Mommy's House

3

MOMMY never returned with dinner.

The heat only seemed to radiate throughout the room at a higher intensity. Bella was dripping sweat at this point, as well as the others, and her blouse and jeans were now saturated.

The light bulb buzzed and flickered occasionally, making Bella's head ache even more. There was a pounding pressure around her temples, and the feeling of her head pulsing combined with her stomach twisting made her nearly vomit.

Elliot's breath was heavy as he stood up, his nearly white, blond hair soaked and stuck to the sides of his face.

"I need to go to the bathroom," he exclaimed, bouncing up and down.

Bella looked up at Elliot, then over at the older boy whose face was also wildly flushed.

Before Bella could respond, the older boy interrupted her thought. "You're not tied up. Open the door and look for a bathroom or something," he suggested.

Bella exhaled in anger, her eyes narrowing at the older boy. "You're full of great ideas today, aren't you?" she scoffed in confusion. "Are you trying to get him killed?"

The older boy's full lips tilted into a grin in regards to Bella's anger, and her blood was at its highest boiling point. "I'm just giving him tips," he defended, "what else do you want the kid to do?"

Bella shook her head, her breath wild as she pressed her head against the wall. She felt no relief with not even a single breeze to cool herself down, and her frustration with this older boy only made her dehydrated body ache more.

Elliot whined, and Bella took a breath in thought.

"Try your best to hold it, and the next time she comes to see us, you can ask. Okay?" she asked Elliot, and Elliot's desperate eyes lightened in agreement.

"Fine," Elliot said, his tone clearly upset as he sat back against the wall with his arms crossed.

The older boy shifted against the wall, grunting in pain beneath his breath as he tried to look back at the chains and ropes that restricted his movements. Bella was thankful she was only chained and not tied up at the same time - she couldn't imagine how the older boy tolerated leaning against his bound arms for such an extensive period of time.

"It's not a bad idea, you know. The kid's not tied up or anything, he could find a way to get us out," the older boy said suddenly, his icy eyes on her.

She gritted her teeth together. "Of course it's a bad idea sending a child out that door alone. We are trapped in God-knows-where, with God-knows-who, and we have you over here with all your intelligent ideas and your stupid knife that could have gotten us killed. You need to think straight in situations like this if you want to survive."

He shook his head to get his black, soaked strands of hair away from his eyes. His lips were tightened as he groaned in pain again with his slight movement.

"It's nothing but a psycho woman who's clearly cracked out, what's the worst she could do?"

The more she heard him speak, the more she heard the very light and hidden Italian accent behind his words.

Bella furrowed her eyebrows. "Did you miss the part when she mentioned that she'll have her boyfriend deal with you?"

The older boy chewed on his bottom lip in thought. "I think I'll be all right."

Elliot snuggled up against Bella and she wrapped her restricted hand around his shoulder, rubbing it in comfort. She noticed Elliot's eyes flutter shut, and didn't want to continue to speak, but she felt as if she needed to tell this older boy what was in for him, since he couldn't seem to figure out the danger of their situation on his own.

"He could kill you. You had to have been captured somehow, you're obviously not invincible," she muttered in an exasperated sigh.

The older boy's gaze hardened, his piercing eyes watching Bella with intent.

Bella felt uncomfortable against his gaze and looked away instantly, focusing on the details of a baby blue doll house tilted against the wall.

"What's your name?" the older boy asked suddenly, and Bella continued to stare only at the dollhouse. She almost didn't even want to answer him, but she felt that if they were going to be trapped in there together, they should try to be civil for Elliot's sake.

"Isabella... well, Bella. I hate Isabella," she said quietly, licking her chapped lips.

"My beautiful Bella," she heard her father's gentle voice. She saw his warm eyes and felt his gentle touch against her shoulder as she wrapped herself in her butterfly-covered comforter.

Bella cut her thought short; she promised herself she wouldn't cry or think about her family. She couldn't - it would only weaken her. Instead, she focused on blowing her thick strands of hair away from her sticky skin.

"You don't really seem to like much," older boy said, his voice rough as he tried to handle the consistent aching pain in his arms.

Bella rolled her eyes and scoffed, remaining silent.

"I'm Cole," he told her, and Bella looked over to find him staring at the doorway.

But she didn't realize that Cole was staring at the doorway because the door was creaked open and Mommy was peering through it. She continued peering through it, her bloodshot eyes peaking in and watching Bella, Elliot and Cole in the most terrifying and silent way.

"You," Mommy finally said to Cole.

Mommy slowly walked in, her dress lifted a little further up her leg than before and her lipstick smeared across her wrinkled mouth. Elliot stirred in his sleep but Bella decided to quietly rub her hand against his back to distract him.

"My boyfriend is here. I'm sure you remember him, don't you?" she asked him in a sickeningly sweet tone, kneeling down to unchain him.

Bella couldn't help but wonder what she meant by that, but she stayed silent and focused on the ground.

Once Cole was unchained, he did everything in his power to rip himself free of his tied wrists. He groaned heavily as Mommy focused on untangling the chains against the wall.

He couldn't. He was clearly angry, veins in his neck and arms were protruding as he tried desperately to slip the ropes off of his wrists. Bella noticed his shredded and blood-covered skin covering his wrists beneath the tight ropes.

"Knives aren't funny," Mommy said in a serious tone. "And they aren't welcome in Mommy's house."

When Mommy stood up to grab his arm, she lifted him up to his feet.

"È malato cazzo cagna," he exhaled heavily, and before Bella could even register what was happening, he used his shoulder to shove her off of him, sending her tumbling to the ground. "Cagna," he spat again.

Mommy bellowed loudly in horror, shaking her head, "You're a disgrace since you've been with your father!" she cried out, trying to scramble to her feet but her drunken movements were throwing her off and causing her to tip over. "This is not my son, he changed you!"

Elliot was awake and whining beside Bella as they stared in paralyzed fear. Cole stood there, staring down at Mommy on the ground with a heaving chest and hands curled into fists behind his back.

The light bulb was flickering so much that the room fell to a default, dim setting as the weak light just barely illuminated it.

But Bella could so clearly see the huge figure standing at the door as Mommy cried out in pain and frustration. A low grumble of laughter emitted from the tall and bulky man standing at the door.

"Bad boy," the figure said, his voice so deep it practically vibrated the ground. "Bad, bad boy."