The Betrayal of the Underneath Pt 4
Multiple different people talking. It sounded like a large group. As the noises got louder, I moved slower. I was so confused.
Was I hallucinating? I got close enough that I could see people beyond the tunnel. They were all walking around calmly. Just going about their business. They looked normal, except they were all wearing grey and white. None of the clothes had any color. I looked around the space and all I saw were tables, chairs, and a large tree in the center of a clearing.
“I’m definitely hallucinating,” I thought.
I stood in the last shadowed spot before the opening. Just watching, waiting, and trying to form a plan. I looked at everything beyond the opening. There were 4 tables with 6 chairs each. There was a large open clearing, and at the other side of it were windows, like shop fronts. There was a tree fenced in, in the center of this clearing. It was bright but I couldn’t see any lights. The whole area was concrete.
I tried to hear the voices, to make out what they were saying, but it was garbled, like I was just hearing echoes. I refocused my attention to the people. I watched their movements, it seemed as though they were walking in circles around the tree. They seemed exceptionally pale, but healthy at the same time. They were all thin but not emaciated. They didn’t look to be related but they also all seemed content and like everything was normal.
“How could this be normal for anyone?” I thought.
I waited for what seemed like forever, until the clearing was empty. As the last couple cleared out, the light in the room grew dimmer.
“Maybe it’s motion activated?” I thought as I started to peak around the corner of the tunnel entrance.
I couldn’t decide what to do. Should I explore this area and see if there’s a way out within this complex, or should I turn around and try to find a way out through the tunnel. If the light in the clearing was motion activated, are their cameras? Will I get caught as soon as I walk in? But on the same note, there was a security guard in the tunnel, he’s sure to have found the crate I was in, broken and empty. They’re probably running through the tunnels looking for whoever broke out.
Then an even scarier thought crossed my mind, “What if I was supposed to wake up? What if this is all just a game to whoever lives here?”
I shook myself from this thought, I had to make a decision on what to do now, I couldn’t just sit here doing nothing.
I looked around and found a large rock, not too big to pick up but big enough that it should turn on the lights, if their motion activated. I tossed it into the room. It made a rather loud thud that echoed for a moment. The light got a little brighter and then faded again.
I listened for a mechanical whirling, like cameras moving around trying to locate the noise. I didn’t hear any.
I peaked out once again to look at the ceiling, where cameras should be. That’s when I saw that there wasn’t really a ceiling and there were no cameras. What I saw was unbelievable.
As I looked up, I couldn’t see an end. The tree was enormous but past that there were twinkling lights, like stars but huge. There were 3 levels of balconies all connected with stairs and there was more shop front like windows on all 3 levels. There was only one door that I could see, the door that the people left through on the bottom level. I decided to look through this room and try to see if this was the way out.
As I emerged into the room, the lights got brighter, as I looked up, I saw what looked like large rods of light hanging from the ceiling. As I continued to look at them, they were moving.
“How is that possible?” I whispered in a cracked voice. I just realized how dry my throat was. I peered into some of the windows and saw desks and tables, a chalkboard, and padding that was colorful. It looked like a classroom for young kids.
The next window down looked to be an adjoined room with sandboxes and blocks, some swings, and a small slide. I went to the other side and peered in those windows. This time I saw clothing and food with a small bar but no alcohol. There was a sign on the other side of this room but I couldn’t read it. The next room looked like a restaurant and as I walked up to the window, a door opened in the middle of it, like the glass had lifted away and disappeared.
I could smell the food from where I was. I walked in without thinking. I was so hungry and thirsty. I didn’t know how long I’d been unconscious. I walked up to the hot plates. There were so many options. I saw breakfast food everywhere. There was bacon and eggs, sausage gravy and biscuits, pancakes and waffles, and fruit syrups. There was orange juice and slices, lemonade, and tea. Everything was labeled but it wasn’t English. It looked like gibberish.
I grabbed food from this buffet and ate while keeping an eye on the door that was still open. I probably ate about a pound of food when I heard a speaker cut on, with a high pitch whine. The voice that came through seemed familiar.
“Ellie, don’t eat too much. You’ll make yourself sick.” said the voice.
“Can you hear me?” I asked.
“Yes.” it said.
“Where am I? Who are you? Why am I here?” I asked in quick succession.
“You don’t recognize my voice? I guess that makes sense, it has been about 10 years, your time.” the voice said, sounding disappointed.
I stood there astonished and confused. This voice did seem familiar but I couldn’t place it. No one called me Ellie anymore. 10 years. 10 years ago I was 14. 10 years ago, my dad left. He packed up and left me, my sister, and my mom. 10 years ago, I learned that I only had 1 parent and that was all I needed. Is this where he went, underground like a mole. Who does that? Is he the reason I was taken?
I wanted to scream. I wanted to fight him. I wanted to cry. All I could do was stand there, silent, waiting for anything to happen.
Nothing happened. The door stayed open, the lights stayed on, and there was just silence.
I stood still, waiting. So much had changed since he left. How could he think I would know his voice or want to hear from him? Better yet, how could he just leave? I wanted to run. I wanted out. And yet I wanted to see him, to prove to him how much I didn’t need him. Show him how little his leaving affected me. Anything to make him feel the pain I had dealt with and had never been able to show.
I stood there, paralyzed by the battle breaking out in my head.
No one came. Nothing changed. I stood there in silence for what felt like forever. I finally swallowed the rock in my throat and asked “Where am I?”
A different voice came through the speaker. This was a woman, she said “Josiah is on his way to you, it will be a few more minutes. He would like to explain everything to you himself.”
“Why should I listen to him? And his name is Daniel.” I said.
The voice didn’t retort. I was once again in silence. I walked out of the cafe and up to the tree, where I waited since the voice wasn’t responding.
The tree was magnificent. It was huge, but had beautiful carvings all the way up. I wondered how they managed this feat.
I heard the door to my right open and close. I heard footsteps approaching me. I didn’t look, I didn’t want to. If this was my father, I didn’t even want to see him. I wanted to deny him everything I could.
He cleared his throat, as if to get my attention. I didn’t move.
“I deserve the silent treatment. I never thought I’d see you again.” he said.
I didn’t move.
We stood there, him staring at me, me staring at the tree, both silent.
After what felt like another eternity, he turned toward the tree and broke the silence. “This was my focus when I came here too. I can’t tell you how long I stayed silent when they brought me here, and I was much older than you are.”
There was nothing he could say or do to make me speak. I would never forgive him. I missed out on being a teenager. I missed getting to go out with my friends. Ash was 7 when he left. Mom had to work 2 jobs to make ends meet, which meant I was stuck taking care of my little sister full time. Instead of going to the mall with my friends and rebelling, I was in charge of making dinner and ensuring my sister did her homework and bathed and got to bed on time.
On top of that, because he left, that bastard Gene moved in. For the first time in my life, I realized I blamed him for my abuse. I felt the tears I had been holding back since I woke up in that crate.
The tears started to slowly roll down my face. I stayed as silent as I could. I was glad he wasn’t looking at me. I wanted him to hurt but I also wanted to appear strong.
I stood there, trying to get a hold of myself, hoping he wouldn’t notice my emotion and think it was for him. I just wanted to go home, and pretend that this never happened.
I finally got a grip on my emotions and turned to walk away. He broke the silence again.
“Please don’t go. I’ve already missed so much of your life. I just want to know everything.”
“How could you?!” I shouted, before I could stop myself. It was like the tension exploded out of me.
I was looking him in the face. I didn’t expect it, I felt love for him. Through the pain and the anger, I could feel the love. It made my anger grow. How could I feel that way about the person who caused most of my pain?
Then I saw it, the pain on his face, it was like he knew. It was like he saw all the pain I’d been through. He looked like he knew I blamed him. There’s no way he knew everything from one look. Maybe he’d been spying on me all these years.
That thought made me even angrier. How could he have kept tabs on me and not helped me? How could he know and not intervene?
I could feel myself backsliding on thoughts I didn’t even know were true.
Damn my success in therapy, I just wanted to be angry. I wanted to lash out but I couldn’t bring myself to do it. He was still looking at me like he saw all my pain and the internal fight I was having.
“What happened to my girl?” He asked as he reached out to wipe away my tears.
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