17. Chapter 16: A Messy Escape (1/2)

chapter 16: a messy escape

my eyes slid open slowly, and i jumped, stunned as i took in my pitch black surroundings. my head was throbbing in pain, and i struggled to remember how i had i gotten here. i made an effort to raise my head so that i could look around for some sort of clue as to where i was but my head felt too heavy, as if it weighed a thousand pounds. then, i realized that i was laying on my side, and no matter how hard i tried, i couldn't move a single muscle. i could feel the sweat beading on my forehead as i struggled to move, but despite the effort, i was frozen in place: even my mouth couldn't open to utter a scream.

then i saw it; two round, blue glowing orbs suddenly loomed above me, observing me coldly. when i saw the outline of a man and heard the same raspy, guttural laugh, my arms were crawling in goosebumps. déjà vu – i had been here before.

as if he could read my mind, the figure laughed, and said, "oh, daphne, it is so good to see you again. it's as though you never left. but now that you're back, please don't ever leave me like that again!"

that voice…it sounded warped and distorted and different from the way it normally sounded, but yet, it was still familiar…i knew that voice from somewhere….

the figure reached towards me, its fist raised above its head and its beady eyes narrowed into a glare. "now, you will die!" the figure exclaimed, raising its fist towards me, and i knew this figure was going to blot me out of existence with its fist and kill me, and yet all i could focus on was struggling but failing to move, and then as the fist descended upon me closer and closer, i realized that i did know that voice, because it belongs to –

my body jolted, and i was suddenly awake, my

eathing rapid as i recovered from my nightmare. instantly, i was hyper-aware of the soft body pressed against my own, the left arm curled over my chest casually and protectively, the right arm still cradling my face like a pillow, and the warm scrape of the chin resting against my forehead.

fred.

everything flooded back to me in an instant; i recalled the way we were trapped downstairs in the cabin, locked away in a room that was freezing because it was preserving microchips, the way fred had suggested huddling together for warmth, the way i moved towards him and obliged, the way we talked and opened up to each other, the way we eventually laid on the ground and became intertwined…

we must have fallen asleep at some point, i mused, watching fred's face. somehow, when i woke, startled from my nightmare, i hadn't disturbed or waken him; his eyes were closed, and his

eathing was slow and steady as he slept. his jacket was still draped over us like a blanket, and despite how cold it was in the room, my body felt warm from being interlaced with fred's body.

i closed my eyes, attempting to recall the nightmare that had just awaken me. as with earlier, i could remember feeling absolute terror upon waking, my heart pounding in my chest and my

eathing accelerated as though i had just run a marathon, but i had no recollection of the dream now that i was awake. as i tugged and pulled at the edge of the dream as it slipped from my mind, all i could remember was the faintest inclination that i have had that particular nightmare multiple times now. i sighed, frustrated but hopeful that the nightmares were behind me now.

disoriented and feeling as though i had just lost a lot of time, i stole a glance at the watch wrapped around fred's wrist; it was 6:30 am. my eyes widened as i realized that meant we had accidently slept down here overnight; in other words, we had been trapped down here for hours already, with no sign of help arriving anytime soon.

where is velma and shaggy and scooby? i wondered, as i felt fred's chest rise and fall against mine as he

eathed softly in his sleep. why haven't they come looking for us yet?

maybe the rest of the gang was frustrated with us, and wondering where we were right in this same exact moment; after all, we had agreed to meet back up after only 20 minutes, and now here we were about 12 hours later. what were we going to tell the others when we all met up again? i could picture it now: velma would note the way my cheeks would inevitably blush when they would question our whereabouts for the past several hours, and maybe she would note the way my hair looked disheveled after having slept on it overnight. i pictured her pulling me aside from the rest of the gang, her eyes asking me a silent question, what happened between the two of you guys the past few hours?! and the way i would look at her and confirm to her, quietly, just three words, a smile playing across my face, we slept together. i could picture the way her mouth would drop open and she would squeal, and jumping up and down with excitement, she would grab my shoulders and say, oh my gosh, tell me all about it, what was it – and before she could even finish her question, i would cut her off: we did sleep together, but not like that – nothing happened.

and initially, it would sound deceitful, but after all, wasn't it true? yes, of course it was true; i had just spent the night with a boy. slept with him, or rather next to him, curled up and relaxed against him, as if we did this all the time. and never mind that that was all we had done (we didn't even kiss!), because this was a huge deal; this wasn't just any average guy, this was fred jones, my best friend who i just happened to have feelings for since as long as i could remember. so yes, of course it was true; we slept together, lying on this cold tiled ground of this sketchy, dingy, freezing room surrounded by thousands of mind altering microchips as miles away from here, zombies raged away and feasted on human flesh. and it was amazing, and warm and tangly, and even though it may not initially seem like it, it was also wholesome, and sweet, and innocent.

even though nothing physical had occurred between us, this simple act of holding each other while we slept felt more intimate than anything i could have ever imagined. how many rom-coms had i seen that depicted two people talking and laughing together in soft tones as they laid in bed, tangled together like cherise cats? again, these movies made sense to me now, because now i saw that this simple act of sleeping in each other's arms wasn't actually so simplistic at all; it was vulnerable, personal, intimate. i couldn't imagine how amazing it would feel to end each day in fred's arms, and waking up each morning still folded together, still literally wrapped up in this sense of safety and security.

for now, i wasn't sure what i should do next. i was too awake and too conscious of laying so close against fred, so falling asleep again wasn't an option. i thought about waking him up so that we could determine what to do next, but part of me was afraid of his reaction when he woke up and discovered that we were still tangled together. what if this was a moment of weakness for him, and this morning would

ing him clarity that this was some sort of mistake? i couldn't even

ing myself to imagine the look of regret in his eyes that i might see if i were to wake him now; no, let him wake up on his own, naturally, and maybe i could feign sleep and gauge his initial reaction so i could adjust my feelings, and soothe (and hide) any hurt accordingly.

i decided that if fred woke up and decided this was a mistake and it was indeed going to simultaneously be the first and last time that we could be together like this, i would savor the moment while i had the chance. i burrowed my face into fred's chest,

eathing him in with a smile. fred's chin was still rested against my forehead and his arms were still wrapped tight around me, and i imagined this was what pure bliss felt like. occasionally, i would watch him as he slept; he looked so still and content, his face twitching only occasionally as he dreamed.

i was enjoying the feeling of melting against fred's body, and i felt so relaxed that i even feel myself slowly drifting back to sleep when i heard it –

voices in the corridor outside the room.

as if on cue, fred and i both snapped our eyes open at the same exact moment at the sound of two men talking in clipped, loud voices. i couldn't make out what they were saying, but from the way their voices echoed, it sounded as though they were walking through the tunnel, and they were getting closer to the room we were trapped within.

fred and i both jumped away from each other quickly, standing on our feet as his jacket fell to the ground as it slipped off of us. the voices were so close to the door now that i could decipher each individual word in the conversation.

"i tell ya frank, we don't get paid enough for this job," one man grunted. "we've been searchin' for these damned kids for the past hour, and still no sign of 'em! when i find them, they better start prayin' for mercy because my patience has officially run out!"

"well, this cabin isn't that big, tony," replied the other voice, this one deeper and raspier. "they can't hide from us for forever; they're bound to turn up sooner or later. now hurry up and get this here door open; i wanna eat some

eakfast. we've gotta big day ahead of us!"

i heard the sound of a key sliding into a lock, and the door knob began to rattle and shake, but the door still didn't open. as the men continued to curse and speak outside the doorway, fred grabbed my arm and lead me to a spot in the corner that contained a cluster of barrels.

"we need to hide!" he said, whispering frantically. "and there aren't many places to hide in here, so i think we need to split up; i don't think these barrels are wide enough to keep us both hidden from their view. this corner has more barrels, so you crawl behind there and just keep quiet. it sounds like they have no reason to believe we're in here. i think what we need to do is watch them, and when they're distracted, maybe we can make a run for it. it sounds like they're opening the door with a key right now, so hopefully the door will still be unlocked."

as fred whispered, the door knob was still rattling and shaking. i could hear the sound of keys jingling and the men cussing loudly as they tried key after key; we were running out of time.

"freddy, i'm not sure if splitting up is such a good idea right now," i began, my teeth chattering as i felt the freezing air jab against my skin again. "i can't explain why, but i just have a really bad feeling about this right now."

the door knob shook again, and again, the men swore, only this time it was followed up with deep raspy voice saying, "well, we got two keys left, and i'll be damned if neither of 'em work! i bet it'll be the last goddamn one that we try at this rate."

fred gently pushed me behind the stacks of barrels and moved a couple in front of where i was sitting, obscuring me from sight. "i promise, it'll be okay, daph! i'm going to hide behind the barrels closer to the entrance of the room. when those guys are busy, i'll give you a signal, and when you hear it, make a run for it! we have no other chance!"

i opened my mouth to protest. this was certainly not one of freddy's

ighter plans, and i still wasn't sure how splitting us up would work, until it began to dawn on me that fred was possibly considering playing hero and distracting the men in order for me to escape safely. i began to vehemently shake my head in protest, and i reached for his arm so i could drag him down next to me when i heard a clicking sound as a key slid into the door, and a voice said, "i think i got it!"

fred's eyes widened as he backed away from where i was sitting behind the barrels. he began running for the opposite side of the room. i ducked down behind the barrels, nestled safely from view, and peaked around the side of one barrel, watching as fred dove behind a group of barrels grouped together on the opposite side of the room from where i was hiding, closer to the door. he gave me a quick thumbs-up, and then the door swung open.

standing in the threshold of the door were two burly men. one had long, silver hair, which he kept tied back in a ponytail that hung down his back, and the other was completely bald. both had red faces, which were no doubt flushed from anger and impatience, and their eyes were narrowed into angry slits. i gulped nervously: these guys didn't look like they would be friendly and reasonable if they were to find where freddy and i were hiding.

the two men walked into the room, sauntering slowly as their eyes swept the room in an attempt to locate us. and then i saw the one with the long silver ponytail narrowing his eyes as he focused on something in the middle of the room. i could feel my heart barreling into my throat the moment i realized what he was looking at: fred's jacket. we had completely forgotten to pick it up before we hid. my heart quickened in terror as i cursed myself for being so careless.

"hey tony, get a look at this," the man with the ponytail rasped, gesturing towards fred's jacket, which was lying in a messy heap on the ground. "looks like they must be down here somewhere, eh?"

"well i'll be damned," the bald man replied, as he stooped down and picked up fred's jacket. "they gotta be down here somewhere, cause that door locks from the outside when you close it. cowards. when we find 'em, i'm gonna rip 'em to shreds." as the bald man spoke, i saw him clutch fred's jacket in his hands, and in one swift motion he ripped the jacket in half, as if it was no effort. i clamped my hand over my mouth, resisting the urge to cry out in fear.

"they gotta be hiding behind one of these goddam barrels or somethin'," rasped the silver haired man. the bald man dropped fred's tattered jacket onto the ground, and the two began to slowly saunter around the room again, gazing around barrels as they walked.

"we'll catch 'em, and they can join their other two friends and their smelly ass dog," the bald man replied. "the boss seemed especially pleased when we caught them three lootin' around our cabin earlier. they won't be snoopin' around where their noses don't belong for a long time now."

as the two men cackled together, i could feel my body reacting to what they were saying; i was dizzy and light-headed, and the room began to spin. oh my gosh, i thought. they have velma and shaggy and scooby! no wonder the rest of the gang didn't come looking for us. my heart tightened in my chest as i pictured what kind of suffering my friends were enduring at this moment; i imagined the absolute terror that shaggy and scooby were no doubt feeling, the way their bodies would shake and the way their eyes must have bulged out of their heads at being kidnapped, and even the humorous way that their stomachs would be characteristically torn apart with hunger, in spite of and (but also because of) being kidnapped. and then my

eath hitched in my throat when i imagined velma's anguish; velma, my best friend, the same person who i shared a locker with at school and traded laughs with in between classes and mysteries and silly text messages. slowly, as i imagined how frightened my friends were feeling, i was wracked with guilt over the fact that it was them who was captured, and not me. up until recently, i was kidnapped often, and while it was always horrifying at the time, the one thing that gave me solace was knowing that it was me in potential danger, while my friends, who meant so much to me, were safe. i could feel my hands reflexively curl into fists. as soon as fred and i were out of here, we were going to find our friends, and we were going to save them – i would make sure of it.