And then he stopped. Shane leaned his forehead against mine, breathing heavily, our eyes still closed, and he tucked a strand of hair behind my ear.
"Astra," he mumbled against my lips. "Please don't hurt yourself."
And all at once, his body fell l...
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C H A P T E R F O U R T E E N
S h a n e ༶ ｡◕
"We should check the lights, see if there's any emergency buttons," I stated, immediately taking control of the situation. I hadn't binge-watched a million Bright Side survival YouTube videos for no reason.
We scoured the elevator, running our hands along the walls and narrowing our eyes. Lightning started to light up the sky every few seconds, so we relied on that to find the emergency button.
The non-existent emergency button.
The only buttons in the wall were the floor numbers that glowed and cast a tiny bit of light, too small to use as a light source.
I cupped my hands around my mouth. "HELP!' I screamed out. I yelled and Astra copied me, joining in. Nobody must have heard because half an hour later, we were still in the exact same environment as before, only more tired and cold, our throats sore and achy.
"Well," I sighed, flopping down onto the floor. "We're doomed."
"We might as well jump our way out," I imagined Astra rolling her eyes as she sighed.
I tsked. "Good idea," I pointed both fingers at her, even though she couldn't see me in the dark. "But there doesn't seem to be a door."
She groaned. "I was joking."
"We could use my head as a rammer." I said. Silence.
Awkward.
I pulled my hoodie further over me, the temperature dropping lower. I put my head in my knees and leaned against the cool metal wall. "Did you want a gummy bear?"
She stayed silent, so I tossed her one, blindly throwing it somewhere to my right. I was considering giving when she asked for another.
We tossed sweets to and fro. I only had a few - my mouth still felt weird and like I could grate my teeth together, and it had that weird metallic taste in it. The gummy bears just seemed to add to it. That didn't stop me from eating a whole packet myself.
I yawned and leaned my head against the cold glass.
I gasped and opened my eyes. Father was standing in front of me, breathing heavily, his disgusting breath fanning my face. He grabbed my collar.
"Get up!" He yelled. "Get up, boy!"
He dragged me to a standing position and threw me across the elevator. There was a laugh, a chuckle, and I looked to my left to see Astra standing there.
"You loser!" She giggled.
Heart pounding, I got to my feet and saw my reflection in the glass. But it wasn't Shane staring back at me; it was a boy whose body had been pumped up like a balloon. It felt like I was trapped beneath these walls, this small dark elevator. All I had to do was reach out and I could touch either side of the elevator.
