[ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]
.I heardwhimpering, and felt instant shame when Irealized the sound was coming from me.Iwas so pathetic, unfocused, and unsure.Ireopened my eyes and tried to makemyself aware.Even my worst daydreamshad never felt this real.Why wasn tCharlie waking me up? It could have beenlike my favorite of Poe s poems, A Dreamwithin a Dream, without the romance.I retraced the dream in my head.Ithadn t been a long one, and it was simpleenough.The sound of the storm returninghad awoken me from my sleep, and Isquirmed my way from Charlie sembrace, thinking I could get some waterand be back before I had to wake him.Butthen something, someone large andterrible, grabbed my arms.I was pulled into a familiar entrywaywith container holds. You shut the hell up!Once inside Hold 6, Wallace pulledme up only to shove me back down to thefloor.I picked myself up, still trippingover my bare feet and sprained ankle.Wallace pushed me back down andlaughed.As I landed, the air was knockedfrom me.I was sure my lungs werebroken, deflated balloons that could neverinflate again.I was confident I was goingto die from that single act alone.I felt thetears on my face; the salt they producedstung something on my mouth. Can t believe this crap! Hedelivered a kick to my side.  Cause ofyou I m out of a job.And if Walden thinkshe isn t going to pay me for this gig, he sgot another thing coming. Stop, please!He laughed and pulled me by the haironce more across the maze of containersand past the first deck of webs.He wasyelling about something, calling me namesthat were lost in the wind and the sound ofthe blood rushing to my ears.I shut myeyes and turned off my head.I tried toscream again, yet the sound didn t come.Ienvisioned Charlie, but his image wasfuzzy against the pounding of my skull.The most ominous feeling of dread fellover me that no one would be coming tosave me.No one was coming to rescue me thistime. I was just going to snap this prettylittle neck.But given the way that hillbillylooks at you, I m going to make sure tofinish you off nice and slow. His laughrang in my ears, echoing against the metalcontainers.I looked away from him then,his face an easel of bruises and scabs thatCharlie had painted. The best part, heranted on,  is that I m going to make himwatch.Too bad Walden s old lady andkid aren t here.I fell from his hand and heard thejingling of chains as they fell fromsomewhere close by.I tried to screamagain, but he grabbed me by the shouldersand shoved me inside the confessional.Iscreamed until my throat felt like roaringacid, then tried to shout it out, the tearsgetting stuck in my throat.Yet for all myefforts, the sounds caused no effects. Don t worry, I m going to go get yourboyfriend right now. The sour of hisbreath came to me.And just then it waseasy to imagine him in the dark, justwaiting and planning for the perfect timeto strike. By the time I m done with you,you ll wish I had done you in right the firsttime.No way I m getting shoved out cause of some stupid little bitch!No, no, no, no.Whether I called outloud or whether the words remained in myhead is unclear.Ironically, the mosthelpful element was the dark, whichprevented me from seeing any blood orother stains of body fluid which I knewhad to be caked on those surfaces.Instead,my head was stuck on more current events,like my worrisome Dad and thatwonderfully handsome jerk above, who Iprayed would be okay.I could deal with dying.I had figuredthat was going to happen before my timewith Charlie was through, but despiteeverything, I couldn t stand the idea of himbeing hurt.I knew now what was worse; Icould live a life without Charlie.If I wenthome and couldn t find him later, I couldat least envision him happy somewhere inthe world.But if he was dead, then therewould be nothing left to wish for, no hope.Standing up, I tried leveraging myselfagainst the door.There wasn t enoughlight in the booth to see anything butshadows, and even through the heavyfaucet of tears, I could smell the rust of therainwater.Still, I tried not to think ofCharlie.Keeping my focus allowed menot to panic.I could feel how tender myface was without having to look at it theswelling of my lip with my bleeding gum [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]