"I was trying to scare him off," Elliot explained, taking a step closer to me.

Insanity was flooding his eyes as he got near.  Bradley instantly pulled me away and got in between his father and I.  Elliot was breathing heavily and the hairs on my arms stood up.  Bradley latched onto my hand for dear life. 

"Okay?" He asked looking to his oldest son.

My boyfriend nodded and took a deep breath, "Okay."

"I'm trying to keep you safe, okay?" Their father said, trying to convince us he was a good guy.

"Okay," I agreed, swallowing hard.  I was shaking, but it wasn't from the cold.  I was scared.  Hell we all were terrified of the man in front of us.

Elliot grabbed Caleb's face and made him look into his father's eyes.  I took a step forward and the man instantly let go.  Caleb's face was trained on the floor, expression masked in fear. 

"Just stay here. They're still out there somewhere," Elliot stated as he walked out of the door.

As soon as the door shut, I ran over to the window.  I waited until I saw Elliot walk off into the woods.  Once he was gone I ran to the other side of the room and started packing things up; I grabbed the knife Elliot gave us earlier and shoved it into the back of my jeans. 

Bradley instantly knew what I was trying to do and started to copy my motive.  "Give me that bag," he said to his little brother.

Caleb complied and tossed his brother the orange backpack.  Tears were pricking his eyes, "We can't just leave him here."

"Look he doesn't want to leave, Caleb," Bradley snapped. 

A frown fell on my face as I approached my boyfriend's brother.  I crouched down and placed my hands on his shoulder, "Listen to me.  Bradley is right.  We have to go find help, but I swear to you we will send someone back for Elliot."

"Shit," Bradley huffed.  I turned around and saw two sets of keys lying in his palms. 

"Why are there two sets?" Caleb questioned. 

I shook my head, "I don't know."

Bradley looked at us.  His skin was even paler than before, but he was putting on a tough face.  "Come on, we just have to go," he stated giving me the keys. 

We ran out of the house and I shut the door softly behind us.  I turned around and the two brothers were leaning over the edge of the house; I carefully walked over to get a glimpse of what they were looking at.  It was a dead dear gutted open, hanging from a tree.

"That's fucking disgusting," I whispered.

Both boys nodded in agreement and Caleb took off into the woods.  Bradley latched onto my hand and sprinted after is brother.

***

Night had fallen and it was freezing cold.  We had been walking for a good hour, trekking through the snowy woods. 

"This doesn't look like the way we came," Caleb stated, looking around with his flashlight.

We walked in silence for a few seconds and Bradley finally spoke up, "We shouldn't be here."

He started to cough again and I rubbed my hand across his back.  "You're the one that made us leave," Caleb replied.

"He meant we shouldn't have come out here in the first place," I explained.

Caleb rolled his eyes, "He wanted to shoot the gun too."

"Yeah I know, but if we left when I said, none of this would have happened. You were just to busy trying to be Dad's best friend," Bradley defended.

Caleb looked at Bradley with hurt seeping in his eyes.  He shook his head and started to walk away.

Once Bradley realized his mistake he tried to apologize, "Oh come on.  I'm sorry Caleb. Please look, we gotta stick together if we wanna get outta here okay?  You don't even know where you're going."

"You think somebody's just gonna come save us?!" Caleb shouted.

I could tell that it was about to be a fight so I stepped in, "No, but you don't wanna get anymore lost."

"We couldn't get anymore lost!" Caleb shot back.

Caleb started to walk away, but a second later he stopped in his tracks.  Elliot appeared out of the woods and I felt my breath hitch in my throat. 

"You just left me," Elliot stated.  He was on the brink of losing it.  Fear traveled my veins as I pulled Caleb close to me. 

"We were gonna try and find help," I stated, shivers running down my spine.

Elliot took a step closer, "We gotta stick together.  You can't just leave me."

"Yeah well, we were gonna come back for you Dad.  I promise," Bradley swallowed.

Elliot looked around the area. He said nothing and that was scarier than him talking.  "Say something," Caleb pleaded.

"Do you have any idea what could have happened to you out here?" Elliot questioned. 

"Look we're sorry," Bradley stated, placing a hand on my shoulder.

"Look I'm your father!  It's my job to protect you," Elliot snapped.

Bradley let out a laugh, and looked around the woods.  Something darkened in Elliot's eyes, "You think that's funny?  You got something that you want to say to me?"

Bradley's expression went stone cold as he shook his head.  The air grew thick as Elliot approached his son.  My boyfriend took a few steps backwards.  I pushed Caleb behind me and walked forward, but I still kept my distance.

"You got something you want to say to me?" Elliot repeated,  inching closer, "Say it."

Bradley looked his father in the eye, anger seeping out.  He held his words in as his jaw tightened.  "You think I'm a shitty father?" Elliot asked.

"Say it," Elliot demanded,  pushing Bradley in the face.

"You think I'm a shitty dad?" Elliot said as he gave another shove.  "Say it," his father repeated.

Bradley nodded his head and looked his father in the eye.  "You're a shitty dad," he whispered.

I felt my heart stop at those words.  He had given Elliot exactly what he wanted and now he wanted more.

"There you go.  You gonna say it like a little pussy, or are you gonna say it like a man?"  Elliot barked, giving yet another hard shove. 

Bradley's breath intake I'm creased and I took another step forward.  Caleb was stumbling backwards,  afraid of what his father was going to do.  Elliot shoved and slapped Bradley over and over, repeatedly demanding he 'say it again'.

Eventually Bradley snapped.  He started to punch his father back.  One punch, two punches, three punches. He repeatedly told his dad to fuck off. Bradley didn't want to give his father what he wanted.

Elliot then put my boyfriend in a chokehold. Bradley tried to pulley away, "Let go of me please!"

His dad never let go and eventually he got what he wanted, "You're a shitty father!"

Bradley was struggling in Elliot's arms as Caleb pleaded for his brother to be released. I wrapped my hand around the handle of the knife. I pulled it out and placed it on Elliot's shoulder.

They both went still and Bradley was still in his father's arms. My boyfriend shoved Elliot off, "Fuck off."

Bradley walked away and started to puke his guts out in the snow. I took the knife off of Elliot and crouched down besides the boy I loved. I comforted him while he was heaving. Nothing else was coming from his stomach and I could tell it was painful.

I looked back at Elliot who tried to approach us. I raised the knife again, "If you ever fucking touch him again, I'll kill you."

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Author's Note

Skylar is a badass. I love her and her development. Also this story is about to over and done with and that makes me sad. But do not fear I have like ten others in the works. Also I hit 600 reads, which is amazing!  I hope you enjoyed and I'll see you in the next one!!