Cutting through Stone

C H A P T E R 5

[B E Y O N D   F E A R]

Jane's POV

        I awoke somewhere other than the room I was previously in. There was a light breeze and I could feel the sun on my skin. I blinked multiple times trying to adjust to the bright light in the field. When my eyes finally adjusted to the light of the sun I looked around at my surroundings. I was definitely in a field. I tried to move but something was wrapped around my waist and ankles. I looked down to see vines trapping me to a post I think. I reached down and tried to pull the vines at my waist when suddenly a sharp pain shot through my hands. I pulled my hands away and hissed in pain. On the palms of my hands were burn-like marks. The vines were secreting some kind of acid or poison but they didn't burn me where they were tied. Suddenly, the bushes and trees around me burst into flames. I panicked and began clawing at the vines, ignoring the pain in my hands. A few silent tears streamed down my cheeks at the pain in my hands. "Stop it!" I looked in the direction of the voice, it was Eric. "There's no way out of there, just stay calm and slow your heartbeat." I looked at Eric dumbfounded for what seemed like forever. Was he really telling me to just let myself burn to death? I looked at my hands, they were terribly scarred from trying to pull away the vines and were pretty numb at this point. I dropped my hands to my side as I gave up and closed my eyes. I took deep breaths and counted down from ten. By the time I reached five, I could feel the flames licking at my legs. By the time I reached one, I could feel the flames swallow me whole. It took everything in me to not scream out in absolute pain.

        Just as soon as the pain had come, it was gone. I opened my eye, I was now in a box. All four sides of the box were clear and the only light in the dark room came from the lights at the top of the box. I felt a hand on my waist and turned to look at its owner. Eric stood in the box next to me, just as I was about to say something, water began gushing out of a large pipe at the base of the box. I looked around for an exit but there were none. I began hitting the walls of the box but the glass was too strong. Eric simply stood in the corner and once again gave some advice, "Jane, you need to calm down. You can't think straight if you're panicking." I pressed my forehead against the glass and took a few deep breathes. I hate this fear landscape so much. I looked up at myself in the glass. Fear landscape, I completely forgot this wasn't real. I looked at my hands then began to push the glass. To my surprise, the glass began to lean forward and eventually shattered on the floor. The water poured out and I stood there in awe at what I had done to the glass. I drowned last time.

        I awoke on a hard cold floor. I was under what I assumed to be a bed by the frame above me. I peeked at the room I was in from under the bed and began to panic. The room was gray, the desk, the chair, the walls, everything was gray. This was my old room. The room that I thought I would never be able to escape not even a year ago. A small girl ran into the room, slamming the door shut behind her. I watched the girl look around the room, suddenly the girl stopped and look directly at the bed. I thought the girl had noticed me but instead she began to crawl under the bed next to me. On her way in, the girl dropped her small teddy bear. Before she could reach for the bear, the door opened and in walked a man. I couldn't breathe, it was him. I  covered my mouth in fear of screaming. The man turned and seemed to walk to a different portion of the room. It wasn't until now that I remembered Eric. Where was he? I looked around the room and saw him on the opposite side of the room. Once out of sight the girl slowly stuck her arm out and reached for the bear. My head snapped towards the girl and began to whisper-yell at her, "No, stop! He's not gone! He'll see you!" The girl didn't seem to hear me, let alone know that I was even here. I hadn't even had time to register what was happening when suddenly a man's hand grabbed my wrist and pulled me from under the bed. I heard the girl scream but realized it was me screaming. The man pulled me to my feet but only to throw me onto the bed. I landed on my back and began to kick and swing at the man. He was a lot stronger than I remember and it didn't seem like I could fight him off. I had an open opportunity and punched the man square in his jaw. His head flung to the side from the force of my punch but he didn't seem to be effected. The man grabbed both my wrists and held them above my head. He pushed his way between my legs and ducked his head into the crook of my neck. The feeling of his lips against my neck made me want to vomit. I continued to helplessly thrash at the man and he simply let out a dark chuckle. The man moved his head down my stomach and kissed the exposed skin just above the waistband of my pants. The man looked up at me from his current position but it wasn't the same man. My heart dropped at the sight of the face that looked up at me evilly. Tears began to stream down my face as he smirked. "Eric."

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