Twenty-Nine Dolls [H.S. AU]

2. Callie - 2012

Sweet and sour. 

Tears dripping on the hour.

2012

The unknown is my darkest fear. Being unaware of my surroundings makes me cringe. I want to know what's going on in the world around me and the audacity people have of keeping that one right away from me sets my teeth on edge. As a child, I used to go out with my father to the supermarket and I would escape off into my own daydream with the oranges. In a matter of seconds, my father would disappear. That's when I felt that rush. The kind of feeling that makes you pull the roots of your hair to keep your nerves calm. Never did I think I'd experience that emotion again because I was older. I was supposed to be more mature, more collected, more experienced. But I wasn't. If anything, I was even more terrified than before.

Opening my eyes enough for a slit of light to seep through, I looked at the tattered walls around me. I hurriedly closed my eyes again in fear of this being just a nightmare. I forced myself to wake up. My head began to thump rhythmically, pain thrusting through my mind. The unknown: it had returned. I refused to open my eyes, I knew it was a dream, what else could it be? My stomach turned as I tried to bring my hands to my face but I couldn't. I tugged on whatever was restricting my movement, I was helpless, I wailed. There was no use. I had to know where I was. Even if it was unknown.

It was clear. The unclear was now certain. It was something I would have seen in the movies where the damsel in distress would call out for her prince charming while the wicked witch held out her wand in a threatening manner. Tattered walls, the lack of hygiene, the ripped carpet showing, what I could barely make out to be, a wooden floor. A nightmare. That's the only way I could describe it. Dragging my eyes behind me, my hands were tied to the back of my chair as I tried to release myself. 

The rope was too tight. My cheeks had become accustomed to the constant tears that crawled down my cheeks.

I was stuck.

I couldn't move.

Jumping around in my seat, I heard the clattering of its legs underneath me. The way in which I'd lose balance for a split second made my heart drop. I moved around. Rope burn was the least of my worries. I cried out in anger, looking back at my hands that could get out of the uncooperative rope. My ankles pushing against the tension they felt when strapped to the legs of the chair. I tried. I tried again. I tried another time. I swung my head from side to side at the immense strength I put into tried to let myself be free. 

Crack.

Blood rushed out of my face as the world tilted towards the right. A scream lunged out of my mouth when I came in contact with the tiles that were once beneath me. The sudden pain shot through my mind. My eyes forcing shut.

"You almost died." A voice came from behind me, deep and raspy, the same voice from before but I couldn't recall where. "Don't be afraid. I don't want you to be afraid. I just want you to be my friend." His face was still unknown. I couldn't see him. His voice echoed off the three walls I could see in front of me. There was something comforting in his tone but, if anything, it made me more fearful. 

The unknown. 

It was always here.

His steps suddenly could be heard, each one getting louder than the next. That's when the light of day shone at his features. Those forest green eyes scanned me as I watched over him. His brunet hair was pushed back with one single hand as it rested on his shoulder. These features haunted me. Did we last meet in a dream or a reality? None the less, he frightened me. Everything about him scared me senseless. His tall, lean figure made me cry silently as I knew this was going to bring me to the inevitable end. The black shirt he was wearing was rugged and ripped like his ripped skinny jeans, that I was sure even I wouldn't even fit into.

"Speak to me, Callie." He whispered as his lips moved perfectly with its deathly shade of pink. I was hypnotized. His demeanour had me under his spell.

"My name..." Was all I could pathetically utter. He chuckled quietly, twisting and rubbing his finger over where rings would have been placed. His eyes draped upwards from his hands as he sympathetically looked at me.

"Why are you alive?" He asked. It was the best question anyone had ever asked me. I liked my life, for the most part. Never have I ever heard someone question that, at least not to my face. I was so confused, tears pouring out of my eyes like the November showers. "Please, don't cry. I didn't mean offence." He pleaded as he leapt forwards to my knees. I don't know how it was possible but I managed to move back, bringing the chair with me. 

It was his turn now to look up at me with tearful eyes. "I just want you to be my friend Callie!" He shouted. I screamed. He clawed up, using my knee as support making me wail in pain. He tilted me back up, grabbing my shoulders and bellowing in my face, his breath smelt like dirt.

I screamed. 

All I could do is scream. 

I was so happy. 

I used to be so free. 

What brought me here? 

"Callie please!"

"Go! Let me go!" Was the best sentence I could form in that situation. He became silenced and came to his senses for a moment. It seemed impossible. I was still dazed by the volume of his voice, but he moved back and leaned against the wall. Dragging his weight down to the floor where he sat, he buried his head in his hands, muttering something over and over again. 

I wept. My neck was becoming drenched by a number of tears I had shed. This wasn't fair. I didn't do anything to deserve this. I couldn't remember anything that had happened. All there was, was the pain in my mind and the constant throbbing. The unknown was killing me.

"Why are you alive?" He repeated. All I could do was look at him in confusion. I didn't know the answer. I couldn't help but think he tried to kill me and it didn't work. Now, I'm here for him to try again. Another scream erupted from my mouth. "No, no, no!" He shouted, "No more screaming! Words, Callie. I need words, sentences, paragraphs! Speak to me!" 

That silenced my cries.

"What do you want from me?" I asked him. It was the simplest but hardest questions anyone could ask in this current situation. He could have given me a straight answer and told me the truth but he chose another method - the lie.

"You almost died and I saved you. I shouldn't have, but I saved you. I thought you were dead. You're supposed to be dead. Anyone who would have been in your situation should have been dead." He told me, emphasizing what seemed to be his favourite word. "You... Where you were... You should have..." He turned away and picked up something. I tried to crane my neck subtly to see what it was but there was no use. He made his way behind me and the sound of a lock came. 

This was it. 

Would my parents find my corpse? 

What would they say at my funeral? 

Why are my hands-free from the ropes? 

I hesitantly brought them round to come in front of my face. I was free. He had set me free already. He came up in front of me and that's when I decided to run, I rummaged towards the door, blinded by the fact that I was locked. Slamming the door, screaming for help, I slide down its face as I cried and cried and cried. There was no use in trying.

Before I could think straight, his hand came in front of my nose and mouth, covering it with a dampt tissue as I screamed, involuntarily inhaling whatever toxic fumes were presents. I went to sleep, a deep comfortable slumber. "You'll be safe, Callie." He whispered, "You will be my friend."