Page 105 of Bones
“She’s already punishin’ me,” he murmured.
My heart leapt into my throat, but then he continued.
“She knows you bein’ in here is killin’ me.”
“Just please, don’t...don’t provoke her,” I begged.
“It’s ok, Bones,” he whispered. “I’ll be fine. It’s you I’m worried about.”
A radio crackled and then Mac’s voice came through. “Trey, time’s up.”
Trey swore, and I couldn’t help clinging to him again. “I’ll be back, ok?” he promised. “Me or Mac. We’re gonna get you out.” He passed me the second bottle of water. “When you finish this, chuck it down the corridor so no one sees it.”
I tried hard not to cry. “Ok.”
“Fuck,” he muttered.
“Can you leave the light?”
“I’m afraid if Sax or Madame sees it they’ll know you had help,” he said. “I’m so sorry, Bones.”
I tried to push past the panic at the thought of being swallowed by darkness again.
“I’m sorry, darlin’.” Trey sounded wrecked. “I’m so sorry.”
“Trey!” Mac’s angry voice came through the radio.
Trey grabbed the radio and hissed into it, “I’m comin’!” He turned back to me. “I gotta go. We’ll get you out, I swear it.”
I listened to his footsteps fade away, and the absence of him made the darkness feel even worse than before.
* * *
I tried to ration my dried meat and water, but all too soon they were gone. Did Madame expect people to smuggle me water or did she want me to die? I could go a while without food but only a few days without water. I tried not to think about how many people probably died in this horrible cell.
It wasn’t too long after Trey’s visit that I woke upfreezing.I sat up and realized everything was damp—the walls, the floor, my clothes. Water dripped somewhere, and after so much silence the sound felt painful. I huddled in my corner, damp and miserable. A regular person would probably get sick from sitting in these conditions, and I hoped my powers would keep me from falling ill.
Gods, if I just had a light, I could bear this. I tried to summon my powers again, begging any light to appear, but nothing happened.
I started to feel like a fraying rope. The strands broke one by one until only a single strand held me together. My entire body ached for water, and my lips were dry and cracked. I tried to wring some of the water from my clothes, despite knowing it would probably make me sick, but there wasn’t enough.
If I screamed would anyone hear it?
I tried to get myself under control, but maybe that last strand snapped because the next thing I knew I was sobbing. I wanted to grip the bars of the cell and scream and scream, but if there was anything I knew how to do, it was how to breakquietly.
What would Madame do to me? How would she punish me? Would she hurt Trey? Or Apple? Gods, I couldn’t handle that. I couldn’t.
I wished Trey were here, and I hated that I wished it. I knew I shouldn’t let myself get dependent on him, but I couldn’t fucking help myself.
It took me a while to realize the darkness had begun to lighten. When I did, I tried to stuff my sobs back down so Sax wouldn’t see me crying, but I’d lost control of my own body. I settled for hiding my face in my knees.
“Bones?”
The sharp voice made me raise my head, and I met Mac’s eyes glinting in the light of the flashlight. He looked furious, as usual, but my entire self dissolved into relief.
I lunged to the bars, reaching out for him. “Mac,” I sobbed.
He crouched and took my hand, eyes widening at my reaction. I gripped his hand with both of mine, clinging to it, and he set the flashlight on the floor so he could wrap his other hand over the top of mine.
