Dedicated To: sugarishfreak

Chapter 7

I liked Emily. She was sweet and so… courageous. She wasn't scared to walk around with those scars. She didn't seem to care about what people though. I wanted to be like her. When we first got there she smiled at us and introduced to me everyone. One boy… Collin I think couldn't stop staring at Becks. In fact, he had taken to following her around like a lost puppy. The man holding the baby was named Sam and he was Emily's husband. The baby, Toby, was Emily and Sam's son. The men he was talking to were Paul and Embry. The man Jared and Kim had been talking to was Brady. The two girls who were chasing each other around were May and Claire. There were a ton more people, but I had trouble remembering their names.

After Emily introduced herself she asked me if I wanted to help in the kitchen. As we were walking to the kitchen I heard someone scream, "Kimberly get your pregnant ass in here! We need all the help we can get!" I glanced over at Kim who rolled her eyes and waddled over to the kitchen. "That was Rachel. Paul's girlfriend and Jacob's sister," Emily told me. I nodded and followed her into the kitchen. Kim was stirring some kind of batter while another girl-Rachel- was flipping something over on the stove. They both glanced up when they saw me. Kim squealed, "Riley!" and Rachel squealed, "New girl!" They both stopped what they were doing and ran over to hug me. They didn't seem to notice my face.

Rachel pulled back and smiled, "Alright, Riley you are on… muffin duty," she told me. I glanced over at the two piles of muffins and Rachel laughed. "These guys eat a lot. I mean, they're like a pack of wolves," she said and for some reason Emily Kim laughed. Emily showed me how to do the batter and after a while of being the off one out I finally managed to get into their conversation and soon enough we were laughing and talking like old friends. It was weird, since I was never great at making friends, but with Emily, Kim, and Rachel it was like… I don't know. It was like we had something tying us together. It was easy to be friends with them.

It took a long, long time for all of the food to be done. There was a lot of food, and the second it was on the table I swear every single guy in the room pounced on it. Or almost all of them. Seven guys, Jared, Quil I think, Jacob, Paul, Sam, Collin and Sam all yelled out, "Let the girls go first!" The other boys parted sheepishly and let us go starting with May. We all walked through the line, piling our plates high with food while the boys eyed our food. But when we were finished even the seven boys who let us go first couldn't hold themselves back. God, they ate like animals. When we were all finished Kim, Rachel, and Emily started giving the boys a death glare. The boys were all looking at each other, wondering what was going on. "What. Do you. Say?" Rachel seethed. "Oh. Yeah. Thanks, Rach. Emily. Riley. Kim," they all chorused and the girls sat down. And then it hit me. I don't know what set it off, I usually don't, but it hit me hard.

I wasn't at Emily's house anymore.

I could hear his footsteps getting closer and closer. "Riley. Riiiley," I heard him say. No, no, no, no. It was too dark. I couldn't see him. "Little Ace girl. Your parents don't love you. If they did they would have paid me to get you back. They don't want you back," he said. I felt him place something on my arm. What was he doing? He's never done this before. I could hear him turn something and the metal thing on my arm squeezed tighter. What was going on? Tighter. Tighter. Tighter. SNAP! I screamed.

"Everyone back up! Riley, sweetie I'm here. Back away Seth! Back away RIGHT NOW!" Becca.

He put something sharp in my arm. "Little. Weak. Helpless," he murmured. Pain. Everything hurt. Why was he doing this?

"I can help! I can help!" Someone. A sweet, pretty, little voice.

Pain. Pain. Pain. And then I wasn't in the basement anymore. I was in a field of beautiful flowers. White, puffy clouds floated above me. I felt safe. Loved. And then I was back into reality.

That little girl May was standing above me, looking at me with wide dark brown eyes. "Are you ok?" she asked. She was the voice that said she could help. Becca was looking at me carefully, and I decided to look at anyone else to see what they were thinking. "How long?" I asked. "I-I-" she checked her watch, "five minutes," she told me. Now I knew why she was looking at me that way. I've never been out for that short a time. We both turned to look at the girl. What had she done? I finally found the courage to look up at everyone. They all looked scared as hell, especially Seth. I stood up carefully and brushed invisible dirt off of my jeans. "I-I think it's time for me to go," I said. They looked at me with sad eyes. "You don't have to," Rachel said. "It's fine," I told her. Seth nodded and motioned for us to follow him.

…..

Seth's POV (A/N Happy Easter)

I've never been more scared in my entire life then when I was when I saw her screaming. One moment everything was fine, and the next she was on the floor screaming stop. I was reminded of that night when I heard her screaming and I tore up her backyard. Then again at the ice cream parlor. I tried to calm her down, but it was useless. Her sister kept telling everyone to give her space; just like she was tonight and finally she let me drive them home. When I asked what happened Becca just sighed and said, "A really bad case of PTSD." And that got me wondering what had been so horrible as to give her Posttraumatic Stress Disorder. So tonight after I dropped them off I decided to do some research. I wasn't on it for long before I came up with something. It was an old newspaper article.

Riley Ace Home Safe

July 16, 1997

Riley Evette Ace, age five, was returned safely to her house late last night. She was found to have suffered major burns around her eyes. These burns have been reported to have temporarily blinded her. She also has been found to have several infected cuts all around her body and a poorly setted broken arm. The kidnapper is yet to be caught, but several fingerprints were found at the scene and police are hoping to find the culprit soon. Her mother, model Evette Ace has decidedly quit her job to become a stay at home mom. As has her father, actor and director Carter Ace. The nanny Hannah Quip is…

I couldn't read anymore. Burns around her eyes? Cuts all along her body? It was Riley. She was kidnapped and tortured when she was just a little girl. How could someone survive that? I suddenly felt a burning hot rage that I had never felt before. I wanted to find the man that did this to her. I wanted to tear him apart limb from limb. I wanted to make him pay for hurting her. I researched her full name, Riley Ace, and came up with a lot more. Apparently the man was never found. He was still out there doing god knows what. I wanted him dead. I wanted his head on a platter and I wanted him dead. He didn't deserve to live.

Hello lovelies. This is my Easter present to you. OH YEAH! The winner of my contest is sugarishfreak so congratulations. Riley's middle name is EVETTE! So sugarishfreak PM me with the details of your character. I want to know his/her's name, birthday, favorite color, eye color, hair color, hair texture, skin color, how they speak, where they're from, what kind of books they read, what kind of shows they watch, are they good at school? Do they still go to school? What kind of role do you want them to play in Riley's life? I WANT TO KNOW EVERYTHING. By the way JCreader is no longer my co-writer. I am now doing Riley by myself. Ta ta for now.

~Cara

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