Innocence

Chapter Thirteen - Business, Pleasure or Pain?

I’d never actually thought that I’d wake up in a smelly, dim lighted basement looking place on an uncomfortable wooden chair with my hands wrapped behind my back. But then again, you can’t exactly predict what will or won’t ever happen to you.

It took a while for my eyes to adjust to the dim lighting of the cell-like structure I was currently in, and that was when I had discovered that I wasn’t alone. A tall boy with a slim build and brown hair that had been sleeked back with an excessive amount of gel was casually leaning against the only entrance and light source of the room.

Once he noticed my awakening, a slight lop-sided smile appeared on his face. “Good evening Sleeping Beauty. It took you a while to wake up.” He said, turning slightly to face me.

I frowned and opened my mouth to speak, but instantly cringed. My throat was dry and I felt like I hadn’t drunk any water in a long time. I cleared my throat and tried again. “Where am I? Who are you? How did I get here? May I please have some water?” My voice sounded hoarse, and I was already feeling like all my energy had been withdrawn from my body.

The boy ignored all my questions, but walked towards me with a bottle of water, put it to my lips and slightly tilted it upwards, and I greedily swallowed as much as I could before he pulled away, laughing. “Easy there Tiger.”

I looked up and glared at him. “You try going a day without water, and then tell me to take it easy.”

“Actually, you went three days without it.” He muttered, looking away in guilt.

“I was out for 3 days?!” I exclaimed unbelievably. He didn’t answer once again. Instead, he went back to his standing post and put the bottle down beside him. I took this time to re-evaluate the room I was currently trapped in. the walls were a dim grey, with mould growing in some of the top corners. There wasn’t much furniture available – apart from the single chair I sat on and a wooden desk in the corner of the room. There were no windows, and there was only a slight ventilation opening right near the doorway where the boy was standing.

Then, everything came back to me like one very hard slap to the face. Night time. Paul and Hayden at my window. Hayden whispering something into my ear while another unfamiliar face put a cloth to my nose and making me pass out. Tyler. I was expecting Tyler to come over that night. He said he had something to talk about. What was it? Would I ever find out? How was he doing? Would Tyler even be looking for me right now? What about my mother and Courtney? How were they coping? Were they safe? Or was Paul going to target them as well?

Millions of other questions flew into my mind all at once, making my head explode and my bottom lip tremble slightly. “E-excuse me. What is Paul going to do to me?” I asked the tall boy in a soft voice. Tears were threatening to fall from my dry, stinging eyes, and I blinked them away rapidly.

The boy looked startled for a moment, before the guilty expression he had on before returned to his features. “I- I don’t think I’m allowed to tell you that. I’m sorry Emma.”

“So it’s a bad thing then. Is he… is he going to hurt me?” I managed to get out, my throat going dry again. The boy only replied with a sympathetic look, before turning away and looking outside the doorframe again, and that’s when I realised that he wasn’t supposed to be talking to me.

I inhaled a deep breath, before sighing and putting on the blank expression I had learnt to muster up after the experience I had with my father. He could do whatever he wanted to me, as long as he didn’t hurt my family or friends.

We stayed in silence for a while before my stomach got the better of me and started rumbling. The noise echoed through the quiet room and made the boy’s head snap towards my direction. He looked like he was refraining himself from laughing, which caused me to blush and look down at my lap. “I’m kind of hungry.” I muttered, feeling my cheeks burn from the heat.