Caged

12

"W-what happened?" My voice was barely audible, nothing more than a whisper.

There were shards of glass stuck in my throat and I couldn't breathe. My heart was pounding, I wondered if anyone could hear it. I could feel it fluttering against my chest.

Every inhale and exhale physically hurt. I was suffocating from the silence and I had to remind myself that I was still here. Alive. My heart was still beating. I wasn't dreaming. I couldn't wake up.

I was here. I was here. I was here.

I somehow recognized Elijah walking towards me. I was frozen in place as he gently kneeled down in front of me, and I was suddenly left staring into his red-rimmed eyes. The steel gray color that was usually so dark and hard, now looked lifeless and empty, and I couldn't look away.

"Come here," his voice was soft, something I wasn't used to hearing these days. He tried to bring me closer to him, but I shoved his hands away.

"W-what?" I choked on my words, my eyes blurring as the lump forming in my throat grew. "Tell me what happened. Why are– why are the police..."

I couldn't bring myself to finish and there were tears streaming down my face, but I barely felt them. I quickly wiped them away. When Elijah tried to hold me, I pushed him away violently once again, and rushed over to Caleb.

He still had his hand on Kaiden's back. Ethan stood unmoving, almost like he was spaced out as he stared at a spot at the floor. He didn't even look like he was breathing.

Why wasn't Kaiden opening his eyes? I wanted to scream at him to open his eyes and look at me.

I didn't understand. What was happening?

"Caleb," I grabbed his free arm and wrapped my hands around it, my eyes wildly searching his hazy ones. He stared back at me wordlessly. "Caleb, what happened? Where did she go?"

When he didn't respond, I shook him harder. "Caleb, answer me," my voice cracked.

"Did she come back? Did they find her?"

"She was supposed to pick me up, did they find her?"

"Why won't anyone answer me!"

All my questions remained unanswered. It was like I hadn't even spoken. Could they even hear me? Was anyone listening?

The house was silent, the only audible sounds were of the police officers speaking and some of the other men scattered around. I felt a few eyes on me, but I ignored them.

"Why won't you answer me?" I screamed again. This time, I slammed my hands down onto his chest and all he did was briefly shake his head and close his eyes.

Like he couldn't bring himself to say the words.

I felt an arm wrap around my waist and pull me back, but I kept my eyes on Kaiden. He still wasn't looking at me, no one was.

"Elijah," I spun around in his arms as he knelt down again in front of me, keeping a strong hold around me. "What happened? Why is no one telling me where Soph is?"

"Izzy..." he trailed off, and I tried everything I could to make him let go of me, but he was holding on too tight.

When I finally managed to meet his eyes, I went limp in his arms. Nothing needed to be said.

I blinked, staring at him, speechless. My eyes searched his for answers, but they wouldn't give me any. My hands were shaking and there was the faint sensation of something beginning to ache in my chest. Something that wouldn't leave for a long time now.