Heartless Savage by Ivy Blake
Chapter Nineteen
Austin
I’d sent numerous texts to my mom and she still hadn’t replied. It had been nearly a week since I’d last seen her and I was beginning to get seriously worried.
“Have your parents heard anything from my mom?” I asked Nate as we sat in his car.
“Nothing at all, you know I would have told you, man,” said Nate with a sad expression on his face.
“I know, I’m just panicking,” I said truthfully.
I closed my eyes and sat back in my seat, thinking of the best way forward. I’d realised a little too late that I’d left my birth certificate and passport at the house like a fucking idiot. When I’d called Nate the other day, we’d been in such a rush to sneak out that I’d left some of the most important things. There was no way that Steven was going to hand them over without a fight, which is why I knew that the only way to get them was to sneak in and do it myself.
“I still can’t believe that this shit has been going on for years,” said Nate as he started the engine.
“Yup,” I said shortly.
It had been hard telling Nate, but he’d listened quietly as I gave him the run-down of the abusive-tyrant-stepdad situation. He had reacted better than I expected. I felt bad that I’d thought Nate wouldn’t believe me for even a second. I was worried that his parents relationship with mine would cloud his ability to see the truth, but I often forgot that Nate wasn’t like that. No one told him what to do or how to think. That was one of the ways that we were most similar.
“Are you sure that you don’t want to call the police to the house, just in case?” he asked, making a fair point, but I knew it would be pointless.
“It would just be my word against his. Mom isn’t here so she can’t back me up and there isn’t enough evidence,” I said even though I knew there were other ways to get the cops on my side.
“I’ll back you up, I don’t care!” exclaimed Nate as he edged around the corner.
“I don’t want to involve you any more than I already have,” I said truthfully, going quiet as I spotted my house. Or should I say, my old house. It was sad that I was having to give up the place that I grew up, the place I was born, for this jackass. But if it meant that I could breathe another day, it was 100% worth it.
“Austin, I’ve got your back, no matter what, okay? We’re gonna get through this, no matter what it takes.”
I smiled at Nate, my best friend, my brother, appreciative for all the help and support he’d given me so far. I hadn’t gone into much depth about the extent of Steven’s abuse, but Nate was smart enough to put two and two together to realise that my frequent absences from school weren’t entirely by choice.
“Only a few more months until we’re off to college anyway, and I can forget this damn town,” I said as my eyes rested on Megan’s house. Of course I didn’t want to forget her, but I hadn’t allowed myself to think that far ahead, I could only take things day by day or it would be too overwhelming.
“Any idea where you’re gonna end up?” asked Nate as we parked on the road opposite my old house.
“Not a clue,” I lied.
I had a few ideas in mind, some close by, others that required cross country travel. It really depended on which colleges offered me scholarships- or if any offered them to me at all. I vowed to myself that I’d pay more attention in class for the next few months and my next tutoring sessions with Megan or else it all would have been a waste of time. Not the tutoring sessions of course. But it was easy to lose sight of your dreams when there was a massive grey cloud following you everywhere.
“You know my parents aren’t going to chase you out, right?” said Nate, turning off the engine. “You can stay as long as you need. Remember, they’re closer to your mom than Steven. And they’ve always liked her more,” he added with a wink, trying to lighten the mood before we embarked on this crazy mission.
“I appreciate it,” I said, my voice trailing off as I caught sight of Megan taking her bins out. She was dressed in cute little shorts which made her ass and legs look amazing. Nate followed my gaze and punched me in the arm once he realised where it lead.
“You’re fucking the new girl, aren’t you!” he exclaimed, his voice taking on a playful tone.
“What?” I blurted out.
He hadn’t been in the house when we were having sex the other day had he? While Nate and I shared a lot of things and had crossed many boundaries that most friends didn’t, there was no way in hell that I would be comfortable with him hearing me and Megan fucking. That was different.
“Dude, we have CCTV cameras outside the house, remember?” he winked at me. “I saw you invited her over for a little play date.”
I groaned at myself for my forgetfulness, but was secretly relieved that he hadn’t heard us going at it.
“So what’s going on with you guys, was it a one-time thing or nah?”
“I honestly don’t know, Nate. Shit is mad confusing right now.”
“Just be careful with that one,” he said, nodding to Megan as she walked back inside, closing the door behind her.
“What do you mean?” I asked curiously, looking at him to try and discern the meaning from his words.
“She doesn’t seem like your typical girl. I feel like she might go psycho on you when you fuck her over.”
“Who said I’m gonna fuck her over?” I said defensively.
“Dude, c’mon,” said Nate, his eyebrows raised. “You kinda have a track record.”
He was right, I did. But somehow, this felt different. By this point with any other girl, they’d already be off the radar, yet here I was still fixated on Megan even after we hooked up. It was no surprise that Nate assumed that I would eventually resort to my old ways.
“I’m just seeing how things go,” I said nonchalantly, even though I wasn’t quite sure where I wanted things to go. All I knew was that what I felt for Megan, I’d never felt for anyone else before. Would I eventually end up hurting her? I couldn’t be sure if it was just a part of who I am, like Nate suggested, or if it was a conscious decision on my part. Either way, I didn’t have time to think about it right now, the house was empty and I had to strike.
“If you hear me start the engine, get your ass out of that house- okay?” said Nate after we went over the plan.
“I’ll be out,” I assured him as I climbed out of the car, slinging my backpack over my shoulder. I had a cap on in an attempt to look less suspicious, when it probably made me stand out more. I put my key in the door, surprised that it still slid in perfectly since I was half expecting Steven to have changed the locks already.
The house was eerily quiet, as if it had been abandoned for days. I didn’t have the time to stop and question it because time was already tight. I ran up the stairs, not bothering to take off my shoes as usual as I headed straight to my Mom’s room where I knew my personal documents would be.
She had always been persistent about holding onto them herself, worried that I’d lose them if I wasn’t careful. I looked through her drawers, many of them were empty, which was unsurprising, until I found the drawers with my stuff in it. Underneath the file with my stuff was a photo from my first day at kindergarten. I had a big goofy grin on my face, and as I looked at the picture I began to feel a deep sadness for the boy in the picture. Little did he know that his life was going to take a detour. I tucked it into my folder and closed the door quietly, shutting the bedroom door behind me before heading to my room.
I picked up a few sentimental things but decided that Steve could deal with the rest and said goodbye to my room. I’d spent so many sleepless nights in there hiding away from Steve or trying to drown out the noise as he shouted at Mom and put his hands on her. I shuddered and while I was sad, I was glad to be having a fresh start somewhere else.
I walked to the stairs and stopped as I saw a figure standing at the bottom of them. I nearly dropped my bags from the shock as I found myself staring down at Steve. I was confused as hell. Nate hadn’t turned on the engine or messaged me to signal his arrival, so how had he managed to catch me off guard without me realising?
As if he could tell what I was thinking, Steven smiled and cleared his throat, like a movie villain waiting for his big speech.
“You forgot about the back doors,” he said slowly, a smug expression taking over his hardened face. “I parked my car on a different street.” he laughed to himself, an evil sound that sounded less than human. “I knew you’d be back soon enough.”
My heart was racing in my chest, pounding so hard it was like a wild animal that wanted to be set free. I swallowed hard as I tried to process what was going on. There was no way that I was going to get caught like this.
“I’m just leaving,” I said calmly. “I’ll be out of your way, and you’ll never have to see me again.”
I walked down a couple of the steps at the same time that Steven folded his arms. His eyes were taunting me, begging me to challenge him, to see what he’d do to me.
“Oh, you really think it’s that easy do you?” he snickered. “No wonder your mother left you, when you’re this stupid!”
“She didn’t leave me!” I exclaimed as I felt the fire churning in my belly.
“She left you because she doesn’t love you!” Steven yelled back. “And if poor mommy doesn’t love you, Austin, you can sure as hell bet that no one else will!”
Even though I knew he was spitting venom specifically to get to me, I couldn’t help but falter at his words. It’s not true, I repeated to myself over and over again, but that didn’t stop the tears from pricking at my eyes.
“What’s wrong, Mr Quarterback? Looks like your shine is dimming,” he mocked me, looking far too pleased with himself. I just wanted him to hit me and get it over with or leave me alone and let me pass. This in-between was killing me and I was running out of patience and faith that I wouldn’t do the wrong thing.
“Can you let me go, please?” I muttered, just loud enough so that he could hear.
“Let you go?” said Steven in a patronising voice. “But then you’re gonna run your little bitch mouth all over this town just to taint my name.”
I scowled at him because he had already tainted his own name, even if only a few people knew what he was really like. I had to remind myself that I wasn’t responsible for the breakdown of my family, I was meant to be the kid for fuck’s sake!
I was sick of him patronising me, sick of him treating me like shit, absolutely sick of everything. Mom had brought this guy into our lives and here I was having to defend myself against him on my own. My mind was cloudy and I could only see red as I charged down the stairs, straight towards Steven hoping to catch him off balance. I was too slow and instead Steven shoved me so that I went sprawling on the floor, my belongings scattered around me.
“Pathetic bitch,” he spat at me as he stood over me. “You worthless little bitch. You think you’re special but you’re not.”
I brought my hand to my lip and could feel that I’d busted it when I landed on the ground. Nothing new when it came to Steven. I tried to stand up but Steven held me down, this time his hands wrapped firmly around my throat. I struggled as he choked me, gasping for air, but the sad fuck only pressed on my windpipe harder.
“You think you can come into my house whenever you want-”
Steven didn’t get to finish his sentence because as quick as a flash, the door flew open and in came Nate with a baseball in hand which he swiftly used to knock my stepdad unconscious.
“Fucking asshole!” he shouted at Steven’s unconscious body. Nate turned to me. “Are you okay?”
I struggled to catch my breath as he helped me up. I hadn’t realised that tears were running down my face as Nate wrapped his arms around me.
“You’d been in here for ages so I had to check it out, something didn’t feel right. Thank fuck I did!” he said, letting go of me.
“Thank you, man,” I croaked as we grabbed my things and left the house, Steven still out cold on the ground. “Is he dead?” I asked.
“I wish,” said Nate as he loaded my bags into his boot. “He’ll have a concussion if he’s lucky.”
“If he’s not so lucky?”
“You don’t need to worry about that,” Nate said to me pointedly. As we got in the car I felt my neck for bruises and winced at how tender it was to touch.
“He could have killed me,” I said slowly, realising that Nate literally just saved my life.
“He needs to go to jail for a long time for the shit he’s done to you,” Nate said, his face hard. “But for now, we need to focus on making sure you’re alright. If that bastard knows what’s good for him, he’ll stay the hell away from you.”
Nate put his car into gear and pulled away from the house of hell. This time as we drove away, I didn’t look back like I usually did. My eyes stayed focussed on the road ahead. Even though Nate was driving above the speed limit, I felt like we couldn’t get away fast enough.
