Never Let Me Go ✔️

20 | gunpowder

C H A P T E R
T W E N T Y

My empty glass falls out of my hands and onto the ground, shattering into pieces. I can't believe what he's telling me.

It was a torture house

"Shit." I cry out after I realized what I just did. "I'm, I'm so sorry Grant."

"It was an accident." His voice comes out so soft.

I quickly shake my head, tucking my long brown locks behind both ears. "I'm not talking about the glass."

He nods, understanding what I mean. "It was a long time ago."

"What did that place do?"

"Oh, they would beat my ass almost every day. I hardly ate," he says nonchalantly which makes my stomach turn. "Everyone had a certain chore they had to do and mine was cleaning the toilets with a damn toothbrush. I did that every day for three years."

My eyes widen. "You were there for three years?"

"Yeah, until I escaped."

"You escaped?"

"It wasn't easy though, I'm surprised I came out alive. That place made my addiction worse. I wanted to get high more than I ever did before," his voice chokes out, remembering the awful past he had to overcome. "That's what I did after I left."

"You got high?"

A twitch in his emerald eyes catches my attention. "I'm not proud of what I did, but that place fucked me up mentally and physically."

"Tell me about the abuse," I mumble almost desperately. I know it isn't any of my business but if Elijah is keeping this from me then I need to know every single detail that he doesn't want me to know about.

"They used us as punching bags, shoved my head into the toilets that I just cleaned. I could hear my friends screaming from across the hall."

My voice gets caught in my throat. "W-why were they screaming?"

He rolls the sleeve of his jacket up to show me his wrist. "They would brand us with a hot iron."

My eyes fill up with unwanted tears once I see the burnt image resting on his skin. It's still dark red after all these years, with barely any fade to it. It honestly looks like he cut himself a million times.

I feel sick to my stomach before I instantly look the other way. He pulls his sleeve back down after my body flinches. "You wanted answers." He says apologetically.

"I know," I add barely looking at him. My eyes stare down at my hands while I fiddle my thumbs. "I just don't know how I feel right now... About everything."

"Elijah and our dad thought they were doing something good for me. They didn't know the place was anything else other than a genuine rehab facility."

But, something tells me that he doesn't believe his own words.

"We should burn that place to the ground," I told him defensively.

He chuckles, rubbing the stubble against his face. "They ended up having so many damn lawsuits, everyone went to prison that was involved, and last I've heard it's a vacant lot now."