Out of the Darkness

Chapter 3

Drips of water splattered across my cheek, pulling me from my dreams. The same dreams I had every time I fell asleep. Dreams of freedom. Dreams of my family. A world beyond the dark, where the light shines, as it never did down here in this hell hole.

I pushed myself into a sitting position on the old mattress. My muscles ached in protest. The only sounds were my rhythmic breathing, the rats scurrying overhead, and the dripping of water from above.

Drip. Drip. Drip.

Like time ticking away.

Drip. Tick. Drip. Tock.

In the beginning, I was terrified, wondering about my fate. I was convinced I'd be the next missing child on the milk carton. I imagined my decaying body lying on the wet stone, my sunken black eyes forever staring into the darkness. But time continued to tick away, and no one ever came, except for the man with green eyes who brought me food.

Sometimes, I could hear voices from above - whispers of conversation - but those were always drowned out by the sound of dripping, or the scurrying of rats. I could often hear footsteps as well, sometimes echoing down the hallway.

As time ticked away, my frustration grew. Why would anyone kidnap me just to throw me in this cellar to rot? What was the purpose in all this? Even thinking about it caused the flame of anger to ignite inside me.

I got up from the mattress and rushed to the door.

"Let me out!" I screamed, my voice bouncing off the walls.

When the echoes faded, the silence settled again, and no one answered. No one could hear my pleas. Not anyone who cared at least.

I banged my hands against the door, pounding with all my might. My knuckles split open. I wouldn't stop banging, even as blood ran down my arms and splattered onto the cold stone beneath me.

"What is the point of keeping me here? If you are going to kill me, then do it already!" I shouted. "You're a coward, a weak... little... coward."

Silence.

"Do you want to kill me?" I screamed into the silence.

My question echoed back, and the hairs on my arms rose as goosebumps appeared on my flesh.

I continued banging on the door, my hand ached from the assault. It's no use. With a frustrated growl, I kicked the door.

"Let me out!" I cried again.

I leaned against the door, my chest rising and falling rapidly. I pressed my hands against the door, ignoring the pain that laced through my hands.

"What do you want from me?"

Tears stung my eyes as my shoulders shook with sobs.

"What do you want?" I asked the words in a whisper.

"What do I want?"

A voice, so familiar yet strange, spoke in a tone I had heard before, but it didn't make sense. It's impossible. My head snapped up, and I whirled around.

The man from the van was standing across from me. His milky white eye was glowing in the darkness, his mouth curled into a sinister smile.

I opened my mouth to scream, but no sound came out. I blinked, and the man was gone.

"It's okay, it's okay," I told myself, trying to calm my racing heart.

But the fear was real, and the man from the van was in that room with me. I tried the door again, shaking it, but it didn't budge. My body trembled. I couldn't breathe.

I needed to calm down. I was imagining things. I had to be. There was no way the man from the van could be there. After a moment, my breathing slowed, and the panic started to subside.

"Get it together, Kat. You're losing it," I scolded myself.

The darkness closed in, and I sank down to the floor. The tears were coming harder now, and my entire body shook. I buried my face in my hands, sobbing uncontrollably.

I was going crazy. That was the only explanation. I was going insane. I spent so long in the darkness that I could no longer tell if my eyes were open or closed. My mind was playing tricks on me. I was hearing things, seeing things.

"What's happening? What's happening to me?" I whispered to myself, staring into the pitch-blackness.

I don't want to admit to myself that I knew what was happening. The darkness was clawing its way into my mind. The isolation was slowly corroding my sanity. I didn't recognize myself anymore. I realized that I was becoming the lifeless skeleton I feared, but I was still alive. Somehow, that seemed worse than death.

I didn't want to die, but somehow my situation convinced me otherwise, that it would be easier to give up. To let my spirit fade away into oblivion, be dead, and start anew.

I curled into a ball, hugging my knees to my chest, rocking back and forth. The cold seeped into my bones, but I barely noticed. I just wanted the darkness to swallow me up and make me disappear.

The only thing I could think about was my family. My father's stern expression and the way he always seemed to love me, despite his disappointment. My mother's soft touch and the way she would stroke my hair when I was upset. My brother, Seth, and his stupid jokes. I missed them all so much. My heart ached for them, and I couldn't stop the tears from flowing. I wished I could see them one last time, to say goodbye.

The sound of a service hatch opening interrupted my thoughts, and I sat up quickly. Light flooded the room, and I squinted against the sudden brightness. The man with green eyes stared at me through the opening. A few seconds later, the food tray appeared.

"Eat," he commanded, his voice hard.

I didn't hesitate this time, unsure when I would see food again. This time I reached out and took the tray.

"Eat," he repeated, once the tray was in my hands.

I could make out his expression, but there was a hint of something in his voice. Pity, perhaps? Or maybe just contempt. He slid the hatch shut and left me alone in the darkness once again.

My eyes adjusted to the darkness, and the food tray came into focus. There was a meager meal sitting on the tray; a piece of bread, an apple, and a glass of water.

I ate the bread first. It tasted stale like it had been sitting on the counter for a week. The apple wasn't much better and had started to taste of fermentation. I gulped down the lukewarm water, washing the taste of the food from my mouth. After I was finished, I set the tray aside and laid back on the mattress. In the dark, I was left with nothing but my thoughts. Despite my full stomach, the tears came again, and I cried myself to sleep.