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“What the fuck did you just say to me, boy?” Mr. Jennings stalks towards me, baring his teeth at me in fury. He grips his hand around my throat, squeezing enough to cut off my air supply. “I’ll show you just how fucking psychotic I can be. I’ll make you wish for fucking death before I’m done with you and after, I’ll make you watch as I do the same to Alayna since you seem so keen to try and protect her.”
“Fuck. You,” I wheeze out, my lungs screaming at me for using the little air we had left to talk. Mr. Jennings forcefully pushes me onto the ground by my throat, before stomping down on my side with the heel of his work boot.
Allie silently cries on the ground, not moving from her spot kneeling by the dirty bucket. I can feel her silent pleas for me to stop antagonizing him, but to do that, I open her up for more pain and I can't do that. He talks a lot of shit, and he may plan to go after Allie when he's done with me. The problem with that plan, he won't make it there. He'll have to kill me or knock me out to get to her and by the time it escalates that much, this nightmare will be over. Tonight is his last night of freedom, and even if I die trying, I will keep him away from her. Saving her, my beautiful broken Angel, is all I care about anymore.
Mr. Jennings grabs me by my hair, dragging me across the floor. Kicking furiously, I grasp with both hands at his fist tightly holding my brown hair, to stop the searing pain in my scalp as he pulls so hard, the hair tears from my head. With every hard yank towards the stairs, I feel my scalp, neck, and spine scream in agony. He screams at Allie to follow, her shuffling feet and quiet sobs following us to the unassuming white door, that leads to pain, torture, and unimaginable horrors.
Mr. Jennings stands me up once the door is open and pushes me down the stairs. Every step I hit sends a blinding, excruciating pain through my entire body. My head is fuzzy by the time I hit the bottom step, my stomach ready to empty the single stale peanut butter sandwich I had eaten earlier.
Allie comes down the steps quickly after that, pulling me up from where I lay at the bottom of the steps. She looks me over before she’s ripped away and pushed back onto a tall wooden cross that Mr. Jennings always uses for her. He ties her arms to the cross before slapping her hard across the face and spitting at her. Stumbling towards them, I swing my fist in his direction as best as I can, barely clipping his shoulder, but getting his full attention back on me.
“You think you’re so fucking tough, don’t you?” he sneers, grabbing my throat again. “You jealous when I touch your little girlfriend? You wish you could touch her. Too bad she’s too full of my touch to ever want yours.”
“Shut the fuck up!” I scream at him, dragging my nails down his arm as hard as I can. He yelps at the pain and throws me down to the ground. Forcing myself to ignore the screaming in my head, I rush to Allie, trying to get her down so she can run the fuck out of here. Mr. Jennings grabs me again, dragging me backwards with a choke-hold around my neck.
“You’re going to fucking pay for that, you little worthless shit. I’m going to kill you tonight. Mark my fucking words,” Mr. Jennings threatens as he pushes me onto a cold, creaky bed with ropes all over it. He straps me down as I struggle and fight. Mr. Jennings punches me straight in the sternum, causing me to gasp for breath and making it easier for him to finally get me strapped down.
The last is my head, the rough rope binding comes across my forehead as he forces me to look in Allie’s direction. He loves to make us watch each other bepunishedby him. He says it makes us remember how worthless we are and keep us from trying to protect each other.
Looking into Alayna’s deep, grey eyes, I do my best to reassure her that we will get out of this. She’s pulling at her straps and I blink three times rapidly to tell her to stop fighting. Allie looks at me, her terrified gaze hitting me straight in the chest, and blinks back three times to acknowledge me. She stands there, watching as Mr. Jennings walks over with oversized scissors and a tool belt full of knives.
“This is my favourite part.” He smiles down at me, a sick glee in his eyes. “Be a good little sinner and take your fucking punishment.”
The moment my shirt is cut open and my chest is exposed to the cold room, I get lost in my head. The sting of pain and cool steel of the knives is still there, but it’s muted by the music playing in my head. Leaning into the comfort of the songs, I grit my teeth and do everything to not give him the satisfaction of my screams. Allie crying, her own teeth clenched in solidarity with me. We both know the pain of this all too much.
“I think it’s time to give Alayna her punishment,” Mr. Jennings says, pulling me from the numbness in my mind. As soon as I’m back in the present, the pain in my torso lights up like a Christmas tree, causing me to hiss and tears to fall from the corners of my eyes.
“Leave her alone!” I manage to growl out, my body tense and in so much pain I have to fight my mind to keep me conscious. The need to save Allie rides me so hard, I scream in frustration and anger.
“I don’t think I will,” Mr Jennings murmurs in a laugh, grabbing the ratty gag he loves to shove in my mouth to shut me up. “Now, be quiet.” Forcing it into my mouth, he drops the knife on the table with a wicked grin.
Pulling off his belt, he walks slowly towards Allie, his steps building the tension in the room. My body fights at the restraints as I scream as loud as I can with the gag to get his attention.
“Please,” Alayna begs, her tears flowing freely down her cheeks. My muffled cries and screams do nothing to deter him, Alayna’s crying and begging urging him on more than anything.
“Keep begging me, doe eyes. You know I love to hear you--”
He goes silent as the door to the basement bangs open, the sound jostling all of us into silence. The room floods with men in full tactical gear, yelling commands at Mr. Jennings to put the weapon down and step away from us. He complies immediately, the suddenness of their appearance and the fear in his eyes as he looks down the barrel of more than a dozen guns.
“GET DOWN ON YOUR FUCKING KNEES!” The man in front steps closer, his gun never waivering from Mr. Jennings. “Lay down and put your hands behind your back!”
Mr. Jennings complies and as soon as the handcuffs are around his wrists, chaos breaks out all around us. One minute I’m bleeding on the creaky, stained bed, and the next I’m being loaded into an ambulance, Allie’s hand firmly in mine. She managed to get out without even a scratch tonight so they transport to the hospital together. Before the doors close to the ambulance, I watch Kevin Jennings, the asshole’s son, being loaded into the ambulance behind us. His small, frail frame looks worn out and his eyes are void of any emotion.
The drive to the hospital is filled with questions and awkward silence. Thankfully, my cuts aren’t very deep, but the pain in my head is concerning the paramedics. The nurses meet us at the ambulance bay, bringing us straight into a room, Allie never leaving my side. After some initial vital checks, a few stitches on my chest, and some acetaminophen, we’re finally left alone together for a bit.
“What do you think is going to happen to him?” Allie whispers into the quiet room, leaning her head down on my shoulder.
“Definitely prison time,” I surmise, chewing on my lip while I think about it. “Hopefully more, but the justice system isn’t always the best.”
Alayna pretend gasps, holding a hand over her heart in mock surprise. “A government program that doesn’t work like it should? Colour me shocked. I’ve never heard of that before.”
“Right?” I laugh with her, lightly lying my head down on her head. “The foster system works like a well-oiled machine. Nothing bad or fucked up ever happens in it.”
“Totally,” Allie says with a laugh, the sound stirring my muse deep inside of me. Every little thing she does stirs something inside of me, making me want to write ballads and love songs, anything to express how she makes me feel and what I would do for her.
“I’m so scared, Dec,” Allie confesses, her body shaking as she curls into my side.
“You’re doing so good, Allie Cat. We’ll get through this and find a better life away from him now,” I try my best to reassure her, knowing that at least for her, it has to get better. I will be trying my hardest to keep us together, but the possibility we’ll be torn apart is there. “We’re finally out of there. We turn eighteen in just six months and until then we get to be in a better home.”
