PEEL-BEHIND THEIR EYES. Book 1 (Complete)

Chapter 7. What did you see

The dark brooding room with its cold brick walls and splintered floorboards made every waking minute a torture for the three cowering figures that huddled together in the corner, taking what little comfort they could in the knowledge that they weren't alone. The thin sheet covering the skylight fluttered in a cold breeze that came from the garage below. The sheet let in a dusky light, just enough to allow each girl to see the other. Wiping tears from her soot-smeared face the room's latest arrival spoke with hushed tones, afraid she might draw unwanted attention to herself.

"I'm Marcy, what are your names" she wiped her face on her forearm, and then reached out and took hold of the girl's hands, Marcy hoped she sounded braver than she was.

Looking up at her, one of the girls muttered "I'm Rebeca and she's Tina, she won't talk anymore, not since that monster slapped her" the girl stroked the quiet girl's hair and held her head against her chest.

Marcy gently squeezed their hands to reassure them, as much as herself.

"How long have you been here," she asked.

Rebeca blew a steadying sigh to stem the tears that were about to fall, and with a trembling bottom lip, said "I'm not sure, I think about two days, I've slept a lot, Tina was here already, and she never said"

Marcy began to cry, her tears ran silently down her cheeks, gritting her teeth she asked "Do you know who it is, the monster who took us"

Rebeca shook her head "No, the devil maybe' she said with a deadly seriousness.

"When you came in the monster said you saw something you shouldn't have, through the Window, what was it?"

Marcy bent closer to Rebecca and whispered "The Dock Tower, you know that great big brick one you can see from anywhere"

Rebecca didn't reply, she just shrugged her shoulders and sunk back against the wall with Tina "Oh"

Marcy tried to smile, tried to show Rebecca hopefulness.

"It was big, really big, so we must be close to the docks, close to the town center. If we can get free we can run to the nearest shop or people. If we were out in the countryside we wouldn't have a chance"

Marcy looked at the pair and only saw blank gazes. She didn't know if it was because they were in shock or because they had given up, but thought "Well I haven't"

If there was one thing Marcy knew about herself, it was that she liked her darker side, she wasn't a pretty in pink kind of girl, she didn't sit and write out lyrics as One Direction screeched out of the radio, and she definitely couldn't stand fluffy kittens. No, she much preferred to wear camouflage jeggings, a pair of Van pumps and an over large hoody to disappear into.

Her IPod only played Slipknot and its like, and as far as movies and books go, she much preferred a good Thriller than the teenage crap these two probably watched. She was tough, no, she wasn't giving up.

Resting her back against the wall, Marcy began to shiver uncontrollably, the skylight above grew dark and a chill had settled in as well as a terrible fear of her impending death. She knew they were all going to die here in this room, in all the books she had ever read, the girls always died. Running her hands on over the floor boards Marcy's fingers found a rusty nail sticking up, after several minutes of wangling, she managed to get it free. Rolling up her sleeve Marcy began to scratch her forearm. The rusty nail drew a thin line of blood as it ripped at her skin, to join the multitude of other scratches preceding it along her arm. She had been a self-harmer for a while; no one knew, of course, Marcy had kept it a secret even from her parents, and her long sleeved hoody jumpers were her refuge. She didn't have suicide tendencies; she just found that cutting her arm gave her a distinct sense of self-control. When her parents, especially her father, when they became overbearing and angry, this helped her cope with the stress and helped her to relax. After scratching away at her arm for a while, Marcy eventually moved closer to the younger girls for warmth.