Before Her Eyes

Chapter 28

"My baby, where's my baby? '' the woman kept mumbling.

"She had her locked up down here this whole time, Valon," I cried out as I clutched onto his shirt, trying to escape the pain that had exploded through my whole body.

My brain felt like mush, my lungs felt like they no longer wanted to pump air, and my heart felt like it was pierced with the sharpest arrow one could have in their quiver.

"She was down here this whole time!" I cried out.

"My baby, where's my baby?'' the woman continued to mutter, only breaking my heart further.

"I know, I know, but we need to get out of here. We're going to find a way out, all of us. I know it's hard, but I need you to breathe," Valon said, trying to calm me down.

I tried to breathe, but it felt like I wasn't able to get enough air no matter how deep my breaths were.

"Focus on me. We're going to get through this. You feel my chest? Try to match my breaths," He said as he rubbed back.

I copied the movements of his chest, inhaling when he did and exhaling as he did, forcing myself to take even breaths.

"There you go," He gave me a quick breathless smile.

"Better?" he asked.

I nodded my head before saying, "Thank you."

"The biggest thank you you could give me is getting out of here safely." He said, causing me to look away because I didn't know if that was even possible at this point.

"We need to let her out," I said, reluctantly looking at her.

Her hair was no longer blonde. It was a matted mix of different shades of brown, black, and gray. I dropped my eyes lower until they landed on a collar around her neck. It was the new collar Dana had bought. I focused my eyes on the dog bone shaped tag that read "Danas Bi*h."

I felt guilty for not realizing it sooner. Everything has always been in plain sight, but I was too blind to ever notice.

Her arms were wrapped around her legs as she continued to mumble, "My baby, where's my baby?" 

Her clothing or at least what's left of it was tattered and caked in what I guessed was years of dirt. The smell that she emitted made me want to throw up, but I just barely managed to keep it down.

I didn't make any move to show any sign of disgust because regardless of the situation we were in or her mental state, I still wanted to be respectful and give her even an ounce of dignity that she was stripped of.

"I can do it," Valon offered from next to me, but I shook my head "no", my eyes never left her.

"No, it's ok. I got it," I said as I got closer to the cage and reached for the latch with my shaky hands. The lock made a popping noise, and the door creaked as I swung it open.

"My baby, where's my baby?" She mumbled.

"Lily?" I gently called her name.

She stopped mumbling her favorite line when she was halfway through repeating it, and for a second, I thought she was going to respond until she started back up again like a broken record.

I took a shaky breath when I realized I was going to have to pull her out.

"Maybe you shouldn't do that." Valon said as I started to reach for her.

"She's my mom Valon, I can't just leave her in here. What do you expect me to do?"

"I don't know May, let me just search how to lure a person out of a dog cage," He said, causing me to frown at his words.