I opened my eyes, hesitating. I didn't want to lose the thought of the boy who called himself Daniel. There was no way he could have been real, I was just dreaming. Right?
I glanced around the crowded room, the boxes still there. Eliza still laying on the bottom of her box, the water gone. I looked away, I couldn't bear to see what I had done to the best friend that was trying to save me.
It was just then that I began to notice the sharp pain in my knee. I rolled up my pants the best that I could to look at it. It was black and blue. I didn't try to stand up, too afraid of what kind of other pain would follow.
I pulled my pants leg back down and tried to scoot around to see if there was anything I could use as a weapon for when the man came back. It wasn't smart of someone to leave their torture weapons alone with the victim.
I tried my hardest to knock over the table that the instruments were on, without standing up. I took off my still soaking wet shoe, and threw it at the table. Nothing. I took off my other shoe and tried again, the table fell.
I felt a wave of relief wash over me as I grabbed the first thing I saw. Before a few seconds could pass, it was replaced with pure terror. The table falling made a loud noise. A really loud noise. Armed or not, the man was still incredibly scary. He did get me here in the first place.
I scooted miserably to the door where just hours ago, Eliza was standing, ready to save me. I shook the thought out of my mind as I tried to pull on the handle, without standing up. The door wouldn't budge, and I was too tired to put forth much more effort for the day.
I waited a few moments, clutching what turned out to be a screwdriver. The man did not arrive, much to my suprise. I backed into the corner of the room and continured to wait for him to come back.
After several hours of watching the door, I began to feel even more weak, and pushed myself as far into the corner I was already in, before leaning my head against the wall and falling asleep once again..This time, by choice.
"Back so soon?" Daniel asked, leaning on some sort of crate.
"I was kind of...tired?" I said, not sure how to answer that kind of question.
"Did he hurt you again?" He asked, his voice sympathetic, almost angry.
I tried to step closer again, to get a better look at him, but he backed away further into the darkness, as if trying to make sure I couldn't completely see him, despite stepping out of the darkness completely before. I took a hint, and walked back a few steps. He stepped back to his original place, and I remembered his question.
"No, he-he didn't come back..."
A confused look replaced the blank stare he held at first. "I felt it..he was coming I swear."
"If you know so much, if you don't mind me asking, why can I walk right now?" I asked, hoping he wouldn't get mad at my sudden question.
"I told you before silly, you're dreaming."
"But before, I couldn't move."
"The more you come here the easier it gets," he responded, making it sound like it was the most basic thing he'd ever known. I stopped asking questions and just stood there awkwardly, waiting for him to explain more to me.
He started walking around, still never leaving the darkness that seemed to be all around me. I tried to keep up with where he was as he continued circling me.
"I think you're going to be the first to make it," he said, more to himself than to me. Still, I replied.
"What?"
"There were others," he said, still mumbling to himself. "They were weak, just like her, but..."
I stopped trying to understand him and sat down. He stopped moving and looked over at me.
"I feel it this time," he says, clearly speaking to me. "He's really here."
Daniel steps out of the shadows and pushes me forward quickly, before I can blink I'm back on the floor of the cold crowded room, but one image stays in my head from the impact....
On Daniel's hand, was a small butterfly tattoo.
