Page 44 of Trapped: Until The Darkest Of Night

“Louisa!” Her name comes out of me like thunder. “Stop! Immediately! Lou!”

My field of vision begins to flicker and the trees at the edge of the forest blur into confused green patterns.

I jump toward her with a few long leaps. Lou staggers, recovers, and I can’t stop in time. I smash into her with the full force of my body and the ground rushes toward us. My cheekbone slams into the back of her head, pain pulsing like an electric shock up my chin, and a bloodcurdling scream fills the air.

I barely realize I’m lying on top of her, pinning her to the ground with the weight of my body. My heart is pounding like a drum in my ears.

You have her. Everything is okay!

But in my head, a storm is raging, pushing that thought aside.

“What did I tell you!? What?” I yell at her. She is lying on her stomach. I raise up a bit above her, squeeze her arms with my knees against her flanks, and grab her neck. Hard. Way too hard.

She doesn’t answer, just breathes in small, hectic gasps.

“I said no escaping!” I jerk her head up, gripping her neck tightly with my fingers. “I said no leaving me. Don’t! Leave! Me!”

Stop, Brendan, stop! Immediately!

But I can’t. I hear her gasp, feel her arms press against my knees, and squeeze my legs even tighter against her sides. I don’t care if it hurts her. She wanted to run away! I told her not to try! I can hardly think. Red lightning flashes around me, and suddenly, I feel sick.

So dark, so dark… The childlike voice rises in me like a dead man from his tomb. Mom, where are you?

An icy shiver runs down my spine. I know I’m going to have an episode, it’s like I can taste its harbingers in the air. Decay and moisture. In a panic, I release Lou’s neck and pull her to her feet. I have no idea how much time I have left. I don’t know anything at all, just that whatever I’m going to do, it has to be quick. As I drag her back to the RV, I fight my way through the fog. Lou scratches me, kicks my legs, and elbows me in the groin, but I feel nothing, only my hands gripping her like vise clamps. I won’t let go of her, I’ll never let her go again!

I stop in front of the motorhome. Suddenly, she is still. With a jerk, I turn her to me, crossing my arms across her chest—a position I had used in fights.

“Goddammit, Lou!” I gasp into her neck. “Do you want to get yourself killed?” I need to calm down. The surroundings are growing darker and it’s not due to the upcoming storm.

She says something, but I don’t hear her. So many words but none of them get through to me.

Blackness flickers before my eyes, the tornado in my head roars faster and faster. I need to get Lou to safety before I’m completely immersed in the blackout. That’s the only thing I still understand.

I have to get her to safety. I repeat the sentence like a prayer. In spirit, maybe out loud, I don’t know. It just can’t slip away from me.

Suddenly, there is a flash of inspiration, a memory. Chains! Handcuffs! I need both. I’m dragging Lou back into the RV. I think I’m talking to her, but it’s like a spark in a fire. I frantically tear open a cupboard, sheets of paper fall to the floor. I feel for metal with my fingers. As I feel the cool links of the chains, something comes out of my mouth that sounds like a sigh of relief.

I pull Lou outside after me, hand on her arm. “Safe,” I hear myself murmur. I walk along the RV like a sleepwalker finding the destination I didn’t know I had.

“Stop…get down on the ground now.” I push her down by the shoulder.

“Bren…”

So dark…

“You shouldn’t have run…” Mechanically, I grab Lou’s wrist and use the loose clamp to snap it to a steel ring on the underbody.

So terribly dark…

“Brendan…”

A veil falls in front of my eyes, I can hardly see anything. “Too late!” I choke out. “Getting darker…it’s getting dark…”

Thunder rumbles in the clouds but I feel like it’s inside me.

Confused, I look around. I wanted to do something… Lou is very small in front of me, her hands over her head as if to protect her from the rain…

Protection…yes…I run away from her toward the edge of the forest. Again, like in a trance, I find exactly what I’m looking for. A spruce, not too old, not too young, with a strong trunk that will hold me. I loop the chain around it once and click the metal bangles around my wrists, locking them into place.

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