I close my eyes and exhale, then inhale slowly before opening them. The box is still there.
I crouch down, and pick up the note again. With the edge of my shoe, I push the box toward the stairs.
Good job, Aurelia. You have the survival skills of a fridge.
I open the note and read it out loud.
My heart kicks hard against my ribs. I hear footsteps coming from above. Then a voice drifts down. “Hello? Anybody home?”
He laughs. His voice bounces off the walls and finds me where I stand.
I move, taking slow steps to the wall near the phone. My fingers wrap around the receiver. I lift it to my ear, my hand trembling, but there is sound on the other end.
“You called?” He says, laughing again.
I forgot this damn phone doesn’t work at all. I take a step back, then rush down the hallway toward the staff kitchen.
Maybe I can hide in one of the cabinets that is empty.
I run on my tiptoes. He’s coming down the hall. I hear him pick up the box of bones, then the clatter as they knock against the railing while he passes.
I press my hand over my mouth to keep the scream inside. Even if I let it out, no one would hear me.
I slip into the kitchen and crouch near the cabinets, opening them one by one, praying they don’t creak, until finally, one is empty. I climb inside and pull the door shut, easing it closed until there’s nothing but darkness.
Something feels wrong.
His footsteps are closer now. The air inside the cabinet feels thick, like it’s pressing in on me. I try to breathe, but my breath is turning shallow.
It’s too dark.
My fingers try to find the door. I push. But I can’t open the door. I push harder. It doesn’t move.
“No…” I whisper.
I shove against it again, harder this time, but the door won’t open.
A scream tears out of me, scraping my throat raw. “Let me out. Let me out.”
I pound on the door, over and over until my hands stung. My eyes shifting from my eyeballs left and right in fear someone is here with me. I close my eyes, my mind bringing back memories.
My knees are pulled tight to my chest, rocking in a dark closet. I couldn’t tell how much time had passed but my vision is slowly blurring. I told Daniel’s mother something I wasn’t supposed to say. Something I should have kept to myself.
He locked me in. Said it was to teach me a lesson.
I stayed there the whole day, maybe longer. Crying until my throat burned, until my tears ran dry. I remember licking the salt from my lips because I was so thirsty. My nails were torn and bloody from scratching at the door, from trying to get out.
I thought I would never leave. But the door opened. Someone saved me, pulled me close.
“I got you,” he said. “I got you.”
My eyes blink hard, and I’m back in the cabinet, still clawing at the door, still unable to open it. I bang harder, more desperate now. At this point, I would rather be caught by The Caller than dragged back into the memory of that night.
Then the door swings open.
“I got you,” he says. “I got you.”
My vision blurs through tears. My fingers fly to my mouth, and I bite the skin around them until there’s a metallic taste of blood on my tongue.
