Gray's POV:
"Mum, how's Petal doing?" I asked her as she drew the curtains. She'd come to say good morning, but, truth be told, I'd wished for it to be a completely different person. I hadn't seen Petal since yesterday morning, and I was starting to become a bit restless. I supposed it was simply because I'd always had the chance of seeing her, so this new development of staying away from me was too unexpected.
"Petal?" She furrowed her eyebrows in confusion, and I had to bite my tongue to stop myself from cursing at my mistake. I'd promised Petal that I'd always be able to protect her, and yet here I was, practically giving away her concealed identity.
"Um, Maisee, sorry." Glancing at me with poorly veiled suspicion, she shook her head the slightest amount.
"She told me she's been getting notes from her past. She lied about what they were though, so I'm not sure how ok she actually is." At her mention of notes from her past I bolted upright, remembering the pieces of paper she'd been angrily destroying this past week. It couldn't be that she'd placed them there, she'd looked too frightened and surprised by their appearance. But what would make her panic so much then?
"Her dad." I gasped out, taking off at a sprint to her bedroom. But when I opened the door, her form lying under the duvet didn't meet my eyes. Instead, it was just her neatly made bed, as if she'd never even come home yesterday. Choking on a sob, I fell to my knees in the entryway of her room. A remote part of me tried to tell me that she might've simply gotten up early, but the sinking feeling in my chest, and the pain spreading through my whole body told me otherwise. "No." The plea left my mouth in a whisper, but suddenly it was getting louder and louder the more I despaired. "No, please, no! Not Petal, no!"
Petal's POV:
"Ah, I see you're awake." Locks were heard unclicking, making me press my back even harder against the white plaster of the walls. Fully aware of my surroundings once again, I felt all of my body tensing up. The despair was replaced with adrenalin, making my hands go cold in terror.
"S-stay away from me, you monster." Coming into the room, he looked around until he found me in the corner. A sick smile twisted his lips, probably at how defenceless I was. But then my words registered in his mind, and the smile dropped right off, changing into an angry grimace. I preferred that to the grin. He smiled like that when he was going to have 'fun' with me.
"What did you call me?!" All this time away from him, I'd forgotten how loud he could get. Even the smallest of things would set him off, and I'd forgotten rule number one of survival: never speak. He threw the door back shut, trapping himself with me in the claustrophobic room. There were no windows, no escape. And he was coming closer. My breath started coming in short gasps as I clutched the wall behind me. As if that would help.
"N-nothing. S-sorry sir."
"I thought so." He punctuated this with a coy smile, which sent more shivers going down my spine. I would've preferred to be hit rather than what I was sure was coming next. Molestation. His green eyes zeroed in on my form and, at once, I knew I had been correct. Oh how I wished I hadn't been. "You've put on a bit of weight since you've gone my dear. You're lucky that my clients won't mind that too much." I knew he could see from the fear in my eyes that I understood the underline of his words – he had clients lining up to violate me. But I couldn't force the fear to leave my features, to appear strong. The shaking all over my body prevented me from doing much apart from sit there, quaking before him. I was going to die. But I'd rather that than what I knew was coming.
"P-Please-"
"Don't beg, you pathetic bitch." He grabbed a fistful of my hair, using it to bang my head against the wall. He did so with enough force to send my teeth chattering, intensifying the pain even further. "Now sit here patiently while I go collect the first client." Before he went, he slapped me once more, just for good measure I supposed. He must have felt the tears lining my cheek, but if he did, he didn't mention them. He then pressed back the strands of hair which had become misplaced – once again becoming the man the rest of the world knew him as.
Not the alcoholic, not the monster, and definitely not the despicable human being who deserved to rot in hell. No, they saw him as the green-eyed blond who took his girl to school, who maintained a steady job to support his family, who enamoured girls with just a look in their direction.
It all made me sick.
And that feeling in the pit of my stomach was strong enough to send me hurtling in his direction. Scrambling up, I crossed the room in a short sprint, the adrenalin reverberating through my system, clouding my mind.
I wasn't sure how to punch, and judging by the fury in his eyes I didn't have much time to act. So I let instinct take over, much like I always did with nature. Immediately, my leg shot up in a kick aimed directly between his legs. Not having time to react, he received the full brunt of the kick, sending him sprawling to the floor. Without even thinking about what I'd done, I ran out of the door, banging a couple of the locks shut once I got myself outside.
There, I found a man staring at me in surprise. Unable to bring the courage to hurt someone else again, I simply ran in the opposite direction to him, hoping to god that I wouldn't find a dead-end. Adrenalin pumped in my ears, spurring me to run faster than I'd ever done before. The sound of locks opening resonated around the corridor, making me run even faster.
They were in fast pursuit of me now, screaming curse words at me. But it was ok, because I'd found that I'd chosen the right direction, stairs leading down to the bottom floor greeting me. Smiling for the first time since I'd been stuck here, I used some of my telekinesis to boost me down the stairs much faster than they'd be able to. Escape was right at the tip of my fingers, the front door becoming visible-
"I don't think so!" A hand wrapped around my ankle, using my momentum against me. I flew, hitting my chin hard against the carpet. It sprung tears to my eyes, but by that point I had so much adrenalin I could barely even feel the pain of the carpet burn. Doing a barrel roll, I found that the culprit had been the sleazy man standing outside my room. Not allowing myself to think about what I was doing, I pulled my foot back, kicking him with all the force I had in the head.
He wasn't dead, he wasn't dead, he couldn't be. This echoed around my head as the man fell forward, leaving him lying on the floor, where I'd been sprawled moments before.
"You bitch!" The monster was fast approaching, his footsteps thundering as he stormed up the staircase. Out of breath and absolutely exhausted, I used the last of my energy to sprint to the front door, yanking it open. And being met, not with civilisation or a road, but rather a forest. "Did you really think it would be so easy?" I knew what he was thinking, that I'd stare in shock at the forest, unable to believe that I'd never be able to escape. But it had become apparent by this point that he didn't know about savants.
The forest was my element. He wouldn't be able to hurt me there. So instead of pivoting around to look at him, I catapulted myself away from the house, running towards the line of trees.
"You can't escape!"
"Oh I wasn't thinking of that." Once I'd gotten to the first tree, I pressed my palms roughly against its bark. And, faster than I'd ever been able to connect with nature, suddenly I was listening to the whole forest. They were all standing to attention, ready to help me in my distressed state.
A blue sky met my wandering eyes. Tall untamed grass tickled my legs. I was breathing, feeling the forest. I was alive.
It was time to show him just how strong I'd become at the Benedicts'. I wasn't the pathetic girl, cowering in a corner of a room anymore. I was Petal, queen of the forest, and now that we'd stepped into my territory, there was no way he'd succeed. I was getting myself back to Gray, whether the monster wanted me to or not.
I was finally ready to stand up to the man who'd destroyed my childhood.
Hi :)
Ok so a bit more action this chapter, and you also got to see Gray's reaction to finding out Petal was gone. It hurt so much to write it though, cos I was always like "oh no, my poor baby Gray". But don't worry, it'll all get better soon, unless I decide to be an absolute monster (hopefully not, eh?).
We passed the goal last chapter which was just amazing, and I'm so happy you guys are liking what's happening. I mean I was pretty sure I would lose half my fan base the minute I even mentioned a kid napping xD The goal for this chapter is 133, but it's completely optional, as always :)
Bye bye :)