MICHELLE
“Michelle,” Maddie tugs on me in the dark, grasping to my arm, “What’s that noise?” I’m surprised she can hear it. After the past few dings and chimes, I had thought I was going crazy imagining it. I let out a sigh of relief knowing I’m not insane just yet.
“It’s someone’s phone, Maddie. It’s probably one of the guards.” I pat her hair again and hold her a bit tighter. Any little thing can make you jump in a position like this. Not knowing what was going on in the dark corners was deceptive, haunting even. But I know we shouldn’t be wasting our time getting upset over a phone call. “Go back to sleep. I promise to wake you up if something happens or if I need you. Just try to shut your eyes and count to one hundred. That always works with me.”
She nods softly into my arm, her tears trickling down the side of on my bare arm, and I hear her exhale deeply. After a few minutes, her chest grows tired as her light weight presses into me once more. But unlike Maddie, I can’t sleep. I know I should try. After all, I’ll need all the energy and brainpower I can get to think of a plan to get us out of here. But that damn phone won’t stop ringing, and I can’t seem to get my mind off of it as it replays over and over again.
I have never been one to sit around wait for something to happen. And I am not about to change down in this dungeon. When Maddie is softly snoring, I place her down against the cement block wall and attempt to stand to my feet. The room is short, so short I smack my head on a post. I groan a bit as I put my head to the bruise that was sure to pop up in that spot. We must be in a crawlspace or an unfinished basement with a wooden plank ceiling set so low. Everything is dusty and dank as the tiny window in the corner illuminates small clouds of gray.
I check on Erin, using my hands to feel for her pulse. Still there. Still strong but fading. I feel along her face, noting how chapped her lips are. She’s going to need water fast and something to stop the wound on her head from bleeding. I reach down towards my pants and rip a small swath of fabric. I press it tightly against her forehead. It soaks through almost instantly, turning my hand from white to red. It’s going to have to do for now until I can find something else that will work.
I press my hands against the floor and search to see if there’s something else, maybe a scrap of fabric, an old towel, something. I make it to the back wall, near the window when I find something hard and cold. It’s a large metal pipe, probably a piece of old, discarded plumbing still connected to the walls. I push on it as it makes a loud clamber. I back away almost instantly. The last thing I want is for the guards outside the room to take notice of us.
But it’s too late. Before I have time to move away from the window, the door opens up and I see the black boots and gray pants of one of the guards come running down the stairs. In his hand is a black cellphone lighting up and vibrating against his skin. At least I know where that sound is coming from now.
The man uses the phone as a flashlight as he points it at Erin first and then over to my corner where I have crouched low, pulling my knees to my chest. His light beam lingers on me for a second as I attempt to make myself even smaller and less conspicuous. He turns quickly and finds Maddie in the dark. She’s still sleeping, her head tilted back against the wall, her mouth slightly open.
He walks down the rest of the stairs towards her as I scream out, “Where are you taking her! You can’t take her!” My voice is hoarse and dry. I doubt he can even make out what I say through my cracked lips.
Maddie wakes up with my cries, just in time to try to fight him off. She screams as she kicks and punches at him. She must have nailed him as I see him recoil back towards the ground on his hands and knees. But she’s too small as he rebounds and overtakes her. The burly man picks her up and tosses her over her shoulder. I try to stand, but I hit my head against the ceiling again and fall back down next to the pipe. It collapses under my weight with a loud crash.
The man turns back around to face me as I lay on my stomach in a heap, not daring to move or even breathe. As much as I want to help Maddie, playing dead in a situation like this is probably the best thing I can do. He looks at me for a long while before he mutters under his breath, “That’s right, bitch. You stay down.”
I watch as he turns and runs up the stairs, Maddie calling out for me under his strong hold. Her voice fades, but I chase after it, standing low and running through the dark towards the stairwell. I climb on my hands and knees towards the door, still being able to hear her voice. It’s faint through the metal, but I can still make it out as she sobs and wails my name.
The cold stings my ears as I press it to the doorframe, struggling to hear what is coming next. But instead of shouts and yells, Maddie has suddenly calmed down. Whatever they are saying or doing to her is actually making her happy. I hear her let out a squeal as someone shouts commanded her, “Take this, kid. And be quick. It’s on speakerphone, so don’t try anything funny.”
“Yes,” she says nervously, but I can hear the excitement. Her voice shakes as she talks into the phone loudly enough for everyone, including me, to hear, “Hello? Dad?”
“Maddie!” His voice is as gruff as ever, but there’s something else there. Something like urgency, happiness, and excitement all wrapped into one. “Maddie, where are you at? What are you doing?”
There’s a long pause as I can sense Maddie is getting prompted not to say where she is or details on any information that can give our location away. “I’m, um, I’m okay, Dad. I’m just in a room. I was in a car, but I couldn’t see anything. I don’t know where I am. There’s only a window and everything’s really smoky.”
“What about Michelle and her roommate? Are they with you? Are they safe?” I’m stunned as I listen to his voice shake as he asks about me. I would think with this situation and me getting Maddie taken from him that I would be the last person he would want to talk to. But here he is, making a point to check in on me as if I still matter to him. Maybe I do. Maybe hope isn’t lost for the two of us to find some peace.
“Michelle’s okay. She’s watching over me and making sure I’m okay. I think I hurt my leg and she tied it up for me with part of her clothes.” Her voice drops lower as she slowly whispers solemnly, “But Erin, Michelle’s roommate, isn’t so good. She’s breathing, but I don’t know how long she has, Dad. I’m scared. I don’t want her to die.” She quickly breaks down into tears, muffled sobs bursting out from her throat. That big, bad girl veneer is breaking down bit by bit at the thought of losing her friend.
“Maddie, listen to me.” She coughs a few times before composing herself to listen to what Cal has to say, “Erin is going to be okay. Michelle is going to be fine. And you are going to make it out of there. I just need you to remain calm, stay strong, and do what the people who are watching tells you to do.”
“But – but – I’m scared. Like, I’m really, really scared.”
My heart breaks as I listen to her. I want to kick down this door and run to her. I can’t imagine how Cal feels as he listens to his own daughter fall apart. And, unlike me, he isn’t here to hold her, to bring her close, to give her the feeling that someone is watching over her.
And it’s my fault. It’s all my fault. Listening to him talk to her, I realize just how wrong I was. No, Maddie shouldn’t have been made to live in such a dangerous, horrible place, but she had Cal and Cal had her. And I should have trusted that Cal was making the best decisions he could have for his daughter. He was protecting her and me this entire time until I cut him off. Now, we’re paying for it.
I wipe the tears from my eyes as I listen to him continue to soothe her, “You can be scared. I’m scared, too.” He takes a deep, audible breath as he starts, “When your mom died all those years ago, I came home that night and your grandmother handed you to me. And I looked down at you in my arms, sleeping. And I had never been so scared in my life. I couldn’t believe I would have to take care of you, let alone keep you safe, for the rest of your life. But even though I was scared out of my damn mind, I still made a promise that I was going to be brave and strong for you every single day. Do you think you could make that promise? Do you think you can be brave and strong for me? Just this once?”
“Yeah, Dad. I can.” Her voice just squeaks it out. It’s so low I can barely hear it.
“Say it louder. Say it like you mean it. Like a Mustang would!”
She is resolute as she shouts back, “I can! I’m going to be brave! I’m a Mus—”
Maddie cuts off and I hear something drop to the ground with a small crash. A booming voice takes over, “What the fuck is going on in here? Who disobeyed my orders and gave her that phone?”
No one dares answer or even moves. I am also too fearful to even breathe. Whatever is going on right now isn’t exactly as planned. The voice repeats itself, “Who the fuck gave her that cellphone?”
There’s a click. I know it all too well – the sound of a gun’s safety being turned off. I hold my hands over my head, not wanting to hear what comes next. There’s a loud bang and then a thud followed by the sound of Maddie screaming. I hear bodies being thrown around the room as I have no time to think about what just happened. I stand up and run down the stairs, going back to my spot by the window.
I have just enough time to sit myself down and pointed towards the door before I hear loud footsteps and the pound of the metal door hitting the wood frame. “Stay down there, you little asshole. And don’t you think of saying another word or I’ll really give you something to scream about!”
I get one quick glimpse of her as a man tosses her to the ground. In the light, I see a flash of sparkle in Maddie’s hair – something I didn’t notice on her when I was comforting her earlier. I pull myself up higher with the support of the broken pole to get a better look at her. And suddenly, just like that, I have an idea that just might save her, Erin, and me. I just need the perfect opportunity to make it happen.