Wake me

16: New Surroundings

Like the car crash, the following incidents happened in such a small fragment of time that I could not process at that moment exactly what was happening. Anna threw my phone into my lap and pressed her foot on reverse, and then I saw him. He was chasing the car, a look of fury veiled in the way his body moved. His face was hidden by the darkness, but his limbs clambered towards the car. Frail and weak, they looked, but he threw himself towards the car with strength and muscles unimaginable. "Anna!" I cried out, "Stop, stop. Please..." I begged her to stop the car, but she refused, her head shaking firmly. "Anna, it's Luke," I pleaded, "I need to-". But something flew into the window, stopping my sentence from continuing. I felt a tight, cold hand wrap around my throat, fingers pressing into my flesh. I let out a garbled scream, and at the same time a gunshot rang through the air. Anna let out a bloodcurdling scream and began coughing up something hot. It smeared all over my lap, and I caught sights of a deep, maroon curd. I struggled to release the cold hold from my throat, but it was too tight and firm, forcing my tired head into the car headrest. Anna's body contorted into spasms before collapsing forward onto the steering wheel, her spine still convulsing in tiny fits. I couldn't scream, I couldn't cry out. The fingers became tighter until the breath I breathed was becoming hoarse and lessened. I prayed at the hand with my fingers, but my fingers began tingling and were numb. I felt my brain loosing focus, and I tried to reach out for Anna, but my hands only touched thick, stringy liquid placed around her chest. That was when I realized it was not only her who was shot- I had a deep, bloody hole in my arm. I felt my vision blur at the sight of Crimson stew gushing out of my arm, and my mind swayed. Gone, gone, gone.

**

I opened my eyes. Everything was still blurry, and my vision was still dotted with irritating red spots that made it difficult to see my surroundings. To my surprise, I was lying on a hard, rough concrete floor with no blankets or pillows. Had I collapsed again in the dorm bathrooms? I felt around, and my hands came into contact with solid flesh- cold and stiff. That's when it hit me- it was human flesh. My eyes sharpened and next to me lay a rigid, closed-eyes Anna, hair stained with dried blood, lips coated with flakes of red. "Anna," I yelped hoarsely, "Anna..." I reached out and grabbed her, shaking her, but her closed eyes refused to open. Her muscles were stiff and her left shoulder sported a deep, mangled mess of dried blood, stringed flesh and the smell of lingering metal. "Shit," I wheezed, "Anna." I ripped off a piece of my sleeve and began dabbing at her wound. I shoved a string of cotton into her wound, trying to soak up any wet blood, and when I pulled it out, it was soaked with nearly black. I felt like throwing up. "Anna, please, wake up," I cried, "I need you to, I don't know what's going on-" my speech was interrupted with frightened gasps and sobs followed my shatters of tears and repulsing cries. Her body was rigid and cold- similar to that of a dead dogs.
"Anna, if you don't wake up, I going to die. Please." My pleads became threats, and my eyes began to close. Just then, her body twitched and she let out a choking gasp followed my splatters of hot, bloody mucus. Her eyes were misted and grey, and her hair coated with strings of blood. "Oh my god, Anna!" I helped her lean against the wall, and wiped her mouth with the bloody cotton rag from my jersey. I calmed her down, whispering gentle coos into her ear as I held her close to me, stroking her dirty hair. I constantly dabbed at her wound, not remembering how she got it. I assumed we had been robbed. "Okay, there you go-" I leaned her comfortably, "Anna?" Her gaze met mine, a confused, lost gaze.
"Grace," she spluttered blood everywhere, "Wh-what's happened?"
"I don't know, I don't know," sobs caused my body to tremble dangerously, "I don't know."
"Oh my god, your arm." Anna reached out for arm clumsily, and showed me the gaping hole in it. I felt sickened to see flicks of dirt in the dark flesh, and to my horror, I saw fragments and splinters of white shards- bone? I was about to throw up, but when the acidic, hot liquid reached my tongue, I swallowed it down and tore another piece off my jersey. Anna carefully wrapped it for me, biting onto her already bleeding lips to stop her from vomiting too. When we were both bandaged and well aware of our wounds and dirty surroundings- we were in a plain, no-window room with a single door. The door was metal, and barred from the outside. There was no space under the door to peek beneath, and no hinges were visible. The room was dark, except for an old yellow bulb hanging at the top. There was no switch. "I don't know where we are- how did we get here?" I stammered. But Anna seemed to want to know the same thing.
"I don't remember," she shivered, "I can't remember anything..." Her eyes revealed true horror, and tears began streaming down her face. "Anna, crying isn't going to help." I barked, and Anna sniffed. I was being harsh, but I was scared too. I needed to find out what was going on, and I needed Anna's mature, sensible help. Not some sort of sobbing mess. "We've been kidnapped," I concluded, "What else?"
"From where? I can't even remember my parents, or where we were before this... How are we even friends?" Anna cried out, "How did I meet you? Where do we live?" It dawned on me that I had no idea of my history. I didn't know who my parents were, or if I attended school. Did I have sisters and brothers? Was I really called Grace?
"We must be concussed," I shivered, "The past will come back, don't worry. For now, let's... Try open that door."

*

The following time was spent trying to push open the stuck door. To our utter disappointment, nothing seemed to budge, no matter how hard we pulled, pushed or slammed. There was no handle on the door, and we tried to pry our numb fingers between the wedge of the door and its frame, pulling it apart. However, the strong metal refused to even clammer. We both fell back to the floor, exhausted. Anna's chest was weak, and every now and then she would cough up gobs of blood and strain her voice. I let her rest, I told her to, for my arm was fine. Despite the large, gaping wound and pins and needles in my shoulder, I was able to do things with it.
"I don't know what we are going to do," Anna whispered hoarsely, "The door won't open."
"There must be some other way in," I sighed, "But for now, I think we need to rest."
"Rest?" Anna gasped.
"Yes."
"Grace, are you crazy? We are stuck in this room with gunshot wounds in our bodies and we are starving and you suggest we rest?" Anna's words were slurred, and she murmured to pronounce larger ones.
"Yes," I repeated, "We both need to rest. It'll help us heal." I sounded like somebody, their voice was calling out for me in the distance of my mind, but I couldn't quite catch it. It was as if they were whispering it, in this very room, but far away. Anna sighed loudly and moved her way to the back corner of the room, resting her back on the floor but wedged against the wall. I huddled close to her; her cold was frightening.

I couldn't fall asleep. Anna's rattling breath in my ear prevented me from even drifting off into my empty thoughts. Her breath was hot and sticky against my neck, and her body seemed to shake with every exhalation. Although, every breath was like a relief from my shoulders- I was afraid she suddenly stopped. I kept my eyes closed, trying to relax my body and allow my muscles to unravel themselves from the taught bundle they were in. Just then, the door ever so softly creaked open. My heart froze. I kept my eyes closed, my body completely still. I didn't feel Anna stiffen next to me, so she was most probably still asleep. I opened my eyes every so slightly, a tiny gap of dull color. There, by the door, stood a blurred man. He was putting things down onto the floor. His breath was low and shaky. "I've got her," he whispered, "She's all mine again." The voice sent shivers up my spine. I had heard it a million times over before.

Luke.