WARNING:
This chapter includes the mistreatment of minors. It also includes the kidnapping and torturing of minors. If this bothers you, please do not read. This chapter is important to the plot, but I can always fill someone in. There is no need to read something that makes you uncomfortable.

+ + +

I woke up confused. A headache raged in my head. The muscles in my arms were numb. They hung above my head tied together. The lights in the room were dim. It felt too cliche to be real. I tugged on the rope, but it was too tight. Maybe I was too weak, but the point was I couldn't get out.

There were no signs of other people. For all I knew, I was alone. I couldn't tell where I was. The room was dim and empty. There was a musty smell. It was possibly a basement.

I was so disappointed. If I was gonna die, I'd rather it be from a stylish kidnapper. Not one that watched some trashy crime show and decided to give it a go.

I heard a door open. I shut my eyes and made my body limp. Fear pulsed through me. I hoped the kidnapper couldn't tell. I felt the rope loosen. A large hand wrapped around my wrists and guided them to my lap. They definitely felt masculine. He turned one over.

All I could think about were these hands belonged to my kidnapper. Where had I been kidnapped from? What was I doing?

He pressed two fingers to my wrist. "Her pulse is fast!" He shouted.

As he released my wrist I kicked forward. I clipped the person's shin. I opened my eyes standing up. The world began spinning. I cried out and leaned against the chair.

The guy held his shin, glaring at me angrily. My eyes widened. His did too. "Zach?" I exclaimed.

He turned away. "She's awake!"

I snapped out of my trance. I used my foot to push him onto his knees. My legs were stronger than my arms. Soccer girl problems. I got on top of him and put my arm around his neck. With my other hand I pulled, tightening my headlock. He clawed at my arm, gagging.

I took deep breaths. Think. Think. What next?

The door opened again. "Golden Boy! What are you—"

I looked towards the voice. The woman rose her eyebrow.

"She was unconscious for a week and she still beat you?" She rolled her eyes.

She came behind me. I couldn't let go of Zach. He could knock me on conscious. So could the woman. I closed my eyes, anticipating a blow from the female.

Instead a strangled giggle escaped. A smile played at my lips, but I didn't want it there. She was tickling me! My grip loosened. She maneuvered my arm so that my hand was in between my shoulder blades. She forced me onto my feet.

"Let me go," I begged. "Please. Let me go."

She forced me back into the chair. My hands were tied to the rope again. My arms were too exhausted to fight. She held my legs down with her knee. She made Zach grab more rope. He limped back and tied it around my ankles.

I hardened my expression and stared dead at Zach Ertz. Julie's boyfriend. "Julie will be devastated. Hope will be livid."

His hands gripped my shirt collar. "Neither will find out."

"If you think I'll let my best friend date a psycho kidnapper, you've lost your mind."

His jaw tightened. "If I remember correctly, you're the one who was playing Cupid."

I paused. Zach was right. I was the one who got them together. I wasn't sure what to do. I couldn't dwell on it now. Right now, I had to survive. I spat. He flinched back, my spit dripping down his cheek.

"Bitch!" He shouted and slapped me across the face.

My cheek stung from the contact. The woman sighed, "Zach, pull yourself together."

He wiped saliva from his cheek, looking like he was holding back tears. "I do love her," he whispered. "B-but I have to do this. You don't understand."

"Neither would she."

He shook his head, smiling through his tears. "You're wrong. I'm doing this for her. This is for Julie."

I refused to respond. Silence encased the room. "We just have a few questions. Is that okay?" The woman asked.

I stared at her. "Not really."

She shrugged. "Well, good thing it's not your decision."

Zach and her made eye contact. He turned and grabbed a few metal rods and a blowtorch. I let out a shaky breath. "Now," she said as she applied the heat to the metal. "We don't have to use these. Just give us the right answers and no one gets hurt."

She put the blowtorch down and sat in a chair across from me. She had Zach hold the rod and rolled my pant leg up. My breathing grew more labored.

"What happened the night your sister ran away?"

Eleven-year-old Arry sat quietly. She cut her chicken slowly, exaggerating the motion. She used her fork to push it deeper into the strange looking sauce. Her parents didn't even ask about Tobin's whereabouts. They acted as if she didn't even exist. Arry knew Tobin was okay, but the downpour outside was worrying her.

"Arden." Her father wiped his mouth and set his napkin down. "How are classes?"

She shrugged. There wasn't much to talk about. Their parents had always been proud of how smart she was. After it had been recommended she skip a grade, she was all her parents talked about. Sometimes, she feared her sister would start to hate her for it.

"Your father asked you a question." Arry looked up to meet mother's cold, analytical eyes.

She sighed and turned to face him. "Sorry for my rudeness, Father. Classes are fine. Thank you for asking."

As fast as her mother's icy glare had come, it left. She smiled at Arry warmly. Her eyes stared as lovingly as she was capable of. All Arry could think about was how the icy glare was all Tobin saw.

Then the icy glare was back, but she wasn't looking at her youngest daughter. Arry turned to see a muddy Tobin still in sweats and a sweatshirt. Arry wasn't sure if she was soaked in rain or sweat. Her sister's giddy grin fell. Arry bit her lip.

"Tobin," her mother snapped.

She looked tired. Not from running around for two hours, but completely and utterly tired of their mother. Arry couldn't blame her.

Tobin's mouth formed a straight line. "Mother."

"Where have you been?" Father questioned.

She fidgeted. "Out."

"You're mother has told you multiple times that you aren't to stay out and play sports intended for men."

Something seemed to shift in Tobin. She laughed wryly. "It's the twenty-first century. Can't you two grow up?"

"How dare you talk to us that way!" Her father roared, standing up. His chair slid back and slammed against the wall.

Arry flinched at the sound.

"What is the fifth commandment?"

Tobin didn't open her mouth. He ran to catch her as she tried to run. He gripped her wrist as she winced. He yanked her back and shouted, "What is the fifth commandment?"

The older girl shut her eyes and looked up at the ceiling. Arry could see his fingers digging into her sister's skin. "If anyone causes one of these little ones—those who believe in me—to stumble, it would be better for them to have a large millstone hung around their neck and to be drowned in the depths of the sea." She stared at my father through her tears.

Anger shook his body. He raised his hand and struck across her face. She cried out as the force sent her into the wall. Arry held her hand over her mouth.

She turned to her mother with begging eyes. Her mother stared at the scene emotionlessly. She met her daughter's horror-filled eyes. "Go upstairs."

"Mother—" She tried to protest.

Her eyes iced over. "Upstairs. Now."

"What happened the night your sister ran away?" The woman repeated.

I closed my eyes and tried to suppress the memory. I hadn't relived the events in a long time. Amy and Lauren helped us move on. Shoving me back under was dangerous. I bit my lip to stop it from wobbling.

Suddenly, a searing heat pressed against my leg. My mouth was wide open as a scream rattled from my throat. Tears sprang from my eyes.

"What happened?" She practically yelled. She wanted an answer and her cries were almost pleading. Almost.

Arry shut her door. She felt unsafe. Her parents had never hit her, but there had been a time Tobin never got hit too. She held tightly to her stuffed bear, the animal dried her tears.

Soon the house was silent. Arry found herself falling asleep. She struggled to stay awake. She knew Tobin would come into check on her. She had to be awake.

Her sister did indeed come in. The only think different was the backpack slung over her shoulder.

"Toby," she whimpered. She didn't care how babyish she sounded. She knew her sister would cuddle her.

But instead of getting in the bed, the older girl kneeled beside it. Tobin ran her fingers through her sister's hair, feeling her relax beneath her. She said, "Arry, I love you so much." She paused to find the right words to say. "Mother and Father have made it really hard for me at home. You understand that?"

"Toby, don't leave me." She wasn't stupid. She was the exact opposite actually.

The older girl kissed the top of her forehead. "I'm not leaving you, Arry. Remember I'm not leaving you."

The eleven-year-old gripped her sister tighter. "I need you."

"I need you too," Tobin responded. "But I also need to be free. I can't take it anymore."

The younger girl mulled this over. She knew it was selfish to try and keep Tobin here. Especially considering everything she's been through. "Okay."

Tobin looked relieved. "I'll be back for you. I'm moving in with Amy. Soon, I'll be emancipated. I can get my own place and you can come."

"Really?" She whispered.

Tobin nodded. "Really. I love you." She planted another kiss and made her way to the door. The hallway light illuminated her features. She glanced back at the solemn younger girl.

Arry was about to beg again. She hoped that she would wait. Tobin was only thirteen. She was only eleven. But her sister's features were swollen. Black and blue welts covered her face. The bit of skin showing wasn't any better. She could sense the pain, the agony. She could hear the voice in Tobin's head chant, "What did you do wrong? What did you do to make you're own parents hate you?"

"It's not you, Tobin."

From the look on Tobin's face, she understood her sister's words. After an exaggerated exhale, she straightened up and adjusted her bag. "For my father and my mother have forsaken me, but the Lord will take me in."

"Psalm 27:10," Arry finished as her sister turned to venture onto her new beginning.

Another searing pain burned my leg. I cried out again, wriggling in my seat. I couldn't go anywhere. "Your sister was not abused that night," she said.

I looked at her. She held the rod, still bright with heat. My burnt skin felt hot and tender. "W-what?" I managed to breath out.

She repeated, "Your sister was not abused that night. Not verbally, not physically."

I shut my eyes tight, trying to block her out. "You're a liar!" I shouted. "Tobin was being hurt! All the time! They were hurting her!"

Another burn lined my leg. It looked like I had been set in a grill and cooked. "Not the way you think! You're mind is exaggerating the events. There was no hitting. There was only heated discussion."

"You weren't there! I was there!" I sobbed. "I don't do immature mind things!"

"It's human nature," she stated. "Your mind toys with memories to fit your own reality."

I tugged against the rope around my arms. I shook my head muttering a string of "no's".

"That night—"

"Don't tell me about that night!" I shouted, my voice going hoarse.

She repeated, "That night, Tobin came home. She had came back from disobeying your parents. Your parents wanted to discipline her, but she ran away. You had been sent upstairs. You never saw her leave."

I tried to imagine this change, but it didn't feel right. "That's not what happened," I murmured. Another scream escaped my lips. Tears streamed down my cheeks.

She leaned back and held the rod in front of my eyes. "Her face was bruised," I insisted brokenly. "She was hurting all over."

"No. You never saw her."

I was silent.

Tobin always came up to see me. After being beat nonstop, she immediately came up to ask if I was okay. She always put me before herself. No matter how many times this woman burned me, my memories wouldn't change. Tobin wouldn't leave me over something as little as that. Right?

Hey! So I try to stay away from A/N's cause no one actually wants to hear me talk. But I've got some questions for you! What do you think of Zach? I don't have anything against Ertz. I really do like him. But for the sake of the story, that's Zach. I'm thinking of changing the cover. Do you agree I should? Any characters you want to see more of? Anything you love or hate about the story? Share your opinions, I'd love to hear!