Warning! This chapter contains violence and profanity! I was supposed to do this on the other chapters but I completely forgot since I was focused on just typing and publishing. Lol. Sorry!
***
"Ava..." A voice sang.
I hid with my back against the wall. I know where he is and I know I had to run but I couldn't.
"Ava..." The voice got closer but it came at the opposite direction it was originally at.
My head was racing as I finally took a step away from the wall, just to be slammed against it once again. I tried to scream but air was unable to escape from my lungs as he squeezed my neck hard. I tried to grab the hand that was squeezing my neck, only to find nothing but my own. I quickly released myself, gasping for air as tears streaked down my face.
"Ava?"
I turned and saw my mom looking at me, worried. "Mom?"
"Why didn't you listen to me?"
I looked at her, confused. "What? What do you mean?"
"I told you to stay in your room. Why didn't you listen to me? I could've lived. Your dad could've lived."
I didn't understand what she was saying and then I saw blood dripping from her eyes and mouth. I started screaming, stumbling back into the wall as I tried to get away. I turned to my right and screamed again when I saw a face inches from mine. Ramiro grinned at me. I stumbled back and fell to the floor. I tried to crawl away, just to feel a weight on top of me.
"No! Get off of me! Leave me alone!"
"I told you no one would care about you. It's your fault. You're the reason they died." He whispered menacingly into my ear.
I was crying, desperately trying to get away.
"Baby girl, wake up."
I could hear a muffled voice from afar. It sounded soothing and warm. I closed my eyes and paid attention to nothing but that voice that was calling out to me.
I opened my eyes, even though I knew I couldn't see a thing but for the first time in a long time, I wished I could see something. Anything. Anything to bring me out of the darkness that I had been forced to live with. Anything to erase what I saw in my dreams.
I noticed the arms that were wrapped carefully around me. "Mary?" I croaked, my throat aching.
"Yes, sweetheart," she said, her voice trembling as she stroked my head. "I'm here. I'm here."
I broke down, sobbing, even though my body protested. I cried the tears that I've kept in for days. I cried for the pain I felt. I cried for the guilt I shouldn't feel. I cried for the loss that hasn't disappeared till this day. I simply cried until I fell asleep once again.
***
I woke up again, disoriented and heavy. "Mary?"
Silence.
"Uncle Dave?" I raised my voice a bit louder.
The door clicked open, followed by three set of footsteps.
"Ace?" Uncle Dave came to my side.
"How long have I been asleep?"
"Well, from the time that we last talked, that would be two days ago but Mary said you woke up in the middle of the night last night. Not long after, you fell back asleep. You feeling better, kiddo?"
"Well, I no longer feel like I got hit by a bunch of cars so yeah, I feel better. Just thirsty. Oh and hungry."
He chuckled. "Yeah, I figured but you're stuck with soup for now since you're still a bit weak."
I nodded. "As long as it's Mary who's making the soup, I wouldn't mind."
"I'm glad to hear that." Mary said from the other side. I felt her hand stroke my face, softly. "I know you don't want to go through this after just waking up but the police have some questions for you. They just arrived a few minutes ago but they've been checking up on you since you got admitted in. Are you okay with this?"
I sighed. "Yeah but could I have water at least? My breath smells a dog shit in it or something."
Uncle Dave chuckled. "It's okay. Hopefully your bad breath will chase your friends away. They've been pestering me since the moment you got admitted into the hospital."
I gave a small smile. "I'm surprised Hailz and Kenzie didn't break the door down."
"Oh no, I'm not talking about them. I'm talking about your three lover boys."
I scrunched my brows, confused. "My what?"
"Ryder and his friends. I had to throw Xyrus their way for them to leave."
I was speechless for a bit before speaking. "Uncle Xyrus didn't break any of their bones, did he?"
"I wish." Uncle Dave grumbled and a smack sounded out as he yelped.
"Ignore him, sweetie. He just doesn't like the fact that there are three good looking boys who are actually your friends."
I sighed. "Where are they now?"
It was silent.
"Hello? Where are they?"
Whack!
"Ouch! Dammit, woman!" Uncle Dave groaned.
"I'll call them in."
"Mar- it hurts!"
I chuckled and winced. From what it sounds like, Mary was probably dragging him out by the ear, like she usually does when she gets annoyed.
Less than five minutes later, the door clicked open.
I smiled. "Hey."
The three boys immediately crowded around my bed.
"Ava, are you okay?"
"If that son of a bitch wasn't dead already, I'd have killed him myself!"
"I'm sorry I couldn't do anything to help."
Ryder, Jake and Derrick all spoke at the same time. I took a deep breath, trying to ignore the headache that was currently pounding through my head. "Guys, one person at a time and a little quieter please?"
They immediately apologized and calmed down.
"How long will you be staying here?" Ryder asked.
"I don't know. Uncle Dave said the doctors are still monitoring me to make sure everything is working fine."
"Like how? To see if you suddenly became dumber than usual?" Ryder teased.
I scoffed. "Excuse me, I believe no one can be as stupid as you in any aspect of life."
"Ouch," he groaned. "That hurt. You might as well take a knife to my heart. I bet it'll hurt less than your words."
I laughed, slowly shaking my head. "Are you just here to cause me more pain or are you here to break me out of here?"
"I wish we could help you there but your uncle is scary." Jake said with a short laugh.
"Yeah, did he tell you that he pulled a gun on us when we came to visit the first time?" Derrick spoke up.
"WHAT?!" I shouted before wincing. "What did you say? He pulled a what? Did you say gun? You better be joking."
"Nope, he really did but since you clearly did not know about that, please don't tell him I told you. I'd like to stay alive until I'm old and gray, thank you very much." Derrick pleaded.
I sighed. "I'm sorry, guys but thank you for visiting and dealing with my overprotective uncle."
"Don't be so hard on him," Ryder suddenly said. "He was really worried about you. Anyways, we gotta go. I'm glad you're doing okay."
I smiled, nodding. "Yeah, me too. You guys in a rush to go somewhere?"
Ryder snickered. "No, your overprotective uncle is currently glaring holes into our heads. He told us to make it quick since you need your rest."
"Oh jeez, call that old man in when you get out."
"Alright."
They all said their goodbyes before walking out the door.
"Hey, kiddo. You called?"
"A gun? Really, Uncle Dave?"
"What? I wasn't fast enough to pull the trigger before Mary stopped me."
I groaned. "Uncle Daaaave, they're my friends. They are my only friends aside from Hailz and Kenzie so I'd appreciate it if you didn't kill them."
"You have a lot of friends," he argued.
"No, I have a lot of acquaintances. Those boys are the only ones that hang out with me and my girls."
He sighed, placing himself beside me. "That's because you don't give the others a chance to get to truly know you girls."
I shrugged. "If they were as persistent as Jake, then maybe we would've."
"Jake? Not Ryder?" He asked, confused.
"No, Jake confessed that he liked me but I-"
"What? I should've shot him when I had the-" Uncle Dave growled, interrupting me.
"Don't you dare." I said in a low tone and he went quiet. "As I was saying, I turned him down but he still came after me. Somewhere down the line, he just started hanging out with us from time to time and we became friends. As for Ryder, we started hanging out after doing the project. I don't know why."
"And the third boy?"
"He goes where ever his boys go. He doesn't really care or mind. He's the laid back type of person and he couldn't care less about the people around him except his boys. He soon became comfortable with us and we became friends, too."
I finished explaining and waited for him to say something but he stayed quiet for what seems like an eternity.
Finally, he let out a long breath and grumbled. "But why boys?"
I chuckled. "Get over it, Uncle Dave. Now get lost, I wanna sleep."
"Ugh, fine, be that way." He said, jokingly before dropping a kiss on my forehead. "If you need anything, just let me know okay?"
I nodded, already half asleep. "Okay."
*****
"Oh, you really are strong. It's been half a day and yet you still have some fight in you." Ramiro said, sounding genuinely surprised.
"Well, what can I say? You just totally suck at thi-" A scream was ripped out of my throat as a knife was plunged into my inner thigh. "You son of a bitch!"
He laughed as he slightly twisted the knife. I gritted my teeth as I fought the bone-piercing pain radiate from my thigh. I could feel the tears trail down my face but I still wasn't willing to beg for mercy.
"You know, I gotta say. You're so much tougher than anyone that I've ever tortured before. It's intriguing." He said before plunging another knife into the same thigh, except a bit lower.
I was gasping for air as I tried to breathe the pain. My body was trembling and I was on the verge of losing my mind. I could feel the blood flow out of my leg onto the wooden chair that I was placed on. "Fuck you." I gasped.
"What was that?" He asked, not hearing what I said.
"I said FUCK. YOU." I repeated a bit louder.
He went silent and I was about to say something else before feeling the familiar scalding sensation that I later found out was a metal rod that he heated up with a torch.
"You still wanna play, little girl? Because I don't mind. I can do this all day."
I shook my head. "Just kill me, you son of a bitch. I'm sick and tired of hearing your voice."
My head whipped to the side as he slapped me hard. I chuckled. "Come on, Ramiro. I'm pretty sure your wife hits harder than you. Oh wait, she's done. I'm so sorry." I gasped in mock horror.
Suddenly, the same scalding feeling appeared right onto the stab wound in my leg. I screamed louder, my throat aching from the strain as I tried to kick out my legs. The pain was more excruciating than anything he's done and I just wanted it to stop.
Right then, I felt myself be pulled away.
"Ace, come on, wake up."
I woke up to the sound of Uncle Dave's voice and I tried to speak, only to find my throat raw with pain. I swallowed down the pain and said, hoarsely. "Uncle Dave?"
"Hey kiddo, I'm here. You're safe, okay? You're safe."
With those words, I broke down once again, begging. "Please, please."
I faintly noticed that I was in his arms as he tried to comfort me. "What is it, Ace? What do you need?"
I shook my head, sobbing. "Please, make it stop... Make it stop."
"Make what stop?" He asked softly, stroking my hair.
"The pain. Nightmares. He won't- he won't leave me alone."
His arms tightened around me, careful with my wounded up body. "I wish I could, Ace." He said, gruffly. "I really wish I could but I can't. You just have to get through this like you have with any other tough situation."
I shook my head.
"Yes, you have to." He said firmly. "You're a tough girl with a strong will and I know you can get through this. You're not alone, Ava. You're not alone."
I don't know how long I cried but I just wished I stopped crying. I cried when I had the first nightmare and I cried again now. Is this how it's going to be like? Not being able to escape the torture I went through even in my sleep?
I didn't notice the tears dripping onto my head, where Uncle Dave's head rested as he hugged me nor did I notice myself falling asleep as he sung a song I didn't recognize. I was just focused on the heartbeat that told me that I was safe and that I wasn't alone.