Stumbling (H.S. / A.U.)

Chapter 24

Friday, September 1st (still)

Riley's POV

My head was throbbing and I was not sure if that was what caused my vision to feel excessively hazy or it was the lack of lighting. The room has a slight spin to it and my throat had the taste of bile in the back of it.

I had screamed and cried earlier when I woke up the first time in the room till nothing else came out. My voice was hoarse, my cheeks were hot with the tears that rolled down them, and my entire body felt like it had been emotionally drug through the ringer with Mike Tyson.

I was still in the same room. It seemed like a basement or a warehouse of some kind. There were no windows, the light was cast down on me with harsh fluorescents that were in the shape of two tube lights similar to those in a school hallway.

My hands were bound together with rope behind me, while I was seated on a chair in the middle of the room. Both legs tied down to a chair leg, there was no chance of me breaking away.

In front of me was a plain white wall covered in scuff marks. There was a spot that would have been between about five and six feet up that had some dried old blood staining on it as well. In my mind the image of someone getting their head or face smashed into the wall danced around but I tried to ignore it.

The floor was a slate gray colored concrete that had pits of uneven spots and littered with debris, rocks, dirt, puddles, and cigarette butts along it.

I thought back to every single thing I have heard and learned from scary movies, true crime, and any news articles I could remember. I knew there were certain things that sometimes did and didn't work on captors. Supposedly humanizing yourself sometimes helps... Other times it makes them more upset and they act out. You should try to get their DNA under your fingernails by scratching them and such... My hands are behind my back. You can have your phone ping your location... If I knew where my phone even was.

Fuck. What the fuck is happening.

Last thing I really remembered was walking to my car when some guy approached me. He was younger and I thought it was maybe someone from one of Harry's classes even. He was asking me where Harry lived. It seemed so harmless. I just remember everything slowly fading as he drug me into a vehicle. I remember in the car ride how bad my head hurt and he kept telling me things, but I cannot remember what.

When I woke up earlier I was alone in the room, I'm still alone and I have no idea how long I have been here at this point.

My head lulls back and forth between trying to keep it up and staring at the wall in front of me to hang low and feeling defeated while the headache throbs intensely. I am just so confused at this point.

To keep my sanity I try to count to myself and figure out some sort of timeline that all this occurs during.

One. Two. Three. Four. Five.

I hear noises from somewhere behind me.

Three-hundred-and-sixty-four. Three-hundred-and-sixty-five. Three-hundred-and-sixty-six.

I try to turn my head as far as I can to see behind me, where I see a makeshift wooden table near a door that is closed. The table is bare and the door has multiple locks on it. Nothing that screams 'inviting'.

The noises beyond the door sound like footsteps coming closer and the voices are muffled enough I cannot make out what is being said.

Four-hundred-and-eight. Four-hundred-and-nine. Four-hundred-and-ten. Four-hundred-and-eleven. Four-hundred-and-twelve.

I jump at the sound of the door slamming open and hitting the wall behind it. Even when craning my neck I cannot see anyone in the doorway, they are just out of eye sight.