“Ok let’s go behind the curtains where he would be turning these things on.” He went left and I went right, I just hope Jude was ok and we were just being paranoid. My gut on the other hand felt different.
I searched the right side of the basement while calling out Jude’s name. Right when I was starting to feel like an idiot and about to head back upstairs, I noticed a freezer door. I opened the door to see if Jude could have possibly went in there. From it being so dark down here, I barely could see, but the strobe lights illuminated the freezer a little bit for me to see someone balled up in the corner.
“Jude?” I rushed in and the door slammed behind me. I turned to see if I could open the door, but it was locked. The emergency knob didn’t work either and my anxiety was at an all time high. “Damnit!” I shouted and slammed my hand on the door.
I was focused on how in the hell I was going to get out, that I forgot about the black figure in the corner. My heart rate was beating rapidly and I felt myself start to shake. I usually wasn’t frightened easily, but this was a typical scene in a horror movie. With tonight being Halloween night, it made it even more frightening.
I heard a whimper and I prayed it was Jude and not some serial killer. “Hello?” I said, my voice trembling.
“Please…I can’t take anymore. Just let me go!” I knew that voice from anywhere, but what was Jude talking about?
“Jude?” I went to touch his shoulder, but he coward away.
“Please, just stop! No more, I can’t take it!” He shouted.
“Jude, it’s me, Madison. I’m not going to hurt you.”
“Madison?” His voice croaked.
“Yes, I’m right here.” I bent down and slowly put my hand on his shoulder trying not to scare him anymore than he was.
“How are you here? Did Mr. Dolan put you down here? We need to get you out, but he has the keys to the chains.” I had a feeling he wasn’t just thinking he was in a nightmare, but recalling a nightmare that he lived through.
“Jude were at a party at the warehouse. There is no Mr. Dolan here. You came down here to turn on the props, but you never came back upstairs.”
His body stopped shaking and he took a few minutes to think about it. Then he said, “All I remember is coming in here to store the extra props, but I slipped and I think I hit my head. The next thing I know I’m waking up in complete darkness.”
We couldn’t even see an inch in front of us, but I was able to feel the back of his head where he had a slight bump. “Good news, the bump doesn’t seem to big, but the bad news is that we’re locked in here.”
“I’m sorry.” He said exhausted.
“You have nothing to be sorry about. Rem came down here with me to look for you, I’m sure he’ll find us soon.” Right then I remember my phone, but there was no signal. At least, we had a light.
I turned on the flashlight on my phone and Jude seemed relieved we weren’t in the pitch black dark anymore. He mumbled under his breath, “I hate dark basements.”
“Do you want to talk about it?”
He laughed and said, “What my hatred for dark basements?”
I knew he was trying making light of it, but I wasn’t buying it. “Earlier. Who’s Mr. Dolan?”
His voice went flat and he said, “My last foster home.” I thought maybe he was going to leave it at that, but he surprised me when he continued, “I was put in the Dolan’s foster home after the Montgomery’s. They were uptight, extremely religious, and psychotic family of four with two twin boys who looked like they were straight out of the movie, “The Shining”. I would sneak out on the weekends where I helped out at a tattoo shop. I got caught the one night, locked and chained in the dark basement, and tortured daily for weeks until Ben saved me.” My mind went back to the night of almost drowning and seeing the scars all over Jude’s back. I would never think for a second he was held hostage and most likely whipped over sneaking out. There is so much evil lurking around.
“People never realize how much their actions leave scars on the ones they hurt.” I would tell him I’m sorry, but no one really wants to hear that or be looked at with pity. I wanted him to understand I knew the consequences of being on the receiving end of something traumatic. No one really knows until you go through it yourself, but the flash backs, the nightmares, and the constant worrying is something I would never wish upon anybody.
“Tell me a secret.” I felt bad that I couldn’t give him my darkest secret, but I would give him one that I never breathed to another soul.
“I used to dump my parents booze down the sink thinking it would help them stop drinking so much. Turns out on a day I accidentally dumped the whole bottle, my father caught on. He accused my mama and she took the blame for drinking it. It was scotch and my mama was never a fan of the stuff, barely drank it, so I know she knew it was me who dumped it all down the drain. While they were arguing, she burnt dinner. That was the day he shot her. I replay it over and over again if I just left them alone to their own self destruction, maybe he would have eventually died and she would have lived. I blame myself for her death.”
Jude grabbed my hand and said, “You know that was never your fault. What that piece of shit did was on him, never on you or
