Page 7 of Creep
When I decide that it doesn’t seem anyone can hear me, I have brunch and soothe my poor throat with more coffee. My outlookis bleak, but I can’t sit and do nothing, so I move on to browsing through his stuff.
He really does have many books, most of them old, likely purchased at secondhand stores, and with nothing else to do with my time, I browse through the small library with growing wonder. Colorful notes stick out from between the pages, covered in annotations about the plot and characters. Apparently, being a devout reader doesn’t interfere with being a violent murderer. The book resting by the armchair,Kargle’s Revenge, seems to be new, and inside I find a library stamp, which at least gives me an idea of where I am, because Joy Creek is a town I’ve passed through a few times.
With nothing else to do, I end up reading the whole novel in the yellow glow of a battery-powered lamp. I’m afraid of the darkness that will surely come once it runs out of juice, but for now I try to redirect my thoughts and calm down.
The book does help, but it’s not very good, and my thoughts often drift off to the pale man with messy hair and the eyes of a predator, black like two beetles. If he’s only brought me here because I’m a witness, we should be able to negotiate.
And if I’m to leave this place in one piece, it needs to be soon, because I’m seeing Domino on Sunday. While I’m not looking forward to it in the slightest, he’s not a man to be toyed with. I won’t be able to tell him what really happened, and no excuse will be good enough. My stomach clenches when I think about him. Why, oh why did I get drawn into an arrangement with a man who’s the road captain of a motorcycle gang calledHell’s Butchers? You’d think it would give me a hint that he’s bad news. But at the time he showered me with cash, didn’t demand anything too crazy other than complete secrecy, and the permission to call me names.
By the time he showed his true colors, it was too late for me to back out without putting my safety at risk. He had me trappedfor months. Of course, now I’m also literally trapped in this dungeon, but if getting out of the caves means running straight back into Domino’s clutches, then maybe I’d rather stay. At least that way, I wouldn’t risk that he’ll murder me to ensure no one ever finds out he likes to fuck boys when nobody’s watching.
I spend some more time exploring my eerily comfortable prison, but without a chance to see what’s happening outside, I’m starting to feel confused about the passage of time. It could have been hours since my captor brought me here, and once I start feeling grit under my eyelids, I listen to my body. I eat food left for me, then wipe myself with a damp cloth, and settle on the bed.
I don’t think I could fall asleep knowing that the stranger could be back at any moment, but it feels good to stretch out on a mattress so much comfier than the old, dipped thing I have in my own bed. I slide the screwdriver up my sleeve, in case I need to protect myself, and close my eyes, wondering if I should keep the light on. Of course, I could just switch off the lamp, but the thought of being in complete darkness down in this hole somewhere inside a mountain has my heart racing.
I’ve had trouble sleeping since childhood, but when I imagine spending my whole life here, like that spider in the terrarium, the world feels like it might shatter around me at any moment.
I’m still on the fence about what to do when the gentlest, quietestclangmakes my body stiffen in alarm.
Because he’s here.
My captor has returned!
Chapter 5
Angel
Myfirstimpulseisto sit up and confront him. Lately, I’ve been juggling four pretty shitty guys and have been gaining experience in appeasing awful people since childhood. I know how to endear myself to others. If I get the chance, I’m sure I can talk my way out of this.
On the other hand… I want to know what he’ll do if he thinks I’m sleeping. Is he here just to take the dishes? Bring new food? For all I know it could be morning again. I can’t reveal all my cards too soon, when—
Oh. The bed dips slightly.
Is he… climbing in with me?
I’m trying to control my breathing, but my heart beats in an ever more maddening rhythm. I didn’t even hear him approach. He’s a man of few words, stealthy like a wild cat, and I’m at his mercy. Unless I take my chance when he least expects it…
A soft sigh, and warm, minty air tickles my face as he settles down, stretched alongside me yet not touching, as if he fears that might end up waking me. It’s a struggle to keep my breathing shallow when a strand of hair falls to my face, but I manage, wondering, if the Devil card I picked during my reading two weeks back stood for him. With hair and eyes black as tar and narrow, pale features, he does fit the bill. But what other cards did I contemplate that evening? Justice? Or was it Judgment?
My frantic thoughts stall when I sense his face so close to mine I swear he’s touching me at this point. And then, he breathes in, loudly, more than once, as if I’m a glass of wine, and he’s the connoisseur trying to describe my bouquet.
A strange pang of electricity darts down my spine, and I shriek, stabbing at him with the screwdriver.
I was aiming for the neck, and I don’t know if I managed, but it definitely hitsomethingmeaty. I don’t stick around to find out what, because he rolls off me, and the door is open. If I didn’t kill him, I won’t get another chance.
“Wait!” he rasps from the floor, but I’m already sprinting.
Just as I suspected from the way we got to his lair, I dash out into a tunnel. It’s narrow, the ceiling is low, and the farther away I get, the darker it is. I should have considered taking some light, but what kind? A chocolate-scented candle? And risk what might be my one chance to escape?
Still, dread coils in my stomach as I wade deeper into this labyrinth. Because what if the guy didn’t lie about it being dangerous? Could bears live here? Deadly snakes? I don’t even consider the spiders which are surely here and I’m glad I can’t see them.
I sob in self-pity but carry on. I’ve always had only myself to depend on, and I won’t crumble now.
The darkness I’ve been so afraid of envelops me whole, but I keep going, farther and farther into the abyss, with just my outstretched arm keeping me from hitting myself on the head.
There is no doubt about my location. This freak really does live in a cave system, and we might beanywhere. The loud pulsing between my ears is soon overpowered by the raspy echo of my breathing as I let my instincts guide me down the tunnel. I’m ecstatic and hopeful when the narrow passage makes way for a larger cavern. I’m terrified of ending up in some underground chasm, but I keep moving forward by sliding my foot over the ground to check the terrain.
Somehow, finding another narrow tunnel is a relief, but when a trembling glow reaches my face, I back out, because I am running for real, not playing hide-and-seek.
