You're face to face with the man who sold the world.
~~~
Calling this a love story would be a lie. But, that would be simpler, wouldn't it?
Or
When a Shadyside...
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Day 1
"I am like a small creature swallowed whole by a monster."
The throbbing ache that resided in the back of Sidney's head only seemed to intensify as she pried apart the heavy lids of her eyes.
What happened? She questioned herself as she lay unmoving on the dirty ground below her. She felt like she was laying on solid stone, but that was just her head playing tricks on her, right?
Just like the memories of the events that had just unfolded that night, none of that happened. It was just her head playing tricks on her. She was still in cabin 5, laying on the cardboard bed the camp was required to provide them.
It was all just a nightmare. An illusion she had conjured from the depths of her mind.
Ziggy would be yelling at her to get up any second now, and Tommy would ridicule her for sleeping in.
But I didn't sleep in.
With unseeing eyes, she continued to peer up at the ceiling of the darkroom.
I did the opposite, didn't I?
No, her mind, it was playing tricks on her. It had to be. Tommy would never... Her big brother, her protector, would never do any of those things. He was a good person. A good soul. That wasn't him. Not all of him, at last. Not really. It couldn't have been.
And Ziggy, she was okay. And Cindy. And the campers. Everything was fine. Nothing had gone wrong. The night didn't end in murder, right?
"You're awake." A voice cut through the silence of the room. Their voice sounded distant, unreal even. But she knew that it was real. Just as real as the pain in the base of her skull.
She didn't hear anyone come in. Had they always been there?
"Ziggy?" Sidney mumbled, turning her head to the side lazily. Her vision skewed slightly as her eyes refocused, desperately trying to make out the person in the dark cabin.
Why is it so dark?
"Why didn't you just get on the bus?" The voice questioned, it sounded just as angry as it did imaginary. "What?" She went to prop herself up onto her hands only to find them constrained, tied in front of her.
She wanted it all to be a dream, so badly. A wicked nightmare that she'd forget in a just few moments. But it wasn't memories of a nightmare that flashed through her mind. It was memories of tonight or yesterday. She couldn't possibly know or be able to tell how much time had passed. How long have I been down here? The question rang in her head but she couldn't find the energy to ask.
