“I’m sorry,” Benji muttered.
“No, you’re not. Muttering it just ensures that,” I said.
He turned to walk out, then stopped and reached into his pocket. He pulled out a key on a small, braided rope and handed it to Quinnlyn.
“Good luck, bro,” Benji told him.
“Yeah… I’m gonna need it,” Quinnlyn said.
Benji walked out the door, closing it behind him. Quinnlyn entered the key in the doorknob and turned it, locking us in. I hadn’t moved from where I first walked in.
“There’s only one bed…” I said, eyes stopping on it.
He didn’t say anything, only nodding his head slowly. I walked across the room to the door that was on the furthest left side, near the outside wall. I pushed it open, and I felt along the wall until my hand found the switch and flipped it up. A light flickered on, revealing an empty, narrow closet. There was one pole that was attached that spanned across. I turned off the light and pulled the door shut.
I walked to the next door, which wasn’t far from it. I pushed the door open and flipped the light on. There was a large bathroom, but there wasn’t much of anything in there. There were a couple of folded towels that sat on the counter, and soap in a dispenser nextto the handles. There were two toothbrushes in plastic wrap, with a tube of toothpaste next to them. A roll of toilet paper hung on the wall. I flipped the switch off and stepped back into the room.
The last door sat almost against the hallway wall. I stood in front of it and froze. I stared at the latch on the outside of the wall, with the unlocked padlock hanging open. My stomach turned. This was what he meant by it was outfitted for me. I closed my eyes and breathed in slowly through my mouth, then let it out.
I pushed it open and found the light switch. It was a small room. This was once a nursery. Lots of homes were built with a small room within the master room for the parents to be close to their child. There was a twin bed with two pillows pressed against the left wall, and across from it was a television sitting on a small table. On top of it, there was a VHS player. On the floor, next to the bed, there was some clothing folded up. This was where they were going to keep me.
I stood in the doorway, frozen. The doe again.Always the doe.Naive, timid, and shy. My knees collapsed under me, and to the floor I went. I knew I should be happy that I was no longer in a dirty cement cell, but I was still a prisoner. What did I do to deserve this? Why me? Tears streamed down my cheeks, and sobs escaped my mouth.
“Stop crying. You've had forty-one days to accept this,” Quinnlyn said with no emotion.
“Shut… the… fuck… up,” I sobbed out.
“That’s really what I’m asking you to do… but okay,” he said.
I stood, finished walking into the room, and slammed the door behind me.
“This should be fun!” he yelled out.
I sat on the edge of the bed, staring at the black screen. Tears continued to pour down my face. I laid down, pulling one of thepillows into my arms, holding it tightly against my face. I screamed into the pillow. He was wrong. I might not be able to get out of here, but I didn’t have to accept this fate, nor did I have to make this easy on anyone. I cried myself to sleep, again.
My eyes shot open, and my entire body jolted—something pulling me awake. Standing in the open doorway was Quinnlyn, staring at me.
“That is fucking creepy!” I yelled out.
“While you were getting yourbeauty rest, they brought your tapes, coloring books, books, and lunch,” he said.
“It’s not appropriate to stare at people while they sleep,” I said.
“Didn’t stop me before,” he said, then shrugged his shoulders.
“Am I supposed to stay inhere?”
“If you mean this closet? No, you can move around within this room, the bathroom, or the other closet,” he said.
“Okay,” I said.
I moved to get off the bed and walked into the main room. There was a box that sat on the floor next to the door. I could see the VHS tapes piled in there. Something at the edge of my vision caught my eye, and I turned my head to look at the small loveseat sitting in front of the window. My head twisted slightly. On each side, there was a table. One of them had a stack of books, and the other had a plate of food.
“How long was I out?” I asked.
“A few hours, I demanded a few things for myself while you were sleeping,” he said.
“Hmm,” I said.