Dressed for Despair

𝐏𝐚𝐫𝐭 𝐓𝐰𝐨

My hand moves to my throat when I hear myself choking, sobs escaping my lips as I continue to stare at myself in the rusted and cracked mirror. Useless. Worthless. Pathetic. These words... they've been inside of me for a long time. Ever since those messages were sent. No, ever since I read them. I move even closer to the mirror in front of me, the tears continuing to flow. This strange numbness has been inside of me for awhile, a raging fire of guilt and anger, but more than anything, a heavy blanket of sadness that I can't seem to get rid of. Why can't I get rid of it?

My eyes are suddenly drawn to a sharp piece of glass on the table nearby, the shine of the blade reflected in the mirror and in my eyes. My hand instinctively reaches towards it as if it's a lifeline, and then the blade is at my neck and I'm choking again, soft whimpers leaving my lips. I want to escape. I want to leave this place, to be with the people I love again. The people who really care about me. I-

"Hey." Through my sniffles and tears I realize a second too late that I've become disconnected from reality. "Don't do that. You'll hurt yourself." Something clicks inside of me when I feel a hand on my arm, and I can feel myself being moved as the glass drops from my hand.

"Jamie? What are you doing here?" I look up at him but then wince, a sharp pain manifesting itself in both my forehead and my neck. What? I cut myself? Wait. My legs nearly buckle when I realize what just occurred. What I tried to do. Why did I do that? I... didn't mean to. I've gotten rid of those thoughts, but that voice. I reach out for Jamie's arm, holding onto him tightly to steady myself. He looks at me with a concerned look on his face, but he helps me to stand.

"What am I doing here? Well, the others wanted to get out, but I thought we should find you firs-"

"We need to get out of here." Jamie hears my whisper and stops talking. He pauses for a second, eventually escaping my grasp to place his hands on both my shoulders to study me.

"Are you... alright?" I stare back at him with a straight face, shaking my head.

"We need to leave. Something isn't right."

"I can see that. Just what exactly were you doing?" He reaches for me again but I slap away his hand, grabbing my arm and taking a step back.

"Please, don't. If I told you why, you wouldn't believe me. And it's not like it matters to you anyway."

"What-"

"Stop. Just drop the act." I clench my teeth, turning away from him.

"Coral, what act?" At first I was thinking of trying to escape him but the plea in Jamie's voice makes me pause, and for the first time in a while I actually take the time to study him. Strange. He made it sound like he cares. He's always wearing some sort of combination between a sweater and track pants, and even though the light in this room amounts to almost none, I can see his green eyes perfectly. Why does he have to stare at me like that? Hold up. What if...? My heart thuds in my chest when a certain thought comes to mind, and I manage to lift my head to meet Jamie's gaze. This could change everything.

"Jamie. Listen to me. Do you even know what happened that day...? When-" I'm cut off by screams and a loud crash behind me, and my eyes widen when I see both Erika and Bianca rolling on the floor, their bodies and clothes tangling together. My eyes drift to the door in the wall, the door that reveals the "staircase" I had fallen down. They must have come from there.

"Are you guys okay?" Jamie strides over to both of them, helping them up off the ground.

"No, actually. Before you disappeared on us you said you found some stairs, not a slide," Bianca remarks, brushing herself off and studying the room until she lays her eyes on me. "Oh. You." I nod at her, raising my eyebrows.

"Yeah. Me. Where's Austin?"

"Austin?" Erika squints her eyes in the dark, and I find the red tips of her hair are the most visible thing to me in the room. "He was right behind us, wasn't he?" She glances at the door and I do too, waiting for Austin to appear. There's something about this situation, but I can't seem to... my eyes narrow as I continue to stare at the door. The door. I remember now.

"We need to get out!" My chest tightens with my yell and I make a run for the door, but it shuts even before I can get anywhere close. The sound echoes around the room, and I can't seem to take my eyes away from it. This is what happened. I heard a voice. Then the door closed. All by itself.

"Guys..." Before Bianca can finish speaking a resounding pop fills the room as the light bulbs go out, and the next sound that follows is glass falling onto the floor. This isn't good. I can't move. I need to move. Static fills my ears as my breathing becomes labored, and soon I can't think straight as a thick darkness surrounds every part of me. We're trapped.