The Dead of Night

Chapter Twenty Five

Chapter 25: Baiting the Beast

Before the Thanksgiving incident, I had been in a grand total of two automobile accidents. The most recent had been when Tyler Crowley's van had hit a patch of black ice and almost crushed me to death. Of course, that was when I had discovered that there was something unordinary about Edward Cullen, making it a rather exciting event.

Unfortunately, my very first encounter with a car wreck was not as pleasant as the second. I had been about thirteen years old and Renee had been a little hung over when she got behind the wheel. Despite my incessant nagging, she decided to force the two-seat coupe through a busy intersection, which turned out to be a horrible mistake. We were broadsided by a massive truck and our car was almost flipped over. I can remember, in great detail, trying to wake up my mom as I was pulled out of the car by the paramedics. The resulting fights between my mother, father, and Child Protective Services were something that never left me; it's not every day you get to watch your mother crumble before your eyes.

I wasn't exactly sure why these memories came to mind, especially with what had just happened. Eric was driving me home, and had just explained that he would come back for me, when we hit something—or someone—in the middle of the road. After that, everything went black. Now, as I slowly began my ascent into consciousness, the first greeting I received was from a harsh chemical aroma, which burned my sinuses violently, forcing me to cough. The odor smelled of bleach, copper, and, something else—what was it—wet cement. The air was tight and moldy, like I was in a closet that hadn't been opened in years, which caused

more coughing fits.

My eyes fluttered open, revealing unknown dank surroundings and barely any light. The only illumination came from a few sporadic cracks in what I guess were the walls. My vision was still very blurry, and my head felt like a moose had sat on it, so I could hardly make out my surroundings.

My first instinct was to stand up; however, as I tried to rise from my seated position, I found myself stuck. Twisting my torso from side to side, I soon discovered I was tied to an object—tied tightly too. As I groaned, I heard what sounded like a tiny voice.

"Hello?" I called, and blanched at the echo my voice made. With what I learned about sound waves and such, I quickly realized that I was in a very large room, which didn't make me feel any better.

"Shh!"

I gasped as the sound of someone's voice flowed through the silence, and my entire body tensed up. The sound had come from a few feet ahead, which made me wonder if the person who brought me here was still here.

"Who's there?" I called warily, wondering if I truly wanted to know the answer.

answer.

"Please, keep still," a soft, pleading whimper answered and fell back into silence.

"Where am I?" I wasn't about to be quiet just because a stranger asked me to. As I stared off into the darkness, my stomach began to knot up, and I wondered where I was.

"Please," the voice begged and, as I heard a shuffling of what sounded like chains, I saw the face of a very young girl in a sliver of light. Her right cheek was puffy, badly bruised, and her forehead was trickling blood near her hairline. "Don't make her come back."