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H o l l o w s I n
T I M E
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The air was colder inside than outside. It was something I found normal; it was dangerously familiar to me. The five Guardians who had followed me in—Jameson, and three other guys accompanied by only one woman, look as if they'd just seen a wild torture chamber. It was. But I was well-adjusted to the skin crawling feeling of the cold darkness that always scalded my skin.

I walked on in, right up to the nearest cage and pushed the key into it. It was a woman, maybe in her sixties, and she looked up at me, a numb expression making her grateful smile simply disappear as if it never existed. I pulled open the cage door and it let out a strangled groan as I yanked it from its jammed position.

Cold touches met as I grasped onto her hand, trying to help her out. Someone crouched beside me and held their hand out towards her too, and I was surprised when the satanic man himself was trying to fix a minor hitch in a big problem. But he wouldn't be able to fix me. With a yank from him and a helping hand from me, we managed to get the mangled lady out of her cage. Her limbs had been squeezed into tight spaces, and so she found it difficult to get onto her feet—so we let her be. The Guardians tended to her whilst I dived in for the next cage.

I was surprised to see a girl no older than myself, and we just sat there and stared at each other for a while, as if trying to figure out each others stories. She must know mine—all those horrid men ever did was taunt me with those God forsaken nicknames.

"You really are pretty." The girl murmured as she reached out, a finger poking through the hole of the bars as if she was going to touch my 'pretty face'. I smiled at her and trialled two very alike keys before finally succeeding on the third. Like the woman, she was crippled too, but her age gave her stamina that the lady didn't, and she was on her feet, standing beside me as if she couldn't bear to leave. A Guardian tried to tend to her like he had the woman but the girl flinched away from his touch and instead followed me to my third cage.

"What's your name?" I asked the girl as I peered into the cage, seeing a young man, maybe in his thirties. He just stared at his fingers and said nothing as I tried to find the right key. The right key, there's always a right key. Must be a right key. Must have one.

"Angeline." The girl responded and my hand flinched as I tried to insert the key. Angeline. Angel. Angela. My eyes fluttered as little flickers of a past life trickled into my minds eye. Angela—a radiant burst of sunshine, a fallen sunshine. My eyes glazed over with what I could only imagine as my new resolve as I put in the key and twisted it.

"I had a friend called Angela." I told Angeline, as if she would care, and then I wondered why I had said it. Did I want attention? Attention I had been missing for what seemed like a decade?

Angeline watched as I placed a hand on the mans quivering ones. Somehow, I had never lost the ability to help. Or maybe I just felt a sense of duty towards those I was imprisoned with.

"Can I know your name, pretty-face?" Angeline asked and a bittersweet smile made its way onto my face at the sound of my nickname. I helped the man out before replying, a sour look sure to be written on my face.

"Sky." I told her and watched her as she responded, but she didn't express any feelings, so I continued. "My name is Sky."

"Pretty name for a pretty-face." She commented and took the keys from my hand, gesturing to the last two cages.

"One of these is my boyfriend." She told me before walking over to the two remaining cages, crouching down in front of them. After a few moments, she reached out, hands fumbling to find the right key, and unlocked the door to the cage on the left.

A man crawled out, and gave Angeline a look of acknowledgement before limping away from her, leaving her standing alone with the keys barely still in her grasp. Then I saw the first emotion out of her. I saw her heart break.

"He seems like a jerk." I recognised the voice who had commented behind me and I shivered at it's cold touch, frosty betrayal jolting my spine. I saw Jameson shift to look at me out of the corner of my eye.

"He's not the only one." I responded before making my way over to Angeline.

I watched her look at me, staring as if nothing had happened with her 'boyfriend'. I took the keys from her hand, and faced the last of the cages.

But I couldn't make my hands work, there was no way to make it work.

What have I done?

I can't–

I heard a blood-curdling scream, and it took me three dry tears to realise that it was my own.

Angeline was running around, going out of her mind and chanting the same riddles over and over again.

I felt like doing the same but I could only stand there.

I felt like throwing the keys away, there was no use for them anymore.

No saving.
No freedom for this one.

"Sky–" A hand touched my shoulder but I jolted away and slapped it. I grasped the wrist and gripped it tight, digging my jagged nails into the flesh.

"This is your fault." I lowered my voice and watched from my crazed eyes as Jameson's widened.

"You did this!" I shouted, gesturing to the atrocity in front of us, dragging my nails down his forearm as I turned.

"Sky–"

"Shut up! This is your fault!" I screamed at him and kicked his leg repeatedly, thrashing around in a hold that I controlled.

"Look what you've done!" I exclaimed. Jameson tried to pry me off him, but it was no use—I continued my animalistic attack on him.

I pounded against his chest, repeating the accusations already spoken, again and again. Eventually, Jameson gave up and stood there helplessly, just watching me.

"Do something, you imbecile!" I screamed, feeling the Guardians grasp onto me from behind. "Admit to what you've done!" I shouted at him as they yanked me off. I hit the wall—hard. It knocked the air out of me and I fell to the floor, fidgeting, scratching, pinching. I was hurting myself.

"It's all your fault!" I screamed at him, then I saw blood trailing down my fingers from the tops of my sharp and uneven nails. "Look what you've done to me!" I shrieked, holding out my hands for him to see and jumping up, charging over to him.

"Look what you've done!" I yelled. He just stood there. He didn't do anything. Coward.

As I was pulled back once more, I stared at Jameson. His expression was blank. His eyes held more emotions than I wanted to depict. He was a sinner. And he knew he was. But he wouldn't admit to it.

The Guardians charged out with me stumbling after as they tugged at my arms. They shoved me into the car and buckled me in, then they pulled out shackles. I stopped fighting. I stared at the shackles with a numbing emotion circling inside my stomach. Churning. I held out my wrists, afraid of the consequences if I didn't. The man holding the cuffs raised an eyebrow at my willingness, but was more than happy to lock me away.

Thinking back to what just happened, I realised that I vaguely recognised that person in the cage.

And he was dead.

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Rip

This is sad

Such a confusing chapter tho like I'm confused can someone explain

Wth did I just read

#campaigntosimplifymybook

Thank you

-welc

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Next update: Friyay
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CHAPTER ELEVEN SPOILER:

Unfortunately, your ticket in the present world has expired.

We're going back in time.

Though, even as we go back and forth in time, some things never do change.

Question is, can you spot it?