Can't Save Me

Madeline

"Come on, Sleeping Beauty. Time to wake up."

I groaned as I heard the voice echoing in my ears. My head felt like I was in a fishbowl. Sounds echoed, I felt dizzy. Like my brain was a balloon and someone had filled it to maximum capacity. My eyelids slowly fluttered open and took in my strange surroundings.

A bedroom, light flowing in through an open window, curtains blowing in the breeze. Everything looked old, antique, the complete opposite of scary. I momentarily thought everything that had happened had been nothing more than a nightmare, but as I went to brush my hair from my face, my wrist was jerked to a halt and pain bit into my skin. I barely had to turn my head to see the cuffs that were keeping me tethered to the old-fashioned metal bed frame.

"There she is."

I blinked away the fog in my eyes and found Eva standing above me. She was bare faced with her pale platinum hair wet and in a sloppy bun atop her head. She looked almost human, far removed from the monster I'd seen the other night.

"Where am I?" I croaked; my throat drier than Death Valley.

"You're in my home. Can't get more specific than that, unfortunately. I'm sure you understand." Eva sank onto the bed beside me, as if we were old friends. "Come on. You need to eat."

"How long have I..."

"You've been here a couple of days," Eva answered, her tone carrying a bit of a bite. "Sorry about the grogginess. You're quite feisty so we had to calm you down a bit. Walter didn't appreciate the black eye you gave him." My eyes followed her motions as she lifted a bowl of something steaming from the bedside table. "Come on. Open up."

My face scrunched up as I shook my head. "I'm not hungry."

I wasn't stupid. The woman had just admitted to drugging me, and now she thought I'd eat whatever she offered? No thanks.

"Come on now. You've been here for two days. You need your strength."

"Why are you doing this?" My voice cracked with emotion as I felt the corners of my eyes grow hot. "What do you want from me?"

This was so much worse than what her father had done the past few years. I'd almost gotten used to the thugs hassling me. There had always been threats of "accidents" but Braun had never done anything. Eva on the other hand... Suddenly the night in Grant's house flashed in my mind like a movie.

"You're not going to be able to do what you need to do if you don't eat," Eva continued. She lifted the spoon from the bowl, tapping off a few droplets, and brought it closer to my lips. "Open up."

"No!" I exclaimed, turning my head away. I wanted to swing. I wanted to fight. I wanted to make her feel as awful as she had been. "I don't want your food! I don't know what that is! How do I know it's not more drugs?!"

Eva sighed, frustrated, and took the spoon into her own mouth. She swallowed and gave me a hard stare before returning for another bite. "See? It's fine. You won't do me any good dead, Madeline."

"I want to go home," I whimpered. "Please. Just let me go home."

"I know that. And you will," Eva insisted. Her tone was unexpectedly soft. Why this woman was trying to comfort me, I couldn't understand. She was the reason I was here. She was the reason all of this happened. She was the reason Grant was...

"Grant," I gasped, suddenly remembering him left bleeding on the floor. My heart immediately started pounding in my ears. "Oh my god."

"I have it on good authority that he survived," Eva responded. "Your enormous teddy bear is fine. You have my word."