Find A Way

Day 2: Alaina

The rest of the night was a blur that only got harder to see. Eventually, Robert got home with pizza, much to Clementine's delight, and he ate dinner with us on the floor of the bedroom. We all drank soda, except for Clementine who insisted that she get some chocolate milk instead, and Robert pulled out a pack of cookies for dessert. It was just like any slumber party I would've had back in school, except for the fact that both Clementine and I were kidnapped by the man eating dinner with us.

At 10 o'clock, Robert told us to get ready for bed and that he was see us in the morning.
After that was when the blurriness set in. Clementine went and played in the bath for a while, and I took the opportunity to peek out the bedroom window. The small alarm on the glass blinked green every few seconds. I felt defeated, locked in a room.

It could've been worse, I concluded. Robert could've been torturing us and keeping us in a dark location, but no, he allowed us light and each other's company and food. He didn't starve us. That was all I could be thankful for.

10 o'clock blended into 11 o'clock, and then midnight and 1 and 2. I didn't even recall it becoming morning, but the sunlight slipped through the part in the curtains and broke a glass candle holder on the nightstand into a thousand beautiful rainbows. I still wasn't tired though, even if I was quickly approaching 48 hours without sleep.

Robert knocked on the door a little earlier than his usual, coming in at 6 o'clock. Clementine remained asleep, snoring lightly. "You're awake already," he said, startled.

"I just woke up," I lied, "but we should let her sleep a few more minutes. She kept waking up all night. Nightmares, I think." The lies kept coming out. I wasn't sure why I was even telling them. Maybe it had something to do with how peaceful the little girl looked as she slept.

It surprised me that Robert agreed. "Sure, why don't we just talk for a little while? We can go in my office."

Without completely thinking, I said yes. The chance to get out of the bedroom was all I needed.

"You understand that I've got to do this, right Ella?" his voice was gentle. Before I could even question, he pulled out a roll of duct tape and bound my wrists together tightly again.

He led me out of the bedroom, locking Clementine inside of it, and we were soon standing at the opposite end of the hallway. Robert held my upper arm with one hand and unlocked a new door with the other. This door was different than our bedroom door. It only had a single lock and, when we got inside, I realized that it had no alarms. It was simply an office.

A large oak desk stood in front of a wide window that overlooked the backyard. Two bookshelves stood on either side of the room, covered in leather bindings of titles like The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn and Ulysses. Adrienne would've appreciated Robert's collection of classics. "Your yard is beautiful," I commented in a soft tone. There were only a few trees and a swing set back there.

"Our yard," he corrected, his voice not as gentle.

"Our yard," I repeated to appease him.

Robert smiled in approval. "Your mother and I put a lot of money into the landscaping before you and your sister were born," he began, pulling out his pocket knife to take the tape off my wrists. The tape must've only been for the hallway, I decided.

I looked around at the pictures hanging along the walls. A good portion of them were of Robert and two girls, a teenager who I guessed was sixteen or seventeen and a little girl, maybe Clementine's age. They resembled me and Clementine greatly. "Who is that?" I made the mistake of asking.

Suddenly, Robert slammed his hand onto the desk's shiny wood top. It caused a noise so loud that I jumped, my heart in my throat. "Why would you ask such a stupid question, Ella?" he bellowed, "Those pictures are of you and your sister."
And that was when it hit me: Robert had no intentions of killing me, or Clementine for that matter. His plans all along were to replace his previous children with us. What happened to the original Ella and Piper, though, I wasn't sure I wanted to know.