Ellie Ellie froze halfway through waking as she felt the hard stone floor underneath her. Sweat had adhered her back to the floor, and it was unbearably hot. She wasnât at home, nor was she at Les and Robâs flat. She needed to be back at home.
She squeezed her eyes tightly shut, praying to wake up at home. She thought of Maya, and how she had told her of doing the same thing in the psychiatric hospital. She understood how she felt more than anyone ever should have.
Ellie opened her eyes quickly, just needing to know. Unfortunately, she wasnât met with what she was expecting. It was pitch black. She blinked, wondering if she had gone blind from the head injury, as she moved into an upright position and felt along the floor and wall to where the window was, alas forgetting about the pile of puke which she put her hand in.
Wiping her hand on the floor next to the invisible pile of vomit in the total blackness, Ellie pulled herself up to the window opening. She placed her head in it, stiff from sleeping on the hard floor, and by the position she had woken in, she hadnât moved at all in her sleep.
Slowly she began to make out a lightening in the upper part which might have been clouds. She saw the barrier of the horizon, where the jet black sea met the lighter clouds.
, she thought as she stared at the only tinge of light in that blackened place. Her head was still throbbing and she could feel a lump on the right side of the back of her head.
There was no breeze from the window to give any relief from the heat. It felt hotter than it had during the light, which she presumed was because of the humidity, the sheer volume of water hanging around her in the air. She took off her clammy zipped top and threw it in the corner where she could reach it.
Normally the sound of the sea calmed her, but now it was just threatening. If under any miracle she could get out of the fetter, it was telling her that she wasnât going to get very far.
Ellie returned to her corner, and started pulling on the chain. She banged the fetter on the ground, sending pain shooting up her leg from her ankle, but it didnât feel like it was going to give.
She felt every inch of the chain but it was solid, solid like the walls.
âThereâs no point injuring yourself, you canât get out,â a male voice came floating through the darkness, causing Ellie to yelp and look all around for itâs source.
âWhoâs there?â she called out, wondering how the sound was so near but the walls were so thick.
âIâm in the next cell,â the voice answered. It was kind of hard to understand what he was saying as he had the strangest accent, like nothing she had ever heard before.
âHow come I can hear you then?â she asked, thinking that was probably the least important of all the questions she could have posed.
âSomeone dug out the mortar from inbetween some of these bricks, must have took them an epoch,â he replied.
âBeen here long?â her voice was stronger than she felt.
âToo long,â he said almost lazily.
Ellie didnât know what to ask next, whether she wanted to know the answers.
âDo we get fed?â She guessed that was a reasonably important question, as she felt herself beginning to break down again. She had company, which was not what she was expecting, though she could not say for sure what she was in fact expecting, if anything.
âYeah, itâs edible,â the disembodied voice replied.
âIâm Ellie,â she told him as her voice broke.
âViskra, I would say pleased to meet you, but you know,â he half laughed flippantly, although she detected something almost breaking in his voice.
âAre we alone?â Ellie half sobbed, requiring her new friend to ask her to repeat it.
âYeah, for the moment.â
âWhen will it get light? I want to see,â she sniffed, returning to the window.
âYouâre in the dark?â he was incredulous. âThatâs, thatâs...â Viskraâs voice tailed off as he couldnât think of anything to end his sentence with that didnât indicate it was possible for things to be worse.
âYou have light?â wondered Ellie, more conversationally than anything as she stared at the horizon line.
âI have a project,â he replied simply.
âWhat...project?â
âJust this thing,â he alluded evasively.
âAnd...?â She couldnât understand why he didnât want to tell her, they were as good as cell mates, his voice was probably the last friendly voice she was ever going to hear.
âI have to make something or they will kill my family,â Viskra blurted out, and Ellie could understand why he didnât want to talk about it.
âDo you know who these people are?â she moved over to the wall his voice was emanating from, as the sea was masking his words.
âNo. And I donât want to, I just want to go home to my father,â he sounded like a little boy, but defiant to the last.
âIâm sorry but they donât care about anything or anyone. Once they have what they want, you will be dead too.â It was the truth, but it still burned her to speak the words out loud.
âAs long as my father is well, I donât care,â he said stubbornly.
âHow do you know heâs not already dead!â shouted Ellie, anger rising in her like lava from her diaphragm. She knew her new friend didnât need to hear that, but she knew that whatever he was making for Steve was not going to be a good thing.
Her remark was met with silence, as she pulled out her pony tail and ran her fingers through her hair, pulling it tightly in all directions between her fingers.
âIâm sorry, okay,â she apologised with stubbornness lingering in her voice.
More silence.
âPlease speak to me, come on I need your voice,â she was begging now, new tears falling.
Ellie curled up on the floor again, away from the puke. The smell of it filled her nostrils, from the floor and from her hands.
The smell and the sound of the sea came down on her, weighing down on her inert body, waiting for death to escort her to wherever she was going.
âOh come on, you canât ignore me forever,â Ellie spoke to the wall but again, it failed to answer. âAt least let me know youâre okay.â
The darkness was impenetrable and she was alone and lost, while her only friend wouldnât talk to her.
âIâm fine,â he returned, boldly but wavering.
âWe only have each other, please donât go away,â Ellie had no tears left but her voice wavered the same as Viskraâs.
âI wonât go away,â he promised.
They started a long conversation, telling each other everything about themselves, about those they loved and the things they loved to do. They talked all night, whiling away the long hours of darkness together, talking like old friends reunited after a long break.
Ellie thought that it was the longest night of her life, but they just got longer.