Saving Emily

Miracle 9

~ Miracle 9 ~

Emily

   I woke up with a pounding headache, lying on a cold stone floor.  It was dark and smelled of mold and dampness.  I could see a sheet lied beneath me and a single pillow.  There was also a plate of food in the corner consisting of water, bread, and a piece of chicken. 

   “Cameron!” I screamed.  I slammed my fist up against the wall and cried, “Damn it!”

   Suddenly, light flooded into the room and I found myself staring up at Cameron’s face.  He was smirking, as if he expected me to be pissed off about this.  Even I would’ve expected me to be.

   “Where am I?” I demanded.  He didn’t respond for a moment, just stood in the doorway to this dungeon, gazing at me.  Then he said, “Underground.”

   “No shit,” I hissed.  I got up from the sheet and ran to him, ready to rip him apart with my bare hands.  But the moment we collided, I was sent flying to the ground to crack my head up against the wall. 

   I held my hand to it and closed my eyes in pain.  That’s when I heard Cameron say, “You better behave or I’ll take that food away from you right now.”

   “What am I?” I spat. “A child?  Go ahead and take the damn food.  I will not eat anything that you put out for me.  I won’t risk getting drugged again.”

   He laughed.  “Oh, Emily,” he said, shaking his head. “You think I constantly have to drug you to keep you here?  That’s where you’re wrong.  It’s not me that’s keeping you locked in this prison.  No.  It’s you.”

   “What?” I said, my voice falling flat. 

   He nodded.  “Within a number of days, I will have successfully drained every bit of hope that you have left.  You’ll have nothing, Emily.  Think about it.  Ronnie won’t be coming for you now.”

   I took another shot, running to him and screaming, “What did you do to him?”

   Cameron grabbed my wrists and held them so that I couldn’t touch him.  He cackled as he said, “Silly Emily.  Isn’t it obvious?  He’s already dead!”

   Everything inside of me collapsed.  I fell to my knees next to Cameron and he let go of my wrists.  I couldn’t move, couldn’t think, couldn’t breathe…

   Ronnie was dead.  And Cameron killed him.  He took away my faith, my spark, my… my hope. 

   All of me was silent as I lied down on the concrete and felt the tears falling down my face involuntarily.  I watched as Cameron walked from the room and shut the door behind him.  I heard a click, and I was locked in once again.  I was once again engulfed in the darkness with nothing to do but think and cry myself to sleep.

   I never got to tell him goodbye.  I never got to tell him I love him…

***

   Cameron brought me food day by day, replacing the food that I refused to touch. 

   I didn’t know how much time passed.  I sat willingly in his captivity, thinking of any way that I could let go and be with Ronnie.  Death would be better than this.

   “Emily, you have to eat,” Cameron said. “You’ll starve.”

   Then he stopped.  He didn’t say another word.  He just walked from the room and left me for dead.  Because even he didn’t care whether I lived or if I died in this place. 

***

   More time passed, and one day, Cameron opened the door and called, “Emily, it’s your lucky day.”

   I didn’t look at him.  I lied still on my sheet and breathed tried holding my breath.  Even that didn’t kill me. 

   But I did sit up eventually.  Because that’s the very moment that Cameron threw another body into this prison cell.  The person was on their hands and knees.  They didn’t move, neither did I. 

   “Look,” Cameron called happily, pointing to the person as if he had just solved the grandfather paradox. “You get a roommate!”

   He noticed that I didn’t move a muscle.  I didn’t go to check who the person was, or ask for their name.  Cameron eventually gave up and threw in another sheet and pillow. 

   “I’ll bring your food down later,” he said.

   When he was gone, I did get up from the floor.  I spoke the first words since I had when I woke up in hell.  “Are you okay?” I asked.  They didn’t say anything, so I took the sheet and pillow and laid it out for them. 

   I then returned to my sheet and lied there, gazing at them. 

   The person moved finally and crawled over to their own sheet.  They sat down against the wall, and that was the first time I noticed that it was a boy.  He had short blonde hair and a square face.  His clothes were battered and torn, but he still looked in decent shape. 

   That’s when he looked up at me.

   The moment his eyes met mine, it all made sense.  Why Cameron had brought me down here, why he’d killed Ronnie, and why he’d left me here to die.  Because he’d done the same for him. 

   I took a deep breath as I nodded to him. 

   “Dylan.”