Caged (Caged series Book 1)

by Destiny Hawkins

  “Rose, please stop crying,” Lorena leaned in and rubbed the tears from my cheeks, and then from under my eyes. I held her hand on my face, still taking in the fact that it was actually Winee’s hand. She didn’t know what was wrong with me, but she knew it was serious and was trying to calm me down. She was such a good friend to me from the very beginning, and all I ended up doing was hurting her.

  “I’m just so glad I got to spend this time with you,” I said calmly. Lorena pulled away, confused, “and I’m so, so sorry.”

  “Rose, just tell me. What is it?” Lorena’s hand started shaking.

  “Me and you....this won’t work...” I couldn’t let anything happen to Lorena this time. Not again. If staying away from her would keep her safe, then that’s what I was going to do.

  “What? Rose, just tell me what the problem is,” her voice cracked which made this sudden decision even harder.

  “I can’t,” I pulled away from her again and tried to avoid looking at her.

  “What do you mean you can’t!?” She yelled.

  “I just can’t, okay?” I grabbed the handle to the door, but couldn’t seem to open it.

  “You’re not making any sense,” She shook her head, “Rose, you have to at least give me a reason. You don’t just act like you really want to be with someone and then just cut them off like that!” When I didn’t say anything back she tried to snatch my phone away from me, but I moved my hand away in time, “What did it say!?” Lorena was crying now.

  “Nothing...” I didn’t look up at her, “I’m sorry-” I opened the door and was about to get out when Lorena grabbed my wrist with her shaking hands.

  “Please,” she cried, “I don’t understand. Why are you doing this? We were just together, we were okay. I told you things about myself that I didn’t tell other people. I-”

  “I’m sorry,” I couldn’t hear what she had to say next, “....I’m sorry,” I snatched my hand away and got out of the car, then I went into the house as quickly as I could.

  Lorena’s car sat out there for another minute and then she pulled out and drove away. I could finally understand how I felt about her. It was a feeling that I wasn’t very familiar with. I loved Lorena, and that’s why I have to let her go.

  Chapter 28

  It was dark out, and the only light I could use to see was the full moon. I took a breath and looked around to see where I was, then felt a pain in my chest when I saw Arnold’s large black house towering over me.

  “No...” I started feeling as if I couldn’t breath and held my chest, “What...?” it almost felt like I was having some sort of asthma attack. I bent over with my hands on my knees and closed my eyes. This wasn’t real, in any moment, I’d wake up.

  “What’s wrong?” Arnold asked. I saw his black shoes stop in front of me and was too afraid to look up, “I asked you a question, Rose.”

  Even in a dream I was terrified of him. I didn’t want to look up and see his face, but if I was disobedient, I would be punished. Still, after all these years of not seeing him, I was too afraid to see those dark eyes.

  Slowly, I stood up straight, but I kept my eyes on his shoes.

  “Look at me,” He ordered, and when I didn’t, he grabbed me by my throat and held tight. I was forced to look at Arnold then, and tried to scream when I saw that his face wasn’t there, but he was squeezing so hard not a sound escaped from me.

  Arnold’s grip was strong as usual, and I couldn’t muster up any strength to get his hand from around my neck. My head started spinning once I was barely on my toes, “You never listen to me! This is why I have to do this to you! I have to teach you!” His words boomed like thunder and echoed loudly around us. I tried as hard as I could to pull away, because, besides the choking sensation, it felt like my muscles were cramping all over my body.

  I scratched at Arnold’s arm, and even tried to kick, but nothing worked, “You’re going to die here, Rose,” he laughed. After feeling myself go numb, I began to believe him. I couldn’t fight him anymore, and my breathless body gave in. “You’ll be here with me forever.”

  I dropped my arms to my side and was slowly dozing off. All I wanted to do now was go to sleep. There was no more fear or pain, and all I wanted was to sleep...

  * * *

  “Rose, calm down!” Aunt Shannon was grabbing me by my shoulders trying to hold me to the bed.

  “No! No! Let me go!” I screamed myself awake, and stopped fighting when I saw my aunt standing over me. She looked down at me with wide eyes while breathing heavily.

  “Sweetie, are you okay?” Shannon asked. She pulled away and let me sit up.

  I looked at the time, and saw that it was time for school already. This was the third time in a row that I’ve been having these nightmares since me and Lorena stopped talking. Since then, she has been trying to get answers from me, but I either blew her off or avoid her completely. It hurt me every time, especially after I’d see the pained look on her face, but this was what I had to do. I had to stay away from her to keep her safe.

  “I’m fine, Shannon,” I stood up and walked past her. It was time to get ready for another dreadful day.

  I went to morning practice, and helped Cameron lead our teammates. It was the captains that ran practice in the morning, so the coach could get ready to teach his first class. For the past few days, I noticed that Cameron had been trying to get closer to me, but just like Lorena, I would blow him off. I guess he talked to Abigale, because she came to me, wondering what was wrong. I didn’t tell her the whole story, but I let her know that Lorena and I were no longer friends. She tried to push the subject and get the reason, but I couldn’t give her one. No one else could know what was going on with me, because I didn’t want them involved. I would figure out how to take care of everything myself.

  Once that black car started showing up, I was no longer worried about being a normal teenager and living a normal life. I was more afraid to lose it, or see anyone close to me lose theirs. I thought maybe staying away from them would keep them safe, but I was getting lonely. I felt incredibly lonely with all these problems kept secret.

  I was happy that Josh was expelled, but now that just leaves the gunman, Jessie, and Arnold. Yeah, I’m sure that mysterious text was from Arnold. He probably had something to do with that little girl and strange looking man at the wrestling meet. Arnold had a lot of people that worked for him, and they were probably his eyes. He wanted to see me, but couldn’t show his face, so he used them instead. That would explain why they were talking to Lorena during my first meet. He wanted to see her too.

  After practice, I hit the locker room to get ready for the rest of my day. I got undressed and stood under the steaming shower, taking in the hot water on my cold skin.

  Once I finished showering, I wrapped my black towel around me and started over to the locker section but stopped when the lights went out. The first person that came to mind was Jessie, but I kept up my guard just in case it was someone a little more dangerous.

  I held the towel tight around my body and took slow steps towards the light switch. I tried to be as quiet as possible, so not to be heard, but my wet feet was what gave me away. I found the light switch on the wall and took a deep breath before flicking it on and turning around. No one was there.

  I clenched my teeth and shook my head. Cameron was probably just playing around and switched the light off, then left. I sighed and started for my bags near the lockers, but before I reached them I was suddenly pushed towards the showers. I slipped and fell onto the hard floor, and right when I was about to get up, Jessie was on top of me with a knife to my throat.

  Only for a second was I embarrassed about being naked, but then it didn’t matter because of the situation I was in. Jessie held my head down by my hair and held the knife tightly against my neck.

  “What are you doing?” I asked, panting.

  Jessie glared down at me, “You have no right to think you could come here and act like some innocent bitch.”
/>   I didn’t know how to respond, and I didn’t want to provoke her to slice me open, so I didn’t.

  “You’re a fucking murderer. Everything was good until you came here and showed your damn face.”

  “Jessie, I don’t know what you’re talking about-”

  Jessie shook her head with a tight grin. “You really don’t know.”

  “No!” my heart started racing, “I don’t. You have been fucking with me since I arrived here and still didn’t even give me a reas-”

  “I shouldn’t have to give you a reason!” Jessie yelled.

  Jessie pushed the knife against my throat just enough to draw blood. “You should already know what you did,” she pressed it harder, making me afraid that she would actually slice my neck open. “Watch your back, Rose...watch your back.”

  Jessie pulled her knife away and smiled. She was satisfied with my helpless reaction, and stood up, then started walking towards the exit.

  I quickly got to my feet and stepped out of the shower, holding the towel against my chest, “It was you, wasn’t it?” I asked before she walked out. She was the girl with the long black hair that held the gun up to me. “If you are, then I have nothing to be afraid of,” my voice was shaking, but I didn’t want to seem as scared as I actually was, “You had that gun pointed at me, but didn’t pull the trigger. I don’t have anything to worry about at all.”

  Jessie didn’t say anything, she just walked out of the locker room, leaving me cold, wet, and shaking.

  The rest of the day I was lost in thought, wondering what Jessie might have been talking about. Not even Lorena’s presence in English could break my train of thought. What did I do to Jessie to make her hate me so much? It wasn’t about California, so it had to be from my fighting days with Arnold, but I still couldn’t think of anything. My last resort was to go and get a little information on her and find out who she really was.

  I walked to Miss Shy’s office at the end of the day and waited for her to come back from the restroom. When she walked inside to go and sit behind her desk, I sat up straight, almost excitedly.

  “OK, so what is it that you wanted to talk about today?” Miss Shy asked.

  “Jessie,” I said.

  Miss Shy frowned, “Has she been causing you any more trouble?”

  I thought about explaining what she said to me in the locker room, but decided not to, “Just...who is she?”

  Miss Shy frowned, “Why do you want to know about that girl?”

  “Wow, doesn’t really seem like you like her either.”

  “It’s not that,” she looked away. “She’s just not someone you want to get mixed up with.”

  “Because she’s like me?”

  I knew I was right by the way Miss Shy’s expression changed. Her eye’s widened and got a little more serious, “I can’t answer that.”

  “Right,” I took a deep breath. “But have you ever spoke with her before? Like you do me? Has she ever brought me up?”

  Miss Shy’s expressions were giving me all the answers I needed, only this time the look on her face was sadder. “Rose, I can’t answer any of those questions. Did she say something to you?”

  “We spoke,” was all I was going to tell her, “she didn’t tell me anything....said that I should already know, but I don’t remember ever seeing her before. Jessie does know me though.”

  “Look, you need to stay away from Jessie. All I can tell you about her is that even with your fighting history, she is not someone you want to mess with. I have tried numerous times to get her removed from this school, and maybe put in a facility where she could get help, but they denied the suggestion every time. Just like they let you slide, they let her slide, but the two of you are different. Please, promise me that you will keep your distance from her...”

  I sighed with a frown. How did I end up being the one that had to watch my back? Back in California it would be other people that would have to be careful of mixing up with me, but now I’m the one that should be careful?

  “It’s because I’ve changed,” I whispered to myself.

  “What was that?” Miss Shy was still waiting on my promise, but she knew I wasn’t going to give her one.

  “I changed. You wouldn’t have given me this same warning when I first got here. She’s just like I was, right? She never changed like I did.”

  Miss Shy’s face softened up, “You did change, and it was a really good one too, but even back then, you weren’t like her. I can’t explain it to you, but I saw something different in you. I could tell that you weren’t really as bad as everyone thought, and you just needed someone to come and soften you up.”

  “You?”

  “No, Lorena.”

  Her name was like a blow to the stomach. It hadn’t been that long, but I missed her so much. She was within my reach, and every time I saw her, I wanted to apologize, but I couldn’t. I couldn’t let her back in, for her own safety.

  “What happened?” Miss Shy asked.

  “I cut her off.”

  “What? Why?”

  “Because, there’s just too much going on right now. I can’t risk her getting hurt.”

  “Hurt by what?”

  I realized that I had said too much and looked away.

  “Rose, has that car still been coming around?” It was as if she read my mind and figured out the reason I cut Lorena off so suddenly. If anything, I had to protect her as well by keeping my mouth shut. Arnold took my parents away without batting an eye, so I know he has no problem taking away anyone else that I cared for.

  “No, I haven’t seen it,” I said.

  Miss Shy squinted her eyes at me, seeing right through my lies, “Well, be careful out there, Rose, and stay away from Jessie. I mean it.”

  I nodded and grabbed my things to leave. Miss Shy knew something was up, and I think that she’s hiding something.

  * * *

  I sat in my room holding my ears, so not to hear Winee’s cries of pain. She was being punished in the room next to mine because she had lost another fight, and was giving Arnold a bad look.

  I could hear him yelling and cussing with every hit, and could almost feel the slash of the cord on my body. The punishing sounded as if it lasted for more than an hour, and then I heard the door slam. When mine flew open, I jumped out of the bed and backed up against the wall with wide fearful eyes.

  Arnold was breathing heavily, with sweat dripping from his face. He tossed the cord onto the floor in front of me and then left the room, reminding me of what would happen if I lost.

  Once Arnold was downstairs, I waited a few minutes and then tiptoed to the room where Windred cried. She was lying on the bed with only a training bra and a pair of fighting shorts curled up in a ball.

  I slowly walked up to her, and examined the many welts that covered her back and legs. I even seen a few that stretched over onto her stomach and arms. There was only one small cut on her leg and I wiped it down with a damp tissue I got from the bathroom.

  “You’ll win the next one, Winee,” I said getting into the bed with her, “and then he won’t punish you.”

  “I don’t want to fight anymore,” she sniffled, “I don’t like it. I want to go home.”

  “We can’t.”

  “Why?” She turned over and looked at me with teary eyes. “Why can’t we? All you have to do is run away with me, Rose.”

  “We just can’t, okay?” When Windred didn’t answer, I got up on my elbow to get a better look at her. “Winee?” I shook her, but she didn’t move. She was just looking up at me with dead eyes, and all of a sudden we were outside again in the rain, and Windred was dead in the mud.

  “NO!” I cried. I dropped to my knees and shook her.

  “You killed her,” Arnold said. “You did this to her.”

  “Winee,” I cried. “Please, please. I’m sorry.” I shook her again, but stopped when I felt a pulse under my hand. I rested my palm over her heart and felt the heartbeat in her chest. “She’s not dead...”
/>
  “Yet,” Jessie held a gun, pointed down at Windred’s head, and pulled the trigger.

  * * *

  I woke up covered in sweat in the middle of the night recovering from, yet, another nightmare.

  When I looked at the time on my phone, I saw that Lorena had sent me a text saying goodnight. I was tempted to text her back, but that would only start something that I couldn’t finish, so instead, I turned my phone off and sat in on my dresser. That one text sent me to sleep with no thoughts of the previous dream I just had. If anything, it made me feel good inside.

  Chapter 29

  I had just arrived home after practice and went straight into my room. My aunt had spoken to me, as she did many days, but I didn’t respond. I don’t even know why she tried so hard to get me to speak to her after everything she’s done. There’s no way I could actually forgive that woman for causing me so much pain.

  I shut my door and threw my book bag on the floor, then I got down and busted out one hundred push-ups and sit-ups. Once I worked myself to the core, I laid on the floor and stared up at the ceiling, lost in thought.

  I was thinking about Arnold, like I’d been doing every day now. He hasn’t shown his face yet, but I will be ready when he does. After Jessie’s visit to the locker room, I have been trying to convert back into my old ways, so that I wouldn’t be so afraid anymore. Miss Shy was right. Lorena did come and soften me up, but since last month, I’ve felt myself hardening again. Abigale and Cameron have been doing their best with trying to get through to me, but I was a pro at keeping people out. No one was ever going to get hurt because of me again, not physically at least.

  Besides Lorena, Cameron was one of the hardest of them all to put down. A week ago we had just finished practice, and he offered to walk me home since I was no longer getting rides from Lorena.

  “I mean, it’s dark out, and you never know if that person will show up again,” he was referring to Jessie, but he still didn’t know that she was actually the one who pointed the gun at me.