They Called Her El Diablo

Chapter 20: So far, yet not far enough

We reached 1K!!!!  heheh chapter for celebrations' sake :D

Hayden's POV

''So, if we wanna really talk about my past we gotta know the people who raised me. I'm not sure if they were my parents or just people I'd been dumped off to, either way, I didn'tget a normal upbringing. No friends, no slumber parties, no parent bonding, no family dinner,'' I ticked the examples off my fingers.

''The damn list goes on. They had what they called 'life lessons' and every time I didn't learn or follow, I 'd be punished. As I got older, right after my 17th birthday, I met Trent Pendrigo. He showed me care, concern and love, that I now know was all fake. He was the one that showed me the truth about my home. They called it lessons of love, it was abuse.'' I saw the sadness in their eyes. ''I don't need or want your pity, it happened, I survived, life goes on.''

''Trent, once I'd left my parents, took me under his wing. He taught me to survive the streets,'' I flashed Greg's car keys, '' gave me food and shelter. In exchange, I allowed him to introduce- force me to the Dom/Sub lifestyle. I thought it was love and that even though I knew next to nothing about it and I wasn't comfortable doing some stuff, I felt compelled to do it for Trent. After everything he'd done for me, he'd remind me that this was my way of showing gratitude. Plain and simple, he abused me, physically amongst others. ''

''I endured it, for the longest time and got myself hooked on drugs as a way to escape the torture at his hands.'' I took a deep shuddering breath. A large hand clamped over mine and rubbed soothingly. Nathan. I played with his fingers as I continued my story.

''Painkilers, meth, ice, weed, whatever it was I had to have it. One day, I was suffering withdrawals. Much worse than you witnessed. That was more mild than most I've experienced.  I got mad that Trent, wasn't getting me the pills I wanted. I couldn't go out, he'd taken the keys and hidden them. If I wanted them back I'd have to..uh...please him. Orally. I was so out of it, that when he brought his friends over too, i didn't care. I just wanted my damned fix. I passed out after a while. The air supply was cut off.

"When I woke, I took the keys and wallet from his pocket, never feeling this kind of humiliation that I had then. I wore his clothes, and left, never looking back. I ran all the way here to New York. I got myself this shitty apartment. I met a guy here, he introduced me to a different way of getting release. I got clean, got a degree with a partial scholarship, because my academics weren't that good. Aaand then I worked for you guys. So here we are!"

I grinned falsely, gauging the reactions of my untainted angels. They didn't need to know the sordid details, I wasn't looking for pity, sadness or reassurances. No, I told a story, with facts and let them decide for themselves how they wanted to proceed with this information. It would be horrible of me to guilt them into being my friend, to treat me like a charity case. Fuck no.

The silence was tense and I could see them darting their eyes between each other, clearly communicating but didn't want to say stuff in front of me. 

''o...kay, so, I'm gonna pretend that there isn't an oppressive silence here and will head out to get some food. Any requests?''

Silence.

''Thai it is!'' I walked to the door took the car keys (Greg's) and the apartment keys. I shut the door behind me and almost laughed when I heard the immediate chatter that broke out behind the door. Shitty apartment, with paper thin walls, gotta love it.

I took the 5 min drive to the Thai place and ordered a massive amount of food. 1 of everything on the menu. Thankfully, the food was on Greg. (Yup, I swiped his cash too) 

It was a good 45minutes before I went back to the apartment, lugging everything up the stairs.

I unlocked the door, and set the food on the counter, silencing whatever chatter that had been going on. ''Come now, guys, don't be shy, dig in! We gonna be here a while''