Chapter Fourteen SCARLETT

Chapter Fourteen

S CARLETT

Then

Maybe thirty days later in the basement

By my count I’d been in this room for at least a month. The bones in my hips were sharp, and my stomach always grumbled for food. I’d stopped fighting him. Tried to smile when he took pictures. It wasn’t a conscious decision, but I was tired of the bruises. Tanner had left us a lamp last week, and now we had light to punch into the darkness. Better to see the four brick walls, the crawling June bugs, and the grate across the basement window. Who knew how long the bulb would last? He’d also removed my chain. Maybe Della had been right. Be nice. Survive. Escape.

I’d found a pebble and started scratching into the wall each time Tanner made me do it. Weekdays I’d usually scratch two hash marks, but those numbers doubled on the weekend. He liked having Della present when he did it. Most times, she sat in the corner, her gaze averted. At first, I didn’t look at her, but in the last few days I’d made myself stare at her until she saw me. I wanted her to see what she’d done to me. I was here because of her.

Many times, he took Della upstairs. Strangely, he needed privacy with her. I wouldn’t see her for most of the day and night, and oddly, the small space felt empty when she was gone. I hated her constant chatter and singing. And I missed her.

Now as I lay on my side, carving another hash mark into the wall, Della smoothed her hand over my hip in an almost affectionate way. “You’re doing a better job.”

“What’s that mean?”

“You’re not fighting as much. He hates resistance.”

“How much does the Other Girl fight him?” We’d not talked about her in weeks, but I hadn’t stopped thinking about her. I so wanted to believe she’d escaped and was doing well.

“Don’t ask him about the Other Girl. It makes him mad.”

I stared at my scratches. How many hours had I studied these growing marks, wondering if I’d eventually fill all four walls? “I’m asking you. Who is the Other Girl?”

She smiled as if we were buddies. “Why do you care?”

I rolled on my side toward Della and stared into her resolute expression. “Tell me.”

Della’s smile always had a tense, clownish vibe. “I only saw her a few times.”

“Did you trick her like you did me?”

“I didn’t lure her here. Tanner did.”

I tipped my head against the brick wall. “How did he fool her?”

“Same as you and me, I guess. Charming. He’s a pretty man. Sweet words. You must’ve noticed him out there.”

“Yeah.”

She laid her hand gently on my hair and began to toy with the greasy strands. “We aren’t so different. I wanted someone to love me, too.”

I shook off her fingers, annoyed her assessment hit close to home. “Is the Other Girl still upstairs?”

“He won’t tell me where she is.”

“Do you think he let her go?” I sat up and stared at her.

Della shook her head as she took my hair again in her hands and began to divide it into three thick strands. “Not in the way you think.”

“How do you know?”

Her gaze grew distant as she coiled my hair into a braid. “I just do.”

“He’s going to kill me.” In my gut, I’d known this day was coming. There were moments I’d welcomed it. But faced with death, I realized I didn’t want to die. “How many girls have there been?”

“I’m not sure.”

I shook my head. “He likes you. He must talk to you upstairs.”

“Sometimes he talks. Most times he doesn’t.” She released my hair and leaned against the wall.

“What does he talk about?”

“Random stuff. His work. The projects he has. His plans to be rich and famous. Problems with his girlfriend.”

I shifted away from her. I winced when my insides pinched. “He has a girlfriend?”

“Yeah. I’ve seen pictures of her. She’s not super pretty. Tanner says she adores him. He says she’ll do anything for him.”

“I can’t believe he can be normal with a woman.”

“He’s not exactly normal. He sometimes will lock me in a box under his bed when he’s doing it with her.”

“He puts you in a box.”

“Being upstairs isn’t always great.” A soulful grin tugged at the corners of her lips. “It’s nice to have you here. It’s nice to have a friend.”

“We’re not friends,” I said.

“But we are,” she said. “No one will ever understand you better than me. We’ve become sisters in here.”

We were both walking the same path right now, but she was mistaken if she thought this was friendship. An enemy-of-my-enemy kind of union.

I closed my eyes.

“One day, you’ll help him get another girl,” she said. “And when you do, you’ll understand me better.”

I understood what she was saying. Tanner knew how to hurt me. How long could I endure this and stay me? Tears welled in my eyes. “I won’t. Never. I can’t.”

She wiped away a tear with her thumb. “You can. Don’t worry, it won’t be as terrible as you think. I’ll show you how.”

I looked at her as if she’d lost her mind. I’d beaten on the walls of this room for days, maybe weeks. But they were impenetrable. Tanner was my only chance to get out of here.

Della smiled. “You’re thinking about it, right?”

“He’ll never let me out of here.”

She kissed me gently on the cheek. The touch was so tender, I had to fight back tears.

“He will as soon as he knows you won’t run,” she said. “He needs to believe you’re loyal, like me.”

I didn’t argue, which for me was close to an agreement. “Why didn’t you run when you had the chance?”

“He said he’d kill the Other Girl if I did.”

“But you didn’t save her, did you?”

Her jaw tensed. “No, I didn’t save her.”

“Why are you so calm?”

“I’m not,” Della said. “But I have to be patient for now.”