The Awakening

9 - A Journey to Hell

A scream cuts through the damp air and ends with a gurgling noise before picking up in climax again. A clicking sound, like the blades of a fan catching as they spin, fills the space. It lasts momentarily, being drowned out by a scream so loud it fills every one of her pores with terror. 

Cassie's teeth vibrate as the voice cries out. She covers her ears with her hands, trying in vain to drown out the sound as she rocks herself back and forth, the only comfort she could offer herself, as the noise continues. 

She cannot tell if it was minutes or hours before the screaming slows to heart rendering sobs and peters out to silence.

"That's Ruth. We won't be seeing her again," the sentence ending with a cough. 

Cassie sits up and blinks. The only thing before her eyes is the darkness. She can feel the cold of the stone floor beneath her, as the scream picks up again she doesn't dare reach forward in the black, scared of what she might find. 

Dirt caresses the folds in Cassie's clothing. Finding its way into gaps and holes.  She feels filth coat her exposed flesh.  A throbbing pain in her head throbs and as she moves a hand up to discover the source, vomit cakes her cheek and dried clumps of it are in her hair. Dropping her hand she is no longer interested in searching any further.

Her eyes strain in the dark, lacking in natural light the room only illuminated by her pupils adjusting to the environment. Cassie crawls forward on her hands and feet shuffling in the sand and pebbles.  Following her instincts, she moves towards the breeze. The cool air brushes by her face, a comfort.

"You alive in there?" The voice askes into the abyss. A wracking cough stifled the stale air. 

"Keep it down. You'll make him come back." Another voice snakes in from the darkness as a hiss. 

"Sorry," the word is barely strung together between the hacking. Cassie looks around, praying for her eyes to adjust as tears slid down her cheeks. She shakes and it has nothing to do with the cold. 

She is just starting to make out the shadows cast in the dim light around her. Cassie crawls a few feet forward to the front of the enclosure, trying to stand but finds she can only crouch before her head hits the dirt ceiling. 

The flicker of candlelight dances against the tunnel walls up ahead. It is the only light she can make out as she holds herself close to the wooden plank door and peers out. The screaming has turned into a wailing siren. It leaps up into the air and crashes against her ears, worming its way into her thoughts and clouding her perception. 

In the backdrop dripping water fills the gap the screaming has left. It increases with intensity as the tap opens and somewhere in the distance water pours at full force before abruptly coming to a stop. Cassie pulled her knees into her chest and allows herself to sob, tears cleanse the dirt from her face. 

"What's he doing to her?"

"Ruth?" 

Cassie nods her head into the darkness. The running water starts up again.

"You don't want to know." The coughing has seized, the voice is dry and scratched.

"She's gonna find out soon enough..." While it is louder Cassie recognizes the voice from early, it no longer has a hiss to it but the edge is still there. The owner stressed and emotions taught. 

"Just keep yourself warm, it gets cold in here at night. I'm Ricci and that's Abs." Even though she cannot see them, the words held the weight of someone pointing to the person standing next to them. 

"How long have you been here?" The screaming has stopped but the sound of running water is almost worse. 

"I don't know. It's hard to tell." Ricci chokes back another cough. 

"Longer than Ruth and you won't be here much longer if you keep up that coughing. Seriously, try to be quiet or he will come back." Abs voice rattles, irritation at the edges. 

"Where are we?" Cassie asks in a whisper.  

"We don't know but you need to learn when to be quiet and quickly," Ricci's voice has returned to a baritone hiss. The command silences the trio allowing the horror transpiring in the other room to seep in. Ruth's shrieks fill the tunnel. She pleads and sobs, her words a testament to what she would do to survive.

Cassie stifles a sob to terrified to make a sound. The girls in the adjoining cells bicker, but their words fall into rhythm with the noises coming from the other room. As much as she tries to tune out the noise, it rises through and pulls her attention. 

Cassie balls up her shirt and stuffs it into her mouth to muffle the sounds of her fears.  She envisions the saw slicing through her skin, a rusted blade tearing at her flesh leaving her stumped limb with shredded flesh hanging in loose clumps. Her blood would squirt and pool around her but a heated wrought iron would cauterize the wound. Allowing the torture to continue in her mind. 

Cassie feels her body shake and she can do nothing to stop it.  Cassie holds her body close, clasping her fingers so they interlock around her legs. Her breath catches as Cassie struggles to get oxygen into her lungs. Her vision swam as tears pour down her cheeks. How could her life change so quickly?  A few hours ago she didn't have a care in the world and now... Cassie fears she has been delivered to hell.

Further screams fill her ears.  Heart wrenching pleas of the girl in terror followed by a sound of metal crashing against rock, the cracking of bone and silence.  

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