<Chris's POV>

My eyes open slowly, taking in my dim surroundings. The air around me stinks of mold and cigarette smoke. I find that my hands are tied tightly behind my back as I lay on my side in the dark and gray basement. A cloth is tight around my skull, pressing between my lips to prevent me from talking. The short waves of hair on my head are stuck to my face with sweat and blood. A deep gash on the right side of my forehead worsens my head ache from the mold stench.

Looking around again with focused and dilated eyes I see Skyler pulling at her restraints effortfully. Her once pale skin is stained with blood from the wound on her head. Bindings similar to mine are also on her body. When she notices I am awake she pulls her weight closer to me with watery eyes. It's now I notice she doesn't have a cloth preventing her from talking. "Chris," she whispers in a raspy voice, "put your back to mine, I'm going to try to untie your hands." I nod to show my understanding and turn my back to her. She follows suit and suddenly I feel her fingers pulling on the cloth that is holding my hands painfully together. Her fingers move quickly trying to loosen the knot, but she never has the chance to finish.

A tall man walks slowly into the room, completely calm, smoking a cigarette. "What happened to your mouth cloth, pretty girl?" The man asks. He comes into the light and takes off my mouth restraint as well. His voice is all to familiar. It's my father. Memories flash through my mind again of how he abused and violated me as a child.

"I'm not helpless, it was easy to take off," Skyler hisses before spitting on his boots. Charlie slaps Skyler across the face. Her side hits the cold hard ground first, the impact so strong that the sound of it echoes off the walls. Skyler cringes and forces herself to sit back up.

"Listen here sweetheart, my son and daughter have caused me a whole lot of legal trouble and I don't appreciate that, it's just a shame you got caught up in all," he gestures to the air around him, "this."

"Your son and daughter were abused by you, you brought on the trouble yourself," Skyler claims viscously. Charlie sighs effortfully and swigs around his cigarette as he speaks.

"I really don't want to hit you again little girl," he claims tiredly, "now as I was saying, I know Dallas will come looking for you two, that's just what he does, and when he makes it here," Charlie grumbles, and pulls a gun from his pocket, "I'm gonna kill him." Charlie starts to load the heater. I watch him place in exactly five bullets.

"Why kill Dallas?" Skyler asks, trying desperately to hide the shaking in her voice. At least she is brave enough to speak. I am frozen from harsh memories of the past.

Charlie laughs a deep and low chuckle and raises his head to look back at Skyler. "Oh sweetie, I'm not just going to kill him. I'm going to let him watch me shoot you," he points the gun at Skyler's head, then to mine, "and you, and then," he smirks coldly, "then I'm going to blow his brains out of the back of his skull." I shiver at the thought of loosing everything. Soda enters my mind. What would he do? He would be brave.

"Your just going to hurt us like you hurt my mother," I grumble, sitting up on my knees. He turns his head slowly to me with a cold grin on his face.

"Oh Delilah, that little, 'oh world peace' chick," Charlie states, mocking how all Delilah wanted was peace.

"She never did anything to you!" Charlie punches me in the jaw with a ringed finger. The metal cuts into my skin, causing blood to trickle down my neck.

"Of course she did, she gave me you and your little bitch brother," Charlie claims. Skyler regains her previously strong form.

"Dallas is more of a man than you will ever be you sick bastard," Skyler hisses at Charlie. His steel toed boot slams into Skyler's gut. She is forced back down onto the ground, letting only one yelp of pain escape her. Charlie turns his fiery gaze back to me. With quiet steps, he walks towards me and leans in, inches away from my face. His rough hand strokes my jaw, a dreadful mocking of a lover's caress.

"And you, little Christina, perhaps I should move you to a different room, a room where you can be alone, with me," he whispers. My body freezes in fear once again. From the ground where she lays, Skyler defends me.

"Don't touch her!" She hisses, "don't you think you've ruined her enough? That's your daughter!" He rolls his eyes.

"She is nothing to me," he states, standing up and walking closer to Skyler's limp form, "and you really do not shut up do you?" Charlie begins to kick Skyler in the gut and on her face. I scream for him to stop as the blood begins to pour from her nose and a cut on her lip. Charlie turns back to me once he is done, leaving Skyler barely conscious on the ground. "For gods sake, shut up," he shouts to me before punching my nose. Blood begins to stream from where he punched me. A strong hand grips my upper arm tightly. He begins to drag me out of the room and into the small house. Skyler tries as hard as she can to peel herself off of the ground, but her injuries prevent her from even moving. I scream and kick as Charlie pulls me out of what I assume to be the basement and into a small vacant room on the second floor of the house. My head crashing against each stair as he tugs me along.

<Soda's POV>

I hand Steve a beer bottle. "You seen Chris?" I ask him casually. He shrugs nonchalantly. Dally comes plowing into the house by the front door, Lena behind him with a bleeding forehead.
Steve rushes to Lena's side and gives her support. She groans in pain as he holds her. Dallas searches desperately through a kitchen drawer, pulling out a black handled switch blade. "Dally what's wrong? Where's Chris?" I ask horrified. Ignoring me, Dallas sprints into his bedroom down the hall. I look to Lena for help.

"I was in the kitchen and I heard Chris yell, I went out there and saw Charlie pulling Chris and Skyler into a truck," she explains with a strong voice, "when he saw me, he hit me over the head with a rock. I tried to fight him but he took them, I couldn't get them," she says angry at herself, a single silent tear falling from her eye. Steve rubs her back and pulls her into his chest. My heart speeds up. He has Chris. What if he kills her? What if he hurts her more? Dally runs out of his room shoving a gun in his back pocket. It's fully loaded. He points to Johnny and Ponyboy.

"You boys are staying here and watching the kids," Dallas demands as the two boys nod, "everyone else if you wanna come, come, but I'm not forcing you." Darry steps forward.

"I'm staying here, I'm sorry Dal, I just wanna make sure he doesn't come back and attack Pony and John," Darry explains. Dallas nods and looks to me.

"Obviously I'm coming," I state gripping my switch blade. Two-Bit hands Henry to Johnny.

"I'm coming too." Steve is the next to speak up.

"Lena you stay here, I'm going," Steve states as he pulls away from Lena. Lena scoffs and rolls her icy blue eyes.

"To hell with that, I'm coming," she exclaims strongly. Steve holds his breath and nods.

"Let's go," Dallas growls deeply as he storms out of the house. The worse part about this whole situation is,we have no idea where to look.

"We should split up," I suggest. Dallas nods in agreement then goes sprinting away. I sigh, I'm coming for you Chris.

<Skyler's POV>

I try desperately to pull apart my restraints. The rough fabric burns into my skin, eventually slicing through it. My bruises ache as I try to get free. Angry tears stream down my red face as I attempt to break free. The basement door flies open again and I jump into sitting position. Charlie barges in and when he reaches me he slaps me across the face. I spit the blood from my mouth and take a sharp breath in. "You are such a pretty young girl," he states as he grabs my face roughly between his scratchy hands. I bite his wrist hard until I taste blood seep from where I bit. He yells and then knees me in the chest. I groan and fly to the ground again. He stands up straight and kicks me once in the gut. "Stupid," then he adds a kick between each word, "worthless, piece of shit, bitch." Each kick is like another willing wish to die, but I can't, I have to save Chris. Charlie turns me over onto my back with his foot and then steps on my throat with his boot. I choke in a final breath of air. And then feel my face swell with blood as he puts more and more pressure on my throat. Trying to scream in pain, no sound comes from my mouth. Finally, he grunts and pulls his foot away. I cough and sputter, taking long sharp intakes of breath. He smiles coldly, "let's get you ready to see your boyfriend shall we?" I respond by spitting blood onto his shoe. Charlie sneers and grab me by the neck, holding me up to a shelf. With his free hand, he pulls a blade from his pocket. I look at him with unforgiving eyes, trying to look unafraid of his threats. "You love Dallas don't you?" He questions knowingly. I notice that the knife is already dripping blood. The first thing I can think of is Chris. He must of used it on her. When I don't answer he frowns and slashes my cheek. I gasp and try to ignore the searing of pain. He looks at me with those cold as ice eyes and takes the knife to my abdomen. "Answer me." I nod solemnly.

"Yes," I manage to spit out in a hoarse voice. He smiles and cocks his head to the side.

"Let's show him them." Without warning, Charlie plunges to blade a little into my abdomen and starts to draw a giant heart. His hand moves slowly as if to make me feel every bit of pain he can offer. I scream in agony, trying desperately to pull away from his grasp. When he is finished, he retracts the knife and drops me so I land on the concrete with a loud thud. I cry out in pain and hold my stomach. He wipes the knife on his shirt ritually and smiles. "Now he'll know you love him, your welcome." The door slams behind him and I mentally curse myself for being so weak.

Resuming my previous mission of trying to escape my bound hands, I furrow my eyebrows and pull desperately. With a final yell of effort my hands slip from the fabric. I smile slightly in relief and stand up weakly. Finally looking at my surroundings in depth I realize this is the house I stayed in when I first got into Tulsa. The abandoned house that was my home for a few days before I began living with Dallas. My feet carry me to a work bench and I grab a screw driver. The grip around my makeshift weapon is strong, ready to attack at a moments notice. I tip toe across the room to the door, blood from my cuts dripping onto the floor as I do so. Peeking through the door I see Charlie walk into the kitchen. Taking my chance I sneak out of the basement and walk quietly to the bathroom. I hide out in this room, checking for Chris, but finding only dried blood from months ago when I harmed myself. Groaning internally, I walk silently from the bathroom into the bedroom where I slept. She isn't there either. The only other room on this floor is the kitchen/ living room. unfortunately that's where Charlie is. Daringly, I sprint quietly on my toes up the stairs. Looking around frantically, I find only one of these doors in closed. She must be in there. Upon reaching the door, I try to open it, realizing it's locked I groan. I take the butt of the screwdriver and grip it tightly. Shit this is gonna be so loud. Grinding my teeth, I slam the tool into the door handle, popping the old thing off. It makes a loud clang noise and I stand there silently for a moment, waiting to see if Charlie is coming to inspect. When I hear nothing but silence I push the door open. Chris's eyes widen fearfully when she sees me. I put a single finger to my lips, signaling for her to be quiet. She nods her head weakly. Glancing at her body I see her skin is sliced everywhere. That must be why Charlie's knife was already dripping blood when he showed it to me before slicing my cheek. The blood is seeping into her hair, dripping down her face, and coating her clothes in a thick layer of crimson, viscous, liquid. I kneel behind her and untie her restraints. Taking her hand, I help her stand and lead her into the hallway. We get halfway down the hall before I hear Charlie coming up the stairs. Holding my breath, I throw Chris and I into a bathroom. We stay silent as he passes us. When he reaches the room where he was holding Chris, he screams in aggravation. I take Chris's arm and pull her back into the hall. Just as we reach the stairs, Charlie sees us and pulls out a heater. I hear the shot ring out and feel the bullet plunge into my leg. I loose my balance and trip down the stairs. My grip so hard on Chris that she comes plummeting down with me. Hitting the ground first is my skull with a loud crack. Chris' screams ring in my ears and everything I look at is a blur. I see Charlie's feet climbing down the stairs calmly. I feel him lift me up from he ground and throw me at a wall. The impact hits my back the hardest. Barely conscious, I watch as Charlie takes Chris and drags her behind him as he walks towards me. His other hand grabs my arm and he pulls us back into the basement. We are thrown to the ground once again and our hands are retied. Another cloth is places between our teeth and tied roughly behind our heads. The room spins around me. Charlie is about to walk out of the basement again when a rough knocking comes at the basement door that leads outside. "Chris? Skyler?" The voice yells. My heart becomes heavy when I analyze the voice. Steve. Charlie glares at the pair of us.

"Scream after I hide," he hisses before motioning to his own neck, "or he gets it." Tears begin to slip down my face as Charlie hides himself behind a shelf. I don't scream, hoping that Steve will just go away so he won't be hurt. When I refuse to make a noise Charlie slices my back from behind the shelf I'm pressed against. Unintentionally, I yelp in pain.

"Skyler?! I'm coming!" Steve exclaims before slamming his weight into the door. It comes flying open and Steve barges into the room. He kneels in front of Chris first, who is soaked in blood. She screams through the cloth, "run!" He furrows his eyebrows in confusion before Charlie comes out of hiding and slams the butt of his gun into the back of Steve's skull. Steve falls silently onto the ground in front of Chris. Christina takes in a deep and sudden breath at the sight of her unconscious best friend. I scream his name through the cloth shoved in between my teeth as Charlie quickly ties Steve up against the shelf. His hands are tied to the post of the shelf, along with his feet. Steve's body just hangs there, motionless beside me.

A/N don't you just love writers block?
me too.

Stay gold💛

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