Running

Chapter 10

I stand in a concrete room. For once, I'm in a different place, and my conscious mind sighs in relief.

I walk around, trailing my fingertips across the room, when suddenly a figure appears in front of me. Rachael.

"Hey there Nora... hows daddy's little girl?"

"Don't call me that," I say. But no words escape my lips.

"Aww... stunned into silence? How nice. Maybe this will warrant a few pleas..."

She punches me, and I fall back.

"How does that feel?"

She hits me again. And again. Hitting and kicking me.

"NO! NO PLEASE STOP!" I scream, but silence fills the room instead.

"This is what happened to the other girls. This is what you let happen. And now. He's gonna kill you..."

Suddenly her body morphs into one of Raymond Grace.

"No-NO!" I scream. My mind is reeling. How is this happening. I've never once dreamt up something like-

He grabs me by the shoulders and bashes me into the wall. My head hits the concrete and immediately I see stars.

The walls fall away, and I see forest. Trees. So many trees.

"No way..." I mutter. "I-I can't."

"You better run, you little whore."

I stand up and begin to sprint. My bare feet slap against the ground. Pine needles and rocks stabbing into my souls.

'Where do you think your going' a voice says.

I begin screaming. Endlessly and painfully screaming.

The trees give way, the entire forest collapsing under me into a pool of water.

I slap against the surface, my mind and airways instantly clogging with water. I can't breathe. I can't move. But I scream. Screaming for help, asking, pleading, for someone to get me out.

"Elle!" Someone yells. But my screams persist.

"ELEANOR! It's okay! Get up!"

Water enters my lungs. A choking sensation beginning in my chest. I jerk around in the water, hands clenching my throat. My head feels like it's gonna explode.

"Elle wake up..."

"Eleanor," they plead. "It's okay! Just get up!"

I fly upwards. I don't even remember opening my eyes, but the next thing I know I'm sitting up in bed, soaked with sweat as my chest heaves and tears roll down my face. Strong arms wrap around me, and the familiar scent of Spencer fills my senses.

Coffee, and laundry detergent.

I suck in a few more deep breaths. Spencer still holding on.

"It's okay..." he coo's.

"I-I'm fine," I choke.

"No Elle..." he squeezes me tight. "It's okay to not be okay, and you are not okay right now."

I stay silent, my heavy breathing being the only thing to fill the eerie quiet of the room. I
nod slowly.

"I-I," is all that comes out of my mouth before a sob erupts from inside me. Then another. Before I'm crying into Spencer's shoulder.

After a few minutes my breathing mellows out again.

"Was it different this time?" He asks.

"It was terrible," I sigh. "I-I was drowning. And-and..." I trail off, slinking away from him to lean against the headboard. My face wet with tears.

"I'm just a dirty whore..." I whisper.

His eyes go wide. "No, No Elle! You-you're beautiful, why would you say that?"

I laugh bitterly. "Don't lie to me Spence..."

"It's not a lie, Elle, I mean it."

I turn my head to look at him and his eyes alone are willing me to believe.

"He raped me," I say.

"I know... is that what's wrong?"

I shake my head. "No, Reid, he-he raped me... for four years..."

He looks at me confused and a whimper comes out of my mouth before I can fix my composure.

"My-my name is Eleanor Grace, Spence..."

He continues to stare, dumbfounded, until he finally understands, and his eyes fill with sorrow.

"If you looked at his file, you'd see as a possible victim, his own daughter. She, however, denied everything. The only proof they had were the photos..."

I wipe the tears from my eyes.

"I lied because he was my dad, and I thought I'd be viewed as some sort of spoiled brat or some shit. I was sixteen. He'd been doing it since I was twelve, chasing me through the woods. But either way, people still blame me, because I could've turned him in years before and saved so many people. And I didn't. But I didn't know there were others and-and that's why Seth Layman hates me... his sister was just another victim. My d-dad was kidnapping them and keeping them, somewhere..." I trail off. "I don't remember," I say, although memories are slowly flooding back.

Spencer is still silent. "All this time, I knew that he'd raped me, but I never remembered it specifically. But after what he did? Ohh yeah. I remember..."

I can tell just by looking at him that he's entirely speechless.

"I-I'm sorry... I should've-"

He throws himself at me in a hug. Slowly I hug him back, burrowing my head in his shoulder.

"Elle... it's okay. I understand now, I understand it all..."

He holds me a little longer before pulling away and tracing my jaw with his fingers.

"It'll be okay, Elle. Everything will be okay."

I look deep into his chocolate brown eyes as I nod. He gives me a soft smile as he stands from the bed.

"No!" I blurt before I even have a chance to think.

He turns to me with a brow raised, but the faintest of smirks rests on his face.

"Don't go," I whisper.

He nods, climbing back onto the bed and under the covers as he wraps his arms around me. I rest my head on his chest, and allow his heartbeat to lull me to sleep. 

How's this for the first Elle and Reid moment?