Guess what?! I'M ON SUMMER VACATION NOW! (Which hopefully means more updates. I am going to make writing a priority this summer.) So some of you may have noticed that I am currently in the middle of editing and revising this story, but no major events have changed. I only fixed little details and took out some unnecessary things. I believe I have edited up to chapter five as of now. Hope you like the next chapter! I promise, no one will be fainting in this chapter.
Chapter 15- Tribulations in the Tombs
But lately her face seems
Slowly sinking, wasting
Crumbling like pastries
And they scream
The worst things in life come free to us
~Ed Sheeran: A Team~
Jack's POV
"Kate?! Skittery?!" I call one last time. Nothing. We are going through every bunkroom, every bathroom, and every closet in the lodging house for the last half-hour in search of them and still nothing. They should have gotten back hours before we did.
"Alright, Race. Gather everyone up. We'se gonna have to make a search party."
"Um, we might not hafta." Race points out, gesturing towards a black and blue Skittery stumbling through the front room, grabbing onto to every surface that offers support. He collapses when he reaches one of the worn and tattered sofas, which the boys were already hurrying over to.
Shouts of "What happened?" and "What did you did you do this time?!" and "Where's Kate?" were all thrown from various newsies at a barely conscious Skittery, like twenty soccer balls being kicked simultaneously at an unprepared goalie. A final, "Shut UP!" from Race causes the boys to abruptly stop talking.
"If ya not Race or me, get out," Jack warns them, his patience growing thin at the sight of his battered down friend, and the possibility that the girl who is practically his sister being hurt somewhere in New York.
"Kate's gone," Skittery informs Jack before he could even ask. "We were soaked and I'se was knocked out. She was gone when I woke up."
"Was it da Delanceys?"
"Yeah. And dis otha guy. I- I don't know who," Skitts stutters, feeling helpless. "If I wasn't such a wimp-"
"Save ya mopin' fa later, kid. We'll find Kate. And you can tell her sorry or whatever when we do." If there's one thing everyone knew about Jack Kelly, it was that you don't mess with his newsies. And if you did, you better expect there to be hell to pay.
Kate's POV
Time. What is time? Time is a dimension that enables two identical events occurring at the same point in space to be distinguished, measured by the interval between the events. But what happens when we lose track? When all of the sudden, everything blends together. Days, months, years, could have gone by at this point, I couldn't tell. What was once night is now day and what was day is night.
I had been thrown into what is called the "Tombs." Some of the kids are thrown into the Refuge, while others are thrown into what is basically an underground jail used when the Refuge runs out of room. Whereas kids in the Refuge have the "pleasure" of seeing Snyder every day, you are in complete captivity here with the exception of when a warden hands out a small ration of bread as dinner along with the added cockroaches and sewer drainage.
Not that I had much food available before, but I had at least lost fifteen pounds off of my already malnourished body. Every night I had terrifying nightmares, and most of the time I woke up screaming. What had I ever done to deserve this? I stood up for myself, for other woman and children, and end up with this torture? Can someone please explain to me how that makes any sense? But that's just it, we don't have the power-the ones in control do.
And to think, right now at this very moment in time, the boys could be sleeping peacefully in their beds or playing a game of poker. Oh, how I wish my life was better. As a newsie, you think your life can't get any worse. But you're wrong. At least then you have friends - friends that would do anything for you. Here, you're just waiting to rot and die. At least, that's what I was told on the first day:
I woke up wishing I hadn't. Every muscle in my body is in knots, every bone is aching, and my skin is mottled black and blue. Footsteps can be heard coming down the hallway. A warden stops in front of my door. He pulls out his keys and grasps onto one of the black bars to swing the door open.
"You have a visitor," He tells me, his voice monotone and emotionless while yanking me from the ground. I stumble every few feet, weak from the injuries. I walk until I arrive at a table where I come face-to-face with my old boss, .
"You naïve child," he laughs at me, his lip curled, "You should have known better than to be disrespectful to your elders. You have a trial date set, but believe me, don't expect to be getting out of here." And with that he got up and left.
Since then, only one person has visited. Believe me, I wasn't expecting them either.
"Cryptic?" I ask, my voice cracking from that lack of use, starring in shock as the boy who once stood me up on a date, now walks towards me.
"I heard you'se was in heah," he began. "Listen, you need to know somethin' about the night I was gonna take ya on that date."
"Go on," I encourage.
"I was held captive." I scoff at his lame excuse.
"Really? You came all the way here to tell me that?"
"No," he groans in frustration. "It was those lousy Delancey brothas, and some otha guy. Somethin' about an old boss o' yours. They locked me up in a closet and left. When they came back they were gloatin about how rich they was gonna be. Said you'se was here."
"Oh," I said, my voice losing all attitude, now weighing heavily with guilt from assuming things so quickly.
"I wish I could get ya out of here. If I had just fought harder-"
"Stop," I put my arm on his shoulder. "Maybe there is something you could do, I don't know. But I'll think of something," My voice determined and blooming with hope.
He turns as he was leaving and promised, "You'll get out, Kate, ya just have to."
"Oh!" I yell, remembering something I wanted to tell him. "Please, tell the boys I love them. And I miss them."
"Will do!" he shouts back.