Stay(13)

The door had no locks to pick on this side. The door was covered in scratch marks dotted with dark brown stains. I put my fingers on the marks. It was a perfect match. My eyes bulged and my stomach dropped. Someone had clawed at the door until their fingers bled. My head swam and I swayed. I grasped the rough railing to keep from tumbling down the stairs.

I turned and moved one foot. I knew I was walking down the stairs, though physically I couldn’t feel it. I was floating again, feet above my body watching it all happen. But it was happening, really happening. I was trapped in this forsaken basement, and I had no idea how to get out.





CHAPTER SIX





THE BASEMENT DOOR creaked open. I was lying on a cot, curled up in a little ball with my back to the stairs. I didn’t bother to turn when I heard the footsteps. It had been the same thing for the last several days. Sometime in the late afternoon, Jackson brought me food and two water bottles. He would set it on the table in the center of the room, stand by the base of the stairs for a few awkward seconds looking at me, as if he was waiting for me to speak, and then turn and slowly walk back upstairs.

And then I’d be alone.

I wondered where Rochelle and Lily had gone, and I spent a lot of time thinking about the dark haired girl from the alley. Sometimes I felt sorry for her. Other times I was mad at her. If she had crossed the street a few seconds earlier, maybe I wouldn’t have seen her. Maybe I never would have seen her and tried to help. Anger at her built up in me, and I wanted to know what she did to make Zane mad. I wanted to yell at her and tell her that if she hadn’t pissed him off, I wouldn’t be here.

But then I’d remind myself that she was just as innocent as I was. Or at least I believed she was. The possibility that I had put myself in danger to help someone undeserving wasn’t a thought I could handle.

“Adeline?” Jackson said softly. His voice was deep and soothing. I hated it. “Adeline?” he repeated when I didn’t so much as flinch. “Are you awake?”

“Technically,” I mumbled. “But I feel like I’m in a nightmare.”

He shuffled his feet and said something under his breath that I couldn’t quite hear. I thought he might have agreed with me, but I wasn’t sure and I didn’t care enough to ask.

“I brought you a plate with hot food. You might want to eat it now. I don’t think barbecue chicken or mashed potatoes would be good cold.” He didn’t move. Was he waiting for me to thank him? The last thing I planned on doing was showing him gratitude. Though, I preferred him to Zane. While Jackson’s creeper staring was unnerving, he never so much as laid a finger on me.

I pushed myself up and looked behind me. Jackson was still standing near the table. He tipped his head down when my eyes met his face, his dark hair falling over his brown eyes in an attempt to hide the bruise on his cheek.

“What happened?” I asked. Would whoever hit Jackson come for me next? I took my eyes off him, moving them to the plate. My mouth watered at the smell of the chicken. After several days of nothing but peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, apples, and cereal bars, the plate full of chicken and potatoes looked divine. The metal springs creaked when I moved off the bed. My dirty hair was pulled up in a messy bun, and I was still wearing the same clothes that I was when I was taken.#p#分页标题#e#

“Nothing,” he blurted. Red tinged his cheeks.

“Right,” I retorted. “I hate when nothing gives me black eyes.”

My heart skipped a beat in fear when he sharply turned his head to me. I grabbed the plate and moved to the other end of the table, putting the cheap metal and plastic between us. He didn’t completely terrify me, but I didn’t feel comfortable enough to sit when he was standing in the same room.

“I got hit,” he explained.

“No shit,” I said back and shoved a spoonful of mashed potatoes into my mouth. They were homemade, and were just as delicious as they smelled.

His lips pulled down in a frown and he inspected the ground. He looked so dejected it caused guilt to flicker through me. I mentally shook my head and ate another heaping spoonful of potatoes, not caring that it burned my tongue. Jackson didn’t deserve my pity.

He took a step back and looked at me, his dark eyes empty. He just shook his head and went back upstairs. I refused to let myself read into it while I quickly finished the rest of the potatoes. I devoured the chicken just as quickly. I set the peanut butter sandwich and apple aside, saving them for later, and drank half of a water bottle.

I went to the bathroom and used the shower to wash my hands and face, since I was too scared to strip down and actually shower, and lay back in the bed. After a few minutes of feeling like I was going to waste away, I got up and began pacing. My body was still sore from the trunk ride, and the bruises on my face were taking their time to fade.