The Forgotten Girl

“What are you doing?” he asks as I collect up my bra and panties from the floor and put them on.

“I’m leaving,” I say, slipping on my shirt and skirt, noting there’s music playing downstairs. The bar must have opened.

He glances down at his wrist and then jiggles it, causing one of the drawers to the filing cabinet to jerk open. “Why did you handcuff me then?”

I shrug, picking up his pants and chucking them to him. “You might want to put those on, so when you’re found, it’ll make the situation a little less awkward.”

He glares at me. “Maddie, unlock me now.”

I shake my head, flipping my hair out of the collar of my shirt. “I’m sorry, but I have to go.”

“Where the f**k could you possibly be going that you would have to cuff me up?” He wrenches his arm, the metal making a loud band, and I can tell that he’ll probably break the handle before too long.

I back toward the door, picking up my shoes from the floor. “Somewhere.”

“Please let me go,” he begs, tugging on the handcuff again and nearly tipping the cabinet over. “I’m worried about you and I want to help… just let me go and I’ll help.”

I slip on one of my boots as I keep walking backward, my eyes fastened on him. “I can take care of myself.”

“No you can’t,” he says firmly, struggling to get to his feet but manages to and the filing leans foward. “And locking me up isn’t going to stop me from wanting to help you.”

“I don’t take help from anyone,” I say, putting my other boot on, but I trip in the process and stumble into another filing cabinet in the corner, causing a huge stack of papers to fall to the floor. “And I think you’ll get the picture after this,” I say, starting to kick some of the papers out of the way, but freeze when I see my name on a lot of them.

This is what you were looking at, weren’t you?

Pick it up and see.

I bend down and pick one up. Rivers handwriting is scrawled over it, lines and lines of rushed notes.

“Maddie, don’t touch that,” River pleads, pulling hard on the handcuff and the cabinet shifts again, almost toppling over. “Please, it’s for your own good.”

I read the paper that’s in my hand. “Maddie’s Asherford is an interesting girl. One I’d like to get to know and crack open and that’s why I’m choosing to do my thesis on her.” I stare at the paper, not even glancing up when I hear a loud thud from in front of me. “She doesn’t quite fit into society and the other day when I was talking to her, she zoned out for a very long time and start whispering something about hearing voices. When she came to, she couldn’t remember doing it and carried on the conversation as if nothing happened.”

“Maddie, please don’t—”

“She referred to herself the other day in the third person and there was a moment where it seemed like she’d turned into someone else. Her posture changed. Her voice did as well. She looked at me different too, but then she must have snapped out of it. I did a little research on her and her past is very interesting—very scarred and dark. She’s done some time in an institution. I’m not even sure if she knows half the stuff she’s been through, but I want to find out if she does.” River calls my name, but it’s faint, barely existent as I turn the page over. “I found out last night that Maddie has multiple personality disorder. I met her alter ego who goes by the name of Lily. She was only out for a while, but she seemed very different from Maddie. More cold and uncaring. Darker, probably created because of her horrible past. In fact, I was a little bit afraid of her. I’d really like to study her, too and see how she acts in society compared to Maddie herself. I just need to get close to her, but it’s complicated when she’s so guarded. But I have a few experiments I’m going to try with her, too see how Lily comes out, who she is and how she differs from Maddie. I’m also getting some outside help and if this all works out, I should have a fairly good paper in the end.”

“This is why you want to help me?” I look up at him, gripping the paper tightly in my hand. “Because I’m insane and you want to study me and do experiments on me.” My voice burns with anger and I’m tremulous, not with fear but with wrath.

He’s managed to drag the filing cabinet over far enough that he’s close enough to me I can see the horror in his eyes. “You’re not insane. I don’t believe that for one minute otherwise I wouldn’t be in here with you.”

“Why are you in here with me?” I ball up the paper and chuck it to the floor. “To study me some more?” I step forward, ready to hurt him. Make him pay in ways I didn’t even know where possible. I discover in this moment just how sickening my mind is. Pain, it can come from more ways than my mind can grasp. “Did you even tell the police what you said you did or was that a lie? Were you hoping to get me here so I’d confess that I killed Sydney or something and you could write it in your paper?” My eyes widen. “Did you break into my house the other night, hoping to see her?” Was that what happened? Was it him?

“Break into your house… what the hell are you talking about?” He looks baffled, but River might be just as good as a liar as I am.

Told you.

You did. I should have listened to you.

River shakes his head as he moves toward me, reducing the space between us and dragging the filing cabinet with him. His wrist is starting to bleed from the cuff but he seems unbothered by it. “I don’t think for one second you did anything to Sydney. It’s not in your nature.”

“And what about Lily?” I challenge, stepping back toward the doorway otherwise I’m going to go toward him and do something I’ll regret.

His brows dip together. “What about her?”

I reach the doorway. “Is it in her nature?”

He doesn’t answer, staring at me as if he’s trying to unravel my thoughts. “I’m not sure yet, but I want to help you find out…. You know it’s not your fault—what she does. You’re two different people, just stuck in the same body. And the things that happened to you in your past… it’s totally understandable.”

“You know nothing about my past!” I shout, surprising the both of us.

“Yes I do,” he insists, giving the cuff another tug. “And if you’ll just uncuff me, I’ll tell you everything I know.”