Truth of Dark Pasts by Serena Wood (free children's online books .TXT) 📖

we need to leave. I can’t risk being here when Chloe comes back and I need you to come with me, please.”

“I’m not leaving without her.” I growl back instantly but she proves to be as stubborn as I am.

“We’ll get help, we can figure out what to do once I have you safe at the apartment. But we can’t stay here, you know that, River.” She rubs my arms gently and tries to get me to follow her but I pull my arms free of her grasp, suddenly furious with how she’s acting.

“If it were Shay you wouldn’t leave.” her movements stiffen at the mention of her girlfriend and finally her expression changes from determination to understanding. She knows deep down that she would be just as hysterical as I am right now if her girlfriend was the one trapped in that basement, and she also knows that our equally stubborn natures are too overbearing to leave loved ones behind.

“Alright… We only have, like, ten minutes to find a way to get her out, but if Chloe shows up before we get her you have to come with me. Promise?” I nod my head in understanding, moving to hug her briefly before thundering down the stairs. Kathy joins me a minute later with a makeshift lockpick in her hand. She moves towards the door with the now deformed hairpins in her hands and quickly starts working on the lock. Not five minutes go by before she decides against her decision, “River, I can’t pick a lock like this with hair pins. We need to go, she’ll be back soon.” She stands up and gives me this worried look. The worry in her eyes is warranted, I wouldn’t blame anyone for fearing Chloe at this point. But I still can’t bring myself to follow my natural instinct to flee.

“I can’t leave her.” She steps away and I press my forehead to the cold metal of the door. She steps behind me and places a gentle hand on my shoulder.

“Okay…” She sighs out, knowing I’m too stubborn to fight with. “Let’s go upstairs and look in the kitchen for something stronger to break the lock.” as soon as she mumbles the offer, I’m bolting back up the stairs, turning around and beckoning her with the wave of a hand once I’ve reached the last step. She follows reluctantly and I nearly rush back down the stairs and pull her up myself. But she picks up her pace and soon she’s trying to break through the locks on the cabinets.

“River, she has everything locked down. I don’t know if there’s anything we can use around here. Do you know where she would keep the keys or anything?” I try as hard as my brain can manage to remember any details about Chloe that would give me a clue as to where the keys are. But I don’t have any idea, she’s not stupid; she knows better than that at the very least.

Before I get the chance to respond to Kathy’s question, she stops fiddling with the lock in her hand to listen intently towards the direction of the door. “Did you hear that?” She moves to peer out the window by the front door and even from my spot a few feet away, I can hear her breath hitch.

“Oh, god. She’s back. River we need to go. Now.” she moves away from the window quickly and grabs my arm as she speaks. I let her pull me along for a few seconds before it sinks in.

“What about Ellie?”

“Sweetie, I told you. You promised that you would come with me.” She doesn’t look back as she speaks and I jerk my hand away when I realize she no longer has any intention of saving Ellie.

“I’m staying.” I plant my feet as firmly on the ground as I can manage and when my arm leaves her grasp she whirls around in panic.

“River, we don’t have time for this. She’s on the phone, but she won’t be out there forever. We need to leave.” She tries to usher me towards the door but I stand my ground; weakly but still.

“I won’t leave without her.”

“River… I know how hard this is. But you have to listen to me, we can’t help her right now. I promise you, once we’re out of here and away from Chloe, will find a way to get Ellie out. Please, you have to trust me.” Before I have the chance to make a rebuttle, the front door starts to come to life with noise as Chloe unlocks it.

In a blind haze of panic, Kathy forces me towards the back door. She tugs on my arm and the whole way, I try to tug back. But in her panic, she’s given up being nice and she’s now using all of her strength to hold onto me. The few times I’ve gotten into fights has done little to match the strength that she’s gained from years of fighting people for Shay’s sake. I’m no match for her, especially in the state I am now, and she pulls me out the back door without much effort.

Whenever Chloe had let me out of ‘our’ room, I had stared at this door, wishing I could get to it without Chloe seeing me. But now that I actually am crossing the threshold, running past the now wide open door; I find myself fighting it. Because my little fantasies of escape always involved Ellie escaping too. I’m supposed to be the one dragging her to freedom, but instead Kathy is dragging me out into the open air. It’s the first time I’ve seen the outside world in what feels like forever, but now it doesn’t feel as free as I thought it would.

Chapter 24, "Abandoned"

☀Ellie☀

Something grabs my arm and lifts me up off of the ground I was sleeping on seconds before, throwing me into the nearest wall before I can even open my eyes. I already know what it is anyways, I don’t even have to be awake to know anymore.

“Where is she?!?” The ear piercing scream reaches me as I open my eyes to look up at Chloe. I stare up at her with confusion silently written on my face as I slide back down to the floor.

She picks me up again, this time by the throat and pins me against the wall I had just been thrown into.

“She’s gone… I know you know what happened, tell me where she is!” much to my surprise, tears are streaming down her cheeks. I shake my head violently, trying to show her I have no idea what’s going on.

“You mean… you don’t know where River is?” I shake my head instantly, fearing she’ll slap me just for not knowing. But much to my relief, she rewards me for my good behavior by releasing her grip on my neck. I slide back down the the floor, calmly taking in the air that I’ve been granted with. My lungs have become so used to being deprived of it when I’m being punished that I can manage to go several minutes without air. It also allows me to calmly take in air when it’s given to me, unlike before when I would just gasp for my breath. It’s better this way, it doesn’t anger her as much.

“She didn’t even try to get you? She really wanted to leave me that badly?” I know they’re not questions directed towards me so I make sure not to answer, not that I could anyways. I’ve become so use to not using my voice that it actually hurts to try now.

“She… she really left me.” she doesn’t bother to hold back the sob that chokes it’s way out of her and for a minute or so, she cries. Until she turns and sees me huddling in my corner, reminding her of my existence.

She sniffles back her tears and her expression quickly explodes back into anger.

“This is all you’re fault, none of this would have happened if you hadn’t pried your way back into her life.” I lower my head at the reminder of my misdeed but it isn’t enough for her. She hauls me up until her eyes are level with mine. They flare with more anger than I’ve ever seen in anyone before and I shrink away fearfully.

“Then you drove her away and she left us both behind. You’ve ruined everything. Again.” the sting of guilt sets in with her words, but not only guilt. River did exactly what Chloe said, she left me behind. She left me with Chloe. All because I drove her away, because I’d been selfish. Now I have to go through this alone. I was abandoned because I wasn’t worthy of her attention, I wasn’t worthy of her love.

“I should have just killed you.” The floor of the basement suddenly comes in contact with my back and before I know it, Chloe is hitting me. She hits with so much fury and speed that my body doesn’t even know where she’s hitting at first. The pain is delayed as it processes which parts of my body it’s supposed to be at.

She only hits me in the face a few times, somehow she still has enough kindness in her to be mindful of my head injuries. I don’t deserve the kindness she’s given me over the past few months.

She directs the rest of her punches to my stomach and sides, starting to sob again as the minutes pass. She goes on until she’s exhausted her fury and only overbearing sadness is left behind. She bawls up her fists as tight as possible, until her knuckles are white; and then she slams them down onto my chest. She does this two or three times before finally she stops all movement and just hovers over me, her hands clutching onto my shirt as she sobs. It pains me to see her like that, knowing that it’s all my fault. Knowing I’m the reason why she hits me.

She moves off of me to sit beside me, bringing her knees to her chest as she continues to sob. I make sure to lay where she left me, not daring to get up because I know it would only make matters worse.

After about ten minutes, she manages to get ahold of herself enough to leave the room and she slams the metal door shut behind her. She doesn’t come back for several hours.

When she finally does come back, she isn’t crying anymore. Her cheeks are clearly stained with tears and her eyes are a terrible shade of red, but thankfully her crying has stopped. She shuts the door behind her before walking up to me with a first aid kit in her hands. She moves to sit beside me, motioning for me to sit up and only then do I move from the spot she had left me at.

“I’m sorry I hurt you, I know I haven’t in a long time. I was just… upset.” She quickly starts tending to my injuries and again I start to think that I don’t deserve all the kindness she gives me.

“I-it’s not your fault that… that I upset you. I’m… sorry for