Blank Canvas

Chapter Eleven: November 7th, 2020

    I glanced over at Liam, "I hope I c-"

    All of a sudden, the beautiful scenery was replaced with the dark basement that was filled with my worst nightmares besides the person who made it bearable. I glanced around the room and saw Lucas by the window, examining it as I was sitting on the edge of the bed. I held my hands out as I examined them; I was not looking outside of my body this time. What caused me to be in my body for my first flashback along with this one, but the other times I was outside of my body?

My thoughts were interrupted because I saw Lucas turned towards me from my peripheral vision, "I think I will be able to open this. Are you ready?"

    "Ready as I will ever be." I chuckled nervously. The words flew out of my mouth without a second thought. I attempted to try to explain to Lucas what was going on, but my mouth refused to move. Can I only say what I said the night of my escape? It appears so.

    He walked over and grabbed the pen off the pillow along with the piece of cardboard. He surveyed my body until he pointed to my inner bicep, "I'm going to write it right there." I nodded as I held my arm out as he scrawled a name and a date which ended up being Liam's birthday. I watched as he wrote it on his inner forearm before placing the pen and cardboard between the mattress and the wall.

    He crouched down in front of me, making eye contact as he placed both of his hands on my cheeks. "I have no idea if I can open the window enough to fit through, but if I am not able to make it, you need to run as fast as you can."

    My vision became blurred with tears as I spoke with no control, "I don't want to leave you."

    He grabbed my hands, "you are my key to freedom, my love. I will attempt to escape, but no matter what, you need to escape. If neither of us do it, then we will be stuck down here for who knows how long." I nodded as warm tears streamed down my face as he wiped them away, "you can do this. You are stronger than you think."

    I wrapped my arms around his neck as he wrapped his arms around my waist, rubbing my back in circles with one hand. I whispered involuntary, "I'm so scared. You keep telling me that I have to do it, but I thought you were going to try to escape too."

    He pulled away as he brushed my hair out of my face and looped it around my ear, "I am going to try to escape, but I cannot promise you that I will be able too." He paused for a moment as his grey eyes bore into my brown ones. "Do you remember how we talk about having a future together? This is our chance to escape and spend the rest of our lives with one another. You just need to run, find help, and bring them back. We talked about finishing school, learn how to drive, have kids, buy a home, and so many other things. Focus on the end goal."

    He stood up as he held his hands out to help me up. We walked towards the window together as he faced me, placing his hands on my cheeks, "I love you so much. Do not forget that, my love."

    "I love you too,"I whispered back. Tears continued to stream down my face as his lips met mine. The whole world fell away as warmth spread throughout my entire body. It was a slow and soft kiss, comforting in ways I could not understand. It made me realize that I want to kiss Lucas for the rest of my life so that means I need to find help. It gave me the strength I so badly needed. I pulled him closer until there was no space left between us and I could feel hid racing heart against my chest.

    Once we pulled away, we were out of breath. But we managed to smile at each other between our gasps for air even though I knew our time was up with one another. He pulled me into a tight hug as we swayed back and forth and when he let go, I immediately was craving for his touch. I watched as he walked over towards the window, slowly opening it, screeching from it not being open for who knows how many years.

    "Alright. Let's hurry." He waved me over as he helped me onto the closed toilet, trying to squeeze through the small opening, but then I heard the slamming of the metal door against the wall. I tried to hurry, but I felt a large hands grab at my ankles, pulling me out of the window as my top half hit the toilet before hitting the floor. My vision was blurry, but I saw a fist coming towards me as I tried to move out of the way; my body refused to listen. His fist slammed into my body repeatedly, losing count of where he was hitting as I curled up into a fetal position. He then began to kick me and I heard Lucas in the background, screaming at him.

    Finally, I was relieved from the abuse, "you need to go now!" I heard Lucas yelling at me as I tried to get my vision to focus. I moved in what felt like slow motion and stepped onto the toilet, missing it by a few inches. I got back up, looking behind me and saw Lucas on the floor, not moving. A large figure was making there way towards me as I hurried to squeeze my top half through the window, but I felt his large hand around my right ankle. I began to kick but I felt a sharp needle hit the back of my calf, causing me to hiss. I continued to kick him until I felt something solid and he immediately released me, screaming in pain.

    I pulled myself up until my top half was in the grass then I grasped the grass as dirt went underneath my nails, causing an uncomfortable sensation. When I realized that wasn't working, I dug my elbows into the ground and propelled my body forward until my knees were out in which I began to crawl on my hands and knees. I stood up slowly, hissing in pain before looking around to realize that I came out of a blue house. I glanced left and right before deciding to go right as I felt my bare feet slammed into the hard ground, occasionally hitting a few small rocks.

    My vision began to become blurry as I continued to run for my life. My lungs were burning from the lack of oxygen, gasping for air. I cannot stop. I have to keep going. My vision was getting the best of me, making it more difficult to run in a straight line. I looked ahead and saw massive buildings, hoping I could find someone to help me. As I past by various stores, closed signs were plastered on the door, making me feel defeated.

    I found an alley as dark spots began to fill my vision as I touched the wall, trying to find a good place to sit down for a while. What am I doing here? What's going on? Before I could find out those answers, I fell to the ground. The dark spots in my vision appeared to get bigger, to the point, I eventually lost my sight.

    I felt myself gasping for air as I opened up my eyes and looked around to realize I was back in Liam's car. He was holding my hands, staring at me with concern. "What happened?" I questioned.

    He cleared his throat as his eyes were filled with tears, "you began to talk until you passed out. I pulled over to make sure you were still breathing and have a pulse."

    "How long was I passed out for?"

    He looked at the clock on his car, "about fifteen-twenty minutes." A few moments go by before he spoke up again, "did you have another flashback? If you don't mind me asking."

    I nodded, trying to piece it all together. The run from the house to the alley was a complete blur. "This time it showed my escape." I swallowed hard. I was scared to say my next statement, but he had to know. "I'm sorry, Liam. I'm unsure if Lucas is even alive."