I've seen this room before. My eyes adjust to the dim lighting. The walls were a greenish-blue color. I look to my left and see blood on the ground, a shit load of it. Too much for an animal-

Wait.

I've been here…haven't I?

A human hand lay on the ground. Oh my god. No. Oh fuck, no, I can't be back here. I hear some kind of talking, but it's muffled.

I look around, trying to familiarize myself with my surroundings. The smell of rotting, human blood was rancid and the sound of sawing into bone made my stomach churn.
I feel a pair of unwelcome and unfamiliar arms wrap around me.

"Wakey, wakey," a voice said.

No. Goddamnit, no, no. It can't be who I think that is.

I try and turn around to see who it is.

Him.

No. I killed him. I…killed him. Right?

I struggle as hard as I can against his force, trying to get out of his reach. I can't let this slimy fucker touch me again.

He grabbed my wrist, and then managed to shove me against one of the cold walls.

His hand gripped my chin and his disgusting breath lingered in the small space between us.

Mother fucker.

He dragged his finger down my cheek then in a split second, slapped my face as hard as he possibly could. I screamed in agony.

It was numb at first but then it started to sting; like when you get burned. I brought my hand to my face, feeling my cheek. I could feel my face getting hotter with rage by the second.

Oh fuck, there will definitely be a bruise there.

He sighed. "Oh, Ellie. You should've cooperated. Things would've gone so much better for you."

I managed to slip out of from under his grip but he quickly grabbed my arm again, this time with more strength and vigor.

Before I could even blink, he dragged my arm harshly into a darker room.

Wait, no this isn't right. This can't be right. This didn't happen. This isn't right…

"You can try beggin', but you ain't goin' anywhere," he whispered into my ear.

He threw me to the hard concrete flooring of the humid and grim smelling room.

He had a pair of handcuffs with him and chained me to a pipe on the side of the wall.

The next thing I saw was a pair of fists hitting my face over and over again. I kept yelling, and hoping that maybe someone could hear me even though I knew no one was going to hold me in their arms and comfort me this time. He kept hitting me until my face was numb and I could feel blood running down from my nose and from fresh, brand new cuts scattered all over my face.

I couldn't see anything but I could feel being moved to a different room that was equally nauseating. The world felt like it was spinning, like I had no sense of direction.

Where's Joel.

That's all I kept thinking about. I had an awful feeling that he was already dead, or worse…

"See now Ellie," he threatened gripping my shirt, "your crazy man ain't gonna be able to save you this time. But then again, he already did his work on you beforehand, right?"

"He's nothing like you. You're just a piece of shit that likes to prey on younger girls, right?" I boldly retorted.

I expected another slap but in return got something worse.

I could feel is hands grabbing on to me and fuck I was trying to get him off of me and I started weeping quietly and fuck when will this ever end. The more I thrashed against his grip the harder he held on to me.

I kept screaming for him to let me go but I knew that that wasn't going to do a damn thing. I closed my eyes so I didn't have to see his face and what he was going to do.

Now in another different room, I saw mangled and dismembered bodies that littered the floor. Some were hung from large hooks on the ceiling above me. At this point I was too exhausted and too afraid to scream for help. A grotesque face now in front of me, David was once again on top of me. I stopped making noise, and now praying for it to just end. I tried to get him off of me but at this point I was just too weak to move. That's all I've ever been. Weak.

I saw him pick up a large knife and he brought it to my neck and I screamed, I fucking screamed and-

"Ellie! Ellie, wake up! Ellie!" a distorted, but familiar southern voice yelled.

I couldn't see anything.

Everything was blurry; I couldn't concentrate on David who was supposedly right in front of me.

I kept clawing, grabbing the air so I could tear David's face off but I ended up grabbing someone else's face.

My eyes finally adjusted and I have never been more relieved in my life.

"Ellie? Oh my god, baby, are you okay?'

Joel had his hand in mine, trying to pull me up. Trying to shake me out of the nightmare that I had just experienced.

"I'm okay, I can get up."

Joel laughed exasperatedly. "No, you're not okay, Ellie. You were fuckin' yellin' and screamin' and I just, I tried to make you stop…I didn't know what to do…"

His voiced trailed off. I looked at his face. He had a very petrified expression painted on his face that I hadn't ever seen before. I didn't like it.

I got up off my bed, but apparently my legs were too weak to move. I almost fell off my bed but Joel managed to catch me.

"Woah, Ellie just, just sit down for a minute okay? I don't want you hurtin' yourself."

"Look, I'm fine okay? I just…" I said losing my train of thought.

Joel tried to comfort me but I unintentionally flinched at his touch.

He looked at me with a confused look.

Shit…

"Ellie…do you need to talk about something?" he asked in a soft voice.

I tried to keep my composure, tried to keep a straight face. The last thing that I wanted to do was to completely break down in front of him again.

I didn't speak; I just stared at the window. It looked like it was about midnight. I tried to concentrate on the outside, maybe distract my mind from the nightmare.

It wasn't until Joel pointed it out to me to realize that I was shaking.

Goddamnit, keep it together Ellie.

"Ellie," he said putting his hands on my shoulder, trying to make me focus on him.

You're so fucking stupid, Ellie. Even in your dreams, you're weak. No wonder he almost killed you. You deserved it, you deserved it…

"Ellie! Hey, look at me!"

His hands were cupping my face, just like he was holding me back in the wintertime. I looked straight into his eyes and finally broke down.

"Joel, it was him again…"

I knew he wasn't really sure what I was talking about. After I killed David, he asked me if I wanted to talk about it, I said no, and we moved on from it.

He held me, putting his chin on top of my head and rocked me back and forth slowly as I wept.

"Shh, shh it's okay, it's okay. Do you want to tell me what happened?"

I didn't respond. I didn't know how to respond. I was ashamed to tell him and I didn't know why.

He pulled away and looked at me. "Ellie, if you don't want to talk about it, that's fine, but if there were ever a time where you wouldn't be able to talk to me about anything or you weren't comfortable with talking to me, I," he paused, "I wouldn't know what I would do with myself and…"

I looked at him and he looked more miserable than I was. Tears formed at my eyes again, not being able to control myself once more. I wrapped my arms around his waist and buried my head in his chest, trying to muffle the choking sobs.

"It…it was…David…" I managed to say between broken cries, barely managing to say that God-awful name.

His forehead rested on top of my head now, I could tell that he was uneasy now.

"Was…was it that…asshole that tried-"

"Yes," I replied shortly, making sure he didn't say that word.

He brought me closer to him and began to comfortingly rub my back with reassurance, which made me sob even harder. I knew that nothing at this point could really help me feel better, but being around Joel always made me feel protected, safe, and…important.

I removed myself from his grasp. I sat up on my bed and he sat next to me, I told him everything. Everything that actually happened back in the wintertime with David. Joel clenched the sheets on the mattress with white knuckles throughout the entire time I was telling him the story. He was frozen still, focusing on the window in front of us. Even after I finished telling him what happened, he stayed in the position that he was in. Eventually, I reached out and put my hand on his arm.

"Joel-"

"If only, if only I had gotten there earlier...I…I could've stopped him…"

"Joel, there was nothing that you could've done. There's nothing anybody could've actually…"

He sighed and nodded.

"Yeah…" he mumbled.

We sat next to each other for a while afterwards, not saying anything. We both just sat there, thinking.

"Joel?" I asked after a long silence

"Yes, Ellie?" he said, keeping his intent on the window.

"You won't leave, right?" I whispered, so softly I'm not sure he even heard me.

He turned to look at me. "What? Ellie, listen to me when I say this to you, I will never leave you, you understand? You know that," he stated.

He was right, I did know that. I knew that he needed me a whole hell of a lot more than I needed him, although considering the current circumstances, that last part isn't so true anymore. That's why I didn't leave him when he swore to me, I guess.

I felt him bring his large arms around me once more, holding me.

I must've fallen asleep because I woke up on my bed once more, but this time he was fast asleep next to me. I curled up next to him and fell fast asleep to the sound of an old, broken heart beating softly.

Wow. It's been such a long time hasn't it? Sorry for the extremely freaking long update. Personal stuff and such uwu. But here is the chapter that I've wanted to put up for so so sooo long now. I also can't wait for the next one. It's gonna be crazy... anyways thanks for reading and I hope you enjoyed! 33

-CurrentWay