Once again, I was met with silence. I scrambled to my knees and started to feel my way around the area, only to find that I was by myself.
How could that be? Graham would never purposely leave me alone. Right?
No way. Besides, there was no way for us to get out. He tried to lift the hatch and it never budged which meant something had happened while I was asleep.
Dammit! I wasn't normally a heavy sleeper. Being a foster kid didn't allow for it, so I must've been more tired than I realized if I was able to sleep through someone taking Graham out of the hole without me noticing.
My stomach chose that moment to remind me that it had been a while since I last ate but I pushed the thought away. I couldn't think about food when Graham was missing.
I was in the middle of searching the space for a second time when the groan of a rusty hinge stopped me in my tracks. Someone was opening the door. The sudden bright light hurt my eyes, but it was the fact that Graham was being tossed back in with me, rather than climbing in of his own accord, that caught my attention.
"Oh my God, Graham!" I crawled over to where he lay curled in a ball with his arms behind his back. "What happened to you?"
His only response was a groan.
"Eat," was the only warning I received before a loaf of bread and a canteen of water was tossed into the hole with us. The metal container made a loud thump and the bread rolled around but I lost sight of where it went when we were thrust back into darkness.
I waited until the sound of a lock clicking in place echoed around us before I spoke again.
"Let me get these ropes off you."
I felt around in the dark until I managed to locate the scratchy material.
Thankfully whoever tied the knots didn't do the best job and I was able to get them off Graham within a few minutes. He groaned but managed to sit up once he was free.
"Why did they do this to you?"
"Not sure. They didn't exactly talk to me."
I wasn't an expert on torture but didn't the captors usually ask for information? I kept the question to myself for now.
"Let me find the canteen and bread they threw in. You need to keep your strength up."
I found the water easily enough but the bread took me some time because it rolled into the corner. I tried not to think aboutwhat kind of particles it picked up in the process. If I didn't want to starve to death, I couldn't be picky about things like dust.
"Here, drink this."
I felt around his body, getting a better impression of just how large and muscular he really was, until I got to his face and then his lips. I winced when Graham hissed at my touch. "Sorry. I can't see down here, so I don't know how badly you're hurt."
I know they say your eyes adjust to the dark the more time you spent in it, but I called bullshit. Either that or my eyes were defective because I couldn't make out a damn thing. Oh and every time they lifted the stupid hatch, it burned my retina so bad I had to look away. I didn't want to know what that meant for my future.
If I even had one at this rate.
"Nothing I can't handle. Bumps and bruises mostly. Oh and a split lip."
"That sounds bad enough. Especially because we have nothing to clean you up and only this measly loaf of bread to eat. Do you think they plan to give us more?"
Panic was starting to set in.
Actually, it was already present, but it was coming and going based on how distracted I became. Right now my full focus was on my rumbling stomach and what that meant for us.
"Probably not." Graham shifted around. "Eat. I can hear how hungry you are."
I shook my head even though he probably couldn't see me. "No, you need to eat. It's the only way you're going to heal."
I knew that better than most. Years of abuse taught me to take care of myself. Otherwise it only made things worse.
"Split it in half."
