Don't Scream

“Help! Oh God, help! HELP ME SOMEONE! PLEASE HELP!”

“Don't scream! Do you want him to come back? Shut the hell up, won’t you?”

“Who’s there? Oh, please, you’ve got to help me! I’m chained to something, it’s so dark… I don’t know where I am or what happened or…”

“Just lower your damn voice! You’ll only make it worse for yourself if he hears you making such a fuss.”

“If who hears me?”

“The man, the man in the dark suit. Didn’t he tell you the rules?”

“I just woke up here, my head is killing and I think I might have a broken wrist. It hurts so bad…”

“Well, you must remember something. Where were you before you were here?”

“I was at that new goth club, Gloom Inc. Last thing I remember I was dancing with my friends…”

“Well, he must have spiked your drink then. That’s how he got Lucy, though it was in a bar not a club.”

“Lucy?”

“She was here before… before you.”

“Oh God! HELP! Help us!”

“Stop panicking, it doesn’t do any good. Lucy used to scream and yell like you and she’s gone for good now , least as far as I can tell in this dark hellhole.”

“I can’t get the shackle off my ankle. Are you chained? Can’t you come closer? I’m so scared.”

“Hahaha, wouldn’t that be nice? No, I think we're in some kind of stable or something. I’m in the next stall over from you. There’s a stone wall between us, but there are bars at the top. If you can stand up, I’ll reach through.”

“Ouch! Oh, ok, I found the wall… it’s so cold and wet! Like a cave or something. And the bars… where are you? Oh, there! Don’t let go please… I’m so frightened.”

“It gets easier, once you accept you’re stuck here. I’m Meera, by the way. I guess we’re neighbors now.”

“I’m Aimee. Oh christ, my wrist is throbbing.”

“What are you wearing? If you’ve got leggings on you could wrap it around, try to support it a bit. Not like we have a first aid kit or anything down here.”

“I’ve got pantyhose on…. Are there any blankets or anything? My teeth won’t stop chattering.”

“There was some sacking in the corner of my cell. Try feeling around, maybe you have some too.”

“I don’t want to let go…”

“Toughen up, won’t you? If you’re going to last longer than Lucy you’ll need to be more resilient than this.”

“Ok… ok. Just keep talking to me, please. Don’t leave me alone in the darkness.”

“Sure, I’ll talk. What do you want to know, my life story?”

“I found something. Oh thank goodness, it’s a sweater I think.”

“Lucky you, better than a heap of old feed bags or whatever the hell I got. Aren’t you the special one?”

“Sorry… oh! The sleeve, it’s all sticky.”

:”It’s probably blood. Lucy’s blood.”

“Oh god no! What happened to her?”

“Hard to say, really. He came in, the man in the suit. I hid under the sacks and kept real quiet, but Lucy started hollering and banging her water mug against the walls. She was in some kind of a trance - she’d been feverish for a day or two, by my reckoning. One of her wounds got infected.”

“Her wounds?”

:”Don’t make me talk about that stuff, Aimee. I can’t.”

“Okay. I… I guess I don’t want to know.”

“Oh, you’ll know soon enough, though you’ll wish you didn’t. Anyhow, the wounds get infected, and there’s not enough water to wash them, take care of them. Lucy said she had a rat in her cell. She might have been hallucinating… but I think, I think maybe she wasn’t. Because of the scratching, the scuttering noises. I’d block them out if you can, I do. Can’t stand rats myself.”

“Please, hold my hand again…”

“Sure. Oh, yeah, that's Lucy’s sweater for sure. Velour, I remember the way it felt. She was complaining of being too hot near the end, I guess she stripped off her clothes. You might get lucky and find her dress in there too… she was in church when he got her. So she had a great long sun dress on and her pink sweater. She said it was her favorite - hell, she’d want you to have it. Any comfort is better than none in this place.”

“I don’t understand! What does he want with us? I’m not rich, I don’t come from an important family…”

“Yeah, I don’t think it’s a ransom he’s after. Sorry.”

:So what… we’re just his prisoners? It doesn’t make sense!”

“No? Didn’t you ever watch true crime shows? Makes perfect sense to me. We were stupid, let our guard down, and now we’ve got starring roles in our very own crime stoppers special. I wonder who’ll play you?”

“Stop it! Won’t you stop? I can’t take it, I feel like I’m going to throw up…”

“Yeah, that’ll be the meds wearing off. Sit down against the wall, I’ll just be on the other side. Real close, ok? You aren’t alone.”

“Thank you.”

“So I should tell you the rules. At least, as far as I know them. Rule one - don’t scream and make a fuss. He hates that, and he’s vicious when he’s mad. He has his… toys, he calls them. And some of them aren’t too awful, but some… you don’t want to make him angry, that’s all.”

“How often does he come down here?”

“I don’t know, time is kind of screwy here. The dark plays havoc with your internal clock. I suspect he has a job, though. Because he’s gone for what feels like a long time, then back several times in quick succession. If you’re lucky he’ll bring another girl down here, so we take less of the punishments.”

“Punishments?”

“Oh yes, that’s rule two. He’s religious as fuck. Don’t ask me what kind of crazy God he believes in, but whatever it is, he’s fanatical. He’ll make up all kinds of shit to get you in trouble and then call you a sinner, then it’s a punishment for sure.”

“So where does he take us? Do we get to go out of here? Maybe we can escape…”

“I wouldn’t get your hopes up. He only takes us about thirty steps away, and the floor slopes down all the way there. Whatever room he plays his little games in, it’s further underground than this place.”

“What about light?”

“He doesn’t seem to need it. I think he’s got those night goggle thingies, that or he was a good kid who ate all his carrots for mommy.”

“Shit. Well what about his… toys. Couldn’t we grab one? Defend ourselves?”

“You say that like we’re in this together, Aimee. No offense, but we aren’t gonna be besties, prison wives or anything. Fact is, if I wasn’t so fucking tired of this business, I wouldn’t even be helping you now at all. However mad he gets, he only hurts one of us at a time.”

“Well how long have you been down here?”

“What day was it when he got you?”

“Um… Saturday. Saturday 15th.”

“15th! Of June?!”

“15th of August!”

“Oh… holy fuckballs. How on earth is it August already? Three months… nearly three fucking months. No wonder I’m giving up.”

“Please don’t Meera! I can’t be here alone, I just can’t!”

“It’s not up to me, kid. I’m not exactly here of my own accord either, you know? Fact is, he’s getting bored of me. I’m no fun since he broke me in. Too demure, too downcast. I don’t give him enough reason to beat me so I’m no fun anymore. I reckon I have a day or two left at most. Lucy said that’s what happens, you know? Said the woman before us… I don’t remember her name. She got taken out when I arrived… she didn’t ever talk to me at all. She was too far gone.”

“How is this going on and nobody has figured it out yet? Surely the police… someone must be looking for us? For you!”

“Ha, for me? Unlikely. I was never what you’d call a social butterfly, Aimee.”

“I’m so cold it feels like my bones are on fire.”

“You get used to that after a day or two. The cold is the least of your worries. But - if you’ll trade me, say for your pantyhose, I’ll give you my socks. They’re cozy, I was wearing my docs when he got me, and those things rub like fuck if you don’t have thick socks on.”

“Really, you’d do that for me?”

“Sure. Heck, you can have my cardigan too if you like. I don’t feel much of anything anymore. Might as well get some use out of it. Here… take them.”

:Thanks, Meera. But I’ll get it back to you soon. I’m going to get us out of here, I promise.”

“Sweet of you, kid. I appreciate the kindness. I wish we’d met under different circumstances. You seem nice.”

“What are you doing? Don’t let go! Please, come back!”

“Sorry Aimee. I don’t feel like hanging around any longer, ha! Hanging around, get it? I’m so tired and I can’t take any more hope, you know? It’s not the despair that gets you in here. You can take that, it’s the constant praying, and the damn dreams. The dreams where a knight in shining armor, or a cop, or some burly FBI agent bursts in and rescues you. I think another one of those dreams and I’ll go completely mad. You know?”

“Just stay a bit longer, don’t do this Meera… oh god, don’t leave me here alone in the dark!”

“You won’t be alone long, kid. He always finds another one of us, sooner or later. But hey, if you do get out, tell my Mom… no, nevermind. Too late for apologies and grand farewells now, isn’t it? It’s all too late. Good luck Aimee. If you get the chance, kick him in the nuts for me, wontcha?”