Eliza Wuz Here

4- Trust Caleb

He leaves the bulb in the room burning bright. She can see all the things that she could only smell and feel in the dark. After the shocks of the brightness subside, beyond the realization that she's in some sort of prison cell, she notices the rusty stains on a once white floor, leading to a drain. It might be rust or it might be...Ash's hands are shaking.

My eyes hurt from the light. How long have I been down here in the dark? She's trying to think of other things, so she doesn't have to think about what went down that drain in this room.

She turns away from the stain and spots the blanket. In the brightness, she feels more exposed. She's never been one to be comfortable showing a lot of skin. She dives for the blanket, wrapping it around her like a cloak, pulling it together at the front. Only then can she focus on the box. There could be something she can use in there to get out. She dumps it on the metal table. A couple cans of food clatter to the surface, a bottle of water rolls onto the floor, bounces, rolls near the stain.

No, no, no!

She snatches it up quickly. Water is too important to waste, and she doesn't think she can drink it if it touches the stain. What if it's blood? The place smells like copper. Like blood. She puts the bottle back on the table with her other...gifts. A sandwich, which she devours. Peanut butter and bread. It's not fancy by normal standards, but after being in this place it's a five-star meal. She leaves two more peanut butter sandwiches and a couple small bags of chips for later. She shuffles through the remains. There are a few more bottled waters, a bottle of liquid soap, red nail polish and a ridiculous outfit with laces and straps. The kind of thing you would wear in the bedroom for your partner, but definitely not for stranger danger. And red nail polish?

What does he plan on her wearing those for? She wants to vomit, because she thinks she knows and it's disgusting.

Ash groans dismally. Food and water is good, but the rest is useless. Nothing that will help her get out.

"I just want to go home."

But home is far away. Home is a fairytale land of happiness and safety. Where it smells like fresh linen and vanilla. Where she can have frivolous, never-ending conversations with her friends on the phone for hours or watch reality tv shows to her heart's content. Where she can have a shower without worrying if some creep is getting his rocks off to an image of her on a screen somewhere.

This disgusting, scary place is the farthest from home she has ever been. This unconventional place that has left her exposed and vulnerable.

Thank goodness for the blanket. It does block out a chill in the air, regardless of its thinness. Not very soft, but these people don't seem to be the kind of people who care about things like that.

She falls asleep out of exhaustion, thinking about the jogger she once thought was cute. How she'd never know. As she pictures him in her mind, she can see the new twist at the edge of his lips that doesn't quite settle right with her. She can see the way his eyebrows arch too sharp. Villain eyebrows, she thinks.

Her last thought before drifting off was, what can I do to get out of this place?

----

The door hasn't opened again. It's been a few days--which doesn't sound like a lot normally but in a situation like this a few days is an eternity. Ash is out of food, has been since the second day. With the light on, she began searching for ways out of the room every waking moment. She has found messages. One beneath the bed that says, 'don't give in' and another behind the toilet that says, 'they will devour you' which made her heart pound and vision blur. The latest one she found, however, has her curious. Sideways, along the back side of the door frame, she sees some scratches in the wall showing beneath chipping paint. She flakes the paint away until she can make out the words. It says, 'Trust Caleb'.