Don't Forget Me ~ Emblem3 Fan Fiction

Chapter 2- A Typical Day

***Eight years later***

"SKYLER!!!!!!!!"

I jolted awake at the sound of my name. I sat up quickly. Bad move. I groaned as I felt a searing pain in my ribs.

"SKYLER! GET UP.”

"Alright, alright, I'm up,” I mumbled as I rubbed my eyes. I glanced at Carl, who was glaring at me. Carl, the man who had abducted me that night, and has held me captive in this hell hole ever since. His "addiction" of kidnapping children has only gotten worse through the years- it had started out with just me, and then it was two, then four, now there are at least twenty or thirty of us. These kids have all come and gone… most of them can’t stand it here- they get here all freaked out and develop a growing anger and end up trying to escape, then getting themselves killed. I’ve obviously tried to escape, but I unfortunately am more “special” then the others according to Carl- I was his first victim, his prized possession. . But he's always made sure that I would survive. He also needed me to comfort the kids, or as he stated "keepin' 'em quiet." Since I'd been kidnapped, he's been grabbing kids- both young and old. I don’t understand his need for all of them. Carl drinks a lot- when I say a lot, I mean a lot. Maybe six to seven drinks a day. He always manages to stay drunk. Carl, the abusive man he is, takes a couple kids a day to the back room, one at a time, and beats them, sometimes so bad as being unconscious for days or even dying. I suppose he’s getting all of his anger out but honestly, he has to beat up kids? Some of them don’t even know what is going on. I’ve gotten my fair share of beatings as well- last night my most recent. I’ve gotten used to the pain- I can take care of myself- but most of us haven’t, and I'm like mother to most of these kids, shouting across our “rooms” (more like our jail cells) for them to put pressure on their wound or not to move their arm for a few days or anything like that. It gets tiring, that’s for sure, but like the pain, I have learned to get used to it. I’m just thankful he doesn’t do anything worse to us.

“HEY. I'm talkin' to you.” Carl’s harsh voice snapped me back to reality.

“Yes, Carl, what’s the problem?” I yawned.

“That little brat is groaning again, make him shut up,” Carl said and looked disgustedly at Luke, a five year old whose “room” was next to mine. He's only been here a week and was crying loudly. Of course he was annoying, but you can’t blame him. I sighed.

“I’ll try to calm him down.” I stood up, wincing at the pain in my ribs. I walked over to Luke, and started stroking his hair between the bars. "It's gonna be okay, Luke." 

"But I want Mommy..." he sniffled and burst out crying again.

"I know, buddy, I know. You won't have to be in here much longer. I promise." Technically I wasn't lying. Most of the younger kids in here don't last very long- Carl either gets sick of their whining or their bodies are too fragile to take his abuse. 

 I comforted Luke until he fell asleep. I looked around to see if anyone else needed anything, but it was quiet. I took a deep breath and closed my eyes. It was rare to get some peace and quiet here. Suddenly I heard my stomach growl. The realization hit me that I hadn't eaten since two evenings ago. I groaned. Why did I have to sleep through meal time? I hope the next one comes soon. Carl normally feeds us twice a day- that is, unless he gets so drunk he can't remember.  A meal would maybe be a bowl of cold soup or a piece of bread and an apple. It wasn't much- but it was enough to keep us alive. Carl didn't like wasting food- if we were asleep or unconscious when he came around, he'd pass you by without giving you anything. My stomach made another moaning noise, louder than the first. Okay, Sky, think of something, not of food, anything but food... 

I started day dreaming of what would have happened if I had not gone with Carl that night. How could I be so stupid to go with a creepy old man? Honestly, how could I have fallen for that crap? God. I was such a gullible eight year old.

And my poor parents. They must have suffered for so long; maybe they're still suffering today. They must blame themselves for what happened- I mean, losing your kid in a small town grocery store, that's not an easy thing to do. I always tried to make myself think that it was their fault and that they should have been smarter and kept track of me and not let me go off by myself. But in the end, it was all me. All my fault. I caused this. 

How different my life would be if I had just told Carl a simple word: "No." I would get to be normal. I would get to have a real life. I would have friends, and spend time with my family, and maybe even have a pet cat, and get good grades in school, and play soccer, and go horseback riding. There are so many things I think about that I could have done. I've dreamed about my perfect life a million times here. Everyday I'd sit here a few hours each day and think about it, about how great it would be. That may seem like a long time, but it's really not. It was the only thing keeping me sane.

I heard my cage door open and looked up to see Carl with a small bowl of soup and some saltine crackers. About time. He went to place them on the ground, but stumbled. The soup sloshed in the bowl and about half of it spilled all over the place. "Whoops," he mumbled. Ugh. I could smell the alcohol on his breath. I grabbed the bowl and crackers from him to avoid losing anymore of the precious food. Carl stared at me for a moment, as if expecting me to say something. He murmured something and slowly walked off, locking the door behind him.

As soon as he was gone, I dove into the food. The soup barely had any pieces of meat in it and was watery, but I was fine with that. I scarfed part of it down, only to choke a little bit. I coughed and took a deep breath. Slow down a bit there, Sky. It's just food. I tried to stop eating so fast but it just tasted so good. Within three minutes the bowl was licked clean and the crackers were out of sight. It felt good not to have an empty stomach. Hopefully this meal will hold me over for a few hours and I won't have to think about food. 

I checked around with the other kids that everyone was satisfied and doing okay. Luke was staring at the cold soup. Clearly he wasn't used to this. "It tastes yucky," he whined.

"I know it does." I frowned at him. "But you've got to eat it."

"I don't want to!" He screamed.

"What's your favorite food, Luke?" 

"Macaroni and cheese," he said.

"Pretend it's macaroni and cheese," I told him.

He was still working on it when I felt myself drifting off.

I found myself inside my old bedroom. I looked down, and it seemed that I was eight again. Stuffed animals lined my canopy bed. There were so many different colors and the sunlight was shining through a big window. I turned around and saw that my parents were waiting for me by the door, smiling at me. They looked so proud. I ran to hug them. My dad put his arms around me and picked me up. We both started giggling, and my mom hugged the both of us, putting me in the center of the family sandwich, as we called it. "Ahh! I'm squished!!" I shrieked, and my parents just laughed harder. My dad carried my downstairs upside down and plopped me down onto a chair in our kitchen. "Would you like some of our finest croissants here in France?" He asked in a French accent. He raised his eyebrows and looked completely serious. I burst out laughing. "Well? Don't keep the chef waiting." He said, trying to keep himself composed. I nodded my head, still giggling. "For our best guest, I hope you do enjoy this." He placed a plate in front of me. I devoured the croissant. "Mmm. You're the best chef, Daddy!" He smiled and said, "that's good to know, honey."        

Suddenly I felt my stomach growl. Wait what? I just ate that croissant. I blinked for just a second and everything was gone. My dad, the kitchen, everything. I blinked again and looked around the cage, confused for a second. Then I remembered. "It was just a flashback," I muttered to myself. It was strangely quiet. I looked in the other cages and saw that most of the kids had fallen back asleep. It was then I noticed that Luke was gone.

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Okay, another boring chapter, sorry :\ But Skyler will meet Keaton in the next one! Yay. 

Again, any critique would be awesome. What do you guys think so far? What happened to little baby Luke? Aw. That poor kid. Hopefully I'll update soonish, within a week or so...

Please vote! (: