Amy.
“How are you girls enjoying your stay?” She laughed coldly, and turned, her eyes fixed on me.
“Just wait until I get out of here.” Kim threatened, and Amy’s head snapped quickly and sharply.
“Is that a threat? You won’t get out of here don’t you get it? You will all die at some point, just like that whore Anna.”
Kim stayed silent, which was wise because Amy seemed to have a quick temper these days.
Amy turned back to me, eyes glazed, and fists balled.
“You especially Katie, because trust me when I say your time here is limited.”
Amy turned and walked away, locking the door on her way out.
What was that supposed to mean?
My time here was limited? I knew she wasn’t talking about an early release, or a release from here at all. She was threatening my life. A few days ago, I would have believed Amy to not be capable of ever hurting me, but recent actions proved otherwise. She meant what she said.
Rather than feeling scared, I was furious. I was tired of being treated like garbage or disposable. I wasn’t, and they would soon see that. In no time, I would outsmart all of these idiots and have them locked away for life.
I had never hated people more in my entire life than I did them.
Anna was dead. I wasn’t able to save her, and I felt responsible for her death. I would hold that on my conscience forever. If I was able to save these girls, I would feel like this was all worth it, even if I died trying.
I did want to live, mostly for my dad. Knowing I would be reunited with my mother, shall these psychos decide to kill me brings me some sense of comfort in this scary place, but I want to live. I want to see my dad again.
I knew Amy was furious and had completely written me off ever since I spit in her face. I also knew that today she seemed even angrier, so something had ticked her off. I hoped Mark hadn’t spilled the beans about us. If she thought I had any chance of turning her brother around to get him to release me again, then she would kill me herself.
She cared more about familial preservation than anything else, or anyone else.
I’m counting on you Mark.
The minutes felt like hours, and the hours like days in this room. Finally, the door opened, and rather than another beating, it was Sharon with our dinner. She was different from her husband in that she threw our food in front of us like we were animals. Paul placed it in front of us nicely. Sharon tried to demean and break us in any way she could.
It wouldn’t work.
Dinner tonight was a vegetable mush and some kind of weird chili. It was like prison food, delivered with a side of violence.
Sharon didn’t say another word and headed out. The lock on the door sent us all into an eating frenzy. This tasted like gutter trash, but it would have to do. They gave us little enough food that we were absolutely famished by the time each meal came around.
We would have eaten anything at that point.
In terms of hydration, the delivered two bottles with our breakfast, and three with dinner. Buckets were a few feet away from each of our posts, for our use. Knowing that this was all on camera, and they had full unbridled access twenty-four-hour access to it made me absolutely sick to my stomach.
Being demeaned and violated every single day was wearing on me. I had no idea how Tara had survived this long. The beatings weren’t the only form of torture that this family delivered.
We all ate in silence, and when we finished, Kim turned towards me to speak.
“Do you think Mark is coming back down tonight?”
“Definitely. He thinks I like him. Hook, line, and sink. It shouldn’t be much longer now.”
“We can only hope so.” Kim started chugging her water.
Tara looked at me, shook her head, and turned away. She didn’t think I could do it. But I could, and I would. I would get us all out of here.
Kim and I spent the remainder of the evening talking, with Tara listening, but never chiming in. Kim decided she was tired and was going to actually turn in, and Tara followed suit. I debated going to bed for real, or just staying up until Mark came.
I went with the latter, and sure enough it couldn’t have been an hour later before Mark came walking in. I closed my eyes when I heard the chains being unlocked, but that was only to make sure that it wasn’t Amy, or their parents.
He looked so happy.
He was all smiles walking in, as if he was waiting for this moment all day. He sauntered over to me, sat down, and immediately took my hand into his. His sandy blonde hair hung loosely in his face, his green eyes dancing with excitement.
“I missed you.” He rubbed his thumb back and forth over my knuckles.
“I missed you too, how was your day?”
“Could have been better. Amy was really on my case.” He shook his head, clearly annoyed with his sister.
That makes two of us.
“Tell me about it. She came in here today, guns blazing, upset with me.” Her threat remained fresh in my brain.
“What did she say?” Mark was growing increasingly upset.
“Nothing you need to concern yourself with. I’m just glad you’re here.” I smiled at him, and he returned a grin. Mark was reasonably attractive, and I was surprised more girls weren’t interested in him.
I still found it hard to fake an interest, because everything he did made my stomach churn. I had morals, and a pretty face wasn’t enough to make me turn away from them. I was better than that.
Mark leaned in and kissed me. It was different from yesterday. This one was more passionate, more needy. He grabbed the side of my face and pulled me in closer. It started to get hot and heavy when I heard Amy’s voice.
“What the hell is going on in here?”
26
Mark
“What the hell is going on in here?” My sister was standing in the doorway looking furious. She beelined for Katie and slapped her in the face.
I found myself shoving my sister back.
“Leave her alone, Amy. I mean it.”
“Oh, please. Give me a break Mark. You cannot actually think she cares about you. You’re not that delusional!”
“You’re the delusional one. Just because she hates you, doesn’t mean she hates me. I’m actually a good person, whereas you are just a miserable bitch.”
My sister charged me, and raised her hand, but I grabbed her wrist. I shoved her back, hard, and she fell back onto the cold metal floor.
She got up and ran up the stairs, without a doubt on her way to tell my parents. I had to stop her. I looked down at Katie who looked terrified.
My girl.
“I’m so sorry. I am going to fix this.”
I leaned down and planted a chaste kiss on her then ran upstairs. I left the door open but there was no way for them to get out, not that Katie would want to anyways. She was happy here, with me. I saw Amy about to enter the house, so I called her name.
“Stop!”
She turned around, eyed me up and down looking disgusted, and yanked the sliding glass door open heading inside.
Hateful bitch.
I sprinted faster and caught up to her in no time. I yanked her arm as I reached the door,
“Don’t do this Amy.”
“I have to Mark! You’re going to get us all caught! I bet you were planning to release her again, weren’t you?”
I didn’t reply, which gave my sister all the confirmation she needed. She looked sad, pulled her arm away and headed to my parent’s room. This was bad, really bad. My parents would not look past this a second time.
I needed to fix this, and fast. I had my keys still in my pocket, and I ran back outside and sprinted to the back-basement door, still wide open. I jumped down the stairs taking two at a time, and beelined for Katie.
“C’mon, we have to get out of here. Quickly.”
She didn’t hesitate and held her wrist up for me to unlock it. I took her hand, and ran upstairs, not even b
othering to give a final look to the two other girls staring at us open mouthed and wide eyed.
We made it out and I could see my parents and Amy emerging from the house.
We need to run.
I squeezed her hand and pulled her towards the forest. If I attempted to go through the front, George would stop me instantly. The forest was our best bet, because we had ample hiding room above all.
I couldn’t believe I was doing this. They would never forgive me.
We were sprinting, and I could tell Katie was getting winded. She was supposed to. That was why my parents fed the girls so little. Plus, Katie hadn’t really been up and about much obviously, and her legs were crapping out on her right now. There was also the ankle which I had no doubt was killing her, especially if the adrenaline hadn’t kicked in yet.
We were lucky in the sense that we had a pretty good head start on my other family members. But we were outnumbered so we had to play this smart.
“We should hide somewhere good and wait for them to go in the different direction.”
Katie nodded and I found a small hidden hole beside a tree and a large brush bush. The hole provided enough room for Katie to hide, while I stuck my legs in and covered my top half in the bush.
I could hear my family members getting closer and closer, and I couldn’t make out what they were saying but heard a murmur of voices. I prayed to God they weren’t planning on splitting up but was confident in the place I chose to hide.
If Katie and I continued running, they would have sectioned off and caught us without a doubt. The patch of forest behind our home wasn’t much, and it connected off to a highway. If they weren’t able to find us, they would simply think they lost us.
I could tell Katie was nervous about Tara and Kim, who we left back there. I couldn’t understand why. They weren’t her friends, and they certainly didn’t care for or respect her the way I did. They were horrible people, and that’s why they found themselves down there.
Katie never belonged there.
I would do everything it took in my power to ensure that Katie never had to step foot in the filthy god-awful room again. It was too disgusting for her perfect, and pure soul. Her hand was still intertwined with mine, and she was shaking.
In the moment I felt furious with my family. I was furious that they were scaring her so badly, and that they wouldn’t allow her the chance at freedom. I had fucked up by taking her and made a poor choice. This was me trying to right my wrongs and attempt a chance at being happy…with Katie by my side.
Amy’s words rang fresh in my mind, but I pushed them to the side. Katie cared about me, and Amy was simply jealous that her best friend no longer thought the world of her anymore. My words were true. Amy was a cold-hearted and calculated bitch. She had my mind so messed up for so long, and I was finally able to see the truth. My family was horrible.
I could hear my family closing in. Sure enough, it sounded like they had all devised a plan: divide and conquer.
I could hear my father off to the left of me, calling out my name.
Amy was off to the right, calling Katie’s name.
Oh yeah, let me just poke my head out and respond. Morons.
I had faith, because my family didn’t have two brain cells to rub together combined. My mother sounded like she was right on top of us. She was calling my name and trying to reason with me.
“Mark, I know you messed up baby, but it’s okay. Just come out, and we can talk about it. We will let Katie go.”
Yeah right.
Katie squeezed her hand around mine tighter, and I placed my other hand on top of hers in an attempt to comfort her. She had seen sides to my family recently that she didn’t know existed. It scared her.
Meanwhile, I had known them my whole life, and nothing they did scared me. I was horrified at their characters, but their threats were usually baseless.
Except for the threat they made to Anna.
Right. I could hear my mother growing closer, and I felt a pang of worry that they might see me. I wasn’t able to say anything to Katie with fear of being discovered, but remained holding her hand, and I felt her hand relax in mine.
We were getting out of this.
I heard my dad approaching.
“Did you find them Paul?”
“Do you see him with me? Of course not.”
“Don’t be smart with me. I figured you darted them, and they were still over there.” My mom sounded exasperated.
Darted them? Shit.
My parents had tranquilizer guns on them. This was worse than I thought. Katie and I had to remain hidden for as long as it would take. It might even be our safest bet to stay out of sight until morning. If we were even grazed with a dart from the gun, we would be out like a light. My parents had invested in these a while ago, when Anna got out of her chains and ran.
My parents were moving the chain from her wrist to her ankle when she punched my mother. My dad was changing Tara’s at the time, and Anna made it all the way outside before they caught her.
Thank god for Amy that day.
“Well I didn’t Sharon. Where’s Amy?”
“Right here.” My sister was with them.
“Maybe they got out to the road. Let’s head back and see if George saw anything.” My dad urged my mom and sister that we weren’t out here. Truth is, he was just simply too lazy to search and really didn’t think I was capable of getting too far.
I heard my mom and sister agree with my dad, and then I could hear three pairs of footsteps retreating back to the house.
I still felt our safest bet was to wait until morning, but Katie may not like that plan.
“We need to get out Tara and Kim.” Katie started to whisper to me, but I squeezed her hand hard.
“Shhh. We can’t.”
She didn’t say any more, but I knew she wasn’t going to drop this. I would not run the risk of losing her freedom for two low class girls. The world was better off without them.
How could she not see that?
I checked my watch. It had been an hour since my parents left. I wanted to start heading out to the main road now. It was no more than a five-minute walk, and we would be running.
“Katie…”
“Hmm?” She sounded like she fell asleep.
“Let’s go.” I stood up first and helped her out of the hole. She dusted herself free of leaves and dirt. I stepped out of the brush and we started a fast walk. She squeezed her eyes in pain, obviously due to her ankle.
Just a little bit farther, baby.
I started to pull her hand harder when I heard voices, and it turned into a run when I realized my parents never left.
“There they are Paul!”
Katie and I were sprinting though the lush greenery, while my family was not far off behind with tranquilizer guns.
The main road came into sight, and I felt my heart soar. This was it. Once we got out of the forest, we could use the highway to get help. The highway wasn’t far from the station, where I knew for a fact that there was an officer stationed there twenty-four-seven.
Our feet reached the edge of the concrete road, when I felt my arm tug down. It was Katie. She had fallen to the ground in a heap, and I saw the dart sticking out of her neck.
No.
I tried to pull her up but was hit with a sharp pinch in the back of my neck and I was out like a light.
I opened my eyes, and I was in my bedroom. What the hell happened? Was that all a dream? I looked down at my feet which were caked in mud and stuck with leaves.
Not a dream.
Oh god, where was Katie? I remembered the darts, and both of us dropping. I closed my eyes, incredibly disappointed.
I failed her.
I started to cry, realizing what had happened. Katie was back in that god-awful room. And I was in my room… chained?
I lifted up my arm only to realize I was chained to my bed post. I started yanking on it feverishly trying to get the wood of the bed frame to snap.
“Wouldn’t do that if I were you…” Amy walked into my room carrying a water bottle.
“Why am I chained?”
“You’re a liability now Mark. One that we can’t afford.”
“What? What are you guys going to do… just keep me chained up?”
My mom and dad entered the room.
“Until we can be sure you’re on our side again. I just left the school a message. Sick with the measles… such a nasty sickness.”
They were going to keep me in here and lie to the school about some made up sickness.
I was now a prisoner in my own home.
27
Amy
As far as I was concerned, I didn’t have a brother anymore. I was so disgusted with his lack of respect or even love for this family. What the hell was he thinking yesterday?
He was fully prepared to throw away everything he loved, including his family, for some annoying chick with mommy issues.
She used to be my best friend, but no longer. Mark was my brother biologically of course, but there was no love there.
How could there be after what he did?
Thank god we invested in tranquilizer guns after Anna’s first attempted escape. Who knew they would come in handy down the road as Mark tried to free one of the captives? He was such a complete and utter moron. Katie didn’t give a shit about him, and I can’t believe he was so blinded by a pretty face that he couldn’t see it.
We spent the better part of the night looking for him, until Mom devised a plan to hang back and act like we left. We knew if Mark thought we were gone then he would deem it safe to come out- and we would have him and Katie.
I could care less about Katie at this point, but if she was able to successfully get away, we would lose everything.
And it would all be Mark’s fault.
When we finally got Katie back in her chains where she belonged, and Mark into the house, my mother couldn’t stop sobbing. She was upset with Mark, herself, and overall just angry at the whole situation. Different from me, she wasn’t able to write Mark off so easily even though he betrayed every single one of us.
The Iron Room Page 13