“I can remember when the world began,” I said to her. “It was brilliant. Watching the stars and celestial bodies form in front of me. It was so quiet. I feel like most people would assume it would be loud or cluttered but the truth is; it was liberating in the most deafening way.”

The floor of the basement felt good on my back. I could smell something cooking, in a room not too far from this one. I wasn’t sure where I was, or who this girl was but, she looked like she needed my help.

“How long have you been here?” I asked her, even though she couldn’t respond. “Do you think that God is real? I ask because I’ve asked myself this question so many times. The people I’ve met in my journey always ask any god for help.

Honestly, I’ve never seen one. I’ve never seen any evidence for one. But, the people who believe he’s real, well, they always seem to be the ones I help the most. The world never really prepares you for being tied up in a smelly basement.” The floor around my right side became warm. I forgot I was bleeding. I couldn’t really move, it hurt too much.

“I once met a man on a small fishing boat. He taught me all about how to fish. That was of course after I saved him from drowning. His boat capsized during the worst storm he’d ever seen. The rest of his crew were lost to sea but he stayed with the boat. Do you think captains do that because they fear letting the boat go means giving up on trying to live? I asked him that question. He told me, he didn’t let go because it was just what he was supposed to do. That, the world put him in that situation for that very purpose.

I guess I believed him. I mean, at least that’s his truth. But, I still feel like it’s the reason I asked. Anyways, I found him there holding onto one of the few ropes that were still attached to the mast of the ship. He was a few yards away from the ship, unconscious, lying face down in the water. I thought for sure he was dead because how else would his grip remain, right? Well, turns out he had this condition where his throat had a sort of pocket that led straight to his stomach. So, whenever he breathed in the water went into his stomach rather than his lungs. And now you’re wondering or thinking, but he still wasn’t getting oxygen so he should have died, and I agree. But, I apparently got there at just the right moment.”

The warmth was traveling up towards my neck. I put my hand around my chest. All I felt was a ripped shirt and blood. “Anyways,” I continued through the struggle of breathing. “After I put him onto the top of the boat and performed some compressions to his chest he coughed up most of the water and began to breathe. I wasn’t sure what to do after I did that because usually, well, I’m done. But, for some reason I stayed, so I decided to try to push the boat from one of the sides and get him to land.

I spent two full days behind the capsized boat kicked through the water and pushing. I didn’t know where we were going, but I just knew if we went in one direction we’d have to find something, right? Well, there we were in the middle of the ocean when suddenly a helicopter came from the sky and started scooping us up.”

I looked over at the girl. Her makeup was smudged all over her face and her clothes were nearly ripped to shreds. She must have been here awhile. This was a first, for sure. I turned my head back to the ceiling. “It turns out that his friends were found by a cruise ship and they radioed for someone to come find their captain. To me, that meant if he’d just let go of the ship he would have been fine. And, yes, I told him this, but he asked, we were still saved, weren’t we? And, I guess, he was right, but I still felt like I was right, but I didn’t tell him that.”

“We went back to the shore and I was still there, so I was confused right, but I was like alright whatever I’ll just stay with this guy until something happens. So, I stayed with him in the hospital and watched him recover. It didn’t take long. He was a strong old man. I went with him to his home. He didn’t have any family or anyone worrying about him. That was new to me, usually everyone has someone waiting for them. But, this old man didn’t and he was okay with that. To my surprise he was excited to get back out on the ocean. I tried talking him out of it, but he was convinced; he only lived because he wasn’t done exploring and braving the great vast nothingness of the ocean.”

We both heard a door to the basement open. I looked back over to the girl. In her eyes I could see what I always see; a cry for help. I didn’t know what to do, I couldn’t move. We listened as another person walked down the stairs. I wondered who this person was, but I doubted I’d ever get a chance to find out. The warmth was now underneath my head and spilling into my left side now.

“I’ve got food for you,” the new person said. “It’s onion soup and toast.” The person walked right past me without taking any notice. It was dark so I didn’t blame them, but still, wouldn’t you be able to smell the blood? The girl and I were locking eyes at this point. I knew she was wondering if this person could also see me. There was no reason they couldn’t.

I watched the person walk up to the girl while averting their eyes. They set a tray down on the ground next to them. The soup smelled good. Then just as quickly as they entered the basement they retreated back up the stairs.

“What’s your name,” I asked the girl. “And how do they expect you to eat that?” Her arms were tied and her mouth was covered with a belt tied around some fabric. “Well, back to the captain. He got a new boat, a smaller boat, meant for small incursions. I remember he told me that he didn’t want a crew anymore, because he felt that he almost killed men that he considered his family. I felt like I understood that, and I told him I did, but I knew that the storm capsizing their boat wasn’t his fault. If I had tried to convince him that he would have said something about it, he’s the one who put the boat in the storm’s path. As ridiculously as that sounds, in a way he was right, so I decided to just agree with him.

Only a week after his incident he was back out on the ocean and I was with him. He had reservations about this because he didn’t want to be the cause for me to be hurt, but I reassured him that I would be fine. So there we were in the middle of the pacific, again, but this time he was teaching me how to fish. Every day seemed like a new adventure on this tiny boat. Honestly, it would have been hilarious to see me, a scrawny little white kid, and this old muscular man wrangling nets together. He loved every day of it, he was the happiest man I have ever met. Meeting happy people is a rarity for me.

That lasted about a year, or two. But then one morning I woke up to go put the sail up the mast and I found him in the bridge holding the steering wheel. He was looking out over the ocean. The look on his face was content. I asked him what he was thinking about, and he told me, he knew if he died, he’d die happy. That was the last I ever saw of the captain.”

I turned my head back over to the girl. My vision was beginning to blur but it looked like she was trying to pour the soup through her nose. Was she trying to drown herself or was she that desperate to get something into her stomach that she risked drowning? It was unclear. The world around me started to slowly wobble, like how it does when you sleep on the ocean.

“There was a girl I met once, she wasn’t anything like you,” I said, turning my attention back to the darkness of the ceiling. “She wasn’t strong like you. She never knew what it meant to be hurt, to be wronged. And that wasn’t her fault, she was young. Nearly five, if I remember correctly. She was lost in the woods when I found her.”

“The funny thing is I felt like I could hear her mom yelling her name in the distance when I first got there. I wondered why this little girl was hiding underneath a tree in the middle of the forest, so I asked her. She told me it was because mommy scared her. I asked her why, and she told me, because mommy can get so angry sometimes and mommy hurts her. I didn’t know what to say to her. I just knelt beside her and put my hand on her head. She was cold. I remember that.

I also remember staying the night there with her in the woods. I collected some wood and tried to make a fire, but I didn’t have a lighter or matches so I really couldn’t. But, she’s the reason I don’t have my jacket anymore. I placed it around her body and sat beside her all night. She fell asleep with her head resting against my shoulder. I didn’t know what I was supposed to do here. Usually the answers are very clear to me, you know? Like I usually can tell what is right and wrong pretty well, I mean I’ve got the experience, but this one was a real pickle.”

The girl on the other side of the room was quivering in a corner. I couldn't really tell what she was doing but I could guess. I just kept talking. Even when the smell of urine began to mix with the smell of my blood. And even though I could hear her sobbing.

“The next day we could hear a mass of people searching through the forest trying to find her. At one point I almost just jumped out and said here we are, but the little girl still wasn’t coming out of her little hiding spot. I asked her why, but she wouldn’t tell me. I tried to tell her that these people were here to help. Then she said, she didn’t want to see mommy. The poor soul asked me to go see if her mom was looking for them. When I tried to ask her why, again, she wouldn’t tell me. That was okay though, little kids are stronger than most people give them credit.

I told her I was going to go check if her mom was with the search party. I walked a few hundred yards until I was out of the forest. There was a tent and a lot of people huddled around it. I went up to the first police officer I could find and asked where the mom was because I had a question. That’s when he told me she was in prison. I was confused, and I asked what happened.

I feel like I got lucky with this one, because it all sort of solved itself. The mom ended up calling the police to order an amber alert, but as it turns out, this little girl was already on the list. The mom had apparently kidnapped her just a few months ago. This little girl was taken from her home nearly a hundred miles away and brought to this little rundown trailer park. This lady that was calling herself the mom, had the audacity to beat this little girl until she started calling her mommy. She was feeding her all sorts of unforgivable things trying to break this innocent soul.

Luckily, the kidnapper confessed to all of this after the discovery of the previously existing amber alert. She was crazy, maybe I could have helped her too. I don’t know but I was so excited because the officer told me her real mom was only a few miles out of town. Without really thinking I excitedly told the officer that the little girl was just a few hundred yards in the opposite direction they were looking.”

The sun was setting outside the room and the only stream of light had moved from the opposite side of the room to right in between the two of us. I looked back over at the girl. She was resting her head against the wall with her eyes closed. Was she enjoying my stories? Did they give her hope?

“Are you sleeping?” I asked her. She opened her eyes and looked into mine for the second time. “I don’t know what I’m supposed to do, usually it’s obvious but I’m hurt. I can’t really do anything. Can you move to me?” She nodded her head. “If you do, I think I might be able to undo the ropes around your wrists.” She got up from her spot in her corner. I could see her entire frame now.

She looked like she couldn’t be older than fifteen. It looked like she hadn’t eaten in a week or so, this made me wonder how long she’d been living down here, again. She had long brown hair. It was all matted and dirty. I could make out the bones on the girl. Her clothes were dirty and very loose on her, and her skin was darkened from being in the filthy basement.

This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.

She struggled to make her way over to me. I could tell she was hesitant about me helping her, after all I was just some dude lying on the floor bleeding to death. “It’s fine, I think I can do it,” I reassured her. Her eyes told me this was her last chance. I knew this is what I had to do. “Look, either I do this now or I die without being able to do anything. I don’t know how much time I have left. I feel so cold.” I actually didn’t mean to say that last part. She put her wrists into my left hand.

I could barely use my fingers to grip the ropes. I began to fear that maybe I couldn’t help her. I tried to lift my blood covered right hand to assist my other hand, but I barely moved the tips of my fingers. “Well,” I said to her. “I don’t think I’ll be able to help you.” It was hard for me to say, because it was the first time I ever had to. “You know,” I laughed. “I’m usually a lot better at this.”

Then she stood up again and moved closer to my head. She stood for a moment facing away from me and then knelt down. Her wrists went down and hit my teeth. I knew what she wanted me to do. I opened my mouth and gripped what fabric I could. She wriggled around until it began to loosen. We did this for what felt like an eternity. Eventually one of her hands slipped free and she jumped up.

“I’m sorry I couldn’t do more,” I said to her through deep breaths. “I’ve helped so many people…” My mind sort of trailed off thinking about all the people I’ve met. Where did this all start? I watched as she ripped away the belt and fabric that was covering her mouth. Her chest expanded and she sighed the biggest sigh of relief I’d ever seen. She dropped the belt and looked over to me. Then for the first time, she talked.

“I don’t know who you are or where you’ve come from but you don’t deserve to die like this.” Her voice was soft and raspy, almost inaudible. Most importantly, it was kind and sincere. She knelt beside me and put a warm hand on my head. This was the first time anyone ever comforted me. “I’ll get out of here and go get help. I won’t let you die. Not if everything you’ve said is true. If there is a god, which I believe there is, he wouldn’t do this to you.” She pressed her hand against my cheek. “I’ll be back soon.”

For the first time I didn’t know what to say. What could I say? I’ve never had to say thank you before. I’ve never been the one that needed help. I closed my eyes, holding back tears, and nodded. I heard her stand up and walk up the stairs trying to be quiet. I noticed I stopped bleeding, either I was out of blood, which was unlikely, or it was starting to dry, and maybe then there was hope for me. I didn’t know if I believed in a god like this girl walking up the stairs, but I began to pray.

I wanted her to be safe, and if that meant praying to the god she believed in then so be it. I begged that she was going to be able to make it out of the house without that person noticing. What would happen if she was caught? Would I then be discovered? What would the person keeping her here think then?

The sound of the basement door opening seemed to explode into the room. I was unsure if that was because I was bleeding out or if it was really that loud. I tried to maneuver my head to see her. She wasn’t moving so I assumed I exaggerated the noise in my head. Good. All I want in the world right now is to know she got out of this building and made it to safety. I closed my eyes again. I was starting to get tired.

That’s when I heard someone shout. My eyes sprung open and I tried to get up. Not a single muscle in my body moved. I listened as I heard the girl scream and furniture was moved. It was hard to tell what was happening. One voice was very angry and yelling, and the girl’s voice was scared and harsh. A lot of stuff seemed to fall and crash to the floor. Then a loud banging began. It seemed to be happening against the floor. I wasn’t sure what happened but suddenly the sound stopped. Then I heard the sound of a door open and close.

After a few minutes I heard more movement come from the upstairs. I prayed again. Please, please let her be okay, at least alive. Maybe then I could potentially help her get away again. I hoped for it, but I knew there was nothing I could do. Someone was walking around upstairs moving stuff. The footsteps then traveled to the door to the basement. I tried to look again at the door to the basement but I couldn’t. Someone walked down the stairs and stopped right at my feet.

“Who are you?” a strange voice asked. This was not the same voice as the girl.

“Did she get away?” I asked.

“She stabbed me in the shoulder a couple times and ran out the door. I wasn’t able to stop her.” The voice was soft. Who was this person? “I think she hit an artery. I don’t feel good and the blood won’t stop.”

“What did you hope to gain from all this?” I asked. The person walked over to me and sat down next to my head with their back against one of the basement walls.

“You didn’t answer my question. I’ll answer yours once you answer mine.” I thought for a minute. I get this question a lot, but it’s usually from the people I meet that need my help. I wasn’t sure if it even mattered at this point whether or not people knew who I really was. That was something I never told anyone before.

“I don’t know who I am. I’ve never had a name. People usually just give me a name. Some people have called me Scott, some people have called me their angel. But to be honest, I’m not either of those things. I’m just like you, well I mean, when it comes to flesh and blood. And apparently I can die just like you.” I said with a something that resembled a laugh. “So, yeah. I’m actually surprised I’m still here. I really thought I would go after she got out of the house. That’s how it usually works anyways. On to the next person that needs my help. That’s how it’s always been anyways. I help someone in the way they need it the most and then poof off I go.” I had to take a deep breath. It was getting harder.

“So what, you're a guardian angel or something?” the person asked.

“Sure,” I said. “I feel like that’s not right though. But yeah.” At this the person started laughing. “What’s so funny?”

“I don’t know,” they said through their fit. “My guess is you actually just found this girl by looking through the window there and you hurt yourself after you broke the glass and crawled through.” I could see the window they were talking about. The window wasn’t broken, but I decided not to say anything.

“Yeah, you’re right.” It would be pointless to try to argue with them, especially as the world started going black. “You didn’t answer my question.” The person beside me shifted around a bit before getting comfortable again.

“What did I hope to gain from all of this?” they repeated. “Well originally I just wanted someone to notice me I suppose. You wouldn’t know what it’s like to be like me. I can’t usually talk to people like this. I usually end up messing up the conversation and people get uncomfortable around me. Or at least they used to, nowadays they just ignore me. They act like I don’t even exist. I work in a cubicle making not nearly what I deserve and I don’t have any friends. I’m forty-seven as of a week and a half ago. My mother and father both live only a few miles from here, but I haven’t heard from them in twenty years. Even they don’t like me. It’s not even for doing something horrible. I always did what they told me to. I went to the schools they wanted. I even got the job they wanted. Still they didn’t want to speak to me.

I feel sometimes the world would be better without me. Like who would notice I was gone. I don’t even have a pet. My colleagues don’t talk to me and my boss hasn’t assigned me to any projects in years. I’m basically getting paid just to be there, but no one even knows my name.

On my birthday I was walking home from the bus stop and I crossed paths with this girl. She didn’t know who I was or that no one liked me, but she, with the kindest face I’ve ever seen, smiled at me. I realized soon after bringing her here that she was just being nice. But what was I supposed to do, let her go? She’d tell the police. I guess it wouldn’t have mattered anyways. I was planning to kill myself in front of her. I just… I just wanted someone to notice me.”

The world around my head was starting to spin. I felt like I wasn’t going to be able to stay conscious for more than a few minutes. I could see the person sitting next to me holding their shoulder. They were crying. “Do you want to know what happened just before I got here?”

The person nodded beside me. “Well,” I said. “I found myself deep within a mineshaft. I didn’t know what country I was in, I didn’t even know how far down I was, all I knew was there were rocks and caverns everywhere. I’d been in a similar situation before, but this was different. Before I was just helping this young man find his way out of one of the long indistinguishable tunnels that were littered under the mountains in Alaska.”

I had to take a couple of breaths before I continued. “This time though I found myself sitting next to this young lady who was trapped in this small cavern. The way that she had come from caved in. There were no other exits from this room. I realized this and started to wonder what I was supposed to do then. Was I supposed to try to dig a way out? Was I supposed to look around and magically find an exit? Or, and this was a new thought, was I just supposed to be here for her in her last moments? Like I said, I was sitting down next to her, but I don’t think she noticed me. Then I touched her shoulder. The moment they realize I’m there is usually one of the better ones. But she just looked over at me and started crying. I wasn’t sure why, but I put my arm around her.”

My lips were cold. I could feel them hitting each other with every word I said. I took another breath then continued. “I asked her why she was crying. It was a dumb question, but it slipped. She turned to me and without saying a word showed me what was in her lap. It was a gun. I began to wonder what a cave explorer would be doing with a gun, but I guess, it was for protection. I took it from her. She told me she was just about to shoot herself. She told me she'd been there for two days. Her food and water were all gone, and she knew as each day passed the likelihood of being found was drastically depleting. I reassured her I was here to help, even though I felt like there was nothing I could do. At the time I thought maybe that’s what I was there for, so she wouldn’t kill herself and just die naturally. But that still felt wrong, so I started asking her questions.”

I took another deep breath. “I asked her who she was and if people were looking for her. Of course she said yes and told me her name. I told her that maybe then they were close to finding her. She wouldn’t have it though. She started screaming that they would be looking in the wrong system and that this was her grave and just on and on about all that. I didn’t know what to do. I tried to calm her down but she was unhinged. In my calmest voice I told her that I was there for a reason and I felt it was to make sure she didn’t kill herself. I told her it must be that they are so close to finding her that within the next few hours she would be out of here and safe. She wasn’t listening though. The next thing I knew she was yelling at me to shoot her so she wouldn’t have to do it herself. I told her there was no way a single muscle in my body would allow me to do that. I kept trying to tell her that I knew I was right. We just needed to wait together, an hour, a few hours, maybe a day, but soon she would be found.”

“She just kept yelling at me. If I’m being honest that was the most scared I’d ever been in my whole life. When she realized I wouldn’t do it, she started yelling at me to leave her alone. She wanted to be alone when she did it. Of course, I tried to explain that’s not how it works. I couldn’t just go away, I could only leave when, whatever brought me here, decided I was done helping. She screamed and screamed at this, she kept saying she didn’t need help from someone who couldn’t pull the trigger. She started pushing me. I got up from where I was sitting and the gun dropped from my lap. I hesitated, because I suddenly knew what was going to happen next.”

I took a deep breath again and closed my eyes. It must have been long enough because the person sitting next to me nudged me.

“Well, she grabbed the gun and pointed it at me. I was in shock. Would she really have the guts to pull the trigger? Before, I could finish that thought the loudest noise I’d ever heard rang through the small cavern. I felt my chest explode with pain. This was a first. I’d never really been hurt like this before. I couldn’t even speak. I wasn’t angry at her, I knew why she did it. She was scared. And I could see the remorse on her face. I felt my shirt start to soak up the blood and heard it drip onto the ground. Only a few moments passed when we both heard rocks start to move behind me. A rescue team was drilling just a few feet away in a large cavern. I assumed they heard the gunshot and knew exactly where we were based on that. I told her it was okay. I didn’t want her to worry. I told her next time to think about what she was doing before she pulled the trigger. Then the world around me warped, like it does, and a bright light consumed my vision. That’s when I found myself here, lying on the ground in your basement.”

I stopped talking. I didn’t think I could say anything anyways. It hurt too much. The person sitting beside me stopped crying. I wonder what they were thinking. I tried to ask but nothing came out. They just sat there staring across the room at the door. Maybe they were waiting for the police to arrive, maybe they were thinking about my story, I don’t really know.

The world started to warp around me, and the bright light was starting to surround me. “I thought I was going to leave after I helped the girl, but maybe I was supposed to help you. If I live, just know I’ll never forget this conversation we had, and I’ll be sure to tell people about you. I don’t know if that means anything though. Like I said, I don’t know how this works.”

The person sitting next to me nodded and stood up. Just before the light completely consumed me I heard them say one more thing. I wasn’t sure what it was, but I knew what it felt like. It felt like that feeling when you yell at your pet for having an accident on your brand new carpet, but you’re the one that forgot to let them out. I heard a door upstairs be broken down. They were too late though. I was already gone.