Locked Away - Book 1

Chapter 19

Everything goes so quickly. Tyler runs up to me. He lifts me up in front of him, resting my body against his. He's shouting something, but it's muffled. He sounds like the parents on The Peanuts but from a distance. I reach up to my ears and wipe the liquid dripping down from them. I look at my hands, blood. Everything flickers. Nina grabs my arms and wraps the blankets around them.

When did she get over here?

I look around and Bryan and Bode are gone.

Where? When? Why is everything so hazy?

Then I make direct eye contact with Nina. Her mouth is moving. She looks scared. I open my mouth and try to speak, but the only thing that happens is my throat starts to sting. Another flicker. Duncan runs into the room with a big red bag, most likely a first aid kit. Another flicker. Kinsey is behind her mom suddenly, handing her things.

They all look totally scared.

Scared of what happened? Scared of me?

I turn my head and look at Tyler. He looks me in the eyes. His eyes pouring tears.

I wish I could take this all away. I hate seeing him so sad. So afraid.

Everything starts to go numb. My body limp. My eyes heavy. As they begin to close I feel this wave of energy surge through my entire body. For just a second I hear a little crackle, a sudden pop, and then a quick and sudden bright flash of light before complete darkness.

The tiniest of laughs in the faraway distance brings a tingle down my spine. My eyes open and I'm lying on cold concrete. My head hurts a little, but not as bad as I thought it would.

"Hehehe." The laugh moves around the room, sticking to the shadows.

"Where am I?"

"Nowhere." The voice scratches up my spine and into my brain.

"Who are you?"

"No one." The voice darts to the other side of the room. "Everyone." The voice is suddenly behind me. "You." The voice is in my ear, jolting me around to look. No one. Nothing.

This isn't real. I'm having a bad dream.

"This is real! I am real!" It sounds angry.

Can you hear my thought?

"I am your thoughts!" That's when I see it. A figure in the corner shadow.

It moves fast. Its body shakes and cracks, moving back and deeper into darkness.

"I... I need to know what's going on."

"Demands?" The voice cackles, echoing through the room. "Demands? Demands? Demands?" The cackles get louder and move around the room. "You think you're in charge?" I feel breathing behind me, warm and stinging. "You. Owe. Me." Those same hands from that one night, which now feels like decades ago, grab onto my shoulders.

My body freezes with its touch. Its breath gets heavier. The hands slide down my arms. They grip them, tightly. Squeezing to an almost intolerable amount of pain. Yet I sort of like it. It's sort of intoxicating. The hands move onto my body, wrapping around to my chest. One single sharp fingernail slides down the middle of my chest. It slides in all directions, making figures I cannot see.

"You're welcome." The hands slither off me like snakes.

I hear tiny clicking sounds moving away from me. The room gets darker the farther the clicking moves away. My body unfreezes. My heart drops into my chest.

"For what?" I shout, the echo going through the room before it goes completely dark.

"Hey." It's Nina, sitting above me and smiling. "How are you feeling?"