Chapter 14 — Lay me down to sleep

Bree:

As I sit in the darkened room, I’m in disbelief that Fallon left me here without a thought. For hours, I pound on the door and call out to him and Lilith until I’m spent. Sliding down on the floor, I cry out, hoping that he’ll come back for me. But as the hours dwindle, my hope begins to wane. The place is locked down by some kind of magic. There’s no door or windows to escape from. Lying my back against the wall, I close my eyes and let myself cry. Tears rack my body, and sobs fill my chest. At some point, I must fall asleep. Unfortunately, I’m still in the dark, dank room when I awaken.

My body shudders as I wrap my arms around me to keep myself warm since there’s nothing to use for cover from the elements other than my own clothing. Eventually, the need to use the ladies’ room becomes overwhelming. Rising up, I call out to my captors, but I’m met with silence once again.

Feeling helpless, I curl up in a ball until the need becomes overwhelming, and I find a dark corner to relieve myself. My stomach growls with hunger, and my throat is parched. To distract me from my hunger, I sing songs in my head and try to come up with ways to escape, but I soon find myself crying again.

Despairing over what might become of my sister, I resolve to hold on for as long as I can. I don’t understand why they left me here to die when they stated that they needed me. It hurts too much to think that a man that I care about so much is now a monster. After falling asleep and awakening again, I try to call out to Fallon until my voice is hoarse and my fists ache from pounding on the walls.

It’s a cycle that repeats for what I assume is days. The only reason I know that it has been days is that the ache in my stomach has become unbearable, and I feel dehydrated.

As I lick my dry lips, I try to remember how many days a human can go without water before dying, but I’m very weak, and my thoughts fly out of my head. As my energy level wanes, I try to remember happier times. I even hallucinate that my sister is sitting next to me until she changes into my best friend, Zoe. Even though it’s not real, I take comfort in talking to them. I reminisce on the one time we went trick or treating, and Daisy Lambert made fun of our cheap costumes. Because we had no money, I bought two red bathing suits from the salvation army, some cheap golden thread, painted four toilet rolls gold, and dressed us up as Wonder Woman. I thought it was creative. The toilet rolls were our bulletproof bracelets, and the gold ribbons were for our belts and lasso of truth. When Daisy, dressed in a perfectly tailored princess dress, called us charity cases and made fun of our homely outfits, Lana jumped on her and tore out her beautifully coifed her.

I laugh when I think about my sister dragging that poor girl like a dog on a leash across the school’s parking lot. It was awesome.

Then I remember the first time Zoe and I snuck out of the house to go to a Blinding Pain concert, got really trashed, and I threw up all over the back seat of Kyle Morris’s car. He was so mad.

As time passes, I replay every good memory until I’m completely disoriented. Breathing shallowly, I blink my eyes and slump further on the floor. Stars dance before my eyes, but I’m no longer scared of death. No, what worries me is what will happen to my sister and Zoe once they learn about my death. But then I consider that Azazel will take care of them. He’d do anything for Zoe.

Looking up at the ceiling, I take a couple of shallow breaths and pray for death to finally take me. I feel so weak that I can barely lift an arm. Just then, a dark shadow appears before me. I open my lips to speak, but the only sound that comes out of my dry lips is a cry of despair. As I gaze into Fallon’s eyes, I finally let the darkness take me. It’s a bitter ending for someone who has just barely learned to live life.

“What’s wrong with her?” I hear a familiar male voice ask as my mind floats.

Another male voice replies. “She’s human, my lord. Humans cannot survive without food or water. How long was the girl locked in that cellar?”

He puffs out a breath, “I don’t know…about three to four days.”

A disbelieving gasp echoes in the room. “My lord, that is unacceptable.”

“Just heal her already!” Fallon calls out to the other male.

As my breathing becomes shallower and my vision weakens, I hear the stranger’s response. “I placed a healing spell on her, but there’s no reassurance that she’ll survive.”

Cursing loudly, Fallon stomps across the room and leans over me. “Stupid humans and their bloody fragile bodies.”

As soon as the words leave his lips, he presses his palm against my chest. Heat spreads across my body, making my vision sharpen, and my breathing becomes steadier. Squinting my eyes, I can feel my body healing itself. I no longer feel like I’m fading. In fact, I feel amazing.

Looking up, I meet Fallon’s hellish eyes. If I didn’t know any better, I’d say that the expression on his face is one of concern. But it can’t be because this is not my Fallon. My Fallon is gone.