By the time Betty gained consciousness, her head was pounding and she felt disoriented. Taking a look around, she realized she was in the basement, back in Penny's house. Sitting up slowly from the ground she had been dumped unceremoniously on, she assessed how she was feeling. Apart from the splitting headache and tender ribs, everything else seemed to be intact. Thank God for small blessings. She stood to her feet as gingerly as possible, trying not to jostle her body in anyway, before making her way to the stairs. After climbing them, she tried her luck with the doorknob but, unsurprisingly, she found it locked. Knowing she'd have to wait for either Malachi or Penny to come and see her, she made her way back down the stairs, ignoring the hunger pains in her stomach.

Once she was seated on her bed, she stared around the room, wondering how the hell her life had come to this.

XXX

It was a few hours later that Betty found herself sitting up to the sound of the door being unlocked. She waited apprehensively as she heard footsteps on the stairs. Eventually, Penny came into the room, smirking at her, and Betty fought the impulse to slap that ugly smirk off her stupid face.

"Well, well, well. If it isn't our little teenage runaway," Penny said softly, walking towards Betty. Betty watched her, wondering what she would do to her now that she was back.

"What do you want, Penny?" Betty asked tiredly, and the older woman stopped right in front of her, grinning.

"Just to remind you that you'll never be free of us. Never," she said quietly, and Betty felt her stomach clench. Just then, Betty heard another set of footsteps on the stairs and looked past Penny to see Malachi coming down them, roll of duct tape in his hands. She inhaled shakily, suddenly understanding Penny's words.

"Penny, please, I'm begging you. Don't hold me here," she whispered, tears threatening to fall.

Penny just laughed. "Sorry kid, but you're under the impression I actually give a shit about what you want."

Once Malachi reached them, Betty tucked her legs up into her chest, making herself as small as possible. "Please. Don't do this."

Malachi just grinned lazily, before looking at Penny. "Want me to hold her down?"

Penny nodded, accepting the tape from him. Betty kicked her legs out, trying to fend off her abusive adoptive father, but he caught her legs and held her still.

"Don't be difficult," he whispered, nodding at Penny. She came forward and began taping Betty's legs together. Then it was her wrists. Finally, her mouth. Betty stared at them, no longer able to hold the tears.

"If you just hadn't ran, dear, we wouldn't be in this position," Penny murmured, running a hand through Betty's hair. She kissed her forehead, causing Betty to shudder, then looked at Malachi.

"Lock the door when you're done," she said casually. She headed up the stairs, not looking back once. Betty turned her eyes on Malachi, knots in her stomach; heart thudding in her chest. He grinned.

"You thought you knew what pain was before you left? You haven't seen pain, sweetheart. Not yet," he whispered, and suddenly, Betty lost the will to fight. She just let him come towards her, fists raised.

XXX

Betty's entire body ached from where Malachi had hit her. He had even cut her at one point and she knew she'd have a scar. Possibly develop an infection.

She was thirsty and tired; hunger seemed to have dissipated. And, she was silently praying that someone, anyone, would come and help her. She had been fighting for so long, had been tired for so long. It'd be nice if she didn't have to fight anymore. She felt her eyes slipping closed and tried to fight off the exhaustion. She wondered if she had a concussion from where Malachi slammed her head into the dashboard however many days ago but couldn't really find the will to care. If this was how it ended, she'd accept the peace gratefully.

Just as she was getting ready to slip into the dark abyss once more, she heard shouting coming from the main part of the house, followed by angry voices.

"Where is she?" That was Toni, angry as hell.

"Wouldn't you like to know, princess?" Malachi's taunting voice caused shivers to run down her spine.

"So help me God, Malachi, don't fuck with us." This time, Jughead's voice filled the room. "Or, I really will go to prison for the crime you set me up with."

Blinking tiredly, Betty tried to make sense of his words. Malachi was the one set him up? How was that possible?

Just then, she heard another voice.

"You'd be wise to listen to my son, you piece of shit," FP snapped. Then, the unmistakable sound of a gunshot filled their house and Betty froze.

"Sonofabitch, that was my leg!" Malachi growled.

"Just be fucking thankful it wasn't your heart," FP laughed bitterly. "Penny, unless you want the same treatment, you will tell us what we want to know. Where is she?"

For the first time ever, Betty heard the fear in her voice. "She's downstairs, in the basement."

"Jug, go get her while Toni and I stand here with these two idiots. We'll call Sheriff Keller once you get her out of here," FP stated. Jughead must have said something because the next thing Betty knew, the door to the basement was being opened and footsteps were hurrying down the stairs. Once Jughead came into view, he froze, a horrified look on his face as he took her in.

"Oh my god," he whispered, and she knew how bad she must look. Tied up and bruised. She didn't care that she couldn't control the tears anymore.

"Okay, it's okay, sweetheart," Jughead murmured, moving towards her. He peeled the tape off her mouth gently, shushing her softly as she continued to try and catch her breath. "You've got to breathe for me, hon."

She nodded as he worked on getting her wrists free, then her legs. Once she was free of her restraints, he tucked her hair behind her ear gently. "Can you walk, sweetheart?"

She assessed her body and how it was feeling, before nodding.

"Good. C'mon, we're getting you the hell out of here," he promised, helping to ease her to her feet. She leaned heavily on him as they made their way up the stairs, his arm wrapped around her waist. She knew he could feel how thin she was by the groan he emitted. Once they reached the kitchen, Betty paused, taking in the scene.

Toni and FP were both holding guns on her adoptive parents respectively, who looked terrified as hell. She didn't pause for long, just long enough to say a couple of words.

"Fuck you," she said, glaring at Penny and Malachi, before letting Jughead lead her out and into the night.

Author's notes: Other stories will be updated once I get this one finished. I'm just trying to get some of them finished. Enjoy Xxx