This time when my eyes open, I feel dizzy. I focus on the ground I'm laying on. I'm on a carpet. Maybe I'm actually in my house? I just dreamt being outside. It was just a dream.
But this rug, the red, expensive looking rug is not something we would have in my house. My eyes move up off the spinning floor to a fireplace which has been carved out of stone. No, we don't have that either. The echoing sound of the crackling flames fills my ears. My eyes begin to search the room. Everything in here. The counters, the chair and table, everything looks like it's been skillfully carved out of the stone walls. Am I in a cave?
My eyes set on the dark corner in he room. Bars. There's a cage in here, Also made out of the stone, with a bed slightly elevated off the floor. Who would have a cell in a cave?
Then the cold and heat hit me. I force myself to sit up, shivering. I move closer to the fire. I wrap my arms around myself and rub the goosebumped skin. I keep observing the room. There's pears on the table. My mouth waters. How long has it been since I've eaten? I hear my stomach growl. And in response I hear something else growl back.
My eyes snap back to the darker side of the room where the fire doesn't quite reach and I see that there's a hallway on the other side of the cell. "H-Hello?" I breathe out.
A figure moves from the pitch black hallway, but only far enough to see a silhouette. Not quite as scary as the one I saw last night. I can tell this one is a man, but it doesn't put me at ease. I still don't know who this guy is or why he's holding me here. "Hello? I seem to be lost, can you tell me-"
"No," his deep voice booms, echoing through the cold room and the hall. He steps closer, cautiously as if worried I'm going to attack him.
The tall figure comes into the light. If I was under different circumstances I'd never take my eyes off him. I've probably been kidnapped and I had to be taken by the guy who's handsome as hell. My eyes quickly take in the pale skin, toned body, jet black hair and piercing baby blue eyes.
His strong eyebrows draw together when my eyes linger on his too long. I look down. "Where am I?"
"You must not have heard me," he says coldly, "I'm not going to tell you where this is. You shouldn't be here, and after you eat and I make sure you're not broken, you can leave. Find your own way back." He moves gracefully over to the table, picking up a pear and throwing it to me.
I catch the pear softly in my hand and look at it, unsure if I should be taking food from a stranger. "Did you kidnap me?"
The man leans back, his hips settling against the edge of the table. He crosses his arms and his ankles, looking down at me. I feel intimidated by his gaze and am unable to look at him. "Kidnap you?" His voice sounds confused, and I look up to see his face match the tone of his voice.
"D-Did you steal me? Take me away from my home, I mean..." I repeat, using my words different, just in case his confusion means he's unfamiliar with the term I used.
I hear him hum, and he starts moving across the room. He grabs something from off the counter and puts it in his pocket, "No. I did not take you. You fell into my cave." He walks back over and grabs the pear from my hand, pulling the knife back out of his pocket and peeling off the skin then he hands it back to me. "Now eat, so that you can leave."
"Back out there?" I ask, "B-But there was something out there... It chased me, that's how I ended up..."
"Eat" he interrupts, his voice sounding harsh and impatient, "It was just your imagination, there's nothing out there."
I frown but take a bite of the pear, feeling uncomfortable with him watching. As if feeling my uncomfortableness, I watch his feet as he walks back into the dark part of the cave.
Fell into his cave? He doesn't know what the word 'kidnap' means? How long has he been here? Has he always been in the cave? How in the heck is he so good looking if he's been living in a cave his whole life? Men go to the gyms their whole life to look half as good as that.
"Are you done?" I hear him ask, making me realize I've been staring into the darkness.
I look down at my hand, seeing only the core of the pear left. "Y-yea.." I mutter out. Not really sure if I want to go back out there. I know for sure that what I saw is not my imagination. I didn't hallucinate a giant creature running at me. I know what I saw, and I bet he knows they're there too, he just doesn't want me in his cave.
He comes out of the corner. "Good, now stand up," he says as he walks towards me. his long legs taking half the steps I would have needed to take to cover the same distance.
He gets right next to me, his arms crossed again as he looks down at me. No emotions spread across his face, but I'm too uncomfortable and intimidated by his presence to move. But I force myself onto my feet. Facing straight ahead, I look directly at the center of his chest. My heart jumps into my throat and I have to swallow it down, shifting my eyes to look at the wall next to us.
"Are you in pain?" I hear his voice ask thoughtfully. Sounding that much more authoritative when he's this close.
I shake my head.
"Your pulse rose when you stood up," He says. Before I can respond I feel his hand wrap around my arm. Instinctively my eyes snap to his hand and I try to move away, but his hold is firm. "Stay still, I'm not going to hurt you." His voice-though still enough to make me shake-sounds more caring now than it did a few moments ago.
He pulls my arm straight so that it's horizontal, and he uses his other hand to grab mine. He probes softly as if looking for broken bones. He examines the skin closely. My body shivers once and then I see the hair raise and the goosebumps come back.
"Curious," he breathes out. He's so close that I can feel his breath on my skin making the bumps worse. "What does it mean when your epidermis does that?"
"It means you're too close," I say flatly, trying to control the shaking in my voice. It takes my brain a moment to register that he said 'epidermis' instead of 'skin' which is something I learned in BioMed my last year of high school when we did medical terminology. I mean this guy speaks English so he must be somewhat educated, right? He's no caveman. Not to add he looks like someone who would be playing a fairytale prince. I wonder why he's out here.
His eyes move over and meet mine, which have been staring for too long. I advert my gaze and I feel his move back to my arm. He exhales and lets go of my arm, which I slowly put down. He crosses his arms again, "Turn around," he says.
My eyebrows draw together, "No."
"Well if I can't touch you then at least let me look at you." He says.
"I said I'm fine," I say, defensively. "If you were so worried than you should have checked when I was sleeping."
"I did," he says flatly, "I just want to make sure I didn't miss anything."
"I said I'm fine." I say.
He nods, "Follow."
I walk behind him. He leads me through another dark hallway, opposite from where the other one was. This one is much smaller, just enough for one person to fit. Or someone his size. He has to tilt his shoulders sideways to fit through it.
At the end of the hall there's a lot of leaves, like a bush. He pulls the greenery to the side. The entrance just enough for me to pass him. "Don't come back. And don't tell anyone where I am. I won't warn a second time." He says coldly.
I nod and pass him. I look around the fog. Wait-which way is home? I turn around to ask, but he's gone. I didn't even find out the guy's name. Oh well, Mystery-Boy it is.
I pat my pants, almost for a second praying I have my phone on me, but there's nothing. Of course there isn't. Maybe I got mugged-without getting hurt?-and dropped off in the forest. I wouldn't know though. I look around again. I have no idea which way to go.
I hear a loud howl-like noise boom from my left, making me startle. For sure that's not the direction I'll be heading. I turn my body to the right and start moving. If that's the thing that chased me, then I'm going to stay away from it. Damn, I wish I had my phone. Even if there was no signal, a flashlight might help. As long as it's not dead, I mean.