8. Brielle

Iknew something was wrong the moment I stepped inside my office. I was still floating in the clouds after my weekend with Elliot, which is why my defenses were down. Otherwise, I would have sensed my mother from a mile away.

Something sharp hits me on the side of my head, and I turn in that direction, flinching when I see my mother’s drug-dealer-slash-fuck-buddy crush an empty beer can in his hand and launch it toward me. I lean to the side as much as I can while being tied to a dining room chair, narrowly escaping another cut on my head. The can crashes to the floor along with another one, which I’m guessing is what hit me in the head in the first place.

I whimper and close my eyes, my mind flashing back to this morning when my mother was waiting for me in my office. She called me every name in the book, from whore to selfish cunt. Yes, my own mother called me a cunt. If that’s not crossing a boundary, I don’t know what is.

“I was talkin’ to you,” the man says, his speech slurred. “What’s the PIN number to your debit card?”

“Why?” I ask weakly.

“Why do you think? Your mom and I need money and she said you’re the only one with a steady paycheck.”

I’m not sure how long I’ve been tied up to the chair in the library of my mom’s house, but I know it’s been hours. I’m hungry and thirsty, but more importantly, I have to pee.

I never should have gone with my mom, but she caught me by surprise, and then her barrage of insults crushed whatever hope I had for a relationship with her. She threatened to tell my boss about a certain client I’ve been sleeping with. I have no idea how she figured that out or if she’d actually do it, but the threat was enough in that moment to make me crumble and follow her out to her car.

“Are you stupid?” the man yells. “I’m asking a very simple question.”

“I have to use the bathroom,” I tell him. “Then I’ll tell you the PIN. I don’t want trouble, but I can’t concentrate when I have to go so bad.”

He growls out something about how difficult I”m being, then walks over to me and cuts the ropes from my feet. ”Keep the ones on your hands,” he instructs me.

“Um… yeah, that’s not going to work. I kind of need my hands to… you know.”

He sighs exasperatedly, then calls out for my mom. When she doesn’t answer right away, he screams her name over and over until she rushes into the room.

“Did you get the number?” she asks, not even bothering to look at me. Is that really all she cares about? Yes. Yes, it is. I’ve seen my mom go from bad to worse to completely irredeemable, so this fits right in with how she’s been treating me lately.

“No, she says she needs to go to the bathroom before she’ll tell me.”

“You selfish bitch!” my mother spits out at me. The vitriol behind her words is something new. I take a closer look at the woman who raised me, noticing how twitchy she is and how she keeps scratching the same spot on her arm. What has she been taking? This certainly isn’t Vicodin or alcohol.

I realize with a heavy heart that my mom is on meth. So is her dealer or boyfriend or whatever he is to her. I see pockmarks on his face and notice for the first time how many of his teeth are either rotten or missing.

“I just have to pee,” I tell her in a soft voice, not wanting to anger her. I’m not sure what these two are capable of with the mix of drugs they’re on. “Unless you want me to ruin the chair and the carpet in the next thirty seconds–”

“Fine,” she huffs out, loosening the ties around my wrists and dragging me up from my seat. Her hand wraps around my upper arm in a tight grip as she pulls me through the house and shoves me into the nearest bathroom. “And don’t try anything stupid. I’ll be right outside the door.”

I don’t say anything, I just shut the door in her face. I have no idea how much time I have, I just needed some space to think. I really do have to pee, so I take advantage of the bathroom break while I plot my escape. There’s a window in here, but it’s too small for me to fit through.

I briefly wonder if I can lock myself in here, but quickly come to the conclusion that the two of them would kick down the door easily, especially when they’re all hopped up the way they are now. Maybe I can do the opposite and rush out of the bathroom, past my mom, and out through the front door. I don’t know what I’m going to do after I get outside, since I still don’t have a car, but maybe I could make it to the neighbor’s house to call the cops.

After flushing and washing my hands, I take a deep breath and psych myself up for my great escape. Wrapping my hand around the doorknob, I picture myself running, running, running, right out the door and across the wide expanse of our property to get to safety.

Right as I yank the bathroom door open, a loud and insistent pounding sounds from the front double doors.

“What the–”

My mother’s words are cut off when the left door flies open with a bang, revealing my savior; Elliot. He tore the door off its hinges to get to me. I run over to him, only to be yanked back by my mother.

“Let her go,” Elliot commands.

“Who the hell are you?” the drug dealer asks, finally making his way out of the library to see what all the noise is about.

“I’m the man who is going to take Brielle away from you pathetic excuse for humans and cherish her the way she deserves.”

Tears form and fall down my cheeks as Elliot’s green eyes find mine.

I wrench my arm out of my mother’s death grip and race toward my surly, sweet, perfect mountain man. I’m almost in his arms when something pulls me backward. It’s the fucking drug dealer, fisting my hair and ripping my head back.

Elliot roars and lunges forward, his fist connecting with my captor’s face with a satisfying crunch. He immediately lets go of me to cover his now broken nose with blood gushing everywhere.

I fling myself into Elliot’s arms, sobbing as he folds me into his embrace. “I’ve got you,” he whispers. “You’re safe now.” I nod and he tells me to go out to the truck. I almost protest, but truthfully, I’m completely worn out and I don’t think I can handle one more thing.

When I get to Elliot’s vehicle, I pause and lean against the side, catching my breath. Never, not ever, in all the years of dealing with my mother’s bullshit did I think she would do something like this.

I can’t hear exactly what’s going on inside, but I trust Elliot to take care of everything, just like he’s been promising. A few minutes later, he steps out of the house and walks down the porch steps toward me. I’m wrapped up in his arms in the next second, melting into his embrace as he rocks me back and forth.

“They’re leaving town,” he whispers. “At least for now. I’ll keep an eye on things and if I get word of either of them returning, they know what the consequences will be.”

I don’t ask for any more information. I don’t need to. I may have helped Elliot heal from his injury and trauma, but he’s the one who’s right here, supporting me as I take the final step of breaking ties with my mother.

“I trust you,” I tell him, snuggling even closer. “Thank you, Elliot. Thank you for coming here, thank you for saving me. I don’t know what I would have done if you hadn’t shown up. I had a half-baked plan to make a run for it, but I don’t think that would have turned out very well.”

“I’m just glad I got here before they could do any more damage. Are you hurt? I should have gotten here sooner. Fuck, I never should have left you in the first place.”

“Hey,” I say in a calming voice. I place my hand over his heart and peer into those endless eyes. “We’re here, together, right now. That’s all that matters.” Elliot agrees, pressing a kiss to the top of my head before opening the truck door for me.

“Let’s get out of here, sunshine. It’s time to take you home, right where you belong.”

“Home,” I repeat. Elliot gives me a sad smile, then reaches across me to buckle my seatbelt. Part of me wants to tell him I can fasten my own seatbelt, but a bigger part of me loves that he’s taking care of me in this way, too.

He hops in the driver”s seat and starts up the truck. As Elliot heads down the winding driveway leading to the only house I”ve ever known, peace settles over me. That”s all it was. A house. A big, obnoxious, gaudy house that felt more like a museum than a home. With Elliot, however… I could see myself living with him in his cabin and being content for the rest of my life.

I sigh, feeling my muscles relax one by one the further away we get from my old house. Elliot places his hand on my thigh as if he needs to be touching me in some way. I lean across the console, kissing his shoulder before resting my cheek there.

Elliot hums in contentment, making me smile. This is the start of everything, I just know it.