Silence

She lay on her make-shift bed sobbing. Her Father was more than likely going to war and she couldn't bear to see him go. There had recently been an earthquake and the people from the small town were now living in tents.

Robert entered the tent and asked her to come for a walk with him. She was so tired... so, so sad. She didn't want to but the look on Robert's face was one of utter despair. Maybe she wasn't the only one who felt how she did.

She followed him along the path but when they reached the forest she grew hesitant. Robert, noticing her discomfort, called her on.
"There's something I want to show you." Sarah wasn't sure but she trusted Robert; he had been her tutor and her Father's best friend since she was nine.

They continued walking deeper into the forest all the while Sarah was thinking "Where are we going? Does Mama know I'm with Robert?"
As if reading her mind he said, "Don't worry, I told your Mother you're with me."

This calmed Sarah and she followed Robert happily. "If anything goes wrong Mama will come and get me" she thought. They walked further and further into the forest. Sarah was beginning to wonder again when Robert called out to her, "Here we are."

"And where exactly is, here?" she asked.
"It's not here" Robert said gesturing to the clearing they were now in.
"It's here" He said and pointed to the ground. Sarah, utterly confused, didn't know what he meant. "You mean..."
"Yes" Robert replied, "I'm showing you the underground tunnels."

Sarah had always wanted to see the tunnels but her Father would never let her. "It's too dangerous" he would say. But she didn't care.

There were rumours that a serial killer lived in these tunnels and slept on a bed of bones. A bed of bones made from the bodies of young children whose lives he has mercilessly taken. There were rumours that he took their hearts and kept them for their innocence and purity.

But Sarah knew that's all they were. Rumours. She wasn't scared by them. Even if they were true she had Robert to protect her. He was like a second Father to her, she trusted him with her life.

"Where's the entrance?" she asked. Robert led her over to a small bush and brushed some of the leaves aside. Beneath was a small hole in the ground. It was large enough for her to squeeze through but she wasn't so sure about him.

He reassured her that he would fit and she scrambled through the hole. When she was safely through and standing on the ground she studied her surroundings. It was dark down here. Very dark. She looked up and called to Robert, but the entrance had been closed.

Sarah started to panic. Had someone come along and closed the entrance? Were they now fighting above her? Had Robert been hurt? Or... had Robert betrayed her?

With all these thoughts running through her head, Sarah didn't know what to do. She was starting to despair. Robert had betrayed her, the thought was hard to believe but, it was the only idea she had that made sense.

It wasn't like it was just a prank... or was it? She started to laugh at her foolishness. Robert would never abandon her. Soon enough he would re-open the entrance and crawl down behind her.

Sarah sat down and waited for him. The ground was hard, uneven. She moved around, trying to get comfortable but every time she did, something would jab her. It was so uncomfortable. She moved over to a wall and started to clear the ground. In the process she banged her watch on the ground and the small light came on.

Of course! She could use her watch for light. As she tapped her watch again and the light came on, she looked down and what she saw truly horrified her. Sarah began to panic; she needed to get out of here. She didn't want to be like the others. For what she saw had been bones.

Bones from the bed of a serial killer? Bones made from the bodies of young children whose lives he has mercilessly taken? Would she soon find their hearts? Hearts that he took and kept for their innocence and purity?

She began to pace back and forth, trying to think of an escape plan. Robert! Of course! "Robert!" she cried out his name.
"Robert! Please let me out! I'm tired of this joke."

As she looked up the stone rock began to move from the entrance and light poured into the tunnel. Roberts face appeared above and she breathed a sigh of relief. He began to laugh.
"Did that scare you?" he asked with a grin on his face.
"Yes!" Sarah yelled at him.
"The floor is covered with bones!"

Still laughing he jumped down next to her.
"How do we get out?" she asked.
"We don't" he replied. "Well, you don't at least." Sarah didn't know what he meant, but the words sent a chill down her spine.

"Come with me Sarah" Robert said with a terrifying smile. Sarah didn't want to but she didn't know the way out; he did.
"Of course you don't have to" he said.
"You can always try to find your own way."

Sarah followed silently behind him, at each turn looking back, wondering if she should run. She was torn. Her predictions had been true, Robert had betrayed her. He was the serial killer. She had known him her whole life! Had it all been a set up? Robert was now gone, replaced with an evil, scheming monster.

In one swift movement he spun around and threw her into a stone wall. She lay there dizzy, praying not to black out in front of this monster.
Robert laughed, "You are weak."

As he approached her she shuffled closer to the wall, further from him.
"Stand for me Sarah" Robert said in a patronizing voice. She slowly straightened her knees under her and leaned against the wall. He swiped at her hands with a stick and she fell.
"This is going to be too easy..." he said with an evil smile.

Robert moved closer and knelt before her, stroking her face. She jerked away but he only held her tighter.
"Give me a show Sarah and I might consider sparing you." She squirmed, trying to get away but his grasp was too tight.

He slid his hands down her body and she pushed him away.
"Are you going to cooperate, Sarah?" he asked.
"Do you want to live?" She turned her face away, not wanting him to see the tear rolling down her cheek.
"Get away from me" she said through gritted teeth.

"Okay" he said surprising Sarah. "Would it really be that easy?" she thought.
"But I'm still going to have my fun" he continued, shattering any hope she had of escape. She didn't know what he meant but she knew it wasn't good.

He stood and walked away from her. When he reached the opposite wall he stood with his back to her and lifted something out of his pocket. She watched him study it, still not seeing what it was.

He gracefully turned and walked towards her, exaggerating his steps. Sarah looked up at his face and what she saw there chilled her right down to the bone. His face was a mask of anger and hatred. What had she done that was so terrible as to deserve this?

Robert knelt before her with a thoughtful expression on his face.
"What's first?" he asked. Sarah was confused for a moment but then she saw what he held in his hands. A knife. Did he really plan to cut her?

He grabbed her arm and made three quick cuts across her wrist. She held back the tears, she would not cry in front of this, this... She didn't even know what to call him anymore.

There was a light in his eyes; did he really take pleasure in this? A slow grin spread across his face and she knew he had his next target. He struck and she screamed into the cold, night air.

Or rather, she tried to. The pain was unbearable. She couldn't even cover the wound to hold the blood back. Sarah didn't know what to do as Robert walked away. Calling for help without a tongue would be hard.

Silence awaited her as Robert left. However much she hated his voice, anything was better than this. The silence of the tunnels crept down her throat and into her heart. She became dizzy and prayed for an escape from the pain.

The last thing she thought about before she blacked out was her Mother.
"I hope you will be okay without me Mama," she prayed.
"Don't grieve too much." She started to sob quietly.
"I love you."