Wish You Were Here

5

"It's okay," Cal said softly, "I went through this same thing, too."

I looked at her and she gave me a small smile.

"Okay, so we all had Dean pick us up and drive us...here," I said. "And Gina?"

Cal nodded, answering for all three of them.

"Anything else?" I asked hopelessly.

Cal shrugged. "The lights." She nodded towards the ceiling. "I think they're on a timer, but I can't be sure. They go on in the morning and off at night. That's when I fall asleep anyway, so I'm assuming it's night."

I followed her gaze to the ceiling. There were two lights with dimly lit bulbs. It wasn't very bright, but was sufficient enough.

"The bathroom is over there," she said quietly. To our right, next to the farthest wall, was a single toilet. A roll of toilet paper sat next to it on the floor. Even from where I sat I could tell the toilet was disgustingly filthy. It was missing a lid and water was slowly draining out and down the side onto a puddle on the floor.

I didn't want to imagine using that toilet even once, although it was inevitable. I could squat over it, I guessed, but the thought of using it in front of other people made me shudder.

"Food doesn't seem to be on a schedule, and when we get food, it's nothing great," Cal continued.

Just then we heard a noise coming from upstairs in the cabin. The door slammed shut and there were footsteps above us. I looked at Cal.

"Speak of the devil," she sighed.

"You better tell her the rest, Cal," Grant whispered.

There's more?

"When Gina - or anyone - comes down? Sit against the wall. You need to not speak. Don't say a word, get it?" she whispered.

"Not speak?" I asked her.

"Don't say one word. No matter what. Not unless they talk directly to you, which they won't. It's best to not even look at them, either. But no matter what, keep your mouth shut," she warned.

I nodded. We sat in silence as we listened to the footsteps walking around above us. The door at the top of the stairs opened and we heard footsteps coming down the stairs. I remembered Gina had pulled the chain, turning on a single lightbulb that was hanging from the ceiling. Details.

Someone was on the other side of the wall. Bookshelves that were a hidden door. I pictured it in my mind, remembering that Gina had punched some buttons before sliding the shelf over. Like a secret door. Light flooded in as Gina stood in front of us holding a tray in her hand. She took a minute to look us all over before dropping the tray onto the floor and kicking it over towards us with her foot. No one moved. I glanced over to Cal. She was staring straight down at the floor. Gina closed the door behind her as she left.

As soon as we heard her footsteps going back upstairs, Grant dove for the tray. Will sat up as though he was waiting his turn. Grant looked at us and shook his head.

"What'd we get?" Cal asked him.

He tossed her a slice of bread that she caught between both her hands. She inspected both sides of it before taking a bite.

"Hey!" Grant called out to me.

"Ryleigh," I answered back.

He didn't answer; just aimed and tossed me a slice of bread. Will was next. He caught his slice and gave Grant a nod of "thanks". Somehow Grant was the alpha, I figured.

Grant kicked the tray with his foot so it slid back over near the door. No one spoke as they chewed their bread. As hungry as I had become, I was the only one out of the four of us who'd eaten a decent breakfast and lunch that day. I felt guilty about that as I watched the three of them scarf down a single slice of bread. On the plane, I had turned down the mini bag of pretzels the flight attendant offered me. I had asked for a ginger ale instead, which she happily poured into a plastic cup full of ice. I remember feeling so annoyed that I had to hold my empty cup until the other flight attendant came back down the aisle with a trash bag. Sitting on the cement floor, I was suddenly ashamed. How many little things did I take for granted every day?

I chewed the last of my bread and swallowed tightly against the lump in my throat. Grant rolled bottles of water over to us. I guess he had been too hungry to pass out the water before eating his bread. I thanked him for the water and twisted the cap off. My throat was dry and hoarse. I gulped the water down.

Cal reached over and tipped my water bottle down. I shot her a look. "Try to save as much as you can."

"Oh," I said. "Thanks." I twisted the cap back on. I hadn't considered this might be all the water I would get for a while. I placed my water bottle against the wall behind me.