Warnings: Language and Extreme Violence.

Previously:

Her face emerged and he saw that she was crying because she was trying not to laugh. Her eyes were shining. "Oh my god!" she squeaked. "He is just gonna' kill us."

Daniel looked at her, unable to reply. And then he started to laugh. And then he really started to laugh. They stayed in the ally, laughing hysterically, victorious for once in their lives.

Endings Begin

It was the letter Daniel had waited for for years. Yet, now that it had arrived, he was tempted to bury it in the backyard and never think about it again. He was going to college. At 15, almost 16, he had been accepted into a prestigious archeology program. Even better, the school offered a summer program that a few select students were invited to. Daniel was one of the few.

He sat in the kitchen feeling the beginnings of a headache creep up his neck. He didn't know what to do. He wanted this. He couldn't remember ever wanting anything this bad in his entire life. He would no longer be a foster child. He would be a college student; still a ward of the state, but no longer subjected to living with a sadistic 18 year old named Brian.

But Ella would. His going to college would leave her here alone. Daniel placed his glasses on the table and massaged his temples. The past year had been difficult. The fight at the library had changed things. There had been very few violent incidents at home. School was still a danger zone but even that was different. For one thing, Daniel had finally grown a little. Six inches in eight months. Consequently, the fights were not as one-sided as they used to be. Daniel still lost, but he tried to some damage on the way down. It was Brian's behavior towards Ella that had deteriorated. At dinnertime, Brian would sit and stare at the girl, making comments under his breath, until she was so nervous that she would begin to drop things from the table. Sooner or later, she would lash out at him, only to get punished for cursing at the table. The extra kitchen work she was given gave Brian more time to mess with her head.

It took Daniel a few weeks to figure this game out. Mrs. Greerson would normally send everyone to his or her respective rooms after an argument. Once. Late in November, Daniel came back downstairs for a drink. Brian was standing right behind Ella at the sink. He was not touching her, but he was breathing down her neck, giving nasty insults. Ella was staring straight ahead into the wall with wide blank eyes. Only the shaking of her hands as she washed the dishes reflected her fear. As soon as Daniel entered the kitchen, Brian walked into his own room and shut the door. Deeply disturbed, Daniel helped Ella rush through the remaining work so they could escape upstairs. He sat down with her and asked her what had been happening.

Slowly, Ella revealed that that was not the first time Brian had done that. Every night she did dishes, Brian would come up behind her, never touching her, but scaring her senseless. She had not told Daniel because she was afraid he would get hurt.

"Ella, I can take care of myself. Please, please tell your case manager."

"I have. I've told you before, she doesn't believe me." Ella insisted. "I'm not trying again."

After that night, she tried to stop reacting when Brian goaded her. When she was on her regular kitchen duty nights, Daniel stayed with her. But it really felt that neither of them was safe to let their guard down. The only time they came close to relaxing was when they were studying in their bedrooms or when they escaped to the library. They had decided to continue going there despite the fight. It was their refuge and they would fight again for it if they had to.

When Daniel did see Brian mistreating his friend, he jumped in, earning himself a few black eyes. But he knew there were times he missed. As the year progressed, Ella grew quieter. Often Daniel tried to convince Ella to request a new home but she refused. She knew her case manager would be no help and at least in this house she had a friend.

But now Daniel was going to leave. He had to make Ella see reason. And he had to figure out a way to convince her case manager that Ella was not safe here.

His sadness at leaving his friend flickered through his heart when she entered the kitchen. "Hey, Daniel, what's up?" They were the only ones home.

"Ella, I have to tell you something," Daniel looked down at the packet in his hand.

"Sure." She grabbed a can of pop and sat down across the table. "Something wrong?"

"No – well – not really – sort of -" Daniel tried to put his thoughts in order. "I've been accepted into college."

"But – Daniel – that's crazy! You're only 15." She was stunned.

"Well, yeah, but I am done with school so it's time to move on."

She gave him a genuine smile. "That's great. Wow! That's huge."

"There's more." He took a deep breath and continued. "There is a special program that starts in the summer. I've been selected for it. I'll be moving out in three weeks."

Ella's smile froze. For a moment, Daniel could see the naked terror in her eyes. She would be alone here. Then she looked down at the table and forced a light-hearted tone. "Wow, three weeks…good for you…I wish…" She had to stop talking as tears threatened.

"Ella, please," Daniel reached across the table and touched her balled up fist. "We will talk to your case manager. We will make her believe us. You'll be safer somewhere else."

She swiped at her face. "It's okay. I mean, I'll be fine. Don't worry about it."

He tightened his hold on her hand. "No Ella. I promise. You won't have to stay here alone when I leave." She gripped his hand, desperately.

At that moment, Brian came in the back door. "What the fuck, Sponge? Still trying to get a piece of that ass? I can tell you, it ain't worth it."

Pushed past her limit, Ella flew across the room at Brian. She reached forward with her nails and raked them down his neck, drawing blood. Brian backhanded her across the room. Coming to her senses, Ella scrambled to her feet and ran, Brian right behind her. Shaking off an overwhelming deja-vu, Daniel ran after them, screaming at Brian to stop.

At the foot of the stairs, Brian swiftly turned and punched Daniel in the stomach. Daniel caught himself on the railing but lost precious seconds in his chase. He heard Ella scream as he raced up the stairs. He got to her room in time to see Brian grab her by her ponytail and throw her in the closet. Daniel dove for the closet door as Brian slipped in behind his prey. The lock slid home.

"BRIAN! NO!" Daniel clawed at the door, yanking at the handle with all of his weight. But the lock held true. He pressed his ear to the wood but heard nothing. Daniel furiously pounded on the door. "ELLA! Brian get away from her! Leave her alone!" He frantically looked around the room, trying to find something that he could break the door down with. Panic filled his mind. What was going on? Why was it so quiet? He ran into his own room, trying to find a tool. Throwing things every which way, he finally found a screw driver. Back in Ella's room, he began to dig frantically at the door hinges. Right then, the lock clunked open. Daniel stood up to face what was coming.

Brian exited the closet, zipping up his pants. Despite the blood on his neck, he looked immensely pleased with himself. Dawning horror burned through the panicked fog of Daniel's mind. Meeting Daniel's eyes, Brian sneered darkly and patted the younger boy, hard, on the cheek. "Now that was fun." He was out of the room before Daniel could move.

"Ella? Ella?" Daniel crawled into the closet to find his friend. She was curled up against the far wall. He eyes were tightly closed and her breathing was rapid and shallow. Daniel reached to touch her face. "Ella? Are you okay?"

As he touched her, her eyes snapped open. Even in the dim light, Daniel could see the depths of her pain. She didn't scream or cry, didn't make a sound. She just continued to stare at him in that terrible way.

"Come on, Ella. Come on out. He's gone now." He wasn't sure if Ella could even hear him, as she seemed so deep into herself. But he need to get her into the light so he could see what damage Brian had done. It seemed like an eternity past before Ella reached out her hand. Gently, speaking to her as he would an injured kitten, Daniel led her into the room. There was a nasty bruise on the side of her face from where Brian had backhanded her. Her hair was a mess, having been yanked all over the place. Her shirt was bunched and stretched but her clothes were all on. Daniel assessed all of the details with a scientist's eye, but he knew what he was looking for. He knew but he couldn't even think the word to himself. "Ella, what happened? I need you to tell me what happened." Please, God, he prayed silently. If you are really up there, do not let this have happened. Daniel had to repeat his question twice more before she showed any sign of hearing him. Then she shook her head, minutely. She said nothing.

After another moment, Ella started to shiver. Her body shook as if it had been hit by an arctic wind. Daniel led her to her bed and wrapped blankets around her and knelt at her feet. He didn't know what had happened in that closet, but it was obvious that Ella was hurting far more than she could handle. "Ella, please…" Tears started to fall down Daniel's face. "I need to know you're okay. Can you please tell me? Anything?" Again, she gave no response. Just a small head shake. Daniel sat next to her on the bed and wrapped his arms around her blanket draped body. His own body now shook with the force of her trauma.

He would never know how long he sat there. Time meant nothing. As darkness fell outside the window, Ella's shaking stopped. After some more time, she fell asleep. Daniel lay her down on the bed. Remembering what she had done for him last summer, he lay down by the door. No one else would get in her room tonight.

At some point, Daniel woke to find Ella curled up next to him. She was shaking again. He stroked her hair and said soothing words until she fell back to sleep.

Early in the morning, Daniel opened his eyes to the gray light of dawn. The room was empty. His heart seized as he called out Ella's name but got no response. He entered the bathroom. Like a scream in the night, the pile of hacked off red hair took shook Daniel to his core. Ella's hair was lying in the middle of the bathroom floor with a large pair of scissors lying open, half buried in the mess. And there was something else. Mixed with the hair were sliced up magazine pictures of flowers. It was the remains of Ella's "secret garden."

TBC