CAGED

Chapter 33: Freedom

Marissa's P.O.V.

As the voices downstairs quiet I close my eyes, drifting into a very light sleep. My stomach growls loudly, sending shooting pain through my entire core, and I am reminded of how long it's been since I've eaten. I chew on my lip as I try to doze off, begging my brain to focus on something other than the intense gnawing emptiness in my abdomen.  Struggle as I may though my mind comes shy of new things to contemplate. I've already exhausted my repertoire of thoughts including mom, Kitty, Ryan, Rachel, Master James, the move, and the cage, or more accurately, the cages.

I turn my attention to the only thing I have yet to spare even a moment to: school. I was going into tenth grade when I was taken, and next year I would have been a senior. They probably flunked me out of school by now, dismissed me as dead or unable to ever go on. Sadly they probably aren't wrong on that last one. After everything I've gone through, and most likely still have ahead of me, will I ever be able to sit in a class and pretend to be a normal student capable of learning anything substantial? I've already learned what I need for life, or at least how to survive it, and school had nothing to do with that. Do I really need to know geometry or how to tell a build a theoretical house out of recycled trash after all of the real life skills I've managed to rack up. No, I wouldn't be able to do it even if I wanted to.

I'm finally able to drift off to sleep, but my thoughts don't shut down. I'm clearly dreaming, since I'm on some beach and the sky is kind of swirling like in that old painting. Beside me stood Rachel, her lips pressed tightly together and her hand reaching for mine. I grab it without a second thought and follow her through the sand. She leads me toward the water and points out across the wide expanse of blue. I peer across and squint my eyes, noticing a boat floating in the middle of the water. The boat floated closer toward us just enough that we could see what lay inside, a small girl that I know instantly is me. The girl was so sweet and innocent, and she lay in the boat dead.

Rachel leads me away from the boat and across the sand once more until we reach a small shed with several locks on the door. Rachel pokes her first finger at each lock and they drop away with a muted thud to the sandy earth at our feet. She waits patiently for me to pry the door open and when it finally frees itself from its rusty hinges my entire body freezes. Inside the shed is another version of me, a bit older than I am now, and she is broken. Her body slumps against the wall and her eyes stare blankly at the floor, her chest slowly rising and falling is the only indication that she's alive. On her leg I see something so I step into the shed for a better look. Once I'm closer I can tell it's a burn mark, already healed, but it's more like a brand than a random burn. It's twisted in a way that almost looks like the letter J, but it looks deformed like the girl jumped away from the scalding iron. I look away from her in pity and turn my eyes back to where Rachel stood a moment ago, but in her place is Ryan. He sneers at me before slowly shutting the door, locking me in here with the broken girl. The last thing I hear is the lock clicking into place before I wake up.

My eyes shoot open as a clear beep sounds against the attic walls, a lock releasing. I sit up quickly and stare at the cage door where Ryan stands with...James? Confusion sweeps through me as I stare at them, not quite knowing how to react to their sudden reunion. Seeing them together though tells me that they didn't lose touch during my time with Ryan. A thought seems to spike in my mind and I glare at James.

"You told him the police were coming, didn't you?" I accuse him with a raised voice. Anger fills me the longer he stands in front of me, and all I want to do is attack them both. I restrain myself from doing just that, knowing with my leg and being outnumbered that I don't stand a snowballs chance in hell of making it to the door.

"Enough girl," Ryan dismissively waves his hand at me and I turn my glare to him. "You're being set free from here, I'm through with the hassle that you seem to cause in your wake. James will set you free, but remember that we know where you live and if you even try to say anything to anyone about who we are then I won't hesitate to eliminate your mother and your dear friend Kitty. Am I understood?"

I don't respond immediately as my brain takes a moment to wrap itself around his words. If I stay silent then I'll be free forever! Sadly so will they though, giving them another opportunity to destroy another girls life. I would be free though! Is my freedom worth that of anothers? "Okay, I won't say anything, I swear!"

Ryan nods at James who steps cautiously into the caged room. I pick up the hockey stick from beside my cot, and James freezes as his eyes switch from me to the stick. I use the stick to help me stand and position it beneath my armpit.

"It's not a weapon, it's a makeshift crutch." I tell to Ryan, ignoring James entirely. "Since my leg is broken?" Ryan nods and James continues to approach me. In his hand is a black cloth, and I know it's the blindfold me. "I respect the blindfold, truly! But can it wait until I'm down the stairs? It's going to be hard enough with my leg broken and this stick, but if you take my vision then I'm liable to break my neck." James turns to Ryan who again nods his head, giving James permission to forgo the cloth for the moment.

James slowly directs me out of the cage and towards the stairs leading down to the next floor. I take in the house and spend half a second admiring how beautiful and antique it is before returning my eyes to the floor and slowly proceeding down the next flight of steps. At the bottom of the steps James produces the cloth again and I say nothing this time as he ties it, a little too tight, around my head. He leads me through a doorway and slowly down three more steps and I can tell we're outside! I take a deep breath of the fresh air and sigh in relief. Soon I'll be free, and I can spend as much time outside as I want!

"Watch your head," James tells me in a gruff voice as he helps me to sit in the car. He buckles my belt around me and slams the door shut. A moment later another door opens, shuts, a seatbelt clicks, the car turns on, and then it lurches forward. I smile despite not being able to see, because I know my freedom is right around the corner!

I promise I didn't lie about updating! My phone died before I could publish the chapter.

What do you think of Marissa's dream? Do you think it means something? If so what?

What do you think is going to happen next? Is James going to take her to the police like he was told to? Or does he have something else up his sleeve?

Please vote and comment! I would really pove to hear from you!!