Getting Back To You (Book 2 of Under The Floorboards)

Chapter 18: Mark

It doesn't take long for Pen and Leo to get back together. Soon enough, they are all over each other. A small part of me has this feeling of anger inside toward him because of how he was with Kendall. Even though I don't love her anymore, I still care if someone hurts her. From the looks of it though, Kendall isn't paying any mind to Leo and Pen. I assume she will be fine.

Most of us have grown used to the cold weather and the hunger pains. I try to stop thinking about it anymore, hoping it will just stop bothering me. And soon enough, it does.

Every so often, I hear screams in the distance. I close my eyes and take deep breaths, telling myself they are far away and we will be fine.

We have been walking for at least a few hours when everything goes wrong. They come from nowhere, ambushing us with their screams. I can feel my whole body shaking, along with the earth beneath me. Cries for help escape from my friends mouths and chaos arises. I can't see everything going on around me, my vision is fogging. I stumble into the bitter cold snow, falling to my knees. Agonizing pain flies through my body like individual needles as I feel the blood pumping through my veins. Millions of thoughts whiz through my head, flashbacks of how life used to be before this emerges from the ashes within my mind. I feel helpless, my body is weak and fragile. All I want is to make sure everyone is okay. But I can't even move. Suddenly, everything is quiet. I feel myself slowly drifting in the air, the darkness surrounds me.

When I wake up, I feel hot breath on my neck. I blink a few times, my vision comes back to me. It is hard to tell where I am at first, but eventually I realize.

My friends are all scattered around, fast asleep. Blood is dried onto their faces; their eyes, ears, nose, and mouth all have blood smeared around them. They look pale, their breaths slow and rough. We are in the white room. In the house. Right where we had started from.

Cole and Chase are the next two awake, tiresomely opening their eyes. They groan, looks of horror flicker across their faces as they realize where we are. Eventually everyone is awake, conversations flow through the room. Their voices are cracking and raspy, their eyes are exhausted. It hurts to see everyone that way, weak and frail. I want to help them be strong, but I am just as weak.

I have no idea what will be next for us, no idea how we will get out. I don't ask myself how we got there, nothing ever makes sense anymore.

A basket is in the center of the room, filled with bread, apples, bananas, water bottles, and granola bars for each of us. I don't understand why the house would give us anything, but I'm not going to complain. We all eat quickly, practically inhaling our food. I chug down the water, afraid that I might never get to drink anything again. For all I know, I'll be dead before tomorrow.

Eventually, everyone is quiet. We sit there in silence, waiting for the horror to begin. We wait, wondering if we will even be able to make it any longer, wondering what the house wants from us.

With everything going on, I'm not surprised when the lights go out. If anything, I expected them to.