A Silent Cry

Chapter Five: Stuck

It was dark. There wasn't much space for moving around -- almost like a small closet. All the heat from struggling to escape and harsh breathing caused the room to be almost unbearable. Sweat soaked through Cry's shirt as he hopelessly pounded at the door. It was obvious no one was coming. Hours had passed already. Cry leaned against the nearest wall and sunk to the ground. The initial fear passed. All that was in its place was hopelessness; his energy was drained. He thought back to how he got in this situation as if retracing the act would somehow help him escape.

Keith brought him somewhere near the back of the school. No one ever really went there because it was only storage rooms and a green screen room for the video class. Keith shoved Cry into the empty closet before he could protest. His first instinct was to begin beating on the door and scream for Keith to let him out, but Keith wasn't listening. It was pitch black and the lightbulb proved burnt out when Cry tugged on the string. He pulled out his phone, only to see there was absolutely no signal. "W-what?" He couldn't believe this. "N-no... no, no, no!" This was a nightmare, that's all this had to be. There was no way this could be happening. In a sudden surge of desperation, Cry began hitting the door. "Let me out! I didn't do anything! Let me out! Please!" He continued to scream and curse until it hurt.

Time had passed so slowly. Cry looked down at his phone to check the time. His heart nearly stopped when he saw how long he had been trapped. School ended nearly four hours ago. What did Russ and Sarah do? Did they know something had happened? Did they just go home? Did they try calling him? Did they call anyone? Many questions swirled around in Cry's head. There was no one he could ask for answers. He wanted to break down -- to cry and scream -- but he refused. He wouldn't allow Keith to do that to him.

Cry didn't know he fell asleep until he jolted awake. It was like something forced him to wake up, but there was nothing around. He checked his phone; 7:00 AM. His eyes widened and he scrambled to get up. School would be starting soon; someone had to be around. "Hey!" Cry shouted. Somebody had to hear him. He felt how bruised his hands were when he began banging on the door. "Is anybody there? Please! Someone help me!" His heart leaped up when he heard someone unlock the door. He stepped back to allow the door to open. "Oh, thank you. I never --" He took a sharp breath.

"Don't act so excited," Keith scoffed. "I came to give you a little present." The sound of duct tape stretching caused Cry to take a step back.

"W-what?" Cry backed up to a wall. There was nowhere to run and there was no way he could push passed Keith.

"We can't have that loud voice of yours get any attention, now can we?" Keith tore off a piece of tape. 

Cry squirmed -- tried to yell -- but it proved fruitless. Keith placed the tape directly over Cry's mouth. Cry suddenly felt very cornered. Panic set in and he tried to kick and hit his way out. Luckily, he took Keith by surprise. He managed to make it passed Keith, but not out the door. Keith pinned him to the ground. "You'll regret that," he growled into Cry's ear. Cry tried to wiggle away, but Keith was too strong. He brought Cry's arms back and began taping them together. "I'll try to consider not leaving you here." He tossed the roll of tape to the side and left without another word.

Cry's throat burned from holding back tears. Struggling to sit up wasn't making it any better, but he refused to cry. He wouldn't dare let a tear fall.

~~~

Russ felt intimidated. He knew he shouldn't be -- he did nothing wrong -- but being in the presence of police officers wasn't exactly welcoming, even the principle looked a little uneasy. For once, Russ was serious. He didn't dare speak unless he was spoken to. He had been called up to the principle's office for questioning. The way everyone looked at him in class... it was like they knew. The officers explained what they were doing. Last night, Cry's mother reported Cry missing. Russ was one of the only known people to see Cry last. "Tell us anything you know," one of the officers concluded. "We're gonna need all the information we can get."

Russ hesitated. He glanced at the principle, almost as if for permission, and she nodded in encouragement. "Well, uh," Russ had no idea why he was so nervous. "Yesterday was pretty normal, I guess. Nothing really out of the ordinary happened. Just when Sarah and I were waiting for Cry. He usually joins me outside pretty quick, but when he didn't come I just thought he forgot something in class -- it wouldn't have been the first time. But he still wasn't showing up. When Sarah came we decided to wait for a while until she eventually sent me to go look for him. I-I kinda think other students saw what happened. When I walked back into school, they all looked at me like they were g-guilty or something. A friend -- Minx -- said that she heard Cry call for her, but she didn't get to see him. And that's what happened."

The officers nodded. "Is there anything else you would like to add? Do you know of anyone who would want to do something to Cry?"

Russ's heart dropped. He began to feel sick. "I..." He was unsure of what to say. Part of him felt guilty. "H-he was getting bullied recently. It started earlier this month." Lying always made him feel sick, and sadly, he was good at it. "I don't know how it happened. It was just kinda like everyone turned on him."

"Thank you for your time."

Russ smiled at them, but it just made his stomach churn. He left the office calmly. As soon as he was out, he sprinted to the restroom. He burst into a stall and threw up in the toilet. There wasn't much to come up. The only thing he had for breakfast was a banana. "Oh, f-fuck," Russ whispered. His eyes were watery, but he didn't care that the tears began to stream down his face. He just sat on the dirty floor and cried.

A/N: I will admit, it's fucking tedious to write this story. I wanna get to the good parts already.