Attached By String

10. Tell Me That You Love Me

| Elsie Taylor |

"How about, I take control for once. I think she hasn't learnt her lesson in the right way"

"Here, take this, and don't say a word to anyone. I'll give you more in a few hours" 

Shivering, I woke to a cold sweat dripping down my back, making me whimper, before I was sitting up, tears springing to my eyes at the dark room that had surrounded me. I didn't like this, I didn't know where I was, who I was with, or what was going on. I didn't know anything, and that was what scared me the most. 

Everywhere I looked, every photo that showed a face that I could see, showed me my Daddy, blood pouring down his face, telling me that I could have done more, that I could have saved him. On top of that, I had John's voice, breathing down my back, telling me that I was naughty, but I didn't think I had done anything wrong. I had been good, hadn't I?

A person appeared in my blurry vision, but I couldn't tell who it was, making me whimper again and the tears started to fall faster and faster. I could feel my throat start to close up, before I was reaching up and scratching at it, trying to get something in there, just anything to stop whatever was going on.

The person that had appeared, had turned a light on, and was now coming closer, but I put my hands up, turning my face into my shoulder, hoping they would stop. "S-stop" I mumbled, hoping that the person was very far away now, and that they could turn the light off. I could find my way out of here, I had done it before, so I could do it again. 

I had run from John once before, I was sure that I could do it again. "It's just me, El. Only me" that voice, I remembered it, but I wasn't sure where from. He had called me El, which meant that he wasn't John or one of his friends. He wasn't Daddy, and that made me cry harder for some reason, even though I had always connected Daddy to John. He let John do what he did, but Daddy was dead, and we can't change the past. 

I can't bring him back. A sob caught in my throat, making me cough it up, before I was wrapped in some arms, as I felt my body fall forward. Daddy was dead, and there was going to be no more trips in the truck, or me sitting on his lap while he pushed the pedals, and I steered with his hands on mine. There was no more barbeques at the park, while we ate out of the back of the truck, listening to the birds chirp at us until the darkness had set and we were back on the roads. 

I cried out at the person that was rocking me, biting down on my lip when contact was made on my sore ribs. A second cry made it past my lips, as the person just continued to rock me. "Stop-p please-e" I mumbled, pressing my head against the person's shoulder, to stop the movement, and everything spinning around me and my pounding head. 

All of a sudden, it came to a stop. The light that I thought was on, is now off, and I can see a little clearer. I could still feel my bottom lip wobbling from trying to hold in the tears, but it wasn't as bad as before. I was now sitting up, a hand resting on my forehead, as I felt my stomach lifting with every breath in and out, as another hand was rubbing up and down my arm. 

"Your okay" the hand that was on my forehead, dropped, and was now rubbing my other arm. "Your okay" the person repeated, and my cries had turned into hiccups, while the tears still ran down my cheeks. "Come on, El, deep breaths" 

I tried, I really did. But I was just really scared. I wiped my eyes, before I was cowering away, and into the person that was holding me. The person than started to run their hand up and down my back, soothing me more than I thought it would. It reminded me of Daddy, but I pushed him away. I couldn't think of him at the moment. 

"There she is" the person murmured, and then they stood. I caught my breath, before I realized that nothing was happening and the person continued to run their hand up and down my back as we walked somewhere. I hadn't even caught on to who it was, but I didn't care. I knew that it was one of the people that I had been with for the past few days. 

They were sharing their house with me for god's sake. They were really nice people. I hope that I could stay here and not make any trouble for them. "Here, take this" I was then handed something, but I just turned away, and tried to bury myself further into the chest of this person, to get away from the light and the thing that was being handed to me. 

"Come El, you have to have something to eat. How about some milk?" I just nodded at the suggestion of milk. That was something I was usually given when I was in tears, but right now, it was all I wanted. "Warm" I whispered, thinking of the taste of warm milk and how it would warm my heart and chest whenever I had it. It always fixed everything back up. 

"Warm milk?" was all I got in response, and I nodded my head. That was what I wanted right now. "Okay, I'll get you some warm milk then" and with that, I finally opened my eyes and sat up. When I saw who it was, a small smile made it onto my face. This was the man that had tried to calm me down at the mall the other day. 

I reached around for his necklace, running it back through my fingers. This man had helped me a lot recently, and now he was making me some warm milk. He would never know just how much this would mean to me. Daddy had stopped giving me warm milk when he thought I was old enough, but occasionally I would try and make it myself whenever the place we were staying at had become empty. 

A beeping noise was heard, and it kind of scared me, as I let go of the chain and leaned more into the man that was holding me. "Hey, it's okay. It's just the microwave" and with that, he turned to show me, and that was when I realized that everything was okay. Nothing had changed, and nothing was going to happen to me. Everything was okay. 

A soothing hand made its way along my back, before a sippy cup was at my lips. The man kept a hold of the sippy cup, while I sipped, and he walked somewhere, but I didn't matter. I knew that everything would be okay, now that I had my sippy cup and milk. I tried to take it from him, but he just took it away for a second, letting me breathe. 

It was then back at my lips, right as we sat down, and I turned my back on everything else, and curled further into the man, as something started playing behind me. The hand that was once resting on my leg, was now rubbing up and down my back again, and the other was still on the sippy cup, as I had my own, smaller hand on top of his large one. 

I kept calling this man, 'man', and I felt bad that I didn't know his name, so in my sleepy haze, I murmured "name?". I hope he understood, but maybe he didn't with the pause that he took to say something back to me. "Henry, but you can call me Hen" and with that, I fell fast asleep, having had all the milk that I possibly could have had. 

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thoughts? xx