I'd been avoiding my best friend. Or maybe he'd been avoiding me. He spent a lot of time with Sophia and I had a hard time being with them both.

Sophia was gorgeous. She had short, light brown hair and the most soulful, brown eyes. My curly hair kinked at my waist and- who was I kidding- I couldn't begin to compare myself to her. Her body was perfect. She was tall and curvy in all the right places. She was confident and carried herself with poise.

And I couldn't even dislike her! Sophia was so nice, there was no way I could even think bad about her. Momma loved her and she was over at dinner all the time. Noah and Sophia weren't dating, but he spent a lot of his time texting or talking about her. I didn't blame him. Sophia was a great catch and I couldn't deny Noah seemed happy.

But while my nightmares continued, Noah must have stopped sensing when I had them. I was so used to waking up from them, screaming, and having Noah's arms to fall into. For nights, I had been dealing with my night terrors alone. As such, I was feeling the effects of my lack of sleep. I'd had no choice but to stay up trying to forget the images ingrained in my head. I'd even gone so far as to not sleep, afraid of what I'd see in my dreams. I had become grumpy and stayed in my room whenever I was home.

Jolie had noticed my change. She lifted her orange, kaleidoscope sunglasses off of her eyes and stared at me. "Bitty, you've got to sleep! You look like someone's thrown you in a wood chipper. Those dark circles could shade a sunny day!"

I waved my hand at her, telling her to let it go. You can't rely on others to take care of you. I didn't want to be mad at Noah. Just because he had a new friend didn't mean I had to feel left out. I had Jolie, and distance could help any relationship. Right. Keep telling yourself that.

"Here they come. Prepare yourself," Jolie whispered my way. I didn't have to look behind me to know who she was talking about.

"Eden, that blouse is gorgeous! It goes perfectly with your eyes." Sophia sat beside me and Noah took his seat on the other side of her. She's flawless. Give up. I nodded a thank you to her and gave her my best smile.

"Ed, do you think you can find a ride home today?" Noah asked, a look of guilt spreading across his gorgeous face. "After practice, Sophie was going to take me to a movie." His baby blue eyes looked into mine, searching for acceptance, no doubt.

Don't be pathetic, stupid. Don't you dare show any emotion. I finally nodded at him after looking at him for several moments.

"My mom will take you home, Bitty. Don't you worry." Jolie smiled at me, but I could see the anger in her eyes. I knew she was mad at Noah. It was obvious she blamed him for my lack of sleep.

"Thanks, Jo!" Noah beamed at Sophia. I had to admit they looked really nice together.

I picked at my lunch listening to the conversation absentmindedly. The lunch period dragged on for what seemed like hours. Noah barely made any effort to include me in the conversation, but Jolie ignored Sophia completely. When they stood up to leave, I was actually relieved.

"Bye, Edith. I'll see you at home." Noah kissed my forehead and walked with Sophia out of the cafeteria.

"Little shit," Jolie said. "He's barely even paying attention to you."

I nodded and pushed my peas around with my fork, not really listening to her.

❃❃❃

Jolie left school early. She assured me she had no idea she had a doctors appointment, or she wouldn't have offered me a ride home. She hugged me, apologizing profusely. "I'm so sorry, Bitty! I'll make it up to you."

I waved it off. I could totally handle a walk home. I'd be fine. It wasn't that far of a walk.

I grabbed my backpack from my locker and began my walk home. I put my phone in the waistband of my leggings because I didn't have pockets. I remembered the way home. I could go alone. Momma wouldn't even know that I was by myself. I'd be home before long. She'd just think I got a ride.

On an empty road not long from the house, tires squealed as they turned. A van came to a stop beside me. I continued walking. Nobody in that van knew me. I didn't know anybody with a van. But the van didn't move.

A big man, easily three times the size of me, jumped out and grabbed my hair forcefully, dragging me to the side of the van. Panic seized me, forcing my breath to escape from my lips.

I struggled in his hands, kicking and trying to hit the man with my arms. But my jabs don't seem to affect him at all, and he grabbed me around the waist and tossed me into the vehicle like a sack of flour.

I breathed hard, begging Jesus to let me use my voice for once so I could scream for help. The man took off down the road after tying my arms and legs together tightly, enough to make my skin instantly scratched and raw. Tears streamed from my eyes and I prayed over and over again that whoever this man was taking me to wasn't somebody I knew.

❃❃❃

The ride was long. I sat in an uncomfortable position for what felt like hours. When the van came to a lurching stop, I panicked again. I don't know where I was going or why I was being taken. The man jerked me from the van and dropped me on a paved road, a thud sounding my fall.

Two pairs of shoes, a pair of Nikes and pink stilettos, came to a stop right next to my head. My breath picked up, fear escalating faster. I was lifted with arms under my belly and brought into a cabin before being thrown onto the wooden floor, met with another sickening thud.

The tears didn't stop when I was moved to sit upright and came face to face with my brother and sister.

They looked furious, positively irate, and were looking right at me. I could see weapons on the table behind them. Whips, paddles, bats, belts, all ready for me. I shook, my body remembering the horrors of my childhood.

I cried with the knowledge that I was here for revenge. I didn't care about the last few weeks with Noah. It shouldn't have mattered who he was friends with, I just needed his friendship. I was a fool for avoiding my best friend. I'd take any of that drama to be away from the twins.

I knew exactly what they had planned. I could see it in their eyes. They wanted to finish me. I could almost feel what they wanted to do. They wanted to give me what they thought I deserved, and it seemed they had been waiting to do it for quite some time.

"She looks healthy doesn't she, Gabriel." Gabriella's voice sounded like nails on a chalkboard to me. I shuddered involuntarily. "Seems as if they are taking good care of her. It's a wonder we were able to get to her, they watch her like a hawk. Can't wait to see their faces when they see their new daughter bruised and beaten, hopefully, dead by the time we're done." Her giggles were mixed with his chuckling.

"Eden, don't you know better by now?" Gabriel inquired. "Why can't you ever follow Mommy's rules?" Gabriel's voice never took on that deep tone most men did and sounded a tad bit feminine. He kicked my stomach when I didn't respond and I fell in on myself, curling in on my belly. "She sure is a stubborn thing, sister. Let's teach her a lesson."

"First we should get the tarp from the shed," the man I did not know suggested. "Blood's pretty tricky to clean up." He and Gabriel left the room and I was left with Gabriella. She sat on the edge of the couch and looked at me with disgust.

"You stole our parents, Eden. You broke my Momma's heart. You deserve every bit of what you're about to get. We wouldn't go easy because you're our sister. We don't consider you that anyway." I was in the middle of a severe panic attack. It was a wonder I could hear what she was saying.

I continued to pray, hoping somebody- anybody- would help me. I replayed memories of Noah and the Winters, trying to think of happy things. I had to coach myself into breathing evenly. I could not be left defenseless.

When the boys came in with a giant blue tarp, I wiggled, trying to escape my restraints. Fear enveloped me, threatening to consume me entirely. "Now, Eden, what good will struggling do you? You know that just frustrates us more."

I was praying in a mantra now, knowing I wasn't likely to live past this. I was begging the Lord to accept me into heaven, even after all the bad things I'd done. I asked that He would protect Noah and help him live a happy and healthy life, reward the Winters for everything they'd ever done for me, and I couldn't help but request that my birth mother and the twins never followed me into wherever I went in the afterlife.

Shaking didn't describe what my body was doing. I could hear my teeth chattering with the tremors my body couldn't seem to quell. With each step the man and twins took, with weapons in their hands, I winced and repeated my mantra.

The beating started much like it always had. My brother and sister, my own flesh and blood, pummeled me with full force. They screamed at me, striking like they were forced to do it. I tried to block out everything they were doing to me, attempting to escape inside my brain. The pain was more than I remember it being and it seemed like minutes before I began to lose consciousness.

"You're a self-righteous bitch who deserves to die," my sister shouted. "I hate you. We've always hated you. I'm hoping we torture you for hours before you finally kick the bucket like you should have years ago. Mommy's going to be so proud when we tell her."

Gabriella chose the bat. She'd lift it above her head and smash down like those carnival games used to test your strength. Gabriel chose the whip and laughed every time it would crack on my body. They were maniacal. The strange, big man chose a paddle and beat me with it as if I was a petulant child. I hated him the most. What kind of person would go out of his way to beat me without knowing me? When Gabriel cracked the whip and it bit into my cheek, narrowly missing my eye, I finally passed out.

❃❃❃

I came to in a dark room that smelled of mildew. My breathing picked up again at an alarming rate, but my restraints and my aching body forbid me from trying to free myself. I could feel something vibrating in my pants and almost wept when I realized it was my phone.

I couldn't reach it because it had snaked down my inner thigh as I lay in a fetal position. I was going to do everything in my power to get to that phone. I had to do it fast before the twins came back.

I stretched out as tall as I could, groaning at the awful feeling my entire body seemed to radiate. I stuck my tied hands down my stretchy leggings, almost knocking the phone further down my pants. When I had it situated between my bound wrists, I let out a shaky sob and pulled my arm out of my pants, praying again to keep the twins away.

With the phone in my grasp, I set it as close to my body as I could on the ground. I used all of my strength to push myself around and onto my belly, wiggling to the phone. The screen had me blinking in surprise.

I couldn't believe it. How had I been unconscious for that long? How had the twins not seen a blinking light in my leggings?

I thanked the Lord for His graciousness and pressed the call icon with my nose, blood falling freely from it. It seemed like nobody was going to answer and I waited in agonizing silence, the ring back tone the only sound I could hear in the room.

"Edith! Baby, is that you? Where are you? Are you okay? How do I get to you? I'm so sorry, Edith. Who has you? When I get my hands on them-" I could hear screaming from the other end telling Noah to shut the hell up.

I opened my mouth and put all I had into one word. My voice was quiet, I worried he wouldn't hear. The words sounded scratchy and I could barely push them past what felt like barbed wire in my throat. I opened my mouth to utter a desperate cry, "Help...my siblings."

I didn't expect the words to slip from my lips, but I was so grateful that they did.

"We're coming as soon as we can, love. Hold on, please-" the sound of the door opening to reveal two positively deranged redheads had my vocal chords springing into action "Noah, please! Help me!"

I went out like a light with a kick to the temple, but not before I heard Gabriel scream, "you little bitch!"