"
I looked down at the pages, not gathering the information I needed to answer his question, "A book?"
"Ah, that one. You know that book is very interesting."
I rolled my eyes at his lame remark. He only smiled for a second before leaning forward to brush his lips against mine. The gentle kisses made me melt like always and I reached my hand up to cradle his cheek. His lips parted from mine and trailed down my jaw to my neck, showering it in kisses.
"Hmm, I could kiss you all day." He whispered into my ear, nipping at my earlobe gently.
I felt my face heat up as I squirmed, "Don't say stuff like that..."
He pulled away to look at me, a smirk growing on his face, "Why? Because it's making you blush?"
"Shut up..."
He chuckled, kissing my heated cheek, "I love you Ellie. So much. You know that right?"
"I know."
"Good."
He pulled away to sit next to me again, this time a little closer. I kept looking out the window back to mine just a few feet away. The room was empty since I moved in with Mason.
"Hey." His knuckle rubbed my cheek which brought my attention back to him, "Are you okay sweetheart?"
"Yeah, I'm fine." I glanced to my old window before looking back at him again, "Do you remember when we met at our windows?"
He leaned over to look out his window, seeing mine and the blank room behind it.
"I'll never forget it because it was the first time I saw your beautiful self. The second I saw you I knew instantly we were meant to be together."
I gave a small smile, leaning into the warm touch of his hand. But I really did miss when Mason and I were just a windows distance away.