Lost Without You

Chapter 2: Carina

Carina's eyes slowly opened; her tongue touched the roof of her mouth before repositioning itself in its rightful place. "Maya!"

Her voice came out raspy, deeper than normal, "Maya!" She found it unusually hard to keep her panic level at a reasonable state.

"Keep screaming like that and they'll come running over to you."

"Who is that?" Carina scooted until she found a hard wall behind her. It was cold on her skin, but it didn't matter. It felt comforting. "Who are you? Why are we here?" she strained.

"I don't know. I don't- you just need to stop talking, okay?"

Carina ran her hands along the wall behind her before standing and continuing her task.

"Where's the light switch?"

"There is none." the disembodied voice responded.

"There's always one!" Carina let out a frustrated sigh. She continued searching until her hand touched the plastic square. She shakily lifted the small protuberance allowing the lights to slowly come on. The woman standing behind her looked to be the same age as her, couldn't be older than 40. She too had a very strong resemblance to Carina; long brown hair, thin build, and just a little bit shorter than her. She wore seeing glasses and her clothes were tattered. Carina looked around but couldn't make sense of her surroundings.

"Where are we?" she asked.

"All I know is we are in a-"

A chilling sound suddenly roared through the halls. "What's happening?!" shouted Carina. People's screams echo throughout the halls. The first person comes through, a mother along with her two children. "HEY! HELP ME GET OUT OF HERE PLEASE!" Carina screamed and banged on the bars that kept her in. but no one listened. "Why are they ignoring me?! Can they not see me?!"

"They aren't ignoring you, they all think it's part of the act." the girl responded.

"Well it's not an act. Please get me out of here!" Carina's breath became more labored by the second. All she could think about was how terrified her wife and child had to be. Panic and hopelessness quickly set in.

The girl on the opposite side of the cell watched Carina as she desperately tried to get people's attention. "You really don't know do you?" she spoke.

"Know what?" Carina turned to look at the girl, tears streaming down her face.

"Where we are. What this place is."

"Should I?" Carina scoffed.

"Well look around, what do you see?" said the girl as she laid on the cold wet floor.

Carina began to look around paying closer attention to the details around her.

"A clown, plastic human remains, coffins, and large amounts of false blood." responded Carina.

"Exactly! And when you put all those things together what do you get?" asked the girl in a rather condescending tone.

"A morbid obsession?" Carina had a confused yet frustrated look on her face. She wasn't sure what the girl was getting at but she didn't care, all she wanted to do was get out of here and find her way back to Maya and Gianna.

"No, a haunted house!" said the woman in frustration after a few seconds of silence. Carina continued to try and get people's attention but nothing seemed to work. She began to think of little Gianna and how she might never get to see her and Maya again. As reality set in she began to feel a rollercoaster of emotions; most of which she didn't understand. Tears started to roll down her face once again. This time she tried to keep them hidden from the other woman for as long as she could but she didn't have anywhere to go.

"What's wrong?" asked the woman. What a stupid question, thought Carina.

"My daughter, Gianna, and my wife Maya. I can't get them out of my head" she responded.

"How old is she?"

"She just turned five last month. I'm afraid I will never see her again."

"Don't give up ho-"

"I have to get to Maya. I have to find a way to communicate and tell her where I am." Carina interrupted as she began to search her pockets frantically. Nothing; whoever had brought her there had taken everything. "A gum wrapper!" she stretched.

"You will never be able to reach that," said the woman. Carina stretched as far as she could and finally touched the wrapper with her fingertip; now all she needed was something to write with.

A/N: shorter chapter but will update again soon! Also, comment if you have any ideas or suggestions on what you would like to see happen or any predictions as well :)