Shatter You

Chapter Four

McKell's Perspective:

I wake to Elise's screams. I jump out of bed and rush over to her. "Elise," I say. "Wake up, you're having a nightmare."

She sits up straight in bed, breathing heavily. She's shivering. I take my blanket and wrap it around her shoulders. She pulls it close, shaking. 

I notice Alex watching both of us. "The screams never stop in this place, do they?" He asks.

"No," I say quietly. 

I realize that he gave us the only blankets in the room and wonder if he is freezing as much as I am. He is sitting still on his bed, unflinching despite the cold. 

"Are you okay?" He asks Elise. His voice sounds almost unrecognizable from the arrogant, careless way he spoke just a few hours before. I am unsurprised that this place has broken him so quickly. 

Before Elise can respond, there is a sound. A tortured wail in the distance. These concrete walls are thick; if we can hear the sound, the pain must be devastating. It makes you wonder how many sounds like it go unheard. It makes you wonder when it will be your turn. 

"You're not insane," Alex says. I look at him, his eyes switching from me to Elise, then back again. "I thought everyone in here was insane. I thought they'd locked me up with a couple of psychos."

"Funny," I say emotionlessly. "We thought the same about you."  

We sit in silence for one second. Then two. Then three. He grins, his white teeth like a beacon of light in the dark room. He stands up and Elise tries to hand him a blanket, but he simply wraps it tighter around her. She freezes with a shocked expression I can feel more than I can see. 

"What's wrong?" He asks. 

"Nothing," she says. 

I know she's lying. I'm sure she's incredibly disturbed to have a boy come so close to her. And not just any boy, but this boy. I know I would be. 

He stares in silence for a handful of seconds. He looks at the empty space on the bed between me and Elise and says, "Can I sit next to you?"

"No," we say in unison. 

A cloud moves away from the moon. Just enough light filters into the room for me to notice that Alex isn't wearing a shirt. "Ew, put your shirt back on!" I exclaim. 

"I can't, I'm burning up," he says. 

I jump to my feet. "Are you sick? Is it contagious?!" I grab Elise and pull her as far away from Alex as we can get. 

"What are your names?" He asks. Again.

"Answer the question," Elise says, a hint of anger in her voice. 

"I'm not sick," he says. "I'm just hot. In both ways."

Me and Elise stare blankly at him.

He clears his throat. "N-nevermind. I don't usually sleep with my clothes on." He takes a deep breath and says, "I was a jerk yesterday. I treated you both like crap and I'm sorry. I shouldn't have done that."

Weak. If we were in your place, we would have done much worse. 

"Okay," Elise says.

"So why won't you tell me your names?"

I exchange a look with Elise and shrug my shoulders. I guess it won't hurt to tell him. Then maybe he'll finally shut up about it and stop asking. 

"Elise," Elise whispers.

"McKell," I tell him. 

He smiles.