Page 82 of A Light in the Darkness
The air is thick and hot, and I’ve tossed and turned for hours by the time I sit up, abandoning the idea of sleep. Just like the first night I met him, I think I’ll go out to the pool and try to burn the restless energy out of my veins.
I don’t have a swimsuit, and I’m not keen on going in my bra and panties, so I throw a large shirt over the tank that would have shown everything once it got wet, and step into a pair of shorts, gathering my hair off my neck.
I swipe the key card off the dresser and open the door as quietly as I can, hoping the light that filters in from the hall doesn’t wake him. It doesn’t reach far enough to touch him, so I slip out into the corridor and let the door close slowly behind me, ensuring it doesn’t click too loudly into place.
The hallway is cooler, and I can breathe easier now that there’s a physical barrier between us and I know I’m not going to launch myself, naked, onto his lap. I feel the heat coiled inside of me easing with each step I put between us, and I’mpractically skipping through the hall, delirious with relief at the idea of getting out to the pool.
I stop as soon as I hear the sobbing. The sound sends a strange familiarity through me… not quite déjà vu, but too familiar to ignore the unsettling feeling it procures under my ribs.
Pinpointing the sound with which door it’s coming from, I listen for a moment, torn between minding my own business or checking that everything is okay. I end up knocking on the door, the rapping sound interrupting the soft sobs. I hear her try to stifle them, and then wait to see if I go away, but I don’t. When I knock again, I hear movement on the other side of the door, and after a minute, it opens.
I haven’t met the girl who appears on the other side, opening it slowly so that she can appraise me and try to decide whether I’m any kind of threat. I can tell by the wide eyes that she looks at me with that she’s young… probably the youngest I’ve seen here. The whites of her eyes are red and raw, which tells me she’s been crying for a while, and I suddenly remember that my eyes aren’t back to normal yet, either. I’m probably a scary sight for a child right now.
“Are you okay?” I offer, because it would probably be more unsettling if I ran away without following up with the reason I knocked on her door.
I know how stupid it is to ask that, even without knowing the extent of what these people have been through. I snapped at my best friend for asking such a useless question, for wasting my mental energy with filler words, and now I’ve done the same to this girl. To be fair, no one gives you lessons on how to be a victim, though the degree I’ve been working toward should have taught me how totreata victim.
“Yes,” the girl sniffles, doing her best to quell the tears still welling in her eyes, to hide them from me.
“I couldn’t sleep.” I tell her, talking simply for the sake of keeping her from shutting the door in my face… keeping her from being alone. “It’s my first night here.”
She manages a watery smile for me. “It’s not bad here.” She assures me. “You’ll be okay.”
“I’m Claire,” I tell her. “What’s your name?”
For a moment, I think she isn’t going to give it to me. She holds her name like it’s privileged information, and then she swallows whatever doubts she has about me.
“I’m Taissa.”
Taissa. The girl who wanted to see Remy. I know for a fact she didn’t, because he hasn’t left my side but for a minute as Rich showed me around earlier. At dinner, I studied faces as best I could without being rude, and I don’t remember seeing Taissa there.
“Are you hungry? I’m going to go find something to eat, but I’m afraid to go alone.”
I see her hesitation in every breath as she glances back at the safety of her room, and then peeks out into the hall behind me. Pressuring her won’t make her feel inclined to come with me, but my lie about being scared entreats her to not let me go alone.
“Okay,” she agrees. “Just give me a minute to put a sweater on.”
She manages a small smile for me when she returns, blinking away the last of the tears in her eyes. “You don’t have to be scared here. These people… they’re not like the rest.”
“The rest?” I puzzle, unsure what she means by it.
“The rest of the world. It’s cruel, evil.” She shivers and pulls at the edges of her green hoodie. “They’re different here.”
I want to tell her that’s not true, that there is still plenty of good in the world. I want to give her the confidence to return to a world full of strangers and think that everything will be alright, but I don’t have it in me to lie to her. The truth is these peopleareexceptional.
Remy is exceptional.
I watch her out of the corner of my eye as she looks anxiously at the elevator we’re approaching. I nod toward the door that leads to the stairwell. “Mind if we take the stairs? I’m restless… have to move as much as I can.”
“Of course.” Taissa says easily, looking grateful for my request. As we step into the stairwell, I realize how dark it is and grope for a light switch, but I don’t feel anything. “They’re motion activated, but they’re a bit… finnicky. Should kick on in a minute.”
She leads me into the stairwell, showing me that it’s fine, but I stay rooted to the spot, my mouth suddenly dry.
“Claire?”
It’s stupid to be scared of the dark after everything. Honestly, it is better to be alone in the dark than in the light with some of the monsters I know, but that thought doesn’t make my legs move. Taissa steps in front of me, and then her hand closes around my wrist, drawing my attention.
“Are you afraid of the dark?”
