Chapter Eleven

Leanne stayed in the hospital for the next few hours. Her father's arm now wrapped up in a bandage along with his head. The atmosphere suddenly dropped as Rowan came into the room after a call from Leanne. She rang him to say what happened as she needed a so-called session, Les had no idea as she did it when she was suppose to be in the bathroom. He smiled at Les, he was gloating by this point; Leanne was surprised to see him as she didn't expect him to come here. Les had to watch in silence as Leanne greeted Rowan with a smile and a hug. He held up a plastic bag and took out a pack of grapes as he placed them on the small table by the bed. He was back to his act and Leanne was lapping it up. Even more so now Nick had left her and she felt she had nobody in her corner besides her father. He sat on the chair besides Les...

"So who did this to you?" Rowan asked Les with that the same smug grin as he relaxed in the chair.

Silence followed this remark as Les couldn't believe his nerve. Truth be told, he was scared of him and what he could do. Now he knows how far he's willing to go to get what he wants and now he's proven he doesn't give a damn about Leanne. All he wants to do is get her money and break her down until she's dependable on him. Leanne stood on the other side with her hand on Les' arm. Leanne just thought Rowan was being nice and the sad thing was, she deemed him a close friend now.

"I got jumped" Les answered with so much bitterness in his voice.

"Nasty business. Honestly, people these days are so cruel and full of anger. They just need to let it go, don't they? I'm very sorry, Mr Battersby. You look so much worst than what I was expecting" Rowan continued.

"He only had ten pounds in his pocket too. They beat him up for ten pounds" Leanne chimed in.

"Well they do say money is the root of all evil. I was really shocked when you rang me, Leanne. So I was going to ask you, Do you still want to continue with me as your mentor? I don't know where we stand after what you told me eariler" Rowan spoke very calmly indeed.

"Oh I don't know. I'm still thinking about it" Leanne admitted.

"No. You should carry on with him...He clearly cares and I just reacted badly to the name change. But you should carry on. No point changing now" Les spoke up as he knew what would happen if he didn't change her mind back.

"Really? Thanks dad, it's nice to see somebody gets it. Toyah, Janice and Nick still don't understand. Well there we go then, Rowan. You were right again" Leanne said with a small smile.

"Always nice when our members get support from their loved ones. It makes a world of difference" Rowan gloated as he relaxed further into the chair.

Les just felt utterly disgusted with himself but he felt he had no choice. Rowan had told him he'll be dead if he doesn't do this. He was scared because he knows without him. Leanne would have nobody looking at her best interests. Toyah, Janice and Nick still care about her deeply but even they have given up trying to reason with her. Besides, what good are they if Leanne refuses to talk to them? The next hour felt excruciating for him as Rowan went on and on to Leanne about courses and about how she's nearly at 'Level 7'. He was trying to provoke Les on purpose, Leanne's phone rang again mid-way through this conversation.

"It's Nick again. I best answer because Sarah probably told him about dad and he will wanna know how he is" Leanne explained before excusing himself.

She thus left Les alone with Rowan again. The mood instantly shifted as Rowan let his true feelings come back out. He no longer needed to pretend he was a good person around Les because he knows that he knows.

"So you're not as stupid as you look. Colour me surprised...This is so easy now, thank you so much. I thought you'll be ready to tell the police on me by now"

"I'm too tired for this"

"Okay. Well I'll let you go then...I did what I needed to do. I'll let Leanne know I'm going. Just remember my promise" Rowan hissed quietly.

He thus walked away feeling smug while Les was feeling defeated. Les just leaned back against the pillow again, chucking the grapes he got from Rowan into the nearby bin. He wanted nothing from him.

...

"Les is in hospital? What happened?" Kirk asked Leanne as she returned to the flat that night after being by her father's bedside all day long.

"He got jumped from behind. I'm sorry, I should have let you know but I've been with him. And I don't have your number-"

"Yeah. Don't worry about that...Is he okay?"

"Yeah. I wouldn't be here if he wasn't. He should hopefully be home tomorrow tonight, Kirk. They just need to keep him in to check on him. His arm's broken and his head's really sore"

"Oh. That's awful...I was worried when he didn't come home, I thought he left again"

"Yeah so did I. I mean...My name changing isn't that big of a deal, is it? He said he supports me now anyway so hopefully he's not upset over it now. It's Toyah's fault anyway, she was the one who fed him lies about Rowan and 'The Institute'. She's made him ill by making him stressed over things that are old news or not true" Leanne began to rant to an awkward Kirk.

"Well that's sisters for ya. Maria annoys me sometimes but we have to let it go-"

"She won't let it go though, that's the problem. Look it's been a long day. I wanna just do an upload and go to bed. Thanks for caring about him, Kirk. See ya" Leanne answered with a polite smile as she made her way into the spare room.

She sat on the bed and went straight for the laptop. She just wanted to talk to "Oliver" again. Leanne was promised a lot of things, eternal happiness was one of them. That's what they promised all of the members. That is what kept them there, one day it would happen; that's what they were led to think. Meanwhile back over at Sheffield, Toyah and Janice were talking about what to do next. Things looked bleak and Les was keeping quiet over the whole thing.

"I don't think he's taking the easy route, mum. I generally think Rowan has something over him. He wouldn't lie otherwise" Toyah insisted.

"We told him not to comfront him. Now he's made everything worst as per usual...He's so selfish, Toyah. And lazy. He's always been like that. He's not telling because it's too much effort"

"No I don't agree-"

"What hold could he have over him, Toyah? The police already know his record, he can hardly blackmail him over that. And this Rowan is a criminal himself...He's hardly going to want to get the filth involved. The police questioning him might even scare him away. Why don't we just report it? Screw what Les says" Janice argued.

"I don't know if it's a good idea. What if he hurts dad again? He doesn't have to do it himself. He didn't do this himself, dad said so. He just watched"

"You think he be stupid enough to ring one of his mates to do some damage while in police custody?"

"What crime can they pin him down for? And how good is the factory CCTV outside? Are you willing to risk dad's life on this? One more beating like that and he could die, they will probably beat him harder next time. These people have no morals, mum. They won't care as long as their precious cult is kept in tact" Toyah replied as she really was afraid for her father's safety .

Janice just scoffed as she felt helpless. She took a long drag on her cigarette, thinking what a corner he's got them into.

"You're worried about Les. That's fine...We'll go down tomorrow and pick him up. Bring him back here and then ring the police. He's not going to find him here, is he?" Janice questioned.

This made Toyah pick up a cigarette for the first time in nearly twenty years. She lit one up from pure stress and took a drag herself.

"What if they hurt Leanne? I might not like her at the minute but she's still my sister" Toyah spoke up.

"They ain't going to hurt Leanne. Not when she's giving them money and time, she's giving them what they want. I wish she would wise up...All we need is her to wise up and we could sort this mess out tonight"

"Okay. We'll pick up Les in the morning and bring him back here. Let's tell the police everything"

...

That's exactly what they set out to do. Janice and Toyah drove to 'Weatherfield General' as early as possible in hopes of avoiding Leanne. The women made their way towards the ward and walked into his room. He was surprised to see them, he was mid-way through the slop they called breakfast. Toyah leaned on the bed frame...

"Listen, dad. I told mum about it...I know you don't want to tell the police about Rowan. I know he's scared you somehow. So we'll going to take you to mum's flat, the cult doesn't know where she lives. We tell the police when we get there and tell them we're afraid for our safety" Toyah explained as quickly as possible.

"Are you crazy?"

"What?"

"I'm not leaving Leanne to the wolves alone"

"Yeah we talked about her as well and we came to the conclusion they won't hurt her. She's giving them everything they want. Why would they hurt an asset?"

Les put down his fork as he pushed the plate away. He understood what she was saying and he wishes it was as simple as that. He was worried if he left then Leanne would feel like he doesn't support her. And Rowan has proved he doesn't give a damn about her so he scared what would happen if she stepped out of line. He didn't want to live with the guilt if anything happened because he wasn't there to overlook it.

"I can't leave Leanne. And don't talk about her like that either. You don't understand what he said to me. He doesn't care about her at all...And you expect me to leave and just leave her to get milked dry?" Les asked while leaning against the pillow.

"No. That's not what we're saying, Les. We're saying we should ring the police while you are in my flat. Which gives Leanne a chance because if he's banged up, she's less likely to be parted with her money" Janice intervened.

"That won't work. They got nothing on him-"

"What we know about! There's no way he's as clean as the driven snow, he's already been in prison"

"He said if I don't convince Leanne to stay. He'll hurt me and probably her too...I'm not taking that chance. Just because she isn't your daughter-"

"Oh. And where's Stella in all of this? Her actual mother...The one who gave her up because your mother was so threatening. Seriously, the amount me and Toyah have done for you two over the years. And you two selfish articles throw it back in our face because of some cult!" Janice snapped.

"I don't like the cult! Look what they done to me!" Les argued back.

The nurse briefly coming over made them all calm down. Toyah having to step in again to calm down this argument.

"Dad. You gotta give this a chance to work because what if he does worst? I mean...What happens next?" Toyah questioned.

"He said she'll have to work for them full-time if the money ever runs out. And they are making her change her name" Les admitted a bit calmer.

"Well changing names makes them harder to track I suppose. This just get worst. Goodness knows what else they need to do. I know you're scared dad but we have to take a chance" Toyah insisted.

"No. I'm not taking a chance-"

"I told you, Toyah. He's got no bottle...He'll just roll over and let nature takes it's course. He'll give lip service support to Leanne, he won't actually help. Just like he never helped anyone in his life" Janice hissed.

"You're the one who expects me to leave her to them. Well I won't, okay?"

"This is a big mistake" Toyah told him before taking her leave with Janice.

...

TBC