Ellie let out a scream of fear, opening her eyes to see Chase had jumped on her, the same two friends that had attacked Dina almost a week and a half ago behind him. She screamed in fury, slashing her knife with no hesitance through Chase's cheek, making him roar in pain. "You bitch!" He yelled, taking the knife and slashing it across her arm, spreading pain through her. The two boys tried to take hold of her but she quickly got up, taking a metal water bottle on her nightstand and bashing it against one of the boy's heads, knocking him unconscious. She swept the leg of another, wielding the heavy bottle and hitting the hand he'd help up to protect himself, bruising him.
Though, Chase once again tackled her, pushing her to her bed. She screamed in fury, having a million different memories from winter hit her at once. He pushed against her and she felt the same want from him that David had felt. Both of his friends were unconscious, due to Ellie bashing them in with the heavy metal bottle, but Chase was arguably the most dangerous, as he was the most upset.
He used to be the apex predator in the highschool, but after Ellie had humiliated him, people laughed at him when walking down the halls. And then there was the mutiny of what her and her pathetic friends had done to their hangout and the drawings she'd vandalized their spot with. "Get off of me!" Ellie squealed, beating against the boy. He simply thrashed his fist against her cheek, leaving another dark bruise. Ellie let another piercing scream release from her lips. Chase pressed and ground against her uncomfortably, making her sob in memory of Winter. "Get off of me, you chickenshit!"
"You took everything from me, you little bitch. I can't go outside anymore, I have to fucking work for the next month because of you and your little girlfriend, you fa**ot." Ellie screamed again, feeling the boy rip her jacket from her. She fought as hard as she could, kicking and screaming violently. She only prayed that someone could hear her, or that Joel was returning from work after the hours he'd been gone. "Shut up." He covered her mouth with his hand, but she bit his finger, nearly taking it off. Blood still dripped down his face from when Ellie had slashed her blade against his cheek. She reached for the knife as he began tearing her shirt, making her shriek and cry as loud as she could, begging someone would hear her, or that Jesse was coming to check on her as he'd done the previous day. "I'm going to make you pay." He whispered, looking directly into her eyes. His eyes were full of anger and rage, while she was terrified of what he was going to do, trauma and fear filling hers. The winter was screaming in her head and she could almost feel snow clinging to her now almost bare top.
Her screams were muffled as he took her shirt off, leaving her in nothing but a sports bra. She sobbed, tears spilling from her eyes onto his palm. "Shut up, just fucking shut up." Ellie kicked him again, but he seemed almost impervious to harm, determined on his mission. His hands violated her nearly bare top and she screamed again, crying out for Joel. "Shut the fuck up. This is for humiliating me. Everyone laughs at me… well, they won't be laughing now. They're going to respect me."
Ellie tried desperately to get him off, but her desperate and terrified attempts were for nothing. And then, just as his hands scrambled from her chest to her jeans, she saw a blade from the corner of her eye; her mother's knife, laying at the foot of her bed. She let out a scream as he violated her once again, touching her chest once again. Ellie screeched in terror and moved her right hand from trying to push him away to the knife, its hilt meeting her hand. She sobbed, suddenly pushing the knife into his throat, just as she had done in Winter. He screeched in pain and she thrashed again, tearing the blade out and screwing it back into his neck, blood spilling across her face and hands. She pushed him off, throwing him onto the ground beside his unconscious friends. She continued to throw the blade into his skin until finally, exhaustion took over her and she sat on the body, then hiding in the corner.
Her body was racked with horrible sobs and she flew into the corner, hiding her head in her hands and letting screams and cries escape her lips. She dropped the knife, blood splattered across her hands and her cheeks. She was still left in only a bra and she ran her hands on her skin, rubbing it crazily and trying to get his fingerprints and smell off of her. She barely knew the boy, so what had gotten him so upset with her? Because she'd toppled his social state by making him look like an idiot in front of the school?
"Oh, God." She screamed once again, her cries muffled by her arms. A large gash ran down her arm, spilling blood down her skin from where Chase had slashed her own knife against her. The two boys were still unconscious and she shuddered, begging someone would find her soon, as she was too terrified to move.
Ellie heard a knocking on the door, but she couldn't move. Cold shock was lacing around her limbs, preventing her from moving. Sobs shook her as she opened her eyes to see Chase's dead eyes staring back at her, almost as if they were still defiling her even as a corpse. "Ellie?" It was Jesse's voice, pounding on the door. The knocks continued for almost five minutes before they disappeared, leaving Ellie to feel the handprints on her chest and skin. It almost felt like snow was pouring on her and she was back in that restaurant, but she pushed the memories away, traumatized by this new nightmare that had mixed into her brain and life. Chase had nearly assaulted her once, she'd nearly been dragged into the dark hole of sexual assault twice, but this time, she wasn't sure if she'd be able to recover.
This time, a new series of knocks came from the door, and she recognized them as Joel's. Jesse must've gone to get him and soon enough, he heard the door open. "Ellie?" Joel called through the house, sensing a feeling of dread when he saw the blanket he'd laid on Ellie thrown to the floor. "Ellie?!" He called again, his face twisting into terror when he heard horrible sobs emerging from the second floor. "Kiddo?" Jesse had gone to get him after Ellie didn't answer the door after almost fifteen minutes. The kid seemed genuinely worried and Joel almost found it relieving that Ellie had found friends that cared about her. "Hey, kiddo?" He climbed up the steps, stopping in terror when he saw a pool of blood spilling from the doorframe of Ellie's room.
Joel almost fell down the steps in shock and terror. He rushed towards the room, prying open the door and finding a horrible scene. There were three bodies and Joel instantly recognized them as the boys that Ellie had gotten into a scuffle with… the boys who'd started the fire. Blood poured down one of their necks and Ellie's switchblade was lodged in his neck. The other two seemed to be alive and he thanked God, knowing there'd be trouble for Ellie if she killed three boys.
And then, he saw Ellie. She was sobbing in the corner, her shoulders and stomach bare as she was wearing only a bra. He realized in horror that her hoodie and shirt were both on the bed, along with her own blood. He raced towards her, seeing a large gash on her arm, just above the burns that she'd received from the fire. "Ellie, baby girl." He whispered, prying her arms open and forcing her to look at him. When she met his eyes, her irises were constructed of terror and absolute pain. He cringed, framing her face with his hands. "Ellie, what happened?" He asked, but she gave no answer. She only dove into his chest, letting out sobs and terrible cries. "Ellie, baby… what happened?" He repeated, but she shook her head, tears screaming down her cheeks. Blood was splattered across her face and body and she forced him to hold her.
Shock and confusion was constricted on Joel's face and he looked around at the bodies, then to Ellie's half nude body. He rubbed her back, trying to calm her down with failing attempts. Ellie was bawling in his grip and he tightened his grip around her, tickling her back and trying to calm her. "They… they came in, I had… I had no choice." She tried to make out words between sobs and he looked at the slightly open window, cursing at himself for not getting Tommy to install a lock on it after the fire. I left, this is my fault. I shouldn't have left her. Joel thought, cringing when he saw bloody handprints and bruises on Ellie's skin and chest. "He… he tried to-" Ellie's voice suddenly broke and Joel cringed, his features scrunching together.
"Oh, baby girl. It's alright, it's okay." He tried to comfort her, but her sniveling and crying was deafening. He felt physical pain as he listened to her shaky gasps for air and crying and he tried to pry her from him but she jumped back into his grip, shaking her head. "It's alright, it's okay, baby girl. You're safe now. You're okay." Joel wished she hadn't killed the boy, he wished he could just have ten seconds to deal with the little shit. It was the same feeling he felt for David, he would've hung that man by his entrails and let the smell waft through the air, warning anyone that tried to even touch Ellie. "I promise, it's okay. It's alright." "I'm never going to let this happen to you again, I promise, baby girl." I'm a failure. This is all my fault. Joel thought somberly, once again trying to gently take her from his grip. This time he succeeded and he met her eyes, wiping the tears from her skin with his thumbs only for more to replace them. "It's okay, it's okay." Ellie shook her head, looking to the bodies around them.
"They, they were going to… they…" Ellie broke into undeterminable murmurs, cries and mewls interrupting each word. Joel shook his head, brushing hair from her face and wiping her river of tears once again. Her body was trembling and her hands were shaking wildly. Joel took the sleeve of his shirt and wiped the splattered blood from her cheeks, cringing when she looked back towards the bodies. "Joel…" She croaked, looking up at him with terrified eyes. He shushed her, scooping her into his arms and taking her downstairs, placing her on the couch and seeing the massive gash running down her arm. She had two bruises on her left cheek and her jaw, making the skin dark and purple. "They… they made me kill him…" She whispered in a haunted expression, boring her eyes into her own hands, staring at the blood on her nails and fingers. "I killed him… I murdered him…"
"No, baby, you protected yourself, okay? You protected yourself, you did good." Joel whispered, nestling his hands in her loose hair and making her look at him. She shook her head, looking back down at him. "Okay, you did good. You didn't do anything wrong." She didn't believe him and just looked down at her hands, cringing at every speck of blood. Her own tears dripped from her face onto her hands, nestling the blood away and making her tears red. Blood poured from her arm and he took it into his grip, taking a roll of bandages from a cabinet on the coffee table in front of the couch. "Okay, stay with me here, Ellie." He shook her gently, trying to save her from her own thoughts and nightmares. "Okay? I'm here, I'm here, baby girl."
Ellie nodded, clearly not in the room, but in the room above, replaying those five minutes in her head over and over, replaying the terror she felt in those moments where Chase had ripped her shirt off. "It hurts." She whispered, but she didn't know if she was talking about her arm, or what Chase had tried to do to her.
"I know, baby girl, I know. I'll give you some of those pills you got from the doctor and it'll be better, okay?" Joel asked, but she shook her head, tears dripping down her cheeks.
"That's not what I was talking about." Ellie mumbled, tears and shaky gasps for air interrupting her words. Ellie slowly quieted, exhaustion taking over her. But Joel didn't know which he preferred. Instead of sobbing, deadly silent tears slowly surfaced from her eyes and she barely even let out a breath, her own mind taking over her.
"Ellie, baby." He shook her, trying to pry her from her thoughts. Still, she shook her head, looking down at her bloody hands once again. "Hey, stay right here, okay? Stay with me." He ordered her gently, shaking her slightly. He took a needle and thread, pushing the thread through the small hole in the needle and pushing the needle into her arm, sewing the gash closed. He cringed when she barely even winced, already in too much pain to even react. He frowned, finishing sewing the wound closed and then bandaging it. "Hey, Ellie. You're safe now, alright? It's over." He shook her again, forcing her to look at him. She nodded shallowly, feeling him release her and go to get the bottle of painkillers. He took one out, handing it to her and watching her slowly swallow it in a catatonic state. There was no complaint this time, only another tear that dripped down Ellie's face, haunting Joel. "Okay, let's clean ya up, okay?" Ellie nodded smally, watching Joel take one of his flannels from the laundry basket by the steps and wrapping it around her, buttoning it quickly. "See? We're okay now, alright?"
"Y-yeah." Ellie responded softly, clearly not entirely present. He knew he had to get Tommy or Maria, someone to collect the bodies and have the boys taken into some sort of custody. There was no way that they'd get off with nothing this time, their friend certainly had gotten his sentencing, but they deserved more than death. They deserved the same pain Ellie was feeling. "Okay." She felt him rubbing her now clothed arms, trying to comfort her. "Am… am I in trouble?"
"No, of course not, baby girl." He sat beside her and let her hide in his arms, silent cries surfacing from her chest. "I know, I know. It's alright." Joel tried to promise her, but her sense of safety and self esteem had been shattered into pieces, never to be put together again. Suddenly, there was an abrupt knock on the door and Ellie jumped, flinching in Ellie's arms. "It's alright, baby, it's okay. Stay right here." She nodded, stuck in a catatonic state. He left her there, resentment living in him at his own self. Joel opened the door, only to see Jesse looking up at him, the teenage boy clearly still worried. "Jesse?"
"I'm sorry, I just wanted to see if everything was okay with Ellie, after she didn't answer." Joel shook his head, blocking Ellie's frame, but her small cries were audible from the other side of the room.
Jesse's face constricted in concern and he tried to look around Joel, but the older man blocked her.
"I-is she okay?" Jesse asked, his eyes twisting in horror and glancing up to Joel.
"Can you go get Tommy, please?" Joel asked, his voice hoarse but strict at the same time. Jesse's features twisted in confusion and concern, but Joel's seriousness and clear pain frightened him. Jesse swallowed, slowly nodded, but he stayed there.
"Is she okay, did… Did something happen?" Joel shook his head, just beckoning him to go get Tommy, so eventually, Jesse accepted, running towards Tommy's house as quick as he could, desperate to know what'd happened to Ellie. A million questions ran through his mind as he sprinted to Tommy's, looking back only to see Joel had shut the door, racing back to Ellie.
"Ellie, hey, look at me, okay? Tell me, what happened?" He asked her, framing her face with his hands and looking deep into her eyes, seeing the pain and terror in them. "It's okay, I promise, just tell me. It's just us."
"I… I thought it was you, but… I don't know, they must've climbed through the windows." Ellie thought, remembering the sound of the window slamming shut. They must have climbed through to catch her by surprise. They were too scared to even take her into an actual fight, for they knew she'd win. "And, then… then they tackled me, and… and he… he started touching me, and… I had to stop him." Ellie whispered, her voice in a hoarse tone. Joel cringed, bringing her into his arms and squeezing her tightly, his own tears spilling down her cheeks. They could've killed her. He thought in pain, realizing he'd almost lost her twice in only a week and a half. Terror was gripping both of them and she let out hushed cries in his chest, making his shirt damp with tears.
"Oh, God, it's okay. It's okay, baby girl…" He swore, squeezing her tightly and letting her just air out her tears and pain, trying to make her feel safe again, though perhaps, even he couldn't do that now. "It's alright, it's okay. I'm right here now, and they're never going to touch you again. No one's going to touch you ever again… I'm never leaving you alone again." He swore, rubbing her back until eventually there was another knock on the door. This time, he just let it open and saw Tommy immediately take in the sight of Ellie sobbing in Joel's arms. Joel shook his head, gesturing with his eyes to the second floor.
Tommy wanted to help somehow, to make Ellie stop crying, but instead, he just traveled upstairs, his steps shocked when he saw the bodies lining the floor. There was a bloody corpse on the floor by Ellie's bed and two boys knocked unconscious, both of them still under. Tommy checked their pulses, feeling a steady, but elevated rhythm under his fingers. Then his eyes met the corpse. He recognized it as the boy who'd started the fire, the blaze that had almost killed Ellie and Dina. It was the boy that had harassed Ellie at school. And then, he saw Ellie's shirt on the bed, and his hand met his mouth. Tears watered in Tommy's eyes and he looked back down to the steps, able to hear Ellie's cries from even the second floor.
He descended back down the steps, his fists clenched together. Joel's eyes met his and he saw the grief in Joel's eyes. Ellie was still hidden in Joel's arms, but she'd gone deadly silent. Tommy walked towards both of them, unsure of what to say. Ellie's cries were muffled and she was now chillingly still, hiding her face in Joel's neck and shaking her head. Her body trembled and he hushed her, rubbing her gently. He met Tommy's eyes, shaking his head at his brother and sharing the same dead expression. "Listen, we gotta go so Tommy can clean up, okay, baby girl?" He asked, taking her from his arms and looking her in the eyes. She just remained silent, throwing herself back into his grip.
Both of the brothers had a grim expression on their face and Joel sighed, scooping Ellie up in his arms. Her face was still hiding in his chest and he held her close to his chest as an ape would with its child. "Okay, come on kiddo."
"You can go to our place, Maria's not there." Tommy whispered, knowing Ellie wouldn't want to be near anyone, even people she knew very well. As he carried her through the town, he murmured praises to her, trying to calm her down. Still, she was deathly silent and it only worried Joel more.
"Hey, it's okay, baby girl. You're safe with me now." He whispered, opening the door to Tommy's house and setting her down on the couch just as Tommy had done almost two weeks ago when she'd figured out Joel's lie. Ellie stayed exactly as Joel positioned her and grabbed one of the pillows, squeezing it as tightly as she could, like she'd be transported back to that terrible minute if she didn't keep a death-grip on it. "Ellie." Joel looked her in the eyes, taking her hands.
Out of nowhere, her face broke and she suddenly collapsed into a ball of sobs, feeling Joel wrap his arms around her. Hot rage was radiating off of him as he thought of the boy -Chase, he remembered- who had done this to her. He had been able to recover her after David, but now he was unsure. "I know, baby, I know." He whispered, letting her weep in his chest, small gasps for air escaping her lips.
"I thought he… I thought he was going to…" Ellie shook her head, refusing to travel back to that moment. When he'd slashed her with the knife, she truly thought that he was going to kill her. "I thought he was going to kill me." Ellie croaked, tightening her grip around Joel's clothing and squeezing him as hard as he could, until it hurt her injured arm from clenching her muscles too hard.
"No, that's not happening, okay? I'm never, ever leavin' you alone again, Ellie." He promised her, looking deep in her eyes and wiping her tears. She sniffled, sitting up and holding her head in her hands, still able to see the slight traces of the boys' blood on her hands. "Are… are they going to kick me out? Maria said that we weren't allowed to kill anyone, is… am I in trouble?"
"No, no, Ellie. No, you did everything just right, you protected yourself. You always protect yourself, okay?" Ellie nodded, sniffling and hiding in Joel's arms, her crying finally stalling to some extent. He breathed an inhale of relief, combing his fingers through her hair and taking in the sound of her breathing, relishing the sound.
"Okay." Ellie responded, keeping her hands pressed into her chest. Now that the shock and outright terror had very subtly been defused, the gash that ran down her arm sent a pain through her. "Ow…" She rolled up her sleeve, -or really, Joel's- and saw the stitches lining her skin. It was a deep cut, since it had been such a crime of passion and not meant to really kill, but to hurt. It went around three inches into her small amr, making the pain almost unbearable.
"I know, it should stop hurting after the pain-meds kick in." Joel kissed her hand, making her arm feel a little less full of tension and pain. She pulled her sleeve back down, hiding once again in Joel's arms. He wrapped his muscles around her, making sure she felt safe. "I know, kiddo…" He thought back to the bodies lining her room and knew with a gratitude she'd be sleeping right beside him in his bedroom for most likely a long time after the incident. Ellie was sure Jesse must've been so worried. She'd heard his voice from when Joel answered the door, and there was no way that he didn't hear her cries. She cringed, hating the idea of burdening him somehow.
Finally, Ellie released herself from Joel's chest, sitting on the couch beside him but letting him still hold her, keeping her close and making her feel safe. "Do you trust me?" She nodded instantly, looking up at him with puffy red eyes and a terrified face. "Okay, so trust that I'm gon' keep you safe, alright? No one is ever touching you again." He swore, his voice serious and quick, making her actually believe him. She nodded, letting a small sniffle escape her and she buried her head into his arm, the smell of him surrounding her and slowly letting the terror built up in her trickle down her bloody hands.
Ellie was still slightly catatonic and was distant. Part of her hadn't left the house when Joel did. Part of her was still in that room, with Chase's bald, dead eyes defiling her. "Alright?"
"Okay…" Ellie whispered, still not able to fall asleep. Her stomach growled but she told it to shut up, she couldn't even think of eating after what she'd just been through. Joel almost let out a chuckle at the growl, just as he'd done so many times that month, but Ellie remained still, her hands still shaking slightly.
"Do you wanna try eating?" Ellie shook her head violently, repulsed at the idea of trying to put any sort of food near her. She knew she probably needed it, but she didn't care. Ellie felt sick thinking of putting anything in her body after the horror that had just played before her.
"No… no, I can't eat." Ellie whispered, her voice hoarse. She bore her eyes into the wall, able to imagine Chase standing above her, disgusting and violating her with his hands. She shut her eyes, but it didn't help, he still stood there, even when everything else faded away. "Not… I can't." Ellie repeated, shaking her head and shutting her eyes again. Joel had settled a blanket upon both of them, trying to comfort Ellie. It didn't do much, but part of her had calmed down from when he first found her. She had looked so terrified when he first found her, and it broke his heart. Truly, he didn't know what to say to make her feel better, but he wished so much that he could take her pain and put all of it onto his shoulders.
"Okay, don't worry, that's okay." He eased her, and silence again fell between them. He frowned, suddenly taking himself from her and instead kneeling in front of her and the couch, his knees meeting the rug below them. "Hey, look at me, baby girl." Joel whispered, cupping her face with his hands. She sighed, looking into his eyes with a glum expression. He died when he saw the pain riddled in her irises and it felt like he was watching Winter all over again. "Listen, I know it seems dark right now, but things are gon' get better, okay?" He swore to her, kissing the top of her forehead. She shut her eyes as he did so, letting a sniffle escape her body once again. "Okay? I'm right here, and I'm not going anywhere. And we're going to do all of this together, step by step."
Ellie, for the first time since Joel had found her, actually seemed to believe him. Her expression lightened only a small bit, but it was a ray of hope to Joel. He let himself breathe, only for a second. "Alright?" Joel asked again, his voice hoarse as he held her jaw with his hand. She leaned into his hand and shut her eyes. Dry tears were caked onto her face, and splatters of Chase's blood was still hidden beneath her freckles. A single tear ran down her face and Joel wiped it away with his thumb, watching her with a somber expression.
"Alright." She whispered, letting him take her in his arms once again and they laid there, Joel murmuring praises and whispers of comfort to her, but she remained mostly silent, replaying the events in her mind.