Tradition Comes Third

Leah

Author's Note: Sorry it took me a week to update! I hope you all enjoy. I love reading all of your comments :)

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 Ava clung to my arm as I walked back into the dining room. I could not take my eyes off the platter of meat as we sat down. Ava leaned against me, like she was trying to separate herself as much as she could from the meat.

"Are you two feeling better now?" Dad asked.

"We're not hungry," I told him. "We really just want to go to bed."

"Hunter, you're being rude," he said. "Your family drove a long way to come see you."

"Well we were drugged and put in the basement for quite sometime," I said. "It's not my fault I haven't seen much of them."

"Hunter, please -," Mom pleaded.

Dad shot out his hand and put it on Mom's arm to silence her.

"If you don't want to eat, then you won't," Dad said shrugging his shoulders. "You won't eat at all."

"We won't eat then," I said.

"You're not making the right decision for you or your girl," he told me. "Ava, would you like to eat?"

Ava shook her head. "No, I'm not hungry."

Dad let out a deep breath and pushed his empty plate out in front of him. I could see Leah whispering something into Jared's ear. He nodded his head.

"Both of you go down to the basement," Dad said. "And don't fall asleep."

"Leah is going to go down with them," Jared said.

"Are you sure?" Dad asked.

"Yes." He nodded his head. "She's good. I trust her."

I stood up and grabbed Ava's hand. Jared kissed Leah's cheek before she popped up off his lap. I pulled Ava behind me over to the basement, happy just to get away from the table. I was shocked Dad didn't put up more of a fight for us to eat.

The two chairs were still sitting in the middle of the basement. The rope was pooled around the feet of the chairs. I couldn't stop myself from kicking one of the chairs over. The stairs creaked, and I looked over my shoulder to see Leah walking down. Her large glasses slipped down her nose and she pushed them up with the back of her fingers. Ava stepped toward her and grabbed her shoulders.

"Leah, how long have you been in this family?" she asked.

"I'm not sure," she said. "A year. Maybe a year and a half?"

"What was your life before?" Ava asked. "Who were you? How did you meet Jared's father?"

Ava's eyes were wide. I could see her fingers curling into Leah's shoulders. Leah's mouth was open, and taken by surprise by Ava's actions.

"I moved in with my boyfriend when I was eighteen years old," she said. "He was a singer in a band, and I went with him from city to city. I left him one night because I was tired of him constantly drinking, and coming home from shows high and covered in hickeys."

"That's where you met him?" Ava asked.

"I packed up everything I had, took all the cash I could find, and ran away while he was at one of his shows," she said. "I went to this little motel, and that's where I met Gabriel."

Ava let go of Leah, and ran her fingers through her hair. She spun around and looked at me. I could see the tears glistening in her eyes.

"We have to get out of here," she told me.

"It's okay," Leah said. "I was really scared at first too."

Ava turned around and shook her head.

"No," she said. "No, we're not getting brainwashed."

"What are you talking about?" Leah asked.

"You don't want to be in this family. They've abused you until you believed that this is what you want. Leah, we'll get you out too."

"I don't want to go anywhere." Leah took a small step backwards. "I love Jared."

"No you don't," I said.

Ava looked over her shoulder, surprised that I spoke. She reached out and grabbed Leah's hand. She pulled her over to the couch. Ava's face winced in pain as she sat down. She sat at the edge of the couch, so that her sore back didn't touch any of the cushions. Leah sat down next to her. I sat on the armchair next to them.

"Leah, please think about when you first came into this family," Ava said.

Ava was still holding Leah's hand. Leah glanced down at their hands intertwined together. Her glasses slid down her nose again, and she had to push them back up again with her free hand.

"I was scared," she said.

"Why were you scared?" Ava asked.

"It was all so new." Leah's voice was so quiet I struggled to hear her.

"What was new?"

"When they brought me into the kitchen, there was this corner with hooks and there was blood all over the tiles. I thought they were going to kill me, but then I realized that they would never hurt me."

"Jared has never hurt you?" Ava raised an eyebrow.

"No, of course not."

Ava yanked Leah's arm toward her and pushed up Leah's sleeve with her free hand. Leah's forearm had healing red marks against her pale skin. There were a few lines that were scabbing.

"Who did these to you?" Ava asked.

"Jared did, but he didn't do it to hurt me. I was misbehaving and he had to punish me," Leah said.

"There's no reason for him to have to punish you," Ava said. "Do you know what they did to me?" Leah shook her head. "They whipped with a belt, and now my back is bleeding."

Leah bit down on her lip. Ava still had a grip on her arm. Leah dropped her gaze down to her scarred skin. Her eyes were glistening with tears. She took in a deep breath.

"They've done that to me before," she said. "It really hurt."

"You can get out of this," Ava told her. "We need to get out of this. They're going to keep hurting us."

"I can't leave Jared."

"Why not?"

"I'm pregnant."

Ava's jaw dropped, and I felt mine do the same. The door opened up, and we all looked over to the staircase. Jared closed the door behind him and walked down the steps.

"How's it going down here?" Jared asked.

"Good." Leah's voice cracked, and a tear rolled down her cheek. She tried to wipe it away as fast as she could. Jared furrowed his eyebrows and sat on the couch beside Leah. He threw his arm around her shoulders and rubbed her arms.

"Are you okay?" he asked. "You're crying."

"They're happy tears." It looked like Leah forced a smile on her lips. "I told them about the baby."

Jared smile and pulled Leah toward himself so that her back was resting against his chest. She brought her knees up to her chest, and wrapped her arms around herself. Ava leaned away from them.

"We're really excited," he said. "Aren't we, sweetheart?"

She shook her head, and pressed her face against the inside of his arm to hide her tears from him. Ava looked over her shoulder at me, and raised her eyebrows a bit.

We both knew that Leah was going to be the one to help us escape.