Page 76 of Intertwined Souls

“The first few days I was here…” she says, her voice hoarse, quiet, and distant as she speaks. “Those first few days, I really thought I was dreaming. I thought I would just wake up, and I’d be back home having another stupid argument with my mom or playing the piano with her.

“Then Tammy started coming downstairs. The taunts began, the beatings, being forced to go upstairs and clean or stand in the corner of the dining room while they ate in front of me.”

My blood boils with rage, and a big part of me wants to leave this basement. Go run and beat the shit out of something, someone, do anything but listen to this right now.

But I force myself to sit here and let her speak about the horrors of this room. Help her heal in whatever way she needs.

“Time passed slowly down here. They’d give me one can of food a day. Sometimes they’d come down with three cans. The first time they did that, I thought they were going to start giving me more. I was so hungry at the time I devoured all three cans right away. I learned my lesson the hard way when they didn’t bring any other food down for three days.”

She lets out a humorless laugh, and the sound hurts my heart.

“Any time they brought down more than one can, it meant they wouldn’t be coming back down for days. I had to train myself to still only eat one can a day no matter how hungry I was so I didn’t eat it all on the first day. Then there were the days that she’d beat me so badly I couldn’t move from wherever she left me. Someone would drop a can of food off at the bottom of the stairs, but I would be in so much pain I couldn’t move to get it. I’d just lay there staring at it.

“After the first year, it got easier to handle the pain. My pain tolerance went from crying over a paper cut to being able to walk upstairs and clean a house with cracked ribs, a concussion, a broken arm, open wounds. I became numb to it all.”

She takes a shuddering breath and then gasps. The light from upstairs makes it so we can just barely make out where each person is, so I see when Harley grips her chest and begins hyperventilating.

I move without thought, pushing her forward away from the wall, closer to Ryker and slide in behind her, putting her between my legs.

Ryker scoots closer in front of her, and Grayson scoots closer to my leg.

We all continue to touch her in some way while Grayson speaks softly, getting Harley to breathe so she doesn’t pass out. Once she gets her breathing under control, she continues to sob silently.

“I know we tell you all the time,” Ryker whispers as he places his forehead against hers. “But you really are so strong. Do you know how many people wouldn’t have been able to survive that? How many people wouldn’t have had the will to get away?

“Not only get away but take the risk of finding someone you had never met and trusting them. You are a force, little flame.”

“You're unstoppable,” I murmur in her ear.

“You’re courageous,” Grayson adds.

She takes a shuddering breath. “I came down here.”

“Yes, you fucking did,” Ryker responds to her.

“I thought I would spiral out of control coming down here. I thought that if I kept repeating that I’m fine and it’s just a fucking house that it would be okay. Everyone kept giving me these sad eyes and asking me if I’m really sure and it was too much. I needed someone to just help me push myself.

“I hate it here. I want to burn this place to the fucking ground. I never want to see it again. I want to move on from this part of my life. I know Tammy is now out there somewhere, but the things that happened in this room need to just stay here. I don’t want to bring them upstairs with me because I’m not this person anymore.”

“Harley?” Rage questions from above, by the basement door.

“We are all down here,” Grayson calls out.

Footsteps sound on the stairs, and then a flashlight turns on and shines on us before looking over the room. I hear Rage suck in a sharp breath as he takes in the space before he comes closer to us.

“Everything okay?” he asks in a strained voice.

Harley wipes her cheeks off and shakes her head. “No, but it will be,” she says softly. “There should be a pull string in the bathroom for a small light that’s in there. It’ll help us see better,” she mumbles bitterly.

Grayson jumps to his feet and heads to the bathroom that’s along the same wall as the stairs. A second later, a dull yellow glow lights up part of the room.

I stand up and walk to Harley’s side, holding out my hand for her to take. She places her hand in mine and lets me pull her up. Instead of letting go, she grips my hand tighter as she takes in the room. “Everything is gone.”

Ryker stands up last and faces her. “It was empty when I broke in here after you got out last year. Stuff was shoved into the secret room.”

“What secret room?” Harley asks, furrowing her brows.

Ryker gestures to the wall right next to the bottom of the stairs, and we all walk over to it. Running his hands along the corner of the wall, he finds a spot to hook his fingers in and starts pulling.

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