Danielle

I was on the couch, curled up under the covers. It was the only way to get warm during the winter; our heater was broken. But it was comfy on the couch under my soft, black, king-size blanket. I was watching the frost creep over the windows and melt with the afternoon’s sun. It was around 2:30 so C would be getting back from his job soon. He worked at a computer repair shop. 8 am to 3 pm. It was a small business but it paid good enough money.

Everything was all calm, peaceful and quiet, with me alone to my thoughts like always. Until a knocking came at the door. I sighed and stood. I walked over to it and opened it, only to have something hard and metal slam against my face and my vision faded to black. The only thing I’d seen before I fell was a woman around the age of 20 with wavy blonde hair and skinny frame. 

I’d woken up being dragged into a basement, the air freezing and the 2 inches of water that covered the floor was dangerously cold. The woman from earlier grinned down at me and drug me all the way across the dark room to the other side, with me wiggling and squirming all the while. I couldn’t do anything or make any progress of escaping for I was stiff and weak. 

The woman drug me over to the chain attached to the cement floor about a foot away from the wall. At the end of it was a handcuff-like attachment which she stuck my ankle in and locked. The woman took a step back and laughed menacingly before turning and leaving me here. As she shut the door behind her, the only light there was vanished and I was left in the dark with my fears. 

I could hear her heading up a staircase. A cement staircase. The faint sounds of her footsteps echoed through the basement. 

I shivered. For so long there was utter silence. Hours passed. The only noises I heard were my breathing and some basement rats scurrying about. 

I wanted C. I closed my eyes tightly and held them shut, praying I’d just fallen asleep on the couch and was taking a nap. Yeah, that was it. Then C would wake me up and kiss me and ask me how my day was. 

The door creaked open, and light poured into the room, hurting my eyes. I flinched, squinting. C? There was a figure standing at the doorway, watching me. The hair was short so it wasn’t C. the figure stepped in and shut the door behind him. I trembled. 

Splash. Splash. Splash. 

He was getting closer! I squirmed, crawling over to the wall. 

Splash, splash. Splash, splash. He was coming faster! He was about a foot away from me when he stopped. I could barely make out the outline of him through the darkness. 

I looked at him and he watched me looking at him. A long, tense moment passed before I spoke up, “Who are you?”

The man did nothing.

“Why am I here?” 

Still nothing.

“SAY SOMETHING! TELL ME SOMETHING! WHY THE HELL HAVE YOU BROUGHT ME HERE? I DID NOTHING TO YOU!”

The man slapped me. Once. Twice. Three times. Harder each time.

“You will not speak until spoken to, Danielle. Got that?” 

I spat on his face, “You can’t tell me what to do.”

His fist met the side of my face, and a bit of blood slipped down my chin. My cheek was sore. I laughed a little. 

“You think this is funny?!” He shouted, punching me twice more. I choked out a bit of blood and I couldn’t open my right eye. It was swollen and throbbing. 

“This outta teach you a lesson.” He laughed, slipping his shirt over his head. I pressed myself against it as hard as I could, as if I could disappear into it. But he grabbed by my hair and yanked me away from it. 

He unzipped his jeans and slid them off quickly, carelessly tossing them into the water. He looked me up and down, tears streaming down my cheeks. He gently wiped a couple of them away before sitting on my stomach, pinning my legs down with his knees and pinning my arms down with his. He grabbed my shirt and ripped it apart. He grinned a little, feeling me. 

“Please, don’t!” 

He slapped me once more, which hurt worse than any of the other ones, “Shut the fuck up and quit wiggling around!”

He then grabbed the top of my jeans, and tore those too. He pressed himself against me, caressing me and kissing my lips. I didn’t return it. He tried to slip his tongue inside my mouth, but I kept it tightly shut. He tried harder, getting irritated. When I would not give in, he wrapped a hand around my neck and gradually squeezed harder until I opened my mouth to catch a breath, and his lips crashed into mine, his tongue slipping inside my mouth. 

My stomach churned. My heart was screaming, aching. I didn’t want to be here. This couldn’t be real.

The man reached around my back and unhooked my bra, throwing that into the water as well. He slipped out of his boxers, than tore my panties off. I shouted, I hissed, I pleaded, I cried. But the man was ignorant.

He repositioned himself, spreading my legs apart and holding my wrists down. He pressed against me again, a sharp pain flying through my body like an electric current. In and out, in and out. The electric current grew more painful each time. 

A few minutes passed before I felt a little warmth down there and the man moaned so loud in my ears it gave me a headache. He stood and smiled, “Wasn’t that fun?”

My cheeks were damp with tears and I felt so dirty and used. I shook my head, glaring at him. 

He chuckled, picking his clothes out of the water, “I know you love it, darling, but I’m sorry. I have work to do. But don’t worry, I’ll be back for more tomorrow.” He ran his hand through my hair and kissed me. I felt nauseous. 

Once he was gone and I was in the dark again, I let it all out. I shouted and cried. I shouted a name I couldn’t understand. I felt so cold and alone. I wanted to go home and forget this ever happened. I just wanted to curl up in C’s arms, where I was safe, protected, loved.

I wondered if I ever would. If I’d ever be able to curl up next to him with his arms around me. If I’d ever feel his lips against mine. If I’d ever even see him again. 

I jolted upright, my face wet with tears. I looked around frantically, I was home. The sun rays shining through the window were warm and comforting. 

I stood but collapsed. I was shaking. My breathing was heavy. I was… afraid. Of what?

I had to find C. I just wanted to be in his arms. To find that comfort and protection and love I once knew and cherished. Maybe I didn’t remember anything of us, but I really needed his comfort.

Jaclyn was sprawled out on the couch, sleeping, like always. She was so lazy and didn’t even have a job. I wondered how she paid the bills. Did I even want to know? I glanced at the clock, 9:32. I slowly shut the door behind me, as to not make any noise, and I ran. I ran like hell.

I found him exactly where I always did; at the park under the tree. I sprinted as fast as I could toward him, but he was looking in the other direction. He sighed and stood, walking my way, and I crashed into him.

We fell, right into our spot in between the roots of the oak tree. I was crying again, I noted and as he recovered from the surprise, he ran his fingers through my hair, whispering sweet nothings in my ear. 

“Danielle, what’s wrong? What’s wrong?” 

“The-the- and I-I- and he- and you- I.” none of my words made any sense. I couldn’t calm myself down enough to catch any breath to think or say words correctly.

C pulled me closer, against him. He wrapped his arms around me tightly. It was a good 10 minutes or so before I could finally pull myself together and quit crying. But I loved the feel of being in his arms. It felt so safe… so… perfect. 

“Danielle, what happened?” He asked, sincere.

I sighed and told him everything I remembered of the dream, biting my lip to keep from crying again. By the time I was finished, his eyes were watering instead. I hugged him as tight I could and he squeezed me back.

I sat on his lap, my head against his chest while he played with my hair.

A moment passed before I spoke up, “I’m sorry I didn’t come the past two days…”

“Why didn’t you? I… I missed you… so much.” 

“I’m sorry! I just… I’m just really confused and afraid right now. And after the diner… when we almost kissed… I just… I don’t know. I wasn’t sure if I could trust you.” A couple tears slipped down my cheek and I buried my face deeper in his chest. 

“And you have every right not to trust me. I’m sorry about that, Danielle. I know I shouldn’t have done that, I just I-I”

I cut him off with my lips. He was stunned for a second, but quickly melted into the kiss, our lips moving in perfect sync. I wrapped my hands around his neck and he wrapped his around my waist. A few moments passed and I tried to pull away, but he pulled me back into it. 

We both pulled away a minute later, breathing heavily. My knees were weak, my arms shaking, lips tingling, heart racing.

“Well that was…” he began.

“Amazing? Hot? Delicious?” 

He smiled, “Yes.”

Chris

I smiled at her and she smiled at me, her eyes shiny and full of life. I felt whole again. She’d kissed me. She’d kissed me! My life suddenly had purpose, a meaning. 

My senses had awakened. I was no longer numb. I could feel my warm, thick blood pumping through my veins. I felt my heart skip a beat. I felt myself take a breath. My eyes were open.

I swept Danielle into a tight hug, taking in her scent. 

“You’re mine… you’re mine.” I whispered, a tear falling from my eye and being soaked up by the fabric of her black shirt.

She squeezed me, “And you’re mine.”

I sat across from her at the same table we’d sat at when we came here the first time, almost two weeks ago. I was wearing new black skinny jeans, a black shirt with a white guitar and wings on it, plus a solid black jacket that was two sizes too big for me. All new clothes. All clothes Danielle bought for me even though I’d begged her not to. My old clothes were hiding somewhere among Danielle’s laundry, waiting to be snuck into the washing machine by Danielle without Jaclyn’s knowing. 

Danielle was wearing black skinny jeans that showed off her legs nicely. She was also wearing a solid black tank top, but it wasn’t exposing too much chest like the ones most girls wear. She wasn’t wearing any make-up, but she never did. She looked beautiful without it anyways. Her hair was messy and wild, and I liked it that way.

This was the third time we’d come here since I’d found her. I guess we were a thing again. Together. The one thing I’d wanted most since I was forced to leave her. But now that I had her, it all seemed… fake. 

Fake. I didn’t deserve her, this wasn’t real. None of this. Most of all, this was unfair to her. She had to know. I’d caused her so much pain and she’d hated me for it. I felt like I was just using her now, taking advantage of her forgetfulness. I owed it to her to tell her. Everything. Then see if she wanted me.

But I was still selfish. I was afraid. I knew she’d leave me once she remembered everything. Or at least my name. I promised her I’d tell her everything when she remembered my name. She still did not and it broke me yet comforted me.

So I decided that’s how the universe would tell me when it was time to reveal the truth. When she remembered my name. For now, I’d cherish what I had with her, even if it was unfair. I’d endure the pain and guilt later. I kept my guilt and doubt to myself, so she wouldn’t be hurt. She’d think it was her. Like she wasn’t good enough or something. 

But it was the other way around. I wasn’t good enough. She deserved more. She needed more. She needed something true. How could I be true when I spent my life wallowing in the past? The past she didn’t even know. 

I didn’t want to lose her by telling her the truth but I didn’t want to be with her while she didn’t know. I felt so cruel and ugly. It was wrong. But I was falling for her all over again. 

All these thoughts ran endlessly around in my head, creating this continuous internal argument of what was wrong and what I wanted. 

I was stuck here. In this fork in the road. Either I abandon her again and leave her broken with my enemy, or I stay with her with this guilt constantly eating me and I grow more tense with every day, or I tell her the truth and lose her. Either way I turned, it wasn’t good.

I regretted ever have returned. I should’ve stayed in the house in the woods with the devil. It was what I deserved. I’d escaped and this torment was my punishment.