Trapped

Chapter 16

Layla

The chains drag the floor next to my feet. The cuffs dig into my skin. My injuries burn and ache. The larger cuts will scar and I will have the memory of being tortured down here forever. But it could be worse. I could be dead in this basement left to be cremated and scattered on the plot of land. Left to rest here forever. That would not be peaceful. Not even in death.

    I see Lilian standing before me, fear painted on her face, clear even in the dim room. I give a reassuring smile.

I have been down here who knows how many times to help clean up blood from the many girls that have been brutally murdered in this very basement.

    It's sad, knowing that to anyone passing on the street, this looks like a perfectly normal place to live. Knowing that they won't think anything of this house as they pass through. It is a nice house with beautiful red brick and huge windows displaying the dining table. Of course that is the only place there will ever be windows besides some of the bedrooms because too many "unfortunate" things happen in the other rooms.

    "Unfortunate" is what they call it to disguise how evil the act of murdering a young girl or abusing your wife or raping your girlfriend really is.

    My head is pulled back by my hair and I groan in pain. Someone stands behind me, holding a knife to my throat. I can see its steel glittering and reflecting the small amount of light allowed in this room. Hanging from a wire is a lightbulb in the middle of the ceiling, displaying the chair and for the time being, me.

    They do this so their victims can only see the person torturing them. They think it is a service because when they kill them, the last face they see will be smiling. Or they won't have to see anyone at all as the person slitting their throat would be behind the chair. Never having to see any of these freaks again would be a blessing. But even though I am most likely on the verge of death, I keep any grimace or scowl from my face and make sure they know I am not afraid of them.

    Lilian probably thinks me crazy. She knows my end game though. She probably doesn't understand because she might rather die, but my family is out there. I will escape and living in the house, walking with my kidnappers every day for almost 16 years will not change that fact.

    "Tell us or she dies, Lily." I hear Jeremy tell her, probably with a malicious smile carved into his features.

    I can't see them very well in the dim lighting, but I know she can see me. I know how she must feel standing there, looking at the poor girl that's been tortured and killed. But I'm not already dead. If she doesn't sell me out, she will have to watch them slit my throat and they won't let her turn her head. No, she will have to watch every second of it as I bleed out and the light goes from my eyes.

    I'm not afraid of dying, but I am scared for her. I nod my head to her as a signal to do as they say and after a second of indecision, she does.

    I can only hear bits and pieces of the murmured words between her and Jeremy, but I know exactly what they are saying. They want to know every detail of what we talked about in his bedroom.

    When they told me I was to deliver pain killers to Lilian in Jeremy's bedroom, I knew what had happened. They took me for stupid because I was always so obedient and acted so brainwashed by this way of life. They won't anymore and for that, part of me is glad Joshua heard.

    I know exactly what Jeremy did to Lily up there. She must have done something to push him over the edge, but that doesn't excuse anything. These people are lunatics and if I get to die knowing that I had a real, sane friend up here, even for just an hour, I will die happy and that's more than I could have ever asked for.

    When the mumbling stops, Jeremy comes to a stop beside the person holding the knife. He whispers something in his ear and walks back to where Lilian must be standing.

    Joshua comes to stand in front of me, crouches down so he can look me straight in the eye and plunges his knife into my thigh.

    I scream as loud as I can and after a minute, the dark room goes black.