Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
Ellie walked into the small apartment that she had left 8 hours ago. There was one difference from when she had left it, there was an overwhelming smell of cigarettes, but like usual there was the blaring of the rock station from Noah in the kitchen. "Noah? I'm home." She said nervously and walked to where her boyfriend was leaning against the counter a cigarette in between his long fingers and a bottle in his other hand.
"What took you so long?" He asked obviously drunk. "You look really hot, so I'll forgive you." He mumbled and smirked walking over to her trying to kiss her. His breath smelt terrible and she had to tilt her head away from him to avoid the kiss.
"You're drunk, Noah. I'm not doing anything with you." She told him firmly and pushed him away. She walked away but was quickly grabbed pulling her to his chest.
"I'm your boyfriend if you really loved me you'd do this for me." He whispered to her and started to kiss her neck harshly.
"Noah stop." She whimpered out and shoved him off. He only became more aggressive, grabbing her sides after slamming down his beer bottle and pressed her back harshly against the counter. Tears formed in her eyes from that action and she still struggled against the male's grip as he kissed and sucked in her neck. Without any warning he grabbed her arm and pressed the end of his cigarette into it. She let out a scream and arched her back kicking and crying at this point. He seemed to be getting off with her being in pain like this. He pulled off the cigarette and grabbed her by her hair walking to the couch ignoring the pleads of his girlfriend to stop. He threw her down on the couch climbing on top of her and started to strip her clothes off of her.
☾ ☾ ☾ ☾
After almost two hours of hell Noah had came deep inside Ellie and she was beyond terrified that something would happened. She got up crying out in pain, but covered her mouth trying not to wake up Noah that was upstairs sound asleep. She dressed herself and snuck upstairs packing a couple bags full of clothing and made her way out to into the cold Michigan night. She didn't leave behind a not or anything for Noah because she couldn't bare to tell him where she was going because she was too frightened he would follow her and do more harm.
Michigan was cold during the fall season, lots of wind and it rained frequently like tonight. Ellie's hair was starting to stick uncomfortably to her face and make its way to her eyes blurring her vision even more than the tears did. Headlights of cars passed by, not one stopping to help the small girl lug her two large bags to wherever her next destination was. That was until a large white SUV pulled long side her and rolled down the window. Ellie became nervous and bit her lip, keeping her eyes down and continued to walk. The car slowly followed and a man's head stuck out. "Hey! You alright? Do you need a ride?" His voice was sweet like honey, and full of concern. Ellie looked at him and couldn't make out his face, just the long brown hair that lined it and was now getting wet from sticking his head outside. She nodded meekly and the guy in the driver's seat laughed.
"Which one is it? Are you not okay and do need a ride or are you okay and don't need a ride?" He asked from his behind his buddy in the passenger seat who was watching her.
"I'm not okay and I need a ride." She spoke up and looked at them with squinted eyes. "But I'm not sure if I should get a ride from a couple of strangers." This caused the guy in the driver's seat to chuckle once more.
"I'm Michael, that's Tony. You are?" He asked from the driver's seat Ellie could see the outline of his hair, he had a receding hair line, and it seem as though it was brown like Tony's. "Ellie." She yelled over the rain that was picking up at that point. Tony gave a smile which exposed his underbite that was extremely noticeable in the moonlight. "Okay Ellie. Hop in, we'll take you where you need to go." He said sticking his head back in and reaching behind him throwing open the door. The young girl threw in her bags and hoisted her small figure into the back seat. The way Tony said her name made her feel a sense of safety, and comfort. Michael, gave off a warmness about him too because as they drove along they listened to the rock station and he was bopping his head erratically at stop lights and singing along with the beats of the song. Ellie found it amusing and wondered who these two men were, what they actually looked like.
Within minutes the ride was over as they pulled up to an apartment complex where Haley lived. Ellie dug into her pocket and pulled out a wad of wet cash. "This is all I have, but thank you so much!" She said throwing open the door once more and before either males could turn around and protest that they didn't need her money, she was gone. Tony looked at Michael and then watched the girl run inside.
"Holy shit, she was beautiful." He spoke and watched her enter the building, her frame shaking from the cold.
"Ooooo, is Anthony Kiedis in love?" Michael spoke lowly and poked at the other male's side. Anthony swatted his hand away and looked at him grinning.
"Shut the fuck up Flea. I don't even know if I'm gonna ever see this chick again, and I don't know her last name." He laughed leaning back into his seat. "Now lets go, John and Chad are probably waiting." He told him and crossed his arms propping his feet up on the dashboard. With that they drove off into the night towards the hotel they were staying at.
Ellie buzzed up to Haley's apartment and stood there shaking. "Hello?" A groggy, tired voice asked.
"Haley, it's Ellie. Let me up please." She told her.
"Is everything alright El?" Haley asked worried and Ellie just shook her head.
"Just let me up and I'll explain." She spoke looking down at the burn on her arm that stung like a thousand suns. A loud buzz sound came from the door and Ellie pulled it open dragging her things towards the elevator. When she entered she dropped the bags to the floor and stared at the wet street which was illuminated with yellow, orangish light. As the door slowly closed she couldn't help but think of the two strangers who picked her up, and what their stories were.
Ellie could just remember the sound of Tony's voice saying her name, the smell of his cologne as she sat behind him. It was just all so comforting, it was something she had never felt with Noah. Ellie didn't even see Tony's face but could it be that she had fallen for a stranger in a few sort moments, a stranger that she believed she would never see again?
