“Annie!”
Nothing in the world can describe my relief right now. Her tear-stained face folds into a huge smile when she sees me. Soon enough my eyes tear up as well, and I just break out into a gasping/hyperventilating laugh as I rush - hobble - towards Annie. She runs towards me and hugs me tighter than anyone ever has before.
“I thought I lost you!” She sobs.
“I missed you so much,” I cry.
“Where's my daddy? Is he with you?”
Her pleading brown eyes break my heart. What can I say? That her dad and I got separated and that I don't even know if he is alive or not? How am I supposed to tell her that? I can't. But I have to. As I explain that I got separated from her dad when I was dragged away into the forest she looks absolutely heartbroken, but understanding. I almost start to cry. I failed again. How could I let everyone get separated? How could I let this happen?
“Annie, I'm just so sorry I let you down and everyone else, I know I messed up - ”
“Nessie, stop blaming yourself!”
Her words shock me. Stop blaming myself. How can I? I'm the only reason everyone else is out here. They tried to find me and now everyone is getting hurt.
“This isn't any one person's fault, okay! We are going to get out of this! We are going to fight, and we are going to win.”
I have never seen her so determined. So strong. Her strength gives me strength. It makes me feel that together we will find a way out. Annie reads my mind.
“Nessie, come on, let’s get out of here…”
“I'm way ahead of you. Look.”
I quickly show her the map I found in Mallory's necklace.
“Hmm, does it show where the exit is? And BaC? This is a little confusing…”
“Yeah, I know, but I'm guessing she didn't have a lot of time…”
“What do you mean? Oh Nessie, please tell me she's not hurt!”
“I really don't know what happened. I just know that she's gone…”
“We have to find her! Come on!”
“Wait!”
I grab Annie and tackle her to the ground.
“What was that for?!”
“Shhhh!”
A series of voices floats down the hallway outside.
“Let’s listen! But we can't let them know I'm here!”
We crouch back into the corner of the dark dingy room and wait for the voices to come closer.
“We already got Elise's girl. She's up with Anthony now.”
“What about the other one?”
“Oh, that one…” the man's raspy voice echoes down the hall. Yep. Only one person could be that hateful. IT'S KEITH!
“We found her and Elise's little brat trying to escape. When we grabbed Mallory the other one went mad. She was having a seizure or something. It was the weirdest thing. You should have seen it. Anyway, Anthony said she was of no use anymore so we just threw her in one of the storage rooms.”
“She still there?”
“Yeah, but I'm not going to bother with her. We don't want her ruining this. You know what Anthony said: no room for screw ups.”
YOU ARE READING
The Endless Night
Action"...never walk out alone..." Rumors have haunted the property around the little cottage for years. Vanessa Görtz and her family have just moved in and her parents are taking these rumors seriously. Vanessa decides to take matters into her own hands...
