The Rabbit Hole

Chapter 18

It has been days since it happened, but it remains vivid. Clear as the moment it happened right in front of me. The image of his head being blown off right there, watching as half his head come apart like a dropped watermelon, his blood splashing all over the window, my face...and my hands. My hands sticky with dried up blood. Each time I stare at my blood-soaked hands, I wonder and feel some odd sense of irony. I feel guilty for what happened to them, I feel it's my fault he killed them, I feel responsible for their deaths, I feel that I should carry their blood in my hands for years to come. The sound...the sound of that rifle going off still vibrates repeatedly in my ears, I shudder at each loud blare of sound, and the thundering storm outside isn't making it any easier. The more the thunder rumbles the more it returns me to that moment. Bang! His blood spills right in front of me. Bang! She goes down after running a few steps away from him.

The basement window is still left ajar, the cold winds outside carry themselves inside, some rain drizzle bounce its way inside as well, trickling down the wall. I watch as the rain cleans up the blood from the window, and a few pieces of his brains. In a matter of minutes after watching, I dunk my head into the bucket to puke. He comes in, holding a plate of freshly cooked meal in his hands. He watches me as I continue to regurgitate my insides. Even with my head dunked inside a bucket, I still have my wooden pike at the ready, he comes close, I stab him, hard, fast and repeatedly. He places the plate away from me then slides it towards me, like I'm a dog who went rabid and he fears to get closer to me. Does he...? Does he know that I have this weapon on me? Has he figured out that I have a plan? Because ever since I managed to reach over and grab it, he hasn't made any attempt whatsoever to get closer to me. No matter how much I tried to manipulate him to do so. No, he doesn't know. He couldn't possibly know. It's all just coincidental. Then again, was it all just coincidence that he kidnapped me? Or did he have me in his sights all along? "Eat up, Suzanne." He says.

"I'm not Suzanne!" I exclaim, "My name is, Heather Brooks."

"You won't be for long." He says and walks back upstairs, leaving me scrambling at what he means by that.

Another sleepless night which called for obvious nightmares. I awaken to the sound of him as he tramples loudly above. He sounds like he's scrambling, searching for something or hiding something. His footsteps thud across, heading towards the basement door. He's coming. I quickly reach underneath the mattress and grip my sharp wooden friend and keep him close for when the right moment comes. He opens the door and I see him trod down the stairs purposely, with both his hands at his back, hiding something. Well, he's not the only one who has something hidden at their back. In his right hand he reveals a butchers blade, covered in blood. His left hand still concealed from my sight. "Good morning, Suzanne." He says in a solemn tone, "I have a surprise for you." He says, hinting at his back.

"No, thanks. I don't want anything from you." I reply to him.

"Well you're going to accept it!" He shrieks at me, his eyes brimming with rage. "Do not ruin this for me! Just play your part, Suzanne!"

"My name is, Heather!" I say loudly.

"No! Your name is Suzanne, okay? Suzanne." He calmingly voices it to me.

"It's Heather." I firmly profess to him.

"You're ruining it!" He hollers and walks closer towards me with his blade held out to me. Just a couple of more steps towards me and I can make my move. A knock at the front door causes him to back up. Someone at the door knocks again, "Hello? Is anybody home?" He asks from the outside. Once again, a chance for me to escape this madness has presented itself, however, if I try and ask for help and he ends up killing this innocent person because of that, how will I live with myself? Then again, if I don't try to seek out help, how am I going to escape this pit? Screw this, I'm getting out of here. I turn my back and hurriedly saunter to the open window to scream for help, "Hel-" is all I can manage to let out before he knocks me from behind with the butt of his knife, knocking me out momentarily. I awaken in a few minutes, disorientated, duct tape across the mouth and bound with rope on my wrists. I glance at the window and find that it's closed. However, I can hear voices coming from upstairs, the person at the door is still here. I crawl towards a wall and back up against it in a sit-down position. He's really trying to keep me here forever. Angry, I hit the back of my head against the wall, and the sound is pretty loud. I do it again and again, it hurts each time I do it but it's the only thing I'm able to do right now. Make as much noise in the hopes that whoever is up there with him can hear me from down here. I stop for a while to take a break from the pain, and in perfect time as I hear the muffled voices speak. "Did you hear that?" Says the guest at the door.

"Hear what?" Asks my captor.

"A loud thud. It's stopped now, but a second ago-" I bang my head on the wall loudly again to reassure him of the sound he heard. "There it goes again." He says.

"Oh that, that's just the exterminator I hired. I have a problem with rats, that's probably him killing them." He explains to the guest, but I won't give him the satisfaction of talking his way out of it. I continue to bang my head against the wall. After a second, the sound of the television increases and I hear the door shut after. He's keeping the guest from hearing me. I can see the outlines of their legs as they walk past the low basement window outside. Their voices clearly audible to me, sadly my mouth is taped shut, I can't let out a scream to let the person know I'm down here. "You were saying?" My captor asks.

"Oh. I'm looking for a couple, a young man and woman. Last they were seen was hiking through these woods. I was hoping you could tell me if you've seen them around." The guy says. He's searching for the couple. I'm squirming and wriggling, trying to get out of these restraints so I can alert the man about what happened to them, as I'm too busy looking like a worm on its back trying to get up, I hear him lie to the poor man, "No, I haven't seen anyone here." He says.

"Are you sure sir? Here's a photo of the couple. You haven't seen either of them around?"

He remains silent for a while, probably looking at the picture of the couple, faking an expression of not recognizing the people in the photo, "Nnno, I'm sorry. I haven't seen either of them."

"Well, thank you for your time."

"I hope you find them. Wherever they are."

"Me too." The man says finally, before walking away.

I prop up on my back against the wall again, exhausted from all the rapid wriggling. I glance over to the bucket and I notice my wooden stake lying on the side of the bucket. It must have fallen out of my hands when he knocked me out. I'm so lucky he hasn't seen it.