Muse Song, #1

by Sarah Biglow

  After banging on the wall futilely for another minute, I turned and slid to the floor, my back pressed against the wall. Icy fingers of dread raked down my spine and goose bumps prickled over my bare arms. Numbness gripped my stomach and clinched it to the point where I thought I might be sick. There was no way out and no way to tell where we were. The only thing I knew for sure was who put me here. The realization made angry; hot tears threatened to fall and I dug the heels of my hands into my eyes to keep from shedding them. “Liam was right.”

  Rosa shifted so she was closer to the head of the bed. “Pardon?”

  One or two tears managed to sliver down my cheek at Liam’s name and I scrunched my face to keep the rest at bay. “My boy—a boy I know.” We hadn’t made any such declarations to each other. “He told me to be careful and not to trust Dr. Phillips. As though he knew something might happen.” But he couldn’t have known this exact thing would happen.

  The numbness took over my entire body and the walls pressed in around me. I was not claustrophobic but being stuck in this tiny room for no damn reason terrified me and stole my breath. I looked to see Rosa with her knees pulled tight to her chest and unshed tears glistening in her eyes. An uncomfortable silence settled around us and I rested my head against the wall, willing something to happen. Nothing did. Biting back a whine of frustration, I got up and sat beside Rosa. “Did Dr. Phillips put you here?”

  Rosa sniffled and looked up. “Yes. At least I think so. I was with her and then I blacked out. I woke up here.”

  “Me, too.” I mirrored her position. “How long have you been here?”

  Rosa scratched her cheek. “I do not know. A day, maybe two.”

  “Did she give you anything to eat?”

  Rosa shifted into a cross-legged position and rubbed at her stomach for effect. “No and I am very hungry.”

  I noticed the slightly pinched expression around the girl’s eyes and mouth. Maybe, if we could make it another day or two, people would know we were missing and come searching for us. “Before you passed out, did she say anything to you?”

  “Not that I can remember. She came in once to give me some water but she took it away again when she brought you in.”

  I put a hand on Rosa’s elbow. “If she came to give you water then she has to come back again and check on us. When she does, we need to be ready to run. Okay?” No response. “Rosa, I can’t do this without you. You have to be ready when I say.”

  Rosa nodded. “Okay.”

  Time passed but I couldn’t tell how long. The rumbling hunger pains in my stomach had long ago turned to a dull hollowness. At this point I doubted I could actually eat food if our captor returned. Rosa stretched out on the bed and I took it as a sign that she wanted some space. I pushed myself to my feet and started back to my bed, stopping beneath the lightbulb. “Can you turn out the light?”

  Rosa scooted up on the bed and flicked the switch to the off position, plunging our tiny cell into darkness again. My vision adjusted quicker this time and I made it back to my bed without issue. Lying down on my back, I studied the ceiling and hoped sleep would give me some clarity. Unfortunately, sleep eluded me. My nerves were wound too tight to let my mind relax. Clinging to the pillow beneath my head, I rolled onto my side. The coarse blanket scratched at every inch of exposed skin but I tried to ignore it. I took slow, even breaths and willed exhaustion to take over.

  Sometime later, I woke in dreary darkness. Still half asleep, I rolled over and fell out of bed, landing on my knees with a painful thud. The pain jolted me awake but I didn’t know where I was. My hands reached for the night table that should have been beside me but all I hit was empty air. The reality of my surroundings hit me and sent my heart galloping in my chest.

  The light flickered on above me and Rosa kicked the blankets aside. “Are you all right, Abbie?”

  I struggled to my feet, rubbing my knees as I stood. They would be sore for a while thanks to the sudden collision with the floor. “Yeah, I’m okay. I just fell out of bed.” I felt my cheeks warm with embarrassment.

  Rosa gave a weak smile before plunging the room back into pitch blackness. In the dying light I saw her retreat to her own bed and crawl beneath the blankets. Rubbing my knees one last time, I did the same. As I settled against the pillow, I tried to find comfort in the fact that my brief—or was it long—sleep had been dreamless. There was no way I could handle nightmares in this place. I let the darkness lull me back to sleep.

  I sat in a wooded grove beneath a bright blue sky at the edge of a cliff surrounded by eight other women, my sisters. Feeble clouds floated on a light breeze and the sun warmed my arms and bare feet. The tall columns of the city rose up in the distance, just above the tree line. Some of my sisters played for the group, filling the woods around us with the sweet melodies of flutes and harps. Far above us, thunder cracked and lightning split the sky despite the absence of rain. Just off the cliffs the sea frothed and a wave as tall as the column in the distance rose up, white-capped and foaming. It remained suspended in the air as another peel of thunder echoed through the trees. The ground below our feet grew too hot to sit on. Red-tinged steam curled up between tree roots and charred the grass and bark black. A fiery bolt of lightning split a tree at the far end of the grove and one of my sisters cried out in fear. The wave came crashing down, turning the ground to a muddy mess. The steam continued to rise and in some places the ground split open in gaping chasms, spitting up flames. The war of the gods had begun. We had to run.

  In our haste to retreat, instruments lay forgotten amongst the trees. Lightning, sea water and fire battled for control of our tiny refuge. Fear made me grope blindly until I joined hands with two of my sisters. We had to stay together. Finally, we reached the relative safety of a hilltop. My legs ached from the running and my nerves quivered with fear.

  My sisters crowded around me, pressing their hands gently to my arms so I wouldn’t forget their presence. Still, I gripped my tunic tight to my body as the fighting continued. At least we were all safe for now. If the right forces won, we would be there to help rebuild. I had to believe good would prevail. The battle couldn’t end any other way.

  8

  My nerves thrummed with anticipation on Wednesday because Abbie would finally be back at school. She would be okay and my father’s plan wouldn’t matter anymore. Sliding my bike into an open slot in the rack, I clipped my lock to the front and put on a smile. I fought my way against the current of upperclassmen heading for homeroom. I wanted to catch Abbie at her locker before classes started. I stopped a few paces from her locker—she probably didn’t know I knew where it was—to find it deserted. Maybe I’d missed her. I checked my phone but I hadn’t missed any texts from her. Not that I’d been expecting her to be able to send me a message. I headed to double science lab clinging to the hope that she hadn’t stopped by her locker that morning and we’d see each other in Mr. McManus’s class.

  The waiting overwhelmed me and halfway through the second period I ducked down below the lab bench on the pretense of tying my shoe so I could sneak onto Facebook using my phone. I tapped out a quick note. Liam Sullivan-Gray: Glad you’re back. See you in English.

  The bell finally blared and I took a shortcut to the library silently praying Abbie was there. Searching the stacks and the computer lab turned up nothing. Did I get the date wrong? Fishing my phone out of my bag again, I scrolled through our prior Facebook conversation. Abbie had definitely said she would be back on Wednesday. Maybe I’d come off too weird asking about her ability and she was too freaked out to talk to me. The possibility that I’d chased her away in my effort to protect her twisted my stomach into a painful knot.

  The bell blared again and I sprinted to Classic American literature. Grabbing my usual seat, Abbie’s absence hit me again. The distance between her seat two rows away was a vast chasm I couldn’t cross. I looked at the front of the room and made eye contact with Mr. McManus as he ticked off names on the attendance roster. The teacher
shifted from foot to foot and when we broke eye contact, the man’s gaze lingered on Abbie’s empty seat. At least I wasn’t the only one who was worried.

  “Alright everyone, let’s settle down please,” Mr. McManus called. He moved to the board and wrote, “Final Exam.” “Today we’re going to be reviewing what topics will be covered on your final.”

  We’d finished the discussion on To Kill a Mockingbird on Monday and had already gotten our summer reading packets with orders to read three for fall. My brain played out horrible scenarios to explain Abbie’s absence while Mr. McManus reminded us of our unit on Death of a Salesman. The one that kept resurfacing involved my father and Mr. Holden.

  “Liam, are you all right?” The teacher’s voice drew me out of my own head.

  “Huh?” Looking around I saw the rest of the class gathering their books and filing out. “Yeah, I’m fine.”

  “You looked a little lost.”

  “No, I was just trying to remember where I put my notes for Death of a Salesman,” I lied and stood up.

  Mr. McManus didn’t look as though he believed me but I couldn’t have cared less. I had one last chance to see if Abbie showed up and I wasn’t going to miss it. A fuzzy halo sprung up around Mr. McManus as I shouldered my bag. It wasn’t anywhere close to what I saw around my father or Abbie but it was enough to signify he had some connection to the gods. I started to mention it but stopped short. I might be worried about Abbie but I had no proof that something bad had happened. Not yet.

  Algebra was nearly unbearable, especially with the satisfied grin Ms. Eisner had worn since Abbie’s suspension the previous week. Curbing the intense desire to swear colorfully at her, I jammed my pencil tip into a corner of a blank page of my notebook until I put a hole through it and darkened the underlying pages. My fingers were red from the exertion.

  The rest of the afternoon dragged to the point where I was sure time was standing still just to mess with my head. When at last the school day ended, I barreled down the hall to the bike rack and sped home faster than was safe. I was going to have some words with my stepmother when she got home. If Abbie’s suspension had been extended she would know and I would make her tell me.

  I had a long wait. She didn’t get home until after seven o’clock. My father had at least texted to say he wouldn’t be in until after ten. In a small effort to rebel, I ordered pizza and scarfed half of it down before artfully disguising the remains and stuffing them behind some week-old oranges in the fridge. My stepmother got home just as I finished arranging the fruit. Pulling myself up to my full height, I slammed the fridge shut with a sucking ‘whump’.

  She jumped and pressed a hand to her chest. “You startled me.”

  I stepped closer, arms tense at my side. “Where is she?”

  She blinked and readjusted her grip on her purse. “Where is who?”

  “Abbie.”

  She moved past me to set her purse down. “I’m going to need some context.”

  “Stop lying. You were so eager for me to spill whatever I knew on her last week. And now she doesn’t show up to school today like she’s supposed to. What happened to her?”

  She donned a full-lipped smile but kept her distance. “You know I can’t discuss my patients.”

  I snorted. “Please, you don’t give a rat’s ass about confidentiality. I hear you blabbing about your patients to Dad all the time.”

  Her brow creased. “Don’t swear.”

  I glared a challenge, daring her to do more than scold me. I couldn’t explain why but something about the interaction was egging me on, urging me to goad her. She wasn’t biting.

  She leaned against the counter. “If you must know, I saw Abbie yesterday and that was my only session. Not that it is any of your business but I believe the sessions with me were part of her suspension. I won’t be seeing her anymore.”

  “Cured her have you?”

  “That’s between me and my patient. Now, we aren’t discussing this any further.”

  I stalked off to my room and slammed the door behind me. The frame and supporting walls shook with the effort. She’d denied she knew anything about Abbie’s whereabouts or an extension on her suspension but I knew she was lying. It was something about the way she’d kept her composure so stiff that made me believe she had to be covering something up, and I was going to find out what. In a last ditch effort, I sent off a text to Abbie. “Hey, it’s Liam. Text me back.” I needed an ally so I spent the rest of the night surfing the Internet and taking notes. It was time for a talk with Mr. McManus.

  9

  I woke with a mingled feeling of relief and dread. I’d only ever had a dream like that once before, but it hadn’t been so violent. But they’d both been so vivid and real. I blamed the violence in this dream on the fact that I had been locked in a windowless room by a crazy woman. Rubbing the tired feeling from my eyes, I climbed out of the bed and went in search of the light switch. I found it and the bare bulb illuminated Rosa stretching her arms over her head. I caught a tiny cross peeking out from beneath her shirt.

  “Did you fall back to sleep?” Rosa stood up and started to tuck the edges of the blanket in under the mattress.

  I almost mentioned the dream but cut myself off. I didn’t need Rosa thinking I was stupid. “Yeah, a little bit. Hey, can I ask you something?”

  Rosa smoothed the creases out of the blanket. “Yes.”

  I toyed with the hem of my shirt. “Don’t take this the wrong way but, um, where are you from? I just noticed you had an accent and I was curious.”

  Rosa settled on the neatly made covers and smiled but looked at her hands. "Rome. I am living here with my aunt and uncle. My parents are still in Italy."

  “Why didn’t they come with you?” I settled on the floor in front of her.

  “They could not get visas. Just one for me because my aunt and uncle sponsored me. So they will come when they can get them and all their paperwork is approved.”

  “How long ago did you come over?”

  Rosa tapped her left index finger on her knee like she had to count. “About six months ago. I talk to my parents on Skype once a week and we message on Facebook a lot. I miss them.”

  I propped my elbows on my knees. “Your aunt and uncle will be looking for you, right?”

  “I do not know. I was supposed to be staying over at someone’s house after my appointment for a few days. There was no school this week.”

  “Whoever you were staying with would know you didn’t show up and would have told them. They’ll have to realize something’s wrong by now.”

  “I hope so.”

  My stomach gurgled loudly, protesting the lack of food, and I remembered I hadn’t eaten since lunchtime and that was probably a day ago. The way Rosa sat with her arms pressed tightly across her abdomen told me she’d not eaten in even longer.

  Thoughts of food suddenly melted away as something to my left clicked and a part of the wall swung outward. Dr. Phillips loomed in the doorway with a tray laid across her arms. She didn’t enter the room but bent at the waist to place the tray—adorned with two bottles of water and some toast—on the floor. Leaning back, I caught a glimpse of a tall bookshelf running along one wall behind our captor. I inched toward the tray and my view beyond our prison changed, revealing a door. I pressed my lips together in determination and stood up. “I have to go to the bathroom.”

  Dr. Phillips straightened and with a pointed look produced a strip of dark cloth from the pocket of her jacket. “I’m not going to hurt you, Abbie.”

  I took a step back. “Bullshit.” The word tasted like acid on my tongue.

  Her eyes narrowed but she still held out the strip of cloth. “Just put it on. Unless you don’t really have to use the bathroom.”

  Rosa moved from the bed to fetch our meager breakfast while I took a minute to consider the offer. Knowing I couldn’t hold it in forever, I snatched the cloth from her outstretched hand and tied it over my eyes. Dr. Phillips guided me out of the room
and a soft ‘click’ behind me signaled that the door had been closed to keep Rosa from sneaking out. I tried to keep track of every twist and turn as we walked, but there were so many of them it was like trying to memorize a maze. Finally, Dr. Phillips stopped walking and I tripped over my own feet. Listening carefully for ambient noises that might clue me in to where I was, I managed to catch the squeak of another set of hinges. We’d reached our destination. “I’ll be right outside. Put the blindfold on before you leave the bathroom.” The door closed behind me.

  Pulling the fabric down around my neck, I surveyed my new surroundings. Unlike our prison, the bathroom had a window high above my head. Taking in the dark storm clouds and cold gray light, I wondered why Rosa hadn’t mentioned the bathroom earlier. I tried to measure the window and decided it was maybe a foot wide and a foot and a half high. It would be a really tight fit but I could probably squeeze through.

  Without wasting any more time, I got down to business. Splashing cool water on my face woke me up, igniting every nerve ending in my body. I studied my reflection in the mirror. My normally smooth hair hung limply around my face and my skin was paler than usual. I patted my face dry and planned my next move. If I was careful, I could figure out where we were being held. I repositioned the blindfold over my eyes but slid it up over my forehead just enough that I could see around the folds. “I’m done.” My voice reverberated in the tiny room.

  I grazed the doorknob with my hand before it swung away from me. Dr. Phillips grabbed my arm in a vice grip and dragged me out of the bathroom. Despite my plan, the way back to the room was dark enough that even the glimpses I caught around the edges of the blindfold were just shadowy blobs. We stopped briefly, the door to our prison opened again and Dr. Phillips shoved me hard between my shoulder blades, sending me stumbling back into the cell. Yanking the fabric from my eyes, I tossed it back at her. She caught it midair and pointed to the tray now balanced on the end of Rosa’s bed. “Eat your breakfast before it gets cold.” She backed up and the door slid shut, sealing Rosa and I into solitude. I flipped her off before I joined Rosa on her bed. She sat with a plate of plain white toast in her lap. “This is more than she gave me last time even if does not taste like much.”