Dramatic Child Stars

Twenty-Nine

Ryland,
July 29, 2021,
1:34 am.

"I didn't want them to hurt you," Adeline promised me gently.

She had a very soft voice. It was childlike, although from a visual alone I knew she was closer to my age. She dressed older though, with slacks and a blouse like she'd spent the afternoon at an office.

"I asked them not to, actually. My word just doesn't hold a lot of weight here."

"I know the feeling," I lamented.

She nodded. I saw the sillouette of her head bobbing in the darkness. She'd left the door open when she walked in, so the total darkness was more broken up with beams of lights and shadows. She had found a place against the wall across from me and was sat down Indian style with her legs folded. With the door open and unobstructed by her figure in the doorway, I could still only sort of see her. My eyes were slowly adjusting even though a good amount of time had passed. I had thought about my chances of darting towards that door if I wanted to escape. I was decided against it.

"We're just going to talk," she suggested on that honey voice of hers. Silence was probably getting irritating. "They won't bother you as long as we're just talking."

It took me a moment to realize she was attempting to reassure me. I wondered how scared I looked. Was it obvious that I was thinking about escape? Did it matter? I hardened my face to the best of my abilities anyways.

"I don't remember you," I said, which was almost a lie because I did recognize her, but not enough for it to be helpful.

"That's okay," she continued to assure me. "I'm still here to help you."

"I'm pretty sure I'm beyond help at this point," I countered. "If you want to help, go ahead and let Marcus kill me so I don't have to get hit anymore."

Adeline didn't say anything for a moment. It occurred to me that although I couldn't see much of her features in the dark, the light from the door was probably illuminating mine quite clearly. She could see every little nervous shift, while I was mostly blind to hers.

Maybe I was paranoid because I'd been locked in a dark room for an indeterminate amount of time, but I was very unsettled by the presence of another person. It didn't matter how kind she sounded or how intrinsically unafraid the slight memory I had of her had made me. I couldn't just drop my guard entirely.

"Are you lying when you tell them you don't remember?" She asked.

"No," I answered honestly.

"Why can't you remember?" She pressed.

"Probably because people keep hitting me," I rationalized.

"I asked them not to do that," she said with a slow nod.

"Well you already confirmed that your request didn't mean much," I said. "And if it's not the head trauma then it's probably because I drank too much or did something else stupid in nature."

I noted my hands trembling again. I tapped my fingers on my thighs to give them something to focus on. It was difficult to do given the cavern wide open in my chest begging for what I couldn't give.

"You're sick," Adeline commented.

"I'm in perfect health," I lied.

"You're going to start withdrawing again soon, aren't you?" Adeline asked, which was really an offensively accurate question. It made my stomach spin painfully out of control. It made me fixate on the chasm opening wide in my chest. "You've been here for like 24 hours now. How long does it usually take? You're an inconsistent user right?"