Blood Red Blindfold

Chapter 14

Josh and I sit back against the wall of the basement in silence. I can feel the tension pouring from him as he fumes over Davidson's stunt in the hallway. My body feels numb. Not from unwanted fingers or saliva, but from Terrox. I wish he had told me his terrible plans for me. Yelling at me to leave is so much worse. I don't know what's going through his head.

I watch as a fly buzzes around the room, wondering how he got in. Suddenly, his flight stops. His body jiggles around, caught in a spider web. As the bug endlessly tries to escape, a spider the size of a dime makes his way towards the fly. I look away, knowing the fly's fate. What a sad world. Where there is no certainty while your flying around. It's so easy to get caught. And there's always someone terrible, like a spider, to use your downfall. Someone like Terrox. Someone like Mrs. Hull who uses foster kids to get more money. Why must everything come down to money? That's one of the two things I don't have in this world.

My mind wanders in the silence. "Hey Josh," I whisper.

"Yes?" His head shoots up, looking at me. Faster than I can blink, he's scooted towards me to give me all of his loving attention. I've jarred him out of his frustration.

"Does Grant seem familiar to you? Like we've met him somewhere before?" The image of the little red head grinning on the first day of school circles in my head.

Josh's eyes narrow at me as a pipe drips liquid noisily in the corner. "No. Should I think he's familiar?"

"No. It's okay," I respond, a bit disappointed.

"What's wrong?" His soft fingers trace my cheek and chin. "There's something you're not telling me."

"I can't put my finger on it," I lie. I don't want to tell him about the dreams. That would make them too real. And everything in them too real.

I focus on what I know for sure is real. What I actually want to be real. The basement is dark and musky around me. I'm trapped. I've been kidnapped. That is real. I don't want to be here but this is completely real. Josh sits so close to me, with his arms lingering just away from me. Josh is real. Josh came to my house and we danced in my living room. That was real. Or was that a dream? No. I remember the music of my stereo. I remember my door opening that night. I remember him kissing me. That was real. That I want to be real.

And then my mind dives into unwanted territory. Josh came in because he was worried. Worried about your mind. Because you don't have parents. That's the realist fact of them all. I may not want to be in a basement. I may like the way Josh kisses me. But none of that matters with the huge stone in my chest, holding me down. I don't have parents. In a dream they said they loved me. But that isn't real. Real is the man saying they left and came back without a baby. Real is the ransom on my head issued to nobody because nobody cares. Real is hoping Josh's parents like the poor girl enough to help her out. Real is the fact that one man wants me dead, another man is an idiot, another wants to get in my pants, and the last wants to keep me alive for his reputation.

What does his reputation matter? He's a kidnapper. An abductor. And the way Grant stood over Davidson's body? That wasn't natural. That was...was a killer in a young man's body. It was like watching a bully easily toss away a scrawny kid. Or the boy in the movies that viciously fries ants with a magnifying glass. Why help us? Wait. Why help me? How weird. Josh wasn't really Grant's concern. He only checked on Josh because I asked.

The blindfold was on me. Blood red covered my sight in the hallway. Not Josh. I must act weak. I must act innocent. Josh didn't matter. But why not both of us? My mind is reeling. Because I don't have anyone to pay for me. They won't kill Josh. It's my blood that will be spilt. Not Josh's. That must be it. Right?

I squeeze my eyes shut. I don't want to think about it. Whether I believe Grant's reasoning of not wanting to be a killer or not doesn't matter. All that matters is that he's my only chance. And I'm going to take it.

I feel Josh's warm hand wrap itself into mine. "Come back to me, Hails. Get out of the storm in your own head," he says softly. His arm gently pulls me towards him.

I look back at him. His eyes are so full of concern and guilt and love. It'd be so easy to bury myself into his arms and forget about everything that is messed up in my life. But in his arms, I'd still be in this basement. I'd still be waiting for the maniac upstairs to choose when to pull the trigger.

I glance back around the room. I hate sitting here like a duck just waiting for the hunter to shoot me. I need to fly. I need to escape. My eyes travel over the concrete basement hungrily, looking desperately for something I've missed. Just walls and pipes and stairs. Pipes leading to...underneath the stairs.

Underneath the stairs? It never occurred to me that anything could be under the stairs. But at this angle, I can't see if the area is open or closed.

"Josh," I say hesitantly, tapping at his leg.

"What?" He sits up straight, waiting for me to go on.

"What's underneath the stairs?"

He blinks and faces the direction I'm facing. "I didn't know that anything was underneath that staircase," he mumbles, catching on.

"Look at the pipes," I mumble, scrambling to get up. "They go underneath the stairs or straight into them."

Josh is right behind me as I slowly walk to see the side of the stairs. I don't want to make any noise. I don't want them to hear us moving around. I don't know how they'd react.

Underneath the stairs in a concrete wall that the pipes lead straight into. And right in the middle of that wall is a wooden door with a brass round knob.