Misery Hole

Sena and I got some rest while Ms. Saka prepared some food for us.

"Alright..." Ms. Saka sighed. "Breakfast is ready, ladies and gentlemen."

"Breakfast?" said Sena. "What hour is it? For how long have I been here?"

"Does it matter, my girl?" Ms. Saka asked. "You are home."

"But..." Sena gulped and thought for a while. "Dad will get really worried if I don't return."

Ms. Saka had a really visible change in mood. Perhaps hearing about her husband had triggered some emotions...

"Dad..." Ms. Saka said. "How is he doing? Is everything okay down there?"

Sena and I looked at each other. Sena was not really willing to talk about it, but I wasn't the one who had to answer that question.

"He... is fine... mostly." Sena said.

"Mostly?"

Sena sighed. She was feeling cornered by the question.

"The truth is, mom..." she started speaking. "Your disappearance have caused quite a lot of mess. People thought dad did bad things to you, but they couldn't prove it. Yet, pretty much none of the locals talk to him now. Even our neighbours left us."

Ms. Saka sat down slowly and got her head between her hands. She was mumbling something in frusturation.

Sena walked over to her side and put her head on her mother's shoulder.

"Mom, please return home with me. With dad, we continue our lives on our own, but deep inside... we always want you. We need you! If you come back, you can fix everything." she said. A few tears dropped down her cheeks.

Ms. Saka turned and hugged her daughter. Sena pressed her head against Ms. Saka's chest.

"I can't." Ms. Saka whispered. "I wish I could, but I can't. There are lots of things I can't leave behind."

Sena started crying audibly.

"How did you leave us then!?" she shouted. "What did we mean to you? Nothing!?"

"Sena..."

"Why don't you love us, mom!?"

"But I love you a lot!" Ms. Saka said. She was about to cry as well.

Meanwhile, I was trying to look away from the scene. It was making me feel bad, and since I wasn't a family member, my presence was a bit awkward anyway.

"You must understand me, dear; I am here because I don't want anything bad to happen to you!" Ms. Saka said.

"No, I don't understand!" Sena said. "I won't. I will never see what you find up here in this misery hole!"

Ms. Saka was geniunely hurt by these words, but if I had a say, I would be with Sena. I couldn't understand what Ms. Saka was trying to do either.

"I am going to tell dad everything." Sena said. "He will get you out of here. I know he will."

"No!" Ms. Saka suddenly raised her voice. "You won't tell anything to him!"

Sena got away from her mother, crawling away.

"You are cruel, mom." she said. "You are the worst I have ever seen!"

Sena got up and ran into the exit tunnel.

"Sena!" Ms. Saka shouted.

I ran into the exit tunnel to follow Sena.

Sena ran up to the point where a big round rock was blocking the enterance. She stopped there and tried to roll the heavy piece to the side to get through; however, she was unsuccessful.

"Ender, help me!" she said to me.

I looked behind. Ms. Saka was waiting at the lower end of the tunnel, watching us with her arms crossed.

Then I looked back at Sena. She was waiting for my help with teary eyes, but I wasn't willing to help her. I could understand how she was feeling, but I didn't want her to mess everything up even further.

"Sena." I said. "Come back down here. Don't do anything you may regret later on."

Sena kept trying to move the rock after swearing at me.

"You are going to hurt yourself." I said.

"Shut up!"

Ms. Saka walked past me and went up to hold her daughter. Sena pushed Ms. Saka away.

"Get me out of here!" she shouted.

With a swift move, Ms. Saka held Sena by her stomach. Sena's mouth opened wide like she wanted to speak, but she didn't make any sound. Her eyes rolled up, and her eyelids closed soon after that. When Sena's legs gave up on keeping the body's balance, Ms. Saka lifted her up.

I was terrified.

"You are leaving me with no choice, my love." Ms. Saka said. At that time, Sena was probably unconscious.

With my eyes wide open, I watched Ms. Saka walk past me once again. She brought her daughter back into the room we were previously in. After putting Sena down, Ms. Saka turned to me.

"You are sweating."

I was incredibly nervous for sure. I couldn't say anything at first, but I could feel my face going red.

"Am I?" I tried to laugh a little.

"Breakfast is still waiting." Ms. Saka said. I reluctantly walked back into the room. While walking to the table, I felt two hands on my shoulders; needless to say, it sent shivers down my spine.

Ms. Saka was behind me.

She squeezed my shoulders. Anxiously, I stopped walking.

"This much stress isn't good." she said. "You should go relax at the lower floor after you are done eating."

"S-sure." I said, even though I didn't know what she was referring to as 'relaxing'.

"Eat as much as you wish now. I will be back in a while."

Ms. Saka released me and walked back towards Sena. She lifted her still unconscious daughter up and went down to the other room through the tunnel.

I sat down next to the breakfast table by myself. In metal pots, there were mashes of various colors, smells and consistency. There was also some water, cheese and a few baked potatoes. Surely it wasn't a usual breakfast, but it was looking delicious for sure.

Just before I started eating, the spherical lamp in the room flickered a few times.

"What the-"

It went completely dark after a few seconds. I was already feeling nervous, and the lights going out could easily cause a heart attack.

I heard some footsteps ahead of me. Someone entered the room.

"Uhm..." I hesitantly spoke. "Hello?"

The footsteps stopped.