Chained Read Online Free PDF Page B

surviving.  Someone will find us eventually.”
     
    A terrible thought lanced through my head, one I was terrified to ask, but too scared to hold onto.  “Jenny, how long have you been here?”
     
    The fingers disappeared.  I heard a sound that might have been a sob, or a laugh.  “What's the date?”
     
    When I told her, she responded with what was definitely a laugh, albeit a short and humorless one.  “Long enough.  Longer than any of the others.”
     
    A thin wail came from Annabelle's cell.  It sounded like the cry of a child.  A pale face with huge blue eyes and pitch-black hair appeared at the third door.  This must be Annabelle. 
     
    Annabelle didn't say anything, just began to sing.  Her voice had an edge to it, a note of desperation and depression beyond anything I could imagine.
     
    The itsy-bitsy spider crawled up the water spout
    Down came the rain and washed the spider out
    Out came the sun and dried up all the rain
    But itsy-bitsy spider would never climb again!
     
    The song trailed off into hysterical laughter, followed by furious shushing from Jenny and soon after by quick footsteps and the door at the end of the hall banged open.  I ran back to my cot and curled up on it, wrapping myself in the blankets.  I was trembling, my heard thumping so hard that it made my chest hurt. 
     
    The footsteps approached, then stopped.  There was a jangling of keys, a door clicked open.
     
    “No!  No!”  Annabelle screamed.  “Out! Go away!”  There was the wail again, that childish sound of utter terror.  But the owner of the boots and keys was silent.  Annabelle's screams raised in intensity, something thudded against the wall, there were several sounds like blows landing, and a repeated thumping like something metal was being hit on the cinder blocks.
     
    I stuffed my blankets into my ears, trying to stop the noise.  Annabelle's screams echoed into the core of my being, grating into my bones.  I bit my lip until it bled to keep from crying out.  My throat was so tight I could barely breathe. 
     
    Please.  Please.  Make it stop.  I'm sorry.  Please stop hurting her.   I don't know if I begged these words aloud or silently.  Please stop screaming.  Please stop.  Please make it stop.   I lay on my cot, blankets and pillow clutched tightly over my head, begging and pleading for Annabelle's shrieks and cries to stop.  I was sure that she was being beaten to death...and I was going to be witness to a murder.  My blankets were soaked with sweat and tears.
     
    As suddenly as it had started, the sounds stopped.  Annabelle's screams turned to whimpers and sobs.  Boots on the floor, a lock clicking.  Then the steps approached my cell and I lay paralyzed, staring at the window in my door.
     
    A face appeared through the bars.  It wasn't Travis this time.  This man was older, taller, crueler.  A scar slashed across one cheek, the skin on that side of his face rippled and puckered as if it had been burned.  Dark, oily hair hung into his eyes, and a thick beard covered most of his face.  He looked into my window, and one side of his mouth twisted up into a sinister smile.
     
    “Tonight.”  That was all that he said before turning and striding back down the hall.  The door slammed shut behind him, and we were plunged into silence once again, except for the sound of Annabelle's diminishing sobs. 
     
    “Oh Anna...”  came Jenny's voice from her cell. “Anna, are you okay?”
     
    The only answer was a sob.
     
    “Anna, I told you not to fight.  It's better if you don't fight.”
     
    There was no answer, the only sounds were my heartbeat in my ears and the distant sounds of crying.  I wept silently, floating away into oblivion on those last words:
     
    It's better if you don't fight.
     
    ***
     
    Mom's face appeared in the doorway to my bedroom.  “Hey Sarah, you got a minute?”
     
    I was doing homework, of course I had a minute.  I gladly pushed the papers