Page 65 of Past

"No shit," Tris chokes out.

I've got to get out of this. My hands are tied to a bar behind me with what I know is metal, so I have no chance at breaking it. I rub my head against the pole I'm leaning against and eventually shimmy my blindfold down enough that it drops to my neck. I see a faint light by the doors on the other side of the room, but everything is slowly going blank for me. I shake my head, trying and failing to stop the blackness from taking over. My last thought before my head drops is how I need to tell Allie I love her one more time.

Chapter 26

Elliot

The days pass in a blur. I know it's been a week, or at least a week, since I've been taken. They moved us not long after I passed out, and I haven't seen anyone other than the goon Arthur sends to kick the shit out of me every day. I can't feel my face, so I know it must look bad. I feel that at least a few ribs are broken. They dislocated my shoulder one day, but I managed to click it back into place when they untied me once. They untie me once a day, so I can eat and use the toilet. Unfortunately, they point a gun at me the whole time, so I know it’s pointless to try to escape. I’m pretty sure the food has drugs in it, I feel weak and sick all the time now. I’m lucky none of them have broken anything else.

I need to get the fuck out of here. I hear the door being opened, and the light outside blinds me. Some guys say a few words and, suddenly, I’m being dragged outside. This is new. I'm thrown into a white van, but I can't see much because the light is still too bright after not seeing it for however long.I want to stand up and fight, but I can’t. It’s not the right time.

The doors are slammed shut. It's not any use to escape while my hands are tied behind my back. I look around and see Tris bundled in the corner, passed out. Shit, he looks bad, and he’s covered in bruises. Someone must have helped him because his arm is wrapped up in a bandage, but it's still bleeding badly. I want to help him, but I can't.His hands are tied like mine, but his feet are undone.

Looking around again, I spot, by the door, a bit of metal that's come loose. It might be enough to cut through the rope on my hands. I manage, with a lot of pain, to get over to it somehow. I spend however long, rubbing the ties against the broken metal part, not feeling it give much because the ropes must be too tight. The van lurches to a stop, and I move away quickly knowing I can't let them guess what I was doing. The light isn't so bad when the doors open again, and two beef heads drag me and Tris out of the van.

I look around when we get out, seeing that we are on an old bridge over a river. There are trees everywhere, and the bridge itself looks years old and handmade with old wood. I panic, knowing exactly why we're here. A fast flowing river that’s filled with rocks, from the looks of it, isn't going to be easy not to drown in. I look over at Tristan, who isn't even awake, as his legs drag across the ground. Arthur is standing in the middle of the bridge. The weather isn't good as it's lightly raining, and I'm guessing it’s late afternoon as it's not quite dark yet.

"Boys, wake him up," Arthur says with his eyes locked on mine. I can see the anger bubbling in them and the tense stance he has going on. The urge to fucking kill him is unreal. I still can't believe the fucker is related to my Allie.

I hear them slap Tris around a few times before he wakes up, even then, he doesn’t look with it.

“Finally. We have one more guest to wait for, but I'm sure she is rushing here." He laughs, and I move to tackle him, knowing he is making Allie come here. I'm kicked to my knees by one of his goons, who’s standing behind me.

"Now, boy, that's not nice," Arthur tuts.

"Tristan, see you could have dealt with all this if you did what I asked. Is he really worth your own life?" He turns to Tris.

"No, but Allie is," Tristan says, strongly showing his love for his sister.

"Why would you do this to him? He's your son," I shout over whatever Arthur was going to reply.

"He's not my son," Arthur says coolly, and I look over to see the shock on Tris’ battered face. Arthur nods, and Tris is dragged to his knees on the bridge in front of Arthur. He gets his knife out of his pocket and cuts a deep cut down Tris’ face, from his eye to his chin.

"Fucking stop! Allie will hate you for this," I shout, and Arthur stops his cutting. I watch Tris' head drop to his chest.

"Maybe, but he's only her half-brother. I only kept him around so he would follow orders when he was older. He couldn't even do that right." Arthur laughs, making me feel sick.

"Who's his dad, then?" I ask, trying to buy time for my brothers to, hopefully, get here, or for something to happen. I'm slowly pulling the ropes, knowing I'm creating a big enough gap to get my hands free.

"I had no idea their whore of a mother was fucking around on me after she had Allie. I never caught who she was with, but she told me he isn’t mine. I wasn’t even in the country when he was made. I agreed to keep him, knowing he would be useful one day. Their mother was smart; she only left me when she knew Allie and Tristan were close. I couldn’t hurt Allie; she was this sweet ten-year old." He growls the end part, clearly not happy about their mum’s lack of involvement and most likely careful planning.

"So what's the big plan? You’re going to finally kill me for touching your baby girl?" I say, pissing him off. Tris isn't in a good way, and Arthur looks pissed enough to push him off the bridge. I don’t want to risk him ordering one of the goons to do it.

"You won't, fucking, touch my daughter again. She is worth a million of you, boy," he says.

"I love her, and yes, I agree with you that she is, but she is mine," I say firmly.

"What will it take to get us out of this? More fights? Money?" I ask him as he wipes the blood off his knife with a hanky.

"Nothing. I want you dead, and her brother is a warning not to ignore me again," he points at Tris.

"You were never our dad. She will hate you if she doesn't already. You say you care about her. You don’t, you wouldn't touch her brother or the man she loves if you did," Tris says, glaring up at his dad.

"You know nothing about being a parent, Tristan. Everything I do is for her,"he replies, clearly believing his own lies.

"Lies. Everything you do is for you,"Tris shouts the words I’m thinking.

Arthur reacts by punching Tris in the face so hard that he drops to the bridge with a bang.

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