It's YOUR fault-(Cimorelli story)

Chapter 42 - Scared

Lauren's POV

The first thing I feel when my eyes squint open is my head throbbing as though it had been smashed against a wall several times. Then I notice how cold and dark the place I'm in is. Then I start to panic recalling the events that happened at the hospital. Tears flood down my face. One of my wrists had been tied with a wire to a pipe on the wall. I struggle against it, whimpering in discomfort as it cuts against my hand. I continued trying to get free but stop abruptly upon seeing movement in the shadows. A girl began to crawl out of the darkness from the other side of the room. Her appearance was horrifying. Her blonde hair fell in knots over her shoulders, her eyes bloodshot, her face pale, her bare legs and arms coated in dirt. A short yellow dress hung off her frail body. A band aid covered a large part of one side of her forehead, but a little blood seemed to be showing through anyway.

She stops crawling and sits a few feet in front of me on her knees. We stare at each other for a few moments before she speaks. 

"Are you real?" She asks sceptically, her voice hoarse. I can't get over how bad this girl in front of me looks, how long has she been down here that she can't even distinguish between what's real and what isn't anymore.

"Yes, yeah I'm real," I said carefully, "What's your name? How long have you been down here? Who took us?" The questions came all at once. She looked taken aback but quickly composed herself, pushing her dirty blonde hair behind her ears.

"I-I don't know how long I've been down here." she replies timidly, "I lost track of the days, I think maybe 9 days, I'm not sure. M-my name's Blake." Realisation struck me as she met my eyes again, this time her hair out of her face. Blake.

"I know you, we bumped into each other at the hospital, I helped you with your papers remember?" I said, watching as she tried to recall the events.

"Oh yes!" She exclaimed, "Lauren?" I nodded my head eagerly. 

"That's the day he took me, he swung something at my head when I was coming out of the lift and knocked me straight out." she said, pointing to the bruising around her band aid on her forehead. I looked at her in shock and she looked at me weirdly.

"What's wrong?" she asked.

"Blake," I said softly, "That was over 3 weeks ago." She scoffed at me disbelievingly before she noticed how serious I was being. 

"Oh," she said, "Shit then."

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More time had passed by. Blake and I spent the time just talking. She seemed extremely relieved and excited for someone that's been down here for weeks. Maybe she was just happy she finally wasn't alone. We were both 19 and it turns out Jason was our captor and I had found out he did the same horrid thing to her that he did to me. I watched on as Blake tried to pick at the wire around my wrist, she'd been doing it for a while now. But it only resulted in her finger getting cut slightly.

"Ah!" she exclaimed as she examined her finger, "Sorry, the thing's solid." I nodded my head at her giving her a tight smile. She sat next to me, back against the wall in frustration. I shivered, it was beyond freezing in here. Blake chuckled dryly.

"Guess that hospital gown's not doing much good at warming you up," she said, "Don't worry you become numb to the cold eventually." She was right, I was still in the hospital gown, just a thin sheet of material.

"I'm so sorry, you've been down here for so long," I said genuinely. She shrugged her shoulders. 

"It's not like I have anyone coming to find me." she said nonchalantly.