Chapter 9: Awake
When my eyes flutter open, I realize I’m awake—really awake! I don’t want to go back to sleep. The grogginess is almost gone, and I’m as clear headed as I’ve ever been. Unbelievable! I still feel raw and nauseous, but it’s nothing compared to feeling alive. Apparently, I had sleepwalked through my life. Whatever my captors had given me, it didn’t have the same effects as Estraphil. Still, I know I can’t be trusting. Hadn’t they abducted me?
What’s really going on? I ask myself. Who are these strange captors who gave me a new kind of medicine? What do they want with me? The bizarre past few days come back to me—my extreme nauseous state, the scenes of my life going through my mind, the farewell to Arthur.
ARTHUR!
Had he said good-bye to me? What was that about? It’s too painful to keep rehashing it. If he is imaginary then why is my consciousness getting rid of him when I most need him?
All of this is so confusing! What in the world do my captors want with me?
Peter.
Why is he nice to me?
But I can’t allow myself to become soft hearted with my abductors. Who knows what their ulterior motives are and now that I’m so clearheaded, I’ve got to think of a way to escape.
I see the green bucket and a plan forms in my head. After reorganizing the pillows on the bed to look like I’m still asleep, I rush to the restroom. I notice a new outfit folded on the toilet tank. As I had suspected, my abductors had been going in and out of my room. Quicker than I’ve ever been, I peel off my funky clothes and jump in the shower. The clear water hitting my body feels like heaven, but I don’t have much time. I swiftly lather up and start scrubbing. When I jump out of the water, I put on the new outfit which to my relief isn’t a silver jumpsuit but the clothes the others wear—plain cotton brown pants and a shirt.
Now that I’m showered and fully awake, it’s time to spring into action! I return to the bedroom, pull out the pillows and rush to the restroom again. Leaving the old fashioned door ajar, I grab the small tube of toothpaste on the sink I had used only a few minutes ago to brush my teeth, turn on the shower, and wait.
It doesn’t take long.
The slot goes up, and a pair of hazel eyes peers inside. Upon not seeing me and hearing the shower, Peter has the steel door slide up and rushes into the room for the green bucket.
Sorry, Peter, I say to myself, you’ve been nice, but you’re still my captor. I swing the bathroom door open and fling the tube of toothpaste at him. He gawks at me with surprise as the tube hits him squarely on the head—where I had intended it to go—and he crumbles to the floor. He’s completely out, and I rush to the door where I stealthily peer out.
The coast is clear.
It is then that I realize that I’m in some sort of a cave. The walls are made of dirt. Apparently, these abductors use tunnels and caves for their criminal acts. They’re no dummies, I grudgingly say to myself. If they were anywhere else, they probably would’ve already gotten caught. I’ve got to be smarter than them, I tell myself. Or I’ll never escape.
I close the steel door—Peter isn’t going to be unconscious forever—and I prick open my ears for any noise. Where do I go? I ask myself. I can either go right or left in the tunnel pathway. What do I do? My head is in a spin.
Stop it! I instruct myself. I can’t waste any more time standing here, or I’ll be caught for certain. I take a deep breath and think positive thoughts.
I’ve managed to escape from the room. I don’t know how I knew I could disable Peter with the toothpaste, but I hit him where I needed to. I can do this! I can escape! I can think my way out of here.
As I calm myself down, I realize I feel a very light breeze from the right. That’s got to be the way to go.
I carefully and quietly get moving, my eyes darting in all directions to make sure I don’t miss anything. I frown when I hear human voices and see an open steel door a few feet away from me. As I near it, a breath of relief escapes my mouth because the room these captors are in is so large that they are on the left side of it—hidden from the view of the opening of the door.
“We can’t spare any more time,” a woman’s voice says.
“I know,” a man’s voice quietly responds.
“We’ve got to do something with her.”
The her they were referring to had to be me.
“I think our plan is pretty solid.”
“Is it?” she asks, her voice concerned. “I’m not so sure.”
“What choice do we have, Constanza?”
“If only we had some more time, we could think of something better,” she says wistfully.
“But we don’t.”
“With each passing day, it’s getting more and more dangerous.”
Even though I wish I could listen to them a while longer and solve the puzzle of why they had abducted me, I know that it’s dangerous for me to prolong my escape. I sneak past the door as quietly and as far away from it as I can. Unfortunately, I accidentally snap a twig on the floor.
“What was that?” he asks, terror in his voice.
I quickly flatten myself on the side of the door as best as I can just as he reaches it and peers out. My heart is beating so hard and fast that I’m terrified he’ll hear it.
“What was it, Leroy?” she asks.
A bead of perspiration rolls down my forehead to the right side of my face.
“I don’t see anything.”
“I thought so,” she declares, matter-of-fact.
“But—”
“Don’t worry,” she says, “we’re in a cave remember. There are a zillion animals around here.”
“It’s just that . . .”
“We’re safe. If the guardians knew where we were, they would’ve come at us with a full force.”
“I suppose you’re right,” he says as he returns to where he was. “I’m just jumpy.”
“We all are. If we get caught with her . . .”
I don’t wait around to listen to the rest, and I rush away as quietly as I can. Following the tiny breeze on my skin and my instincts, I get deeper and deeper into the tunnel. It becomes darker with only some small round lights at the bottom which do little to illuminate the murkiness. Then I see it! The proverbial light at the end of the tunnel! I can see some natural sunrays filtering through at a distance, and all I have to do is go towards them.
My freedom! My freedom!
My quick stride becomes a full fledge run as I rush towards the light. This time my heart pounds with happiness and anticipation instead of fear. I’m only moments away from being free!
A figure suddenly steps in front of me. Unfortunately, the excitement had prevented me from keeping myself on guard, and I crash into him.
“Madrigal!” he exclaims as he envelopes his arms around me to hold me in.
Apparently, he can see me, but I can’t see him. Too dark.
“How’d you get out?” he asks as I violently struggle.
“Let me go, you brute! Let me go!”
“Madrigal, stop fight—“
I plunge the plastic knife I had gotten from my last meal in his side. It might be a flimsy weapon but between its small teeth of sharpness and my furious force, we do this abductor some damage. He groans painfully and slumps to the ground while I sprint away from him. I reach the light which is filtering through an open slot on a door.
Of course the cave opening has a steel door, I say to myself with frustration.
But there has to be a way to open it. My fingers try to locate my salvation on the sides of it. I find it and press hard on the button. When the door starts sliding up, I fling myself to the ground and roll myself underneath it—not giving it a chance to fully open.
On the other side, I am immediately confronted with a sheet of translucent water crashing down. A waterfall. The cave is in a cliff with gushing water plunging down in front of it and onto a huge lake way, way, below. My eyes dart
around to see if there is any way out but apparently not, and I breathe out in desperate frustration. How do I get out of here? But I remember clearly that when my abductors had brought me, even though I was blindfolded, I hadn’t touched any water—not even heard it. There has to be another way out of here, but I can’t go back in to find out.
I’m a good swimmer, I tell myself, remembering that when I was a child, my real parents had given me swimming lessons. Even though I hadn’t been allowed to swim by my fake parents because of my illness, I know I still have those skills inside of me. My new fog-free brain is experiencing memories like never before.
As I’m about to jump, a strong hand grabs me from behind.
“Don’t do it, Madrigal,” a male voice that sounds in pain says. “You can’t go back to those wolves.”
“Get away!” I snap as I furiously struggle. He swiftly wraps his arms around my torso, just below my chest, and crushes me against him.
“Madrigal, stop it! Stop!”
Seeing a trail of blood dripping down his shirt, I push and shove harder. He had been the one I had stabbed earlier in the tunnel. I had hurt him but apparently not enough. I try to turn my head to see who this jerk is but because of his position behind me, I can’t. Mustering all his strength, he keeps me close with one arm while his other goes to my neck. “Sorry, Madrigal but I have to do this.”
Is he going to choke me?
I elbow his wound, and he gasps loudly but doesn’t let me go. His bright red blood sticks to my skin. I can feel his pained perspiration on me. At least you’re hurting, I snicker inside my head.
His fingers pause at a point on my neck, as if he doesn’t want to do what he’s about to. I try to come face to face with him, jerking my head to the side. He needs to know that I’m not afraid to come eye to eye with him. I refuse to die without seeing my murderer. He turns his face to me, and I see his eyes for the first time.
Charcoal eyes!
The ones I’ve hated for a very long time. The ones I’ve had nightmares about. The ones that turned my life into a horror movie.
I’m sick to my stomach—even worse than the sickening nausea I went through for days. My head is spinning and not just because of his murderous maneuver. How can I die like this? How can I let someone like him kill me?
How?
“Royce 2225!” I mutter furiously just before his fingers do their work and I black out.