In Between

Between Prologue

The room was dark, and cold, and I could faintly hear a distant drip dripping of water splashing onto a hard stone floor.What made me colder was the knowlege that I held in my heart, the knowledge that I did not have much time left. Soon, I was going to die. I did not know who had put me here, or why, but whoever he was, he was going to kill me, and that fact was as sure asanything I had ever known. I felt it in each too-quick beating of my desperate heart,terrified of what was to come.I huddled, broken,in the corner of the room, rocking back and forth on the balls of my feet,trying to hold in the sobs that were clawing at my throat and trying it escape me. I had lost so much, and now I was going to lose my life.

Then, I heard a creak, and I lifted my head off of my knees as the heavy wooden door etched with beautiful carvings swung open with a graceful arch that did not belong in a place as cold as this. When I saw who it was, my heart froze before it began again, moving at the speed of light. It washim.He stood in the doorway, brilliant and beautiful, mocking me with a smirk. So stupid. I had been so stupid to trust him. To fall for him. He came into the room and flipped a switch, turning on the light, and I ducked my head back into my knees, feeling blinded by the sudden light that now filled the room. It had been far too long since I had seen any light.

"Well, hello there Chloe," he purred in his velvety voice that had told me it loved me so many times before, the voice of the one I had loved. It was the voice that had whisperedto me at night as he held me close to him. "Hello. It's nice to see you again. Are you glad to see me?" he asked, and I looked up at him, unable to speak through the gag in my mouth. And all of a sudden, it became too much; there was nothing left in me to stop the rasping sob that burst out of me, followed by a stream of silent tears. "I am going to kill you, Chloe," he continued, still using his soft voice, "It was really nice knowing you, but you have to go now. Good bye, Chloe" he said, now with his voice lowered to a whisper that was barely audible.

He pulled a knife from a sheath on his waist and brought it up to my heart. I stared up at him, making a final plead with my eyes to the boyI loved, but he just smiled back and me and whispered directly inmy ear"Good bye, my dear," his cool, minty breath blowing across my face as the sharp metal was plunged into me. The pain screamed through every vein in my body and I lost the control to even sit up. I slumped on the floor, and then realized something. The knifewas not piercing my heart, rather, the spot just below it. He smiled at me again as he saw me come to this conclusion and whispered "It's going to be awhile, dear. But you will die eventually. If I just leave you hear for long enough. It will be slow, and painful, but yes, you will die."

My breath was coming out in ragged, confused gasps.

He turned to leave, but paused brieflyin the doorway, turning back for just a moment. "Oh, Chloe? It was me who killed Penelope. Just thought I would let you think about that." And then he turned out the light and shut the door, leaving me swallowed in complete darkness in a puddle of my own blood, awaiting my death.