Reflections of Light

Stuck

Maddie woke up to feel someone wiping blood of her face.

Reflexively, she groaned, flicking open her eyes to see Jocelyn mopping at her forehead, propping her head up on a folded jacket.

"Don't sit up yet, don't jerk your head. You had a cut which is now fine, but I don't know about the concussion."

"... Where the fuck am I?" Maddie groaned, reaching up her hands to rub her eyes with the heels of her palms.

After a couple of seconds with no response, and a continuing dabbing at her forehead, Maddie pushed herself up on her forearms much to Jocelyn's motioned objection.

"Where the fuck is this?"

They were in some dismal room, dimly lit with concrete flooring. Pale light trickled from a thin window in the far wall, and the ceiling above was made of dark wood, supported by wooden beams; and which Maddie suspected was actually the floor of the room above.

"... Is this a cellar?"

There was a pause, and Jocelyn quickly nodded.

Maddie gave her a firm look. "Why are we in a cellar?"

"It's... Complicated."

Maddie laughed derisively, a slightly hysterical edge to her voice. "You don't say! There's been a lot of that happening lately!"

"Look, it... is complicated, okay? It.... He's... Different now."

"... He?!" Maddie loudly exclaimed. "Oh... That's whose house we're in." She groaned, flopping back down to the floor and shutting her eyes.
"When I get out, I'm going to wring Nyx's neck." She muttered irritably.

Then, she opened an eye. "It's awfully quite up there. Is he home?"

"... I think he went out."

"Really? When?" Maddie said, bolting upright. "Quick, help me up, we don't know how long we have."

"No, wait!" Jocelyn called, as Maddie pushed herself up, only to go tumbling as she realised something was attached to her ankle, stopping her making any steps.

She was chained to the wall. Great.

... Well, it probably could be worse. At least she still had a range of movement, for now.

Cussing under her breath, she felt around her jacket and belt, and was not surprised to come up empty-handed.
"... You wouldn't happen to have something slim and metal, would you?" She asked Jocelyn, once more running her hands over her jacket pockets in irritation. "Hairpin, tweezers... Mini- screwdriver...? Mobile phone would solve most issues." She chuckled sardonically.

"No, you can't go!" Jocelyn burst out suddenly.

Maddie paused in her tracks, voicing her confusion with a tone of wariness. "...Why?"

"Because... Because he needs help."

"Help?" Maddie snorted derisively. "You do realise we're locked up in a basement, right?"

"No, you don't understand. I saw it. He's stuck. And he came to me for help."

Maddie looked at Jocelyn's intensely honest expression with confusion, before covering her face with her hands and groaning. "Oh my fucking god. This is a mum thing."
She uncovered her face, looking exasperated. "I don't know what you saw, I don't know what he's told you, but at the end of the day, we're prisoners here and that doesn't make me inclined to offer second chances.
He's been cut enough slack as it is!"

She groaned again, thinking about how she'd kept him secret since the Caves from fear of incriminating Nyx, and now she could see how it ultimately hadn't been worth it; how it may have been better to find another way to protect her friend.

Well, they say hindsight is twenty-twenty.

"No," Jocelyn said, holding out her hands to Maddie as if trying to calm a scared animal. "You see, he's got a plan..."

"Oh, that's exactly what I needed to hear!" Maddie almost shrieked. "How very reassuring! Why would anyone be concerned about that!" The sarcasm was slathered on thick. "He has a plan. Good God, woman. What crazy-pills have you been taking?"

"Are you going to calm down and listen to me, or not?" Jocelyn said sternly, crossing her arms.

"I think I'm picking 'not'." Maddie snarked.

"Stop being hard-headed and listen!" Jocelyn hissed. "He's stuck. He's... Come back somehow, I don't know how... But he's has. And he's so... Different. Something has changed. It's a chance.
But he's caught, caught in between two minds and he's struggling and it's tearing him apart.
He wants help. And he came to me for it." There was tears pooling in the poor woman's eyes, and Maddie's stern demeanour seemed to melt just a little as she felt for her plight.

"Hey..." She said softly, scooting closer to the other woman. "... I get it. I really do. But sometimes you just have to put the facts before your emotions."

"But he wants help. He wants to get better! He wants to find a cure."

Maddie furrowed her brow, screwing up her face in confusion. "A cure? For himself?"

"Yes!"

Maddie narrowed her eyes suspiciously. "How?

Jocelyn opened her mouth to speak, when the sound of a door slamming shut echoed down from above them, drawing both of their attentions upwards as footsteps creaked through the floor above them.

"... And that would be the master of the house, I presume?" Maddie said, a pointed irritation in her voice.

Sorry its a day late, I have a three day art exam this week and decided to take advantage of the bank holiday yesterday to finish all my preparations.
Exam starts tomorrow! Wish me luck!

Anyway, hope you enjoy the chapter! Please like and comment!