Unusual

Chapter 6

I shoot awake and sit up. My breathing is heavy. I'm in the same place as before, and I'm propped up against the wall again, but my hands aren't tied this time. I can see Shire still in the middle of the floor, but I guess Korah got him a mattress of some sort, seeing as he's now laying on a thin cushion. I hear quiet sniffles out of my line of sight, and turn my head to see Korah huddled in the corner, with their knees to their chest. I see them look up at me when I start to move. They quickly rub their eyes to make it look like they haven't been crying. I'm not sure how long I was out, but something happened while I was.

I realize I've been staring when Korah starts looking at me weird.

"I'm sorry." Is the first thing that comes out of their mouth. Their voice is hoarse and dry, like they hadn't spoken in a while. The feeling it gave me made my mouth feel dry.

"For what? I don't understand." My voice sounds noticeably lower, I must've been out for a while. "You have nothing to apologize for. I'm not even sure what you're apologizing for." They respond with a sniffle.

With a broken voice, they say, "I had heard stories before, but I had no idea they were true. We had all heard about the one and only person to escape from here. But we all thought it was a myth, to scare us. They told us they hunted you down. They said they killed you. We didn't believe that someone had actually escaped, and if they did, they were dead before they made it off the property. But when I saw what happened, I knew the stories were true. I saw what you saw. I could feel the fear and sadness that you felt. You were so young. I'm so sorry. I;m glad you made it out, but I'm so sorry you brought you back here. I know they threatened me and my family, but I should've known who you were before. I should've done my research before the job and I-" I cut them off with a hug. I can hear the pain in their voice. After a couple seconds, they relax and start to quietly cry into my shoulder. We sit like that for a couple of minutes before I hear a groan coming from the direction Shire is in. I look behind me and see him trying to sit up.

"Hey, lay back down. Your leg is broken and you're still recovering from a concussion." I said to him, He looks at me and lays back down with a sigh. I look back at Korah, "How long was I out?" I ask. "I'm not sure. Maybe 3 hours? Possibly more." They say. If it weren't for the dead clock in the corner, we would've known. My sight lands on the stupid chalkboard, the patronizing letters still written on it. I stand up and walk over to the board, looking for an eraser.

'Why the hell is there no eraser? What kind of chalk board has no eraser?' I think to myself. I end up smudging the words off with the sleeve of my shirt. Once the words have finally gone, I take the chalk and write two very pointed words.

"Fuck. You."