I PRESSED UP against the cold wall, the

only source of warmth coming from a

faint crack in the floorboard upstairs.

Emma had already fallen asleep,

breathing softly a couple of feet away

from me. We had talked for several

hours, and I had gotten to know her.

Surprisingly, I had actually met

another human being willingly, despite

the awful situation. However, the only

thing she wouldn't tell me was how she

was brought here. Anytime she was

about to explain, her eyes swelled with

tears, and later refused to talk. I looked

down at my dirty hands, trembling

softly from fear and the coldness. I still

couldn't fully comprehend the situation,

for only several hours ago, I was

peacefully walking down the bike trail,

minding my own business. I couldn't

tell what time it was, since there were

no windows visible from down here,

but by guessing of how exhausted I felt,

it was probably past the evening time.

Aunt Jodie was definitely home by now.

She must realize by now I'm missing,

right? Which meant a search party

would look for me, right?

Hoped swelled inside my stomach, but

then quickly dominished when the

thought that they would never be able

to find me popped in my head. People

must have looked for Emma, I'm sure.

Yet here she was, for

three years. Three whole years, and

yet, never rescued. Tears stung my eyes

and I shut them quickly, holding them

back from leaking out down my

cheeks. In no time, I had fallen asleep,

despite how uncomfortable I was, I

was worn out. And despite the fear of

what could happen if I close my eyes, I

let sleep wave over me. But in no time,

I was awake again, I felt I only had at

least an hour of sleep, and I sat up. I

rubbed my eyes, and looked over to

Emma, who was still sleeping soundly.

It was so quiet. Nothing made a squeak

of noise, and it made me feel nervous,

even Emma's soft breathes were

without sound.

"Emma?"

I said softly, getting a bit worried about

how quiet she was, so I scooted over to

her. I leaned in to gently shake her, but

my hands dipped forward and I almost

fell on top of her. I jumped back in

shock and glanced at my hands, ghostly

grey and pale. A wave of familiarity

came over me and I froze. This was just

like when I passed out on the bike trail,

and tried to go after my aunt, but my

hands went right through her. I felt as

if my nerves had turned to stone, and I

turned slowly towards the cage door.

Without thinking, I lunged towards the

bars, and to my surprise, I slipped right

through the metal bars. I didn't know

what was happening, but I did know

that this could possibly be my escape. I

looked back at Emma, I couldn't wake

her up, but if I got out of here, I would

come back for her. I tiptoed my way

upstairs, knowing they wouldn't be

able to hear me, but it still made me

nervous to not be quiet. I walked right

through the door, coming up to three

closed doors. I peaked my head

through each one. The first was

supposedly where the bedrooms were,

the second looking like the kitchen,

and the third door, leading down to

another basement, the door metal and

brawny. I went through the kitchen

door, hoping to maybe find that the

exit was this way. The kitchen was

simple and old-fashioned, but I couldn't

tell what color the painted walls were,

since everything was completely black

and white. Beer and vodka bottles

were scattered all over, some half

empty and some completely empty. The

cupboards were filled with junk food:

cheap potato chips, canned beans and

fruit, kids cereal, and a couple candy

bars laying miscellaneously around.

The sink was filled with dirty dishes,

and looking like they had been there

for quite a while. The floor was littered

with crumbs and shreds of paper. I

scrunched up my nose in disgust and

went through the kitchen, through a

swinging door, then came to another

room of various doors. How big was

this place? I felt hopeless I was going to

find a way out, but I carried on

anyway, determined. The house was

like a maze; any time I turned a corner

there were more doors, and after those

doors sprouted new doors. Finally, I

found a window, and I dashed to look

outside.

My eyes widened. I was about three

stories high, and outside, layed

nothing. There wasn't a single car, a

building, nothing. All that laid, was a

large oak tree perched about half a

mile away. The clouds were heavy, and

clouded the distant view, so I couldn't

tell if there mountains in the

background, and guessing on how

thick the clouds looked, I figured it was

going to rain soon. We were completely

in the middle of nowhere, in a large

building. This, was a perfect place to

commit a murder. But why was Emma

still alive? Had they just kept her here

for no reason? I followed along the

wall of the window side, hoping to

maybe find a back door.

There has to be a door.

But why haven't I seen one yet?

I knew I was completely lost now. I had

no idea where I was, nor any idea how

to get back to my body.

How to get back to my body.

Yep, I've gone crazy.

I was about to backtrack, hoping to find

my way back, when I noticed a

lightened hallway. I walked towards it

nonetheless, curious of what I was

about to find. Suddenly, I saw a moving

shadow, and stopped in my tracks.

Someone was there.

I trailed along the wall, slowly peaking

around the corner, but only to find the

young man with the poppy eyes. His

face was buried in his hands, gripping

his fingertips into his messy hair. He

looked rather stressed, and my

curiousity enlightened. He was

mumbling quietly to himself, rubbing

his eyes forcefully, then leaning his

head against the wall, tears sparkling

from his grey eyes.

He was... crying?

A beer bottle was accompanied by his

side, and he picked up with clumsy

hands, taking in a large swig. I slowly

walked out from behind the corner

and bent down to him, thankful he

couldn't see me, or else I was sure I

would be dead by now. I leaned in to

look at his eyes, to make sure he was

really crying, reaching my hand up

faintly to poke his eye.

"Don't touch me..." he grumbled, his

eyes closed.