Chapter 14

Chapter Fourteen

 

            I wasn’t expecting the words “I love you” to come out of Lucas’s mouth yesterday. I wasn’t expecting to feel the words either. In that moment I was stunned. I felt all kinds of emotions, actually.  I don’t know if I really did love him before this. But now, I know I do. Maybe it’s because of having to work together to find a way out or maybe it’s because it was always there and I’m just now seeing it. All I know is he gives me hope of escaping. The more I’m with him, the more I feel like it’s possible"the more I feel unstoppable.

            I get out of bed and get ready to go down for breakfast. I decide to walk over to Lucas’s room to see if had woken up already, since it we were up pretty late last night. Plus, he probably slept over because he hasn’t seen his bed in--what--five days, almost.

            I knock a couple times and whisper, “Lucas, are you awake?”

            No answer.

            I whisper again. “Lucas.”

            Still no answer.  Maybe he went downstairs already.

            I head down the hallway and down the stairs. When I reach the cafeteria I head down the line as normal. After I have my tray of food I glace over at the table Lucas and I normally sit at, thinking he’s already sitting there waiting for me. He’s not there, though. My immediate reaction is to panic, but I quickly suppress it and walk over to the table to sit down. I slowly nibble on the toast, trying not to think of the worst. It is hard not to think like that, especially in this place. I mean, the absolute best-case scenario, he’s talking to Ramon or someone like that. The worst-case scenario--

            My eyes begin to tear up. Suddenly, I’m not hungry anymore. I dump the rest of the food on the tray and exit the room. I run back up to Lucas’s room to see if maybe I’m just messing with my own mind and he was up here this whole time. Of course that not the case. I knock on the door multiple times and there’s still no answer. I turn around and see a guy in the hallway about to enter his own room. I walk up to him right before he unlocks it.

            “Excuse me,” I say.

            He smiles, “Yes.”

            “Have you by any chance seen the guy who stays in that room over there?” I ask while pointing to Lucas’s room.

            “No, I’m sorry.” He enters his room and closes the door behind him.

            I continue to tell myself not to panic as I walk down the hallway and towards the poolroom. What if he’s not in there? I keep telling myself he’s in there, Natalie. Stop worrying for no reason. How can I listen to myself when I have this feeling deep in my stomach that he’s gone. And it’s not the “he’s dead” feeling, it’s just a “he’s gone” feeling. I don’t know why, but that scares even more. I hold the tears back as I continue walking.

            I arrive in front of the poolroom and stand there. I close my eyes and hope he’s in there even though I know he’s not. I walk into the room and look around. He’s nowhere to be found, as predicted.      I slowly back out of the room and turn around as I push my hair out of my face. After I’ve went through every room I could think of, I realize it’s time for lunch. When I enter the room, I glance over at the table Lucas was sitting at when I first arrived here. The same people who were sitting there then, are sitting there now. I walk over to their table and sit.

            I cross my fingers on the table. “Do any of you remember me?” I say as my heart beats faster and faster with hope.

            They all stop talking and look at me. The guy Lucas was sitting by, nods. “It’s Natalie, right?”

            I nod.

            “Yea, Lucas talked about you all the time.”

            I grin, but then the thought of Lucas being gone comes back to mind. My eyes tear up again. “H--have you seen him around, lately?”

            He stands up. “Maybe we should go talk in private.”

            I stand up as well and follow him out.

            He enters the room Jayden and I were in a couple weeks ago, when he told me his name.

            “What is it?” I say, anxiously.

            “Last night,” He begins to explain. “After he left your room, we were talking about things. In the middle of the conversation, he started having chest pain; kind of like you did your first day here. When he fell to the ground, I ran to get him help. They put him in the Unstable Housing and Office hallway. When I went to go check on him--”

            My stomach drops. “Then what?”

“He wasn’t there. He disappeared like some of the others.”

A tear falls from my eye. I go to say something but then I have a flashback. A flashback of when I was late to dinner and he told me he thought I had disappeared.

“No one just disappears.” I whisper.

“Natalie, it happens.” He says.

I chuckle. “I don’t who you are or who anyone in this place is, for that matter. However, no one just disappears. I know that.” I say while whipping the tear off my cheek and backing out of the room.

I turn around and head back down to the cafeteria.

“Natalie!” I hear him shout my name.

I ignore him and continue walking.

When I enter the cafeteria, I walk over to the woman with the tablet.

“You’re a little late, Natalie.” She smiles.

“Actually, I’m not hungry. I just have a question.”

“Yes”

“Has Lucas Shuttersworth come in for any meal today?”

She taps on the tablet a couple times and frowns. “I’m sorry. He’s not in our database, anymore.”

I clinch my fist and start to breathe heavy. I exit the room and lean against the wall. Right now, I could choose to get depressed and cry, believing everything they tell me. I could give up on trying, but no. That’s what they want. I refuse to give them anything they want. Right now, I choose to get angry. I have had enough. I refuse to take anymore.

Reviews

[JBoone]

This almost made me cry. I am excited for the rest. Thisi s going to be a great ending.