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Thump.
Thump, thump.
Thump.
Thump, thump, thump!
My eyelids fluttered painfully over my eyes, and my heart felt as if it were beating in my head, reverberating off my eardrums straight to my brain. And when I turned slightly, hoping to alleviate the sound, an acute throbbing dominated the inside of my head.
I winced fully, and the echoed intonation only served to increase the tempo of the throbbing. Human instinct was to touch the part of you that hurt, but I was afraid if my fingers even lightly brushed over my forehead, and that wasn't even where the full extent of the pain resided, it would only worsen the pain I was feeling.
Even still, through the biting discomfort, my eyelids steadily fluttered their way open. My vision was obscured, but I could make out that there was really nothing but blackness surrounding me anyway. Well, almost nothing but blackness.
As my vision focused, I noticed from my peripherals that there was a small patch of light dancing toward the corner of the room, and just as I recognized I was seeing some light, realization that I did not recognize where I was stormed its way across me like a tsunami. My breathing became staccato, which I noticed was the only sound I heard around me; everything else was silent.
I paused for the briefest second, trying to recollect anything that would explain why I was laying somewhere completely unfamiliar, surrounded by near darkness, and breathing in a musty scent I wasn't accustomed to smelling. And then it hit me; I was spending the weekend with Alice, we'd went to that old hospital with a group of others, I was exploring the place with Jess, she lost her phone, I went to find it, I-
Oh God, I remember!
Just as I recalled falling and those piercing green eyes, whose gaze I literally felt slick across my flesh, I was inundated with terror. I knew where I was now, and I did not want to be here. I attempted to prop myself up on my elbows, but the minute movement awarded me with a bout of nausea while augmenting the ache within my skull. My eyelids literally wanted to close against the pain, but I fought to keep them open. It occurred to me that that struggle, keeping myself alert, could mean my life.
So I forced my eyelids to keep from shutting; my teeth clenched together, jaw completely taut, further intensifying my agony. And once my eyelids were fully open and free of closing on me, though the rest of my discomfort remained, my eyes darted around the room, searching for a way out of this place.
I'd barely made a full scan of the room when I heard an audible exhale of breath, and just like a magnet I was drawn to the sound. There in the corner, where the room was moderately illuminated, was a shadow. I wasn't alone, and I knew without an ounce of ambivalence who was there.
I felt suffocated by trepidation, yet I found myself once again in the same predicament; my body was completely paralyzed by fear, other than my hands that were now gripping at torn material to what felt like a thin mattress. I'm not even sure why, except that maybe I felt like somehow my holding onto that torn mattress would help brace me against whatever was about to happen.
The shadow grew until it formed into a complete man. It was dark, yes, but I could make his form out easily. And even in the darkness of the room, I could see those green eyes, feel them on me. I was encapsulated by those eyes, the vigor behind them. In that moment, I was positive by a mere look, he could annihilate someone if he truly wanted to.
He took two hesitant steps forward, like he wanted to near me and wasn't sure, but those two steps, which were obviously bringing him closer to me, were enough of a catalyst to alert me into defense mode. Whether I was concussed or not, I had to get out of this place and I had to do it now.
I pushed forward with my hands, clumsily lifting my body up off that mattress. My movements were so swift, even for me, that the moment I was upright, because of my injury, I was assailed with an overwhelming dizziness. It was too much added on to what I was already feeling, so my body completely caved, collapsing underneath me, once again shoving me into unconsciousness.
Green eyes, floating at the…
It's so dark in here. It's not safe here.
So cold, the snow is so cold on my…
Deep breaths near my ear. He's right there.
Warm electricity all over…
Everything hurts.
Angry face…eyes burning skin and…
Am I dying?
Ghosts swallowing everything in darkness…no breaths…emptiness...
My eyes felt like weighted stone as I attempted to open them, and the pain in my head was still present, though it wasn't as sovereign. I stirred a little, needing to move my body because it felt like I'd been in the same position for days, which I may very well have been. As I moved, I went to lift my hands to my face, but felt something draped over me, scraping against my knuckles. I turned my hands palm upward to grasp whatever it was I felt against my skin, and when my fingers touched it, I could tell it was a sheet.
I immediately pulled my arms back to push at the sheet, and my elbow collided with something to the left of me, causing me to gasp. I was completely responsive to what was beside me before I actually realized what I was doing; a knee-jerk reaction.
I abruptly sat up, kicking at the sheet with my feet to remove it. The dizziness returned, but it wasn't as heady as before. I went to slap at what was beside me, treating it like a leper, until I realized what it was. It was a stuffed bear, tattered and missing an arm, but it had been nestled under the sheet with me. I grabbed the bear in my hands, repeatedly flipping it over as I stared at it wide-eyed and wondering why it was sitting next to me.
It was then, as I stared at the stuffed bear within my hands, that I realized I wasn't alone, not that I should have been surprised by that fact. The area was illuminated much more than last time, but it was equivalent to a nightlight in a darkened room. Ironically, that's what it was…well, if you considered a dimly lit oil lamp a nightlight. He was huddled in the same corner he'd been in before, forehead pressed against the wall, watching me out of the corner of his eyes.
The way he was crouched in the corner, like he was trying to climb inside the wall to hide, made me think he was more afraid of me than I was of him. I looked between him and the bear I was holding in my hands. I knew he must have given it to me, but I wondered why. I mean, if he was some crazed lunatic, why would he let me live, cover me with a sheet, and place a damaged bear beside me?
And though none of this made sense to me, topped with the way he appeared almost childlike in his demeanor, I wasn't about to let my guard down. His reaction could be merely for show to lure me in so he could hack me into little pieces or something when I wasn't so suspecting of him.
But maybe if I played nice, showed him I wasn't a threat, he'd let me go. "D-did you give me this?" I asked. Stupid question, Bella, of course he gave you the bear.
He cocked his head slightly to the right, like he was trying to understand what I just asked him, but made no attempt to move away from the wall or speak; in fact, he seemed to press himself further into the corner.
This was obviously going to take some finessing on my part. I'd much rather skip past all the formalities and just run the hell away from this place and him, but I wasn't sure that once I made an attempt to leave, he wouldn't try to stop me. He was obviously much closer to the door than I was, and I had no idea what part of the hospital he had me in. I didn't recognize this at all, not that I had anything more than the basement as a base of comparison.
"Umm, thanks for the blanket…and the bear." I had no idea what to say to him, no idea what words would make a difference in him letting me go. Obviously, I wasn't under the assumption that I could overpower him, because given his size and the physical state I was in, that certainly was not going to happen. I was left with talking to save my life. "It's a nice bear. Is it yours?"
He still said nothing, but his eyes never once strayed from me.
For all I knew, he couldn't speak, couldn't comprehend a single word I uttered. And this, my attempt at swaying him with words, would be a fruitless effort. And still, I droned on with incessant chatter, hoping something would change and give me the advantage here. I went so far as to compliment his living quarters, as if anything about this place was appealing enough to compliment. But I wasn't about to say something offensive that might infuriate him, especially when I had no idea at all what I may be dealing with here.
But he sat there, huddled in that corner, saying nothing, only watching me as if I were some sort of enigma he was trying to figure out. I was getting agitated, I was tired, I was scared, I was in pain, and I just wanted to go home. Because of all that, I just snapped. "Please, you have to let me go. Please!" I was shouting at him, tears falling from my eyes. "You can't keep me here. You have to let me go!"
Everything afterward happened in a flash, like a chain reaction. No sooner had I finished pleading for my freedom, he let out a blood curdling scream, covered his ears with his hands, and began to rock back and forth, incoherent noises filtering unceasingly from his lips.
I flew up from the mattress, colliding backward into a hard surface in my attempt to distance myself from him. I was overcome with terror, so much so, that my breaths were coming out in rapid succession, leaving me on the verge of hyperventilating. Tears were falling mercilessly down my cheeks in unsymmetrical patterns, and the knowledge that I may never see my loved ones or my friends again after today consumed me. "I'm sorry," I mumbled in a choked whisper, over and over.
I could only stay pressed against that wall, writhing in fear as my captor had a paroxysm of some kind, and wait to learn my fate. Wait to live, wait to die, but regardless which one, he was in control of the choice. I was all too aware of that fact.
I had no idea how long he sat there, making those God awful noises, or how long I was backed against that wall, watching him. It was awhile, that I was sure of, but the noises finally subsided, and the repetitive rocking slowed. His hands were still resting over his ears, like that in itself was a form of protection for him; a shield.
He clearly wasn't your typical murderer by text book definition, but honestly, I wouldn't really know what actually defined a typical murderer. It wasn't as if I'd ever been in a situation like this or faced a murderer before. I just never expected that one would appear afraid of their intended victims, especially in front of said victim.
The need to get away certainly hadn't dissipated, but I had no hankering to relive that outburst of his, so I stayed silent and as far from him as I could. The talking apparently wasn't going to work, and it seemed that he had no inclination to let me go, so I was going to have to find some other way to get free.
He certainly wasn't a ghost and that meant he needed sleep. He may be able to hold off for awhile, but he eventually had to sleep sometime, and when he did, that was the chance I needed for escape. I just had to stay alive until then, and staying alive meant following the rules. I wasn't exactly sure what his rules were yet, but I was sure I'd learn them, and I'd abide them.
I'd be the good little captive until that window of opportunity presented itself, and when it did, I'd take it, I'd leave this place, and I'd be free.
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