Trapped

It seemed that I spent more time asleep in this cell than I did awake. That wasn’t such a bad thing though; dreams were my one chance of escape.

Normally, when I woke up, I felt groggy and confused, and often sore too—I tended to fall asleep in weird positions in here, and not usually on the bed. This time when I awoke, however, I was lying on the bed, using it for its original intention, with the blanket pulled up to my neck. I pulled it off, rolling over to face the room.

I froze.

There was a man sitting on the desk chair.

Well, not a man exactly; more of a boy. I would have estimated him to be about two years older than me.

But none of that mattered right now.

There was another person! There was another human being sitting right in front of me.

Unless I was dreaming...?

I pinched myself. Cliché, admittedly, but it worked. And I wasn’t dreaming.

‘Uh, hi,’ he said, suitably awkwardly.

‘Hi,’ I said, the word tasting weird on my tongue. It had been...I did a quick mental calculation...at least four days since I last saw anyone to say hi to.

And now there was someone in here with me.

Unknowingly, I’d already given up hope of ever seeing another person again.

I sat up properly, narrowing my eyes as though analysing him.

‘Who are you?’ I asked. I wasn’t sure whether to smile and welcome him, or be defensive. Nothing in this place was quite as it seemed, and I hadn’t even been woken up when he’d arrived.

‘I’m Loki,’ he said. ‘What’s your name?’

‘Elina,’ I said absent-mindedly. Loki...that was a strange name. But more importantly, what the hell was he doing in here?

‘Why are you in here?’ I asked.

He shrugged. ‘Same reason as you, I guess.’

Considering he had just ended up in a prison cell with no windows and no way out, he was being remarkably calm about it.

‘Did someone bring you in here?’ I asked, sitting up properly and running a hand through my hair. Only then did I realise how I hadn’t actually had a shower since being here. I’d used the tiny bathroom, but only to go to the toilet. And, according to my alternative time scale, I’d been in here for four days.

‘No, I just...’ he trailed off, frowning. ‘I don’t know. It’s all a bit foggy.’

‘Me too,’ I said, smiling sympathetically. I noticed how my heart was pounding irregularly with shock and fear. I had never expected to find another person in my cell, let alone a teenage boy who, now I looked at him properly, really wasn’t bad looking. Dark hair, dark eyes, lightly tanned, wearing a pretty sexy black jacket.

‘Did you just wake up though?’ I prompted. Again, he frowned.

‘I think so...maybe,’ he replied, trying to replay the events back in his mind. I knew it wasn’t going to work; I’d tried it many times already.

I looked around, realising that there was still only one bed in here.

‘What are we supposed to do?’ I asked. ‘Are we taking turns or what?’ I gestured at the single bed.

‘I guess so,’ he looked concerned. ‘Why’re we here, Lina?’

‘Elina,’ I corrected him.

‘Whatever,’ he muttered, ‘I think Lina suits you better.’

I gave him an incredulous look. We’d only just met and he was already semi-insulting me.

‘Well why don’t I just call you Ki then?’ I suggested sarcastically. Annoyingly, Loki just smiled.

‘If you want,’ he said smoothly.

How was he so unbothered by everything? After being in here five minutes I’d almost lost my sanity—after ten minutes I was screaming and hurting myself...and yet he just sat there.

‘You gonna give me the guided tour then?’ he asked with a slight laugh.

‘You’ve got to be bloody joking,’ I muttered under my breath. Now, the appeal of seeing someone new in the cell was wearing off, and the guy was beginning to get on my nerves.

‘And are you going to tell me anything more about this place?’ he continued.

I sighed. ‘Trust me, Loki: I don’t know anything more than you do.’

He pulled a face. ‘Nothing?’

‘Well, I know not to write on the paper.’ I gestured towards the desk next to where he sat, and the piles of blank paper and spare pencils that sat on top of it.

‘Why not?’ he asked. ‘You have.’

‘No, I’ve written the date,’ I said snappily. He flinched. Okay, so I wasn’t exactly being nice to him, but what did he expect? I’d been stuck in a room barely any bigger than my bedroom for four days, with virtually nothing to do and no clue about what was going on.

‘That’s writing though, isn’t it,’ he said irritatingly.

‘Piss off.’

‘Alright then.’ He huffed, unbothered by my last comment. ‘Where do you want me to go?’

I glared at him. ‘If you want to survive for more than an hour in here, I suggest you stop those comments. I’m not in a good mood after being stuck in here for God-knows-how-long.’

He sighed. 'Fine. Just trying to lighten the mood.'

Well I wasn't taking it.

‘Right,’ I said decisively, standing up. ‘I’m going to go and have a shower.’

He pulled a face but didn’t argue. ‘Alright.’

This crazy situation was about to get a whole lot weirder.