“What do we do from here?” Tyson asked.
“We should find out where we are,” Katie said. “Then maybe we can get out of here.”
“I think I know where we are,” Cyrus said. “We’re on a ship. I’m just not sure who the ship belongs to.”
Katie considered this for a moment. “What’s your best guess?”
“Well, perhaps we are on a merchant ship and they will simply release us at their next stop.”
“I highly doubt these people are our friendly, neighborly merchants,” Katie replied. “We wouldn’t have been attacked if they were.”
“Maybe we were rescued,” Tyson said, though his tone showed he didn’t believe it.
“Either way, I’m sure we’ll find out soon.”
No sooner had Tyson said it, then they heard footsteps descending wooden, creaky stairs. They couldn’t make out the words until they approached closer.
“They’re right here,” one voice said. Katie peered through the wooden bars but couldn’t see anyone, though she did see two silhouettes. “We can use them both.”
“And where’s the girl?” another voice asked.
“She’s over here.” The two men walked in front of Katie’s cell and stared at her like she was an animal in the zoo.
“Too clean for my taste,” one of the men said. “Pretty, though.”
“Yes, but she is otherwise useless.”
“What do you want to do with her?”
The man chuckled darkly. He had dark hair, a rough beard, a few missing teeth, and a glint in his eye.
Katie hated the fact they were talking about her right in front of her. She stood but kept her distance.
The bearded man walked closer and reached into the cell. Katie had an idea. She walked closer and let him grab her. Her face was right against the bars. She could smell the rancid, rum-soaked breath of the man.
She then slapped him across the face. The man grabbed her hand, licked it from her arm to the tips of her fingers, and smiled. Katie kept a straight face.
“Oh, you’re going to be the most fun I’ve had in a while, young lady.”
Then, still holding her by her wrist, he leaned in as close as he could and said, “I’ll be the last man you ever see if you’re don’t behave.” He threatened, and the two men walked away laughing to themselves.
“Are you alright?” Tyson asked Katie.
In a small voice, Katie answered, “Yes.”
Katie said nothing else. For the next several minutes, Katie could still smell the man with every breath she took. A single tear ran down her cheek. Katie closed her eyes and took deep breaths until she could no longer smell the stench from the man. She soon realized that the cells almost smelled worse.
Katie was drifting off into sleep, though she was still aware of her surroundings. She could hear Tyson and Cyrus talking quietly between themselves. They called out her name, but she pretended not to hear.
A warm, distant-feeling draft wafted above. She opened her eyes slowly but quickly fell into a deep sleep.
Katie was just outside the elevator of her apartment. She was waving back at her parents. She was talking to her mother for the last time, though she didn’t know it.
But then it hit her. If she left, then shortly afterward, her mother would die. “Mom!” she called out, but a force pulled her into the elevator. “Mom! Don’t let me leave you! Mom!”
Natasha smiled and waved to her daughter. “It’ll be okay.”
“MOM!” Katie screamed as loud as she could, her voice cracking.
The elevator doors closed in front of her, and then all she saw was whiteness.
“Katie,” she woke up with a scream and looked around. She couldn’t see anyone. “Katie,” she heard the voice again. It belonged to a woman.
Katie looked around her cell once more, still lying on the damp floor. She saw a familiar figure materialize. It was her mother.
“Mom?” she said.
Natasha Dimes smiled sadly and nodded. She reached down and touched Katie’s face with the back of her hand. Katie put her hand over her mother’s, and though she could feel her mother’s hand on her face, she couldn’t touch her hand with her own. Katie understood. Natasha wasn’t alive. She was merely a spirit.
“Mom,” she sobbed. Sadness drowned her body.
“Katie,” Natasha said, “I miss you so much. There hasn’t been a day where I wish I could be with you on your journey.”
“I miss you too,” Katie got out before she started sobbing again.
“Look at me, Katie,” said Natasha. “There is so much to explain, but it will be faster if I show you. Take my hand,” she said and held it out for Katie.
“I—I can’t feel it,” Katie said.
Natasha smiled. “Yes, you can. Trust me.”
Katie closed her eyes and took her mother’s hand. Instantly, Katie felt booted from where she was like she had just transported to another universe.
She was in her grand apartment again, but this time she was in her parent’s bathroom. She was staring at herself in the mirror, only she wasn’t herself, she was her mother.
What’s happening? Katie thought to herself.
A voice answered from within her head. You are seeing things from my point of view.
Why?
You need to know what happened that night.
Katie turned on the faucet and washed her face gently with soap. She rinsed her face and wiped it dry with a towel. Katie couldn’t control her movements. It was like she was watching a movie, or playing a video game, and rather than be a spectator, she took the role of the main character.
Natasha walked out of the bathroom and through her bedroom. The lights were off in the hallways and staircase. She walked into the black-tiled kitchen and saw John Dimes sitting at the table, eating a piece of apple pie and reading a newspaper.
“You’re going to get
