Before reading this chapter make sure you have read the last one! I uploaded two at once! :D
"I'm Mr Lewis, you can trust me. I'm here to help you." A hand held out to me, brown hair and a warm smile encompassed my vision.
"Why should I trust you?" My voice barely croaked. I struggled backwards, my hands slipping and sliding on the icy cold floor. I pushed myself back into the wall, making my chains rattle loudly, "He brought you."
"I'm not like him, or the others." He sounded desperate to convince me and every so often he would glance at the giant metal door with an unidentifiable expression, "I want to help you, you need to trust me so I can get you out."
He sounded genuine, but it was almost impossible for me to trust anyone now. This could be a trick, a punishment of some form. I had given up hope months ago for this to be true. I stared at him my eyes wide and unforgiving.
I never trusted anyone.
I woke up gasping, I sat up my eyes wide and my hands grasping at my throat as though invisible hands were grabbing at my neck.
In an instant, my entire family were crowding my doorway. I must have screamed. Jonathon took one look at me and sighed, this had been one of many times he had been woken up in the morning to me screaming.
He kissed my forehead resignedly and left the room, wiping at his eyes tiredly. I looked down at my lap, my legs were tangled in blankets. The only positive thing about being in that basement was that I had always been the victim, here I harmed my family in more ways then I realised possible.
I was the equivalent of him.
I glanced up to spot mum and Luke share some sort of look. Mum came and sat on the edge of my bed.
"Honey, this isn't getting any better." She said, her voice low. She nervously played with the sheets at my feet, bunching them up into her hands and then straightening them out, pushing at every crease in the fabric. I stared at her, I didn't know what I could say. I couldn't exactly control my dreams.
"Your mother and I, we've realised we need to do something about this." Luke spoke softly as if to a baby rabbit. It sounded like they had rehearsed this speech for a while. Luke neared my bed, his hands encompassing a bed knob and tightly gripping it.
"When we first found you, we were advised to put you into therapy, but we knew you didn't want to talk about your time in that place and decided it would be best to just see how you can recover on your own." Mum finally glanced up at me and suddenly their meaning was clear. They wanted to put me into therapy.
The understanding must have dawned in my expression as they rushed to explain themselves.
"Honey, we just want you to get better. You haven't told us a single thing and that's really..." Mum took a breath, "Really painful." I didn't want to be hurt, but I was. I knew I should have said something, but they had no idea what it felt like in that basement. It wasn't just that I didn't want to say something; I couldn't! I had no choice.
Mum put her hand over mine, but I pulled mine away cradling it gently.
"Good night." I said tersely, I turned in my bed until my back was towards them and waited for them to leave.
xxxx
Sebastian wasn't in school the next day, I couldn't decide whether that was a good or bad thing.
Things weren't exactly awkward between me and Jonathon's friends, but none of them mentioned my outburst which made me feel as though there was a giant rock of secrets between us; it wasn't so far from the truth. Occasionally, I would spy a concerned look from them and would lift my chin a little. I hadn't seen Simon or Jace yet which made me glad. I felt as though I needed to apologise.
Maths was dreadful and the seconds ticked by like minutes and I began to doodle absent-mindedly on the corner of my notepad. Every so often my gaze would stray to the empty desk beside mine, no one even thought to question Sebastian's disappearance. The teacher forgot to take attendance, yet again so his desertion wasn't even officially marked down.
Finally after a soul-sucking hour the class ended, not after receiving a bucket load of homework I wasn't going to do. I hurried to pack away my books, but the idle gossip of a group of girls nearby caught my interest.
"She's such a flirt and an attention seeker." One of the girls with dark brown hair said. She was obviously the leader of the group as all the other girls all leaned forward, eager to hear what she had to say and their perfectly polished lips, rounded into small circles and frowns.
Interested, I put my books away a little slower; purposefully dropping my pencils to stall and wondered which girl they targeted this time.
"I heard that yesterday she just happened to have a break-down in front of the entire football team." Another girl chipped in, desperate for attention. A stone dropped into the pit of my stomach and for a second I just stared at my bag.
I hadn't- hadn't realised people thought that way of me.
"She probably thinks that just because her brother is Jonathon she can get with whichever guy she wants." Another girl interjected, "And I bet that she's totally exaggerating about that basement thing."
I felt sick; sick to my core. I couldn't breathe. I tossed my bag over my shoulder and clutched my stomach tightly.
"She's not even pretty, I don't get what guys see in her." Yet another girl added.
I felt tears line my eyes and let my hair fall over my face as I tried to rush out of that ghastly room as quickly as I could deem possible.
"Not to worry. She'll soon learn her place." The group leader finished once I finally reached the door. I wasn't entirely sure if I made up the insufferable high-pitched laughing as I ran down the corridor.