The Old Flashlight

Chapter 4

Jackie woke up in a dark, freezing room. Shivering, she let her eyes adjust to the darkness and she noticed that all of the walls are concrete. Looking around, she saw a small bucket, presumably for a toilet, and an old flashlight on the floor.

"Oh, good. You're awake. I thought you weren't gonna wake for a few minutes." a man said in a squeaky voice. Jackie spun her head around so fast she thought she would've broken her neck.

"W-who are you? And where am I?" Jackie asked, slightly shaking.

"Oh, poor child. I can't tell you who I am or where you are, but I can tell you that you're not alone. There's another lovely child here, and she'll be joining you. Isn't that fun?" he said, clapping his hands like a child. Jackie had a look of horror on her face, which turned into a look of relief and fear when she saw the other person with her, cut and bruised, looking like she's barely breathing.

Mara Thomson

Jackie scrambled to her feet and rushed over to Mara, looking at her face for any bad damage.

"Oh, my god, Mara! Are you alright? Did he hurt you?" Jackie asked. Mara shook her head, wincing at the pain in her neck.

"No, no. I'm okay. Just a little hurt." Mara weakly said. Jackie's face contorted to a look of fear and worry, her eyes getting teary.

"He hurt you, didn't he?" Jackie asked, receiving a nod from Mara. A sigh escaped her lips, tears starting to fall. Jackie held Mara as a way to say sorry and try to take away Mara's pain. Mara's breathing became a little heavier, making Jackie let her go.

"What's wrong?" Jackie asked, a little worried. Mara pointed to behind her, making Jackie look. The flashlight was on. It showed a girl, Elizabeth Jones, digging into the ground where a loose tile was. Jackie crawled over to the tile and lifted it to see a hole about 5 feet deep, but there was no way out. She sighed, putting the tile back over it. She walked back over to the thin, broken mattress she was asleep on. Sitting down, she put her head in her hands. "Why didn't I just stay home? If I stayed home I wouldn't be in here. I'd still be with Gramps." Jackie said to herself, starting to cry. Her quiet whimpers turned into wails and sobs, making the man walk back down with a metal baseball bat.

"Oh, will you just shut up!" the man practically growled. Jackie became scared by his voice and tried getting away from him, but he followed her until she was cornered. He laughed menacingly at her, then swung his bat at her head.