Trapped

chapter 19

Chapter 19

                   The old rusty door screeches as Sam yanks it open and I wince. Not much light gets in through the dirty windows that are placed high up on the walls just like I remember them but it’s enough to illuminate my friend’s frightened faces where they are on their knees in the middle of the large space. I feel my whole frame slouch with relief at the sight of them but then I notice that they are all bound and gagged. Forms begin to slink out of the darkness and I go ridged once more. The ragtag gang of dirty, scraggly people all stare at us like predators looking at their next meals and a shiver races down my spine despite the warm air.

                 “So the leaders finally decide to show up.” A man with a scraggly beard and ripped pants drawls as he walks forward. When we don’t reply he keeps walking forward until he reaches my bound, defenseless friends. “Your friends have been waiting for you ya know.” He says as he reaches a hand out and strokes Ari’s hair. She flinches and tries to get away but he grabs a fistful of her brown hair and wrenches her head sideways. She whimpers and something flips inside of me.

                  “What do you want?” I growl through clenched teeth. My breaths quicken to keep up with my rapid heartbeat it’s happening. My hands warm up but I keep my fists clenched. Not yet.

                 “Well what do you think?!” he screams and follows with a dry cackle. “We want revenge!” spit flies from his mouth. A tear rolls down Ari’s cheek. My body begins to shake.

                “Just let them go.” I hear Sam say to the man.

                I on the other hand was scanning the crowd. Men and women and even a few teenagers about our age surround us. All their clothes are smudged or ripped in some way and they all clutch some sort of weapon whether it be a shining knife or a simple wooden plank with a rusted nail shoved through one end. All accept one that is. There is one boy that looks about Sam’s age who stands separated from the group with no weapon and no murderous gleam in his eye. Only curiosity shines in them as he watches me attempt to contain my power until the time is right. His eyes are the most peculiar shade of blue, they almost glow in the dim light and his hair is blonde, pushed back from his face. He isn’t the same as the others in the gang, when our eyes meet his mouth curls into the smallest strangest sort of smile and my eyebrows furrow in confusion. Who is this boy?

             I snap back to the situation at hand as it grows in tension and I think It’s almost time. Almost… almost….. I look back at the boy and his eyes are focused on something just behind me, his expression one of horror and surprise. Before I can turn to see what he’s looking at, pain erupts in the back of my skull and the world goes black.

~

                I wake once briefly to the bouncing of a vehicle on uneven ground. I try to keep my eyes open but it’s no use and the darkness claims me again.

                When I wake again I am lying on a cold cement floor. When I sit up my vision blurs and I feel like I might throw up. I breathe in and out slowly until my vision clears and I can stand up without falling over. The room I’m in seems to be a big prison cell seeing as the wall in front of me consists of metal bars meant to keep me in this room.

             Or keep us in this room “Tessa!” someone says from behind me. I turn to see Ari standing behind me, her face is dirty and her hair tangled but other than that she looks unharmed. I sigh in relief starting forward and she meets me in the middle for a long hug.

             I look over her shoulder as we hug and I see Seth sitting on a wooden bench that is pushed against the back wall. Sam lies on the ground unconscious but he’s not just lying there he’s lying there with his head on a very content looking Diana’s lap. I pull back from Ari intending on giving Diana a piece of my mind but Seth catches me up in his arms before I can. While I am hugging Seth I hear a familiar groan so I pull away to go check on the now conscious Sam.

             He sits up looking confused as to why his head was in Diana’s lap. He rubs his head with his hand and tries to stand and fails. I catch his arm before he topples to the floor and he smiles gratefully at me. “Are you ok?” he asks.

              “Shouldn’t I be asking you that?” I reply dodging his question. Honestly I blamed myself for us getting caught. I should’ve been paying more attention instead of staring at that boy. Stupid.

              Sam chuckles lightly but obviously regrets it because he ends up wincing and clutching his head. “Try to heal yourself.” I whisper.

               He looks at me with a look surprise on his face and a gleam of fear in his eyes but he doesn’t argue. He moves his hand to the back of his head where blood clumps together his dark hair. I slide my hand to his waist to support him and his other hand comes to rest on mine. I feel him take a deep breath as his muscles begin to relax to the point that he’s almost slumped over. All of a sudden his eyes pop open and his spine becomes rod straight.

              “Did it work?” I ask curiously.

               “I think so…” he replies in an awed voice,

                 My chapped lips stretch and it hurts but I can’t stop smiling at how awed he sounds. But I do have to stop smiling when I feel my cracked bottom lip begin to seep out warm blood. It’s not a lot of blood but it does cause me to lift my hand to my mouth and dab at my wound. Sam tries to examine it but I just wave his hand away. A bleeding lip isn’t important when we are trapped in a cage.

                 “So how are we going to escape?” I say addressing my group. I stick my bleeding lip into my mouth and taste tangy copper.

                  “We wait for someone to show up to give us food or something and then we clobber and steal his keys,” pipes up Diana. She’s sitting on the bench with the others but she somehow seems detached from the rest of the group. It’s probably the way she sits perched on the edge of the seat, ready to jump up and run if needed. Or maybe it’s the way her eyes scan the faces of the others as if daring them to look back at her.

                    “That sounds like a good plan ‘A’ but what if that plan goes awal.  We need a plan ‘B’.” instead of waiting for an answer I walk over to the bars and peer through the spaces. Beyond the bars is a hallway with the same dirty cement floor as our “cage”. The hallway is also dimly lit by a single bare bulb dangling from the ceiling directly in front of the bars. Whatever is beyond the circle of light provided by the single bulb is unknown to me because it is all completely shrouded in darkness that’s thick as tar and black as pitch.

                       I sit down on the cold floor and stare out at the bare wall on the other side of the iron bars keeping us prisoner. And I wait.