Phantom

Haunted | N°5

My wrists are handcuffed by something cold and metallic as I get my consciousness again. Handcuffs. Such as you get by the police when they arrest you. They are just a bit above my head and fixed on the wall. There are metal curls around my wrists; the blood has dammed and paralyzed my fingers and my palms.
And me? I am hanging among them, my wounded back against the dirty wall. My naked feet barely touch the floor and my toes just streak the cement; the position is uncomfortable.
Everything I see is blurred by a white curtain and my head is spinning. I can barely notice the blood in the corner that I vomited before...
My body is just weak. I have slept all time and haven't eaten anything, I didn't even stand up more than once, because my legs are hurting. I am locked in this cement room without water and food and cannibals deciding over my life or death. But I can't remember how I got hanged here. Who came into the room? Was it while I was sleeping? Most probably, because it was the only thing I did, exept for vomiting once. Where am I? And how long have I been here? Is somebody searching for us? For Keira, Joy, Ryan, Josh, Tyler and me? They have parents and relatives here unlike me. Did they announce the police? Joys parents should be back since a long time, I think.
And everything they found was a house which is burned down and us - missing.
Aren't they concerned?
Endless questions and no answers. When are we going to get free? Will we ever get free or will we starve to death in this room? Are the others also in such a room or are they already dead? I am not even sure if I am alive, because life here seems so - I don't know. Certainly not a life.
Again I start crying as I realize that all my questions are in vain. I try to sit down, but in that moment handcuffs cut into my skin and I scream in pain. They have opened old wounds again. Wounds, which were caused by tree bark rope. Oh, I am so injured, so weak...
Combustion on my back, my wrists are some wrecks, my injured soul and ... and the pill. I still don't know what it was exactly, but I know that it induced the nausea.
But what really is bothering me, is the fact that the darkness isn't giving any information of what time it is. I only sometimes can orientate myself by the light from under the door gap. If there is light, then that means that it is day. No light, night. But that isn't precise.
And I am already feeling my stomach demanding for food and my throat for water. But one thing is for sure: if I either don't get water soon, then I'll get dehydrate and die or if I don't get food I will starve to death. So my condition is very critical. And then there is boredom. I have nothing to do all day long. I can either eat, drink, talk, read or hear, because there isn't anything that you could here inside. Just silence. So I am sitting here all day and brooding either about my future or about my past. About Amber. About my parents. About the cannibals. About the pill they gave me. The pill. It just doesn't want to get out my head and that is because I hate living in uncertainty. And there is the dream I am thinking of. What if it really happened to Amber? If it was real? I would have died of fear!
My tears have now drenched my face and my neck. It is unbelievable that I am still able to cry because my body needs all resources of water or otherwise I will dehydrate. And tears are water. I must also really look horrible! Read eyes from crying, bloated face, also from crying, dirty and greasy hair standing up in all directions, dirty feet and this silly white dress!
I try to stay strong, though the thought of wanting to die often came into my head. But does crying mean staying strong? No. No, it doesn't, so I already have broken my intent before I even started to stick to it.
I know my thoughts are confusing and chaotic, but after so much time locked here you ... you loose your humanity, to express it like that.
I pinch my eyes together to get them wet because they already burn and to try to make myself think clear again, but also to get rid of the irritating black dots that spread in front of me and daze my sight.
I suddenly let out a huff and gasp for air or at least try to get some into my hurting lungs. I immediately get a headache which seems to get more intense as the seconds pass and I have the need to scream. It is so unsupportable. As if somebody would punch you with a hammer, over and over again. And you who can't do nothing because your hands are tied together.
"Help!", I scream but I don't hear anything. No echoing from the walls, not even a small noise. And then I realize that I only had the impression to scream. I start whimpering and crying again and try to pull my hands out the metallic chains and hear their rattle as they crash against the wall. But I have no success. The metal is just too strong and doesn't back down.
The ache in my temples amplifies and my head is just before bursting. I start kicking with my naked feet and throwing myself around and bumping into the cement wall.
"Please-", I cry in pain, but the voice is again just in my head and there is nobody who could help me. I am alone in this room. My friends are probably dead and I will be dead soon, too ...
But then suddenly the pain is gone. I don't feel anything anymore, not even a sting. The pain just disappeared as quick as it began. Exhausted I let myself sink and am immediately caught up by my handcuffs. Again a rattle goes through the cold room as I pull on them. But this time another one mixes with it. Another one that doesn't sound like metallic chains at all. It belongs to the snake that is suddenly in the room. A shiver goes down my back and goosebumps raises on my arms and in my neck. A disgusting taste suddenly fills my mouth. It tastes like rotten eggs and I want to vomit again, but I know that things will worsen, if I do that. Instinctively I try to get my feet in safety and pull them up, try to get some support on the wall, but unfortunately my naked feet are sweaty for no reason, because the temperature in the room surely dropped under the zero line.
The ugly snake stretches out it's red tongue again that splits into two pieces at the very front. The tongue flinches and probably gets the smell of my body. Its prey. Again I can hear a rattle and the scaly snake with its writhing body begins to wriggle its way closer to me. With shocked eyes I stare at it and try to keep my breathing low and slow, but I am sure that my efforts are in vain and that the snake can hear my breaths perfectly.
Only one meter separates me and the snake now. One meter and a fraction of a second in which I realize that it isn't an usual snake. This one is more dangerous and more unpredictable. More poisonous. I have to deal with a king cobra.
My breathing is heavily. If the cobra bites me now, I'll be dead within hours, if not even earlier. And I don't want to die yet. I am not ready. The snakes skin is a mix between green and brown and is already peeling off. I doubt that the combustion on my back looks any better.
Frightened I stare into the thin snake eyes which are just some tiny slits. The cobra watches me carefully through them and his organ of sight flinches to my fingers as I carefully move them to get the blood in them flowing again. The handcuffs are tight and they seem to get even more compressed as time passes. I start shivering and my teeth clattering. It is so cold inside here and the snake in front of me doesn't make things get better at all.
As if it would have been waiting for a special command it jumps forward and lands exactly in front on my feet, just a few inches away. I swallow curse in my inner.
Suddenly everything goes dark.