Lost and Found

27: A bad feeling

May 4th

Edmund shivered hard as he sat in the dark, his knees pulled up to his chest as he hugged them close, trembling as tears threatened to fall.

He didn't know how much longer he could cope with this, the dark was playing tricks on his mind and the fear was about to drive him mad.

He was sure after this that he would never like the dark ever again, that he'd always fear it, and he was probably right.

He had no idea how long he'd been there or how long he had left, but if he had known it was a whole 24 hours left, he probably would've burst into tears.

As it happened, he eventually did start crying, tears streaming down his cheeks as he trembled. He didn't care anymore, no one could see him anyway, and if he kept the noise down no one would be able to hear him either.

So he sat there and cried, his head aching and heart pounding, trembling as well as shivering and scared beyond words.

He was never usually this scared of the dark, he was never really scared of it at all. But what with the situation, the pain he was in, the noises he could hear, the cold and the shackles around his ankles, he was absolutely terrified.

He shifted slightly from his current position, only to hiss through clenched teeth as pain shot down his back, more tears spilling down his cheeks, but he once again couldn't care less.

"Please." He sobbed, but his voice was nothing more than a whisper. "Please."

He was too scared and alert to think about sleeping to pass the time, plus the hunger was another thing keeping him awake... he was starving, and was really starting to feel it. He was lightheaded and dizzy already, and still had another day of it, but of course he didn't know that, and could only sit there and hope that the door opened and they let him out.

He knew that once he was let out things would start getting a lot harder than that were before, but he figured anything would be better than sat in a cold, damp, pitch black room with no food or no water, and he would quite happily take working in the fields over this, any day of the week.

But at the end of the day, all he could do was wait, no matter how scared he was he wasn't going to be let out any earlier, so he took a deep breath, and dealt with it... no matter how much he sobbed.

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"Peter?"

Peter's head snapped up from his breakfast, jumping at the sound of the voice and relaxing again when Susan sat beside him. "You made me jump." He muttered.

Susan sighed. "Sorry." She murmured. "I was just gonna say you have to stop thinking about it."

Peter frowned at her. "What?" He whispered.

Susan gave him a sad smile. "We all know what you were thinking about." She said gently. "The look on your face gave it away. But you'll do yourself no good imagining things in your head okay?"

Peter nodded. "Yeah I know." He muttered. "I just have a really bad feeling at the moment, I have had for the last few days. It's like I know something really bad is happening to him."

Susan stared at him. "Now that you mention it," She said quietly. "I've been feeling rather on edge the last few days too."

"Glad I'm not the only one." Peter breathed. "I thought I was going mad."

Susan smiled at him again, a sad smile still, but a smile nonetheless. "You haven't touched your breakfast." She said after a moment or two of silence.

Peter swallowed hard. "I'm not that hungry." He whispered.

"Did you eat tea last night?" Susan said, already knowing the answer.

"No." Peter choked out, voice quiet.

"Then you need to eat something for breakfast Peter." Susan told him. "Edmund will need you to be strong and well when you rescue him, not half starved and on the brink of collapse."

Peter was silent for a while. "You're right." He murmured eventually, before beginning to eat.

Susan didn't leave his side until she had forced him to eat what she reckoned was a decent amount of food, well, she wasn't going to get him to eat anymore... Peter could be as stubborn as Edmund sometimes.

"We'll carry on when everyone else is ready." Susan sighed, watching as the others finished packing up the tents. "It's a nightmare having to set up camp every evening and take it down every morning."

"Tell me about it." Peter muttered. "But it's not like we have any other choice."

"I know." Susan breathed.

"Wheres Lucy?" Peter asked after a while.

"Over there with Philip." Susan said, nodding towards the horse and her sister. "She's a lot more worried than she's letting on you know."

Peter nodded slightly. "Yeah." He breathed, before frowning. "Not once have I seen her take her hand away from her cordial."

Susan frowned too and glanced down a little, and sure enough Lucy's hand was over the small bottle, as if protecting it. "She knows she'll have to use it." She whispered.

"She's not 9 years old anymore." Peter mumbled. "She knows things, can figure them out easily, and she's figured out that Edmund will be hurt when we find him."

Susan nodded in agreement before sighing and slowly standing. "We should probably get a move on." She said, brushing sand off her dress. "This sand gets everywhere." She muttered to herself.

Peter actually chuckled a little as he stood beside her. "It really does doesn't it." He said.

Susan smiled. "Come on then." She breathed.

"Just take it easy Su." Peter said quickly. "It's gonna be another very hot day."

Susan smiled and nodded her head. "I will." She replied. "Don't you worry about me."

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