Trigger warning: Threats of sexual assault

THE BUTTERFLY EFFECT
CHAPTER TWO
THE KINDNESS OF STRANGERS

This concussion must be a bitch because Elle's dream is still going.

After being knocked down, tied up, and thrown on the back of a fucking horse, she finds herself tied to a post in what seems to be a stable. The horses in the pen give her some indication, anyway, along with the stink, of course. The cold has finally sunk in, her thin jacket and trousers wet from the snow, making her shiver. She tries to huddle in on herself to conserve her warmth, her jaw aching because of the gag in her mouth that's making it sit open.

That's not the only reason she's trying to shrink. There are two men standing over her, appraising her like one would appraise a prize horse. Please god, let this just be a dream.

She eyes their clothes, heavy fur-lined coats and cowboy hats. Is this a cult? Has she been kidnapped by a weird cowboy hat wearing cult? Were they Amish?

"Where'd you find this one?" The gruff man says, tugging at one of Elle's stray curls. His hat is pulled low over his eyes, but she can still see the way he leers it at her. He laughs when Elle pulls her head away, squeezing her eyes shut. His stench, sweat and cigarette smoke, invades her nose, making her stomach churn.

"Found her wandering about the mountain," the other man says, "she hasn't said much, just been spouting off some shit that doesn't make sense. Either that, or crying."

"Normally I don't like the whiny ones, but I might give it a try this time." She can feel his breath on her face. Ohmygodohmygodohmygod. "First off, I got some business to take care of. Make sure she or any of those other shitheads don't get any ideas when I'm gone."

The implication echoes in Elle's head, making her stomach writhe in fear. It's not real. It's not real it's not real it's not real -

"Course, Colm." With that, the pair turn and head out the door, leaving Elle in the deafening silence. That seems to be the straw that breaks the camel's back, because, before she even realises what she's doing, Elle turns her head and vomits on the floor. Coughing and trying to ignore the way the vomit lingers in her throat, she tries to curl up into a ball. Her wrists are burning from where she had tried to wriggle her wrists out of them. They were tied so tightly she doubted they were coming off.

Her chest is getting tight. She can still feel their hands on her. Like, really tight. She can still smell the stink of his breath.

Is it getting harder to breathe in here?

Is she having a panic attack? Is this why her heart feels like it's going to beat right out of her chest? It's not though, her brain tries to rationalise, it's not. She's not having a panic attack because this is a dream and she's going to wake up, she's going to wake up so soon –

She lets out a rattling breath, feeling the sting of tears. I'm not panicking. This is a dream; it's not worth a panic attack. Another thought crosses her mind. What if this isn't and you've been kidnapped by John Wayne cosplayers that want to -

The more rational part of her brain tries to interrupt. If that's the case, then someone will call the police when they notice you not turning up to work.

Would they though? She had worked for the company for over a year and her boss didn't even know her name. She always got Ellie or Emma, and that was on the good days. The other staff barely wanted to know her. Her parents? Well, she doesn't want to think about that right now, because that will just send her panic attack into hysterics.

Would anyone notice?

The thought makes her inhale a rattling breath of panic. The tears won't stop now; she can feel her eyes burning and her vision blurring. However, that's not enough to make her miss the sound of the stable door banging open.

"Hey princess, we got somebody to keep you company!"

Her vision is still blurred, but she can just about make out three men. Two tall and looming in the doorway, one shorter and lanky. Go away. "What's wrong with you?" One barks, seemingly noticing her tears as he crouches down in front of her. She can smell the stink of his breath. God, has no one heard of a toothbrush? "Aw, come on now, we ain't that bad!"

Please go away.

"Don't be getting too close now," the other tall man mutters.

"I know, I know! I heard Colm's orders," he barks, "just wanted to take a look at her, is all." He turns to the skinny man. "We got to make our introductions. This, right here, is the princess. You ever been this close to an actual woman before, Duffy?"

The skinny man – Duffy – shrinks under his stare. "Course- Course I have," he mutters, his face turning pink.

The two man guffaw. "Your face is telling me otherwise! Well, don't be getting any ideas now, Colm's got his eye on her."

Ohgodohgodohgod.

Duffy looks horrified, shaking his head. "I ain't – I wasn't –"

The two men laugh again. "Well, make sure you don't because Colm wants you to keep an eye on her. If something happens, well…it'll be on your own head. You can do that, can't you Duffy?" The tall man laughs, slapping a hand on Duffy's shoulders and making him stumble forward. "You know, make sure she doesn't try to get out," he turns to Elle and grins lecherously at her, "not that you would, hey sweetheart? We're having fun, aren't we?"

Elle shrinks, squeezing her eyes shut. It makes him laugh, before he turns back to Duffy. "Think you could do that?"

"Wouldn't be so sure about that." The third man says, sending them into laughter.

"I can- I can handle it," This Duffy man says.

The taller man turns to his friend, slapping him lightly on the chest. "Well, there you go, Duffy says he can handle looking after one little girl and I believe him! I'm sure even he could fight her off."

"Wouldn't be sure of that either," the other man says, sending them both into laughter as they leave the room.

Duffy hangs his head, his face flushing. He lingers for a moment, his eyes flickering to Elle's. Why's he lingering? The silence is deafening as Duffy flickers his eyes from her to the floor. She wants to move, to squeeze her eyes shut, but Elle finds herself frozen in fear. Please leave me alone, pleasepleaseplease leave me alone. I'll do anything, please –

"I – I'm real sorry," he murmurs. With that, he turns on his heel and darts out the door, leaving Elle on her own again.

She doesn't stop the tears this time.

When the tears eventually stop and she manages to calm herself down, Elle spends a long time trying to get the ropes around her wrists loose. It doesn't work and when the burning pain around her wrists gets to be too much, she knocks her head against the pole in sheer frustration.

"Well hey there, princess."

Nononono.

Her eyes dart back and forth between the two men looming in the doorway. They aren't the same two from before, who brought the Duffy man in to see her. They still dress similar, thick winter coats and cowboy hats drawn low over the face. They even look similar, with their thick bears and greasy looking hair.

The lecherous look on their faces makes Elle's heart drop to her stomach.

She pulls her knees up to her chin, trying to make herself as small as possible and make an attempt at moving herself as far away as she can from them. It makes them laugh. "Come on now, darlin', don't be doing that. We just came in to say hi."

They step closer towards her and Elle can feel her heart pounding in her chest. She wants to scream, she would if the gag hadn't been in her mouth, or maybe she wouldn't. Her heart is pounding so fast it's making her feel breathless. It makes her wonder, if she opens her mouth, would any sound even come out?

One of them lets out a low whistle, crouching down beside her. "I don't know about you but I have not seen a women since we got up this god-awful mountain and I do miss them." He twists one of Elle's curls around his finger.

She squeezes her eyes shut. Just think about something else, try to ignore them.

The other man scoffs. "I don't know about you, but I usually prefer women with a bit of meat on them."

His friend snorts, tugging on the curl wrapped around his finger before he grips her thigh tightly. Elle lets out a surprised squawk, her eyes still squeezed shut. "So do I, but I'll take what I can get. You'll keep us warm, won't you, sweetheart?"

Just keep your eyes shut and pretend they're not here. Just ignore them. She knows there's no chance of her being able to fight them off, but maybe if she keeps her eyes shut she can go into those states she always hears about survivors going into, where they can divorce themselves from their bodies.

"You going to take that thing out of her mouth?" The man close to her says.

"Would you trust her enough to use her mouth?"

He laughs. "You wouldn't use your teeth, would you sweetheart? You know we wouldn't be too happy about that, wouldn't you?"

He moves to take the gag out of her mouth and Elle tugs her head away. The man responds by yanking her back by the hair, making her yelp out in pain.

The door opens again.

Elle opens her eyes, spotting the Duffy man standing there, his own eyes darting from each man. "H-hey fellas," he says.

"Why don't you come back later, Duffy?" One of the men says, his face still lingering close to her own. Elle flinches back from it, her own eyes trying to catch Duffy's attention. He lingers in the doorway for a moment. "You hear me, Duffy?" He repeats when he realises Duffy still hasn't moved.

He looks at Elle for a moment and she swears he almost looks guilty.

Make them go away. Make them go away. Pleasepleaseplease.

"Duffy!" The same man exclaims.

"I don't think I can."

Elle's eyes widen as she stares at him. Is he going to help? Is he going to make them go away? Pleasepleaseplease. The darker part of her mind hisses that maybe he wants to join in or maybe he'll just leave you alone with them.

The two men stand. "The hell did you just say to me?" He hisses.

Duffy takes a step back, his fists clenching. "I-I can't do that."

"And why not?"

He hesitates for a moment and she's terrified that he might turn on his heel and run out the door. "Because I was told to keep an eye on her for Colm."

The man shrugs. "What's that got to do with me?"

"Well-well you know what Colm's like if someone touches his things."

The other man hesitates before he lets out a sheepish laugh and she wonders if Colm's reputation must precede him. "Well- Colm doesn't have to know, does he?"

Duffy raises his eyebrows. "You think he won't find out?"

She can almost see the other man's hackles being raised. "You going to tell him?"

Duffy nearly jumps about a foot in the air as the other man steps forward. "No, no, no, I wouldn't, but Colm's…Colm. He always finds out some way."

There's silence for a moment while the other man considers his words. "Goddammit," he hisses, before he turns to his friend, "come on."

The two men leave and Elle feels her shoulders relax in sheer relief. Thank god. Duffy lingers for a moment, before he follows after them. Elle is left alone, trying to calm her pounding heart.

Some time passes – hours, days, Elle isn't quite sure – before the Duffy man returns to her, this time holding a bowl and a cup. In a haze, the lack of food and water beginning to get to her, she hopes it's for her and not some mind game. Would that be some kind of cruel game for them? Taunting her with food when she feels almost delirious?

God, the lack of food and rest must be getting to her because she can feel the sting of tears in her eyes again. Before she can stop herself, she finds herself sobbing around the gag in her mouth. The Duffy man lets out a squawk of surprise when he notices her tears. "Whoa, whoa, hey, it's okay. I'm not going to do anything funny, I won't! I got food, see?"

He shows the bowl to her, trying to give her a comforting smile. He squats down to her eye-level, shushing her gently as he tugs the gag out of her mouth. His eyes dart back and forth from the door to her nervously. "Come on now, don't be making noise, you'll get the both of us in trouble."

"Please," Elle sobs, "please, just l-let me go. I p-promise I won't go to the police, I-I just want to go home."

He averts his gaze, looking almost ashamed of himself. "I'm sorry, you know I can't do that. Besides, you leave here and God knows what'll find you on that mountain. I've seen all sorts round here…" He trails off when Elle lets out another sob, picking up the bowl beside him. "Ok, I'm sorry, but I got you a little food! It ain't great, Dawson ain't much of cook, but it's something!"

He takes a spoon of stew and lifts it towards Elle's lips. She presses them together and turns her head away. God knows what's in that. This could be a trick; they could be trying to drug her or maybe even poison her…but god she's so hungry.

"Come on," he hisses, "if somebody catches me with this we're going to get in a lot of trouble."

Elle swallows, the smell of the stew making her mouth water. She turns her head back a little. "You don't eat this now and god knows the next time they'll give you food, now come on!" His voice is desperate now and his eyes still dart back-and-forth from her to the door.

Her stomach rumbles. She should just eat. They weren't planning on poisoning her. At least, she doesn't think so. A mouthful wouldn't hurt her –

She opens her mouth slowly, making the man sigh in relief. He scoops the stew into her mouth and it takes all of Elle's willpower not to cry from relief. It's far from the best food she's ever eaten. Actually, that's a lie. The meat is chewy and sits heavy on her tongue, but at the moment, the way she feels, she could have been eating the finest quality steak known to man. Swallowing that mouthful, she opens her mouth for another one.

Soon the bowl is finished and Duffy holds a cup of water to Elle's mouth for her to drink. "There we go," he says, "that's better now, ain't it?"

Elle manages a shaky smile in response. "T-thanks," she says, her voice hoarse from both lack of use and the panic attacks she's been having every couple of hours.

The smile drops when he moves to put the gag back her mouth, feeling the panic rising in her chest again. "D-don't…" she begs, "please, don't. I can't wear it anymore, it hurts, please."

He falters for a moment and actually looks guilty. "I'm sorry, I-I can't, I'm not supposed to be talking to you this much," he says softly, "Colm- Colm don't like it when people touch his things, he'll know if I leave the gag off."

"But-but I'll tell them I took it off myself, he doesn't need to know you took it off!" Elle exclaims, her desperation growing. She probably won't be able to tug her hands free, but she won't put the gag on again, she won't.

"I-I'm sorry," he says, "I can't, I have to put it back on."

He takes the gag again, moving it towards her mouth. Elle throws her head backwards to get out his grip, hitting her head off the post she's tied to. It startles her and when Elle opens her mouth to cry out in pain, the Duffy man takes the opportunity to shove the gag back in her mouth. She nearly screams around it out of sheer frustration.

"I'm sorry," he says, going towards the door, "I'll come back later and take it off then, I promise."

Elle ignores him and howls through the gag, feeling the tears burning in her eyes again. Duffy turns and leaves the room quickly, but not before she notices the guilt in his eyes.

More time passes, she's not sure how much. Her head is growing heavy; it falls forward every few moments when Elle starts to fall asleep. She's trying her best to stay awake, terrified of the idea of falling asleep and leaving herself vulnerable around these people.

Her tightly wound sense of control, the one thing that kept her constant state of internal panic under wraps, has pretty much been thrown out the window and the state of panic is making her exhaustion worse.

God, she needs to stop crying. She knows she isn't the strongest person, both physically and mentally, but this is fucking pathetic.

She needs to do something that isn't just crying. The door looms in front of her and Elle thinks about her running fantasy from the last couple of days; running out that door and getting to the police. Getting away from this camp and never looking back.

You know what; the ropes around her wrists have been on for a couple of days. She bets if she moves enough she can get them loose, just like in the movies. It might work, even if she has to dislocate her wrists. That's how people got out of handcuffs.

(In movies anyway.)

Elle starts to move her wrists, trying to ignore the way it makes them burn. Maybe if I stand it'll help. With shaking legs, Elle pulls her knees up, sliding her back up the pole. Her stomach drops when she stands up, squeezing her eyes shut to try to stop the wooziness. It steadies for a moment and Elle smiles.

Maybe things were actually starting to go her way.

Then her knees go out from under her.

Ok.

Ok, so it turns out sitting on her ass for god knows how long isn't good for her legs.

Who knew?

It's not even that funny, but the situation makes Elle giggle and she isn't able to stop herself. Curled up into a ball, her wrists still tied to the pole, Elle finds herself stuck in a state of almost hysterical laughter towards the situation. The whole situation really; being kidnapped by some Amish cult, being stuck on some snow-covered mountain, the lack of food and water.

It's a long time before she's able to stop.

BANG!

Elle jolts upright, being awoken from the state of unconsciousness she lapsed into after what felt like three days awake.

It takes a moment for her to realise the noise isn't the door being thrown open like before, it sounds like…gunfire. Soon, she begins to process the fact that it isn't just gunfire but shouting and cursing.

The door is thrown open.

Elle screeches as best she can through the gag. Oh god, they're back. She tries to move backwards as best she can, trying to shrink and hide. Oh god, what are they going to do?

"Uh, Dutch? I think you should get down here and see this!"

Who the hell is Dutch?!

"What are you talking about, Bill – "

Another man appears at the door, this one in a heavy black coat. "My god," he mutters, taking a step towards her. It makes Elle try to push herself further back. He holds his hands up at the reaction in a gesture of surrender. "It's alright, miss," he says, speaking in a calming tone, "it's alright, we ain't going to hurt you. We're not like them."

Elle stares at him. The words seem to just swim around in her head, struggling for them to sink in. Who is we?

He lifts his hands towards her face, making her flinch back. "I'm not going to hurt you, I just want to take the gag off, ok?" She continues to stare at him. There's something…sincere about him.

"You sure that's a good idea, Dutch?" The other man says, the one who had found her. "This could one of Colm's tricks."

The man kneeling in front of her doesn't seem so sure. He stares at Elle, taking in the bruises on her face, her bloodshot eyes and the way she won't meet his eyes. "Somehow, I doubt it," he murmurs, "what's your name, miss?"

Elle blinks and stares at him for a moment. "E-elle," she says, her voice cracking from lack of use and water, "my name is Elle Crain."

"Well, Miss Elle, my name is Dutch van der Linde," he says. "How did you get into a situation like this?"

Good question. She really doesn't know how the hell she got on this mountain. She remembers the strange man. She remembers falling, but that's about it until she woke up on the mountain.

Maybe she has amnesia.

Maybe this is like a bad Lifetime original movie where she's stuck in a coma.

Either way, Dutch is looking at her expectedly. She has a feeling any answer she gives, he won't believe her.

No. No, that would require an answer, which she doesn't have because she still doesn't know how she got here.

"I-I don't know," Elle answers honestly.

Dutch looks at her, stares at her again. His eyes seemingly searching for an answer he would believe. He stands, adjusting the cuff of his sleeve and turning from her. It makes Elle's heart jump to her throat. Please don't. Please don't leave me with these men. "Well, Miss Elle, my friends and I intend to get far away from this camp and down off this mountain," he explains, "how would you feel about joining us?"

Elle's eyes snap to him. Joining him? Her eyes snap from him to the other man – Bill – still hovering in the doorway. Why does he want her to join them? The pit in her stomach says they may be the same as Colm. Dutch makes a motion with his head towards her. Her stomach drops further and she squeezes her eyes shut, as Bill steps towards her. Oh god, oh please, don't -

They open once she realises that he's cutting her hands free. She hisses and rubs at raw marks on her wrists.

It occurs to her that Dutch is still hovering over her expectedly. Elle glances up at him nervously, realising that he's holding his hand out to her. For a long moment, she stares at it.

He could be like those men.

He could be worse. The whole group could be worse.

Then she can suddenly feel Colm's hands on her and smell the stink of his breath and it's then that she decides that she isn't going to be here if that man decides to come back.

He wants to get off the mountain, well that works for her. The sooner she can call the police and figure out where she is, the better.

Lifting her own shaking hand, Elle takes Dutch's.

I hope you guys enjoyed the chapter and thank you for the response to the last one! I know it was kind of dark, but now we're with the Van der Linde's, so things will be getting better. Please let me know what you think and if you guys have any questions or thoughts on the chapter, feel free to check out my tumblr warrioreyess.