THE THINGS I NEEDED TO SEE

The room

My eyes started to open. I still felt sick from the car ride and I didn't know where I was now. The room I'm in has a single light bulb swinging from the ceiling. There was a bucket in the corner and the walls were a light gray color. I sat up on the mattress that I was knocked out on. Lev must have known those people before he left. It would explain why he didn't want a random person with him. He did say he had a plan, so I'm assuming getting to this group was part of it. I looked around the room, trying to find a possible way out. There wasn't and if I had to guess, they probably locked the door. I'm stupid for letting my curiosity get the better of me. I wouldn't be here if I had just stayed out of my parent's closet. I needed to stop blaming myself, but I couldn't help it. The mattress accepted my body as I fell back onto it. Tears started gathering in my eyes, but I refused to let them fall. While I was having my self-pity moment, someone unlocked the door and opened it. Quickly, I started to wipe the remaining tears I had.

"You look disgusting" a man laughed.

I gave him a dirty look. It seemed like he enjoyed taunting people, but I didn't have the energy to argue with him. The man was bald and wore overalls with a long white sleeved shirt. He walked in front of me holding a bottle of water.

"Drink some and try to save a little so you can bathe too." he snickered as he handed the water to me.

He kept looking at me as I opened the water and started drinking it. The cool liquid made me feel so good, I couldn't stop drinking it until it was gone. The bottle was empty, so I placed it on the floor. The man was hovering over me and left no space between us.

" Follow me" he ordered.

He was acting odd, but I got up and did as he said. We were in a dark narrow hallway that led to a bathroom. He opened the door for me and closed it after I went inside. I slowly eased myself into the bathtub, then turned it on. The water was freezing, but it would work to get the mud and blood off of me. The man wasn't wrong about me being disgusting. The water became dirty fast and it started to gross me out. It hurt to wash the wounds on my face and arms. Eventually, he started knocking on the door. My five minutes were up. I got out of the tub and searched for a towel. There wasn't one in sight. Without warning, the man opened the door. I felt exposed and embarrassed. I ran for my clothes so I could cover myself as much as I could.

"Can I change?" I blurted out.

He looked at me for a moment, then turned around. As I was throwing my clothes on, I could hear more people coming down the hallway. My face got hot and I finished putting on my tanktop. I tied my jacket around my waist and started walking towards the man again. I could see Lev and some other people walking towards us in the hall. The man gestured for me to follow him and we started heading back to the room. I looked at Lev, but he didn't acknowledge me. As I walked into the room,the man started closing the door and locked it.

A few hours passed and nobody came near the room I was in. I didn't know why I was being held here. Honestly, I expected to be interrogated by someone. Yet, nothing happened. It was silent and I knew it had to be dark by now, so these people were going to sleep soon. I wasn't going to see the outside of this room until tomorrow.

"Hey"someone whispered from outside the room.

I jolted up and started going towards the door.

"I'm coming inside" they said.

The door creaked open and I stopped walking. It was the man from earlier. My heart stopped when I noticed he had the same sunken eyes and disfigured skin as my mom. I didn't know where I was gonna run. This man was bigger than me and he was blocking my only way out. Before I could do anything, he started charging at me and pushed me into the wall. A loud thud echoed throughout the room. He got on top of me and began to choke me. I couldn't scream, there was no one around to help me. I tried my best to hurt him. I ended up scratching his face. The skin slipped off and some stayed attached to my nails. His eyes were wide and he started laughing. I didn't want to die like this. I kept trying to hurt him in some kind of way, but there was no oxygen in my lungs anymore and I could feel my body becoming weaker. In the corner of my eye I saw a baseball hit the side of his head and he let go of my neck. I started gasping for air while I crawled away from the man. I could hear the baseball go into the man's head 2 more times. Once it stopped, I looked up and saw Lev. His eyes were full of rage until he looked at me. He walked over to me and reached for my hands. I accepted his offer and he helped lift me up. He let go of my hands. He began to look at my wounds that I had from before, then his eyes moved to my neck.

"I'm sorry" he said gently.

I couldn't talk. He just looked at me, and we stood still for a moment.