Can You See It?

Safe Now

Several more hours had passed while Lauren slept and when she had awoken, she had laid in the darkness, staring blankly in the direction of the ceiling. She didn’t remember turning off the lamp, but the room was blacker than midnight. Not an ounce of light crept around the edges of the curtains or shone through the fabric. Somewhere down the hall was the noise of feet against the carpet before the quiet sound of a door closing.

Reaching down slowly, Lauren ran her left hand under her shirt, skimming her fingertips over the bandages wrapped around her torso. The cuts felt better than before, but her whole body was left feeling sore and stiff, her back aching from laying in the same position for so long.

The sound of pipes creaking in the walls caught Lauren’s attention and she listened to the sound, realizing that the shower or washing machine must be running; the sinks and toilets didn’t make such a loud noise for such a profound period of time.

Lauren guessed it had been nearly twenty minutes before the sound ceased and she was left in silence again, straining to hear any other sound in the house. A few muffled noises sounded down the hall and then there were footsteps against the hardwood stairs. Several indistinguishable sounds later, the footsteps returned on the stairs, coming closer before the lock was turned and the door opened. Instead of closing the door immediately like every other time the woman had entered, she left the door open. A light from somewhere in the hall cast light on the figure in the doorway, casting eery shadows on the walls.

Making her way to the bed, the woman slipped her arms under Lauren helping her to sit up before turning her legs to the edge of the bed. With a little help from the masked person, Lauren was soon on her feet, wobbling unsteadily. One hand gripping her lower arm gently, Lauren was led from the room and slowly down the stairs. Her legs shook like a newborn foal and it took her longer than it should have to reach the foot of the stairs, but the person holding onto her was patient and allowed her to take her time. At the foot of the stairs, she was led through the dining room and into the kitchen. Along the way, Lauren noticed that every window had been blacked out with a thick black curtain like the ones in the bedroom.

In the kitchen, a chair at the square table was pulled out for Lauren to sit and she quickly took a seat, happy to be sitting again. She wasn’t sure why she felt so shaky and tired, but she assumed it had something to do with the fact that she had lost a lot of blood, laid in bed for several days, and hadn’t eaten anything since this had all began. It was bound to take a toll on her body sooner or later.

Once she was seated, the hand on her arm released its grip, its owner shuffling over to the microwave. Being left alone for the moment, Lauren took a second to look around the room. Besides the fact that all of the lights were turned on - not just a handful of them - the room looked exactly the same as it had when she had arrived a few days earlier to help Kate sell the house. A few plates were still on the floor, propped up against the lower cabinets in front of the sink; a pot, though now empty, remained in the small sink; and a few stray boxes of cereal were haphazardly stacked on the island in the kitchen. Lauren glanced over at the phone in the holder on the counter but quickly banished the thought; she couldn’t make a move for it now, and she was sure the phone line was still dead. After all, no one had come to fix it.

Shuffling in her seat to get comfortable, Lauren turned back to the table, realizing that there was a plant in a pot in the center of the table. The white flowers had bloomed but the green leaves were beginning to brown on the ends and Lauren was suddenly struck with a sense of longing. She wanted the plant to survive for some inexplicable reason and she glanced over at her supposed “caregiver” before shakily standing, slowly making her way into the kitchen. As soon as she approached the sink, her hip bumped the counter and the woman standing in front of the microwave whipped around, staring her down with lifeless eyes.