Beneath It All

14 - Watching You ;)

C H A P T E R F O U R T E E N

S h a n e ༶ ｡◕

"We should check the lights, see if there's any emergency buttons," I stated, immediately taking control of the situation. I hadn't binge-watched a million Bright Side survival YouTube videos for no reason.

We scoured the elevator, running our hands along the walls and narrowing our eyes. Lightning started to light up the sky every few seconds, so we relied on that to find the emergency button.

The non-existent emergency button.

The only buttons in the wall were the floor numbers that glowed and cast a tiny bit of light, though they were too small to use as a light source.

I cupped my hands around my mouth. "HELP!" I screamed out. I yelled and Astra copied me, joining in.

Nobody must have heard because half an hour later, we were still stuck in the elevator. Only this time, we were more tired and cold, our throats sore and achy.

"Well," I sighed, flopping down onto the floor. "We're doomed."

"We might as well jump our way out," I imagined Astra rolling her eyes as she sighed.

I tsked. "Good idea," I pointed both fingers at her, even though she couldn't see me in the dark. "But there doesn't seem to be a door."

She was silent for a few moments. "I was joking."

"We could use my head as a rammer." I said. More silence.

Awkward.

I pulled my hoodie further over me. A chill had swept throughout the elevator and the temperature seemed to plummet with every passing second.

I leaned my head against the cool metal wall and closed my eyes for a few moments. None of this felt real -- it all seemed like one crazy dream. Maybe the elevator had broke and crashed and right now, we were in a coma. All of this was a dream. A wish perhaps, for how we longed for the situation to have turned out instead.

Could we even be certain of anything? Was reality merely a reflection of a figment of our imagination? But it makes sense; our emotions dictate how we feel and respond towards any given situation. Maybe I had been panicking for the past hour when in reality, this situation wasn't that bad.

"Did you want a gummy bear?"

Astra didn't respond, staying silent. I tossed one in the air, blindly throwing it somewhere to my right. About a minute passed by when she asked for another one.

My aim must be pretty good. After all, I am a soccer player.

We tossed sweets to and fro. I ended up giving her most of them -- my mouth still felt weird and like I could grate my teeth together. It had that weird metallic taste in it too, and the gummy bears just seemed to only amplify that nauseating feeling.

But that didn't stop me from eating a whole packet myself. I was too exhausted to think about it.

I yawned and leaned my head against the cold glass, slowly closing my eyes.

I suddenly gasped. Father was standing in front of me, breathing heavily, his pungent breath fanning my face. He grabbed my collar.

"Get up!" He yelled. "Get up, boy!"

He dragged me to a standing position and threw me across the elevator. There was a laugh, a chuckle, and I looked to my left to see Astra standing there. Her face was red and blotchy, but most importantly was the awful, menancing look in her eyes. Exactly like Father's.

"You loser!" She giggled.

Heart pounding, I quickly got to my feet, looking around for a way out.

Then I saw my reflection in the glass.

But it wasn't Shane staring back at me; it was a boy whose body had been pumped up like a balloon. A heavy weight pressed down on me. I was trapped beneath these walls, this small dark elevator. I was so huge- all I had to do was reach out and I could touch either side of the elevator.

More layers of fat piled up on me. Each one took away a little bit of my breath.

It was so disgusting disgusting disgusting I need to cut it all off and oh lord I can't breathe-

"Fatty," a girl whispered in glowing white. She kicked my leg. And I fell, I fell because I'm so weak, so fat, so disgusting and she prodded my face with her foot.

"You don't deserve your friends," she stroked my face. "Nobody likes you. You only have friends because of me." She touched me so gently, so lightly, I almost wanted her to carry on.

"No-" I struggled to say. "That...that's not true. You're so nice. Why are you saying this?"

"Because it's the truth, Doughtry." She whispered, her soft breath tickling my ear. "You're not funny. You're fat."

She faded away until she became Father; and Vince appeared next to him, and mother. All with the same, disgusted glint in their expressions. They gathered around me and started poking and prodding me, laughing as young children ran around everywhere and I inflated larger and larger. I wanted to throw up.

Time to wake up.

I screamed as loud as I could.

*

I snapped awake, sitting up with a gasp. I looked around - they were gone, they were all gone. Nobody and nothing was there except darkness.

Astra sat next to me, watching me. Lightning forked across the sky behind her.

"Um... are you okay?" I stared at her for a few moments, trying to anchor myself in the sea of dread and horror that had overtaken me following the onslaught of the nightmare. I quickly nodded, swallowing. If I speak, my voice will crack and then I'll become overwhelmed and I'll burst out crying or say something stupid.

I was focusing on my breathing, trying to slow it down. But I still felt so disgusting.

"What?" I realised I'd been watching her throughout the whole ordeal. She looked irritated. "It's my turn to sleep. Why don't you keep watch or whatever."

My mind wouldn't stop replaying the moments of that nightmare. I couldn't bring myself to say a word and yet, I hated the silent empty space.

The intervals between each strike of lightning began to lessen, indicating that the storm was creeping closer. At least it meant we could see better with each flash of lightning that illuminated the elevator.