Into the Void

I'm sorry. I'm so sorry.

I woke up from the best night’s sleep in I can’t remember how long. I refused to open my eyes and just relished in this feeling. I wasn’t sure if the torture was going to continue after giving in to Dark, so I wasn’t going to enjoy this as much as possible. I was still tired but that wasn’t a surprise, one little restful sleep wasn’t going to do much in my state.

Without opening my eyes, I could tell I was in bed, warm from the covers over me. It felt like years since I was last in a bed and warm. I knew that any second Anti would come in and yank me out of bed to continue our daily routine but I couldn’t care less anymore. I was numb from everything and could no longer feel emotions like hope, anger, or even sadness.

“I don’t know, Matt. She’s been sleeping for a couple hours now so it’s not like I can ask her. One minute I’m minding my own business recording a video and then the next all the electricity is going crazy in my house.” How did I get to Mark’s house? Is this what Dark meant when he said Anti would take care of the next step? Mark was obviously talking about me but who was Matt?

I decided that I had nothing better to do than eavesdrop. It’s not like I could get up if I tried, Anti made sure of that. “Don’t let Stephanie come. The more people involved the more dangerous it gets. I even sent Amy and Chica to her mom’s house until I get things figured out.” Mark’s voice sounded desperate and unsure like he didn’t know what to do. His voice rising at times in frustration. “I already told you that I don’t know. I can’t even begin to describe how she looks; you’ll have to see for yourself. No just bring what you think we might need. I have to go and check on her. I’ll see you in a few hours.”

There was silence after that. I heard a sigh and then glasses clinking. I’m not sure what happened after that because I fell back into a dreamless sleep.

The sound of people talking woke me up. It sounded like it was coming from right outside the room. I must have made a sound because I heard Mark call my name quietly. Opening my eyes, I found I was in the guest bedroom that I had stayed in before. I had to blink a few times so my eyes could adjust to the light and when my vision adjusted, I saw Mark standing near me. He looked at me with such concern that for a moment I almost believed it was him but I had been fooled too many times to trust this image.

“Hey Bri, I brought you something to drink. Do you think you can sit up or do you need help?” Mark's voice was soft and held such concern that I would have wept if I could. Instead, I tried to sit up to appease him. I was so weak that I couldn’t even lift my head and it made me panic. What if he hurt me because I didn’t do what he wanted? I struggled as hard as I could to lift my head before giving up and accepting whatever happened.

Mark put up his hands, “Hey, hey. It’s ok if you can’t. Is it going to hurt if I helped you up?” Mark started pulling down the covers to my waist and I shivered violently.

I opened my mouth to speak but my throat was so raw from all the screaming that I couldn’t get any words to come out. I was just barely able to shake my head. Mark seemed to sigh in relief. “I asked a friend to come over and help, I hope you don’t mind but I had no clue what to do.” That seemed to be a signal because someone else walked into the room.

I recognized him as another YouTuber that Mark would occasionally do projects with. So, the Matt he was talking to was Matpat. “I still think she needs to go to the hospital. I’m not a doctor but she looks dehydrated. Who knows what they’ve done to her. She needs professional help that we can’t give her.” He
walked over to Mark and took the cup that Mark was holding.

“And just how do you think I’m supposed to explain to them what happened to her? I’ll be the first suspect and they’ll lock me up in the nuthouse. She’ll be even more vulnerable if I’m locked away.” Dark started yelling at Matt and that scared me. Matt noticed the expression right away and pointed at me.