A peach coloured ceiling comes into focus as Yanire starts to open her eyes. The light of the room is blaring and her head aches just looking at it. Remembering that the ship's compartment had a metallic ceiling, Yanire began to look about her surroundings wildly. She was laid out across a vintage bed with what looked like a hand-made quilt. Her eyes darted to the right and she saw a large glass window with an icey island outside of it.
Feeling someone touching her on the right, Yanire jumps, moving to hit them on reflex. The individual catches her wrists softly and puts them down at her sides, returning their attention to her head where the injury was. The woman glanced up at the stranger to find a very beautiful, middle aged black woman. She had tight locked curls up in an afro around her shoulders and large doe eyes of light brown. The woman had an almost motherly feel to her and Yanire relaxed. If they'd wanted to hurt her, they probably could've done so while she was unconscious afterall.
"Morning love, be still for me."
The woman appeared to be applying an antiseptic and new bandages.
"How bad is it?"
"It's a scrape, looks pretty ghastly but it's not deep at all."
Yanire nodded.
"Who are you?"
The stranger smiled politely and remained focused on what she was doing.
"Secoiya Polson. I'm sort of a groundskeeper here, caretaker maybe."
Yanire felt better knowing even one more detail about her situation than before.
"Your ship crashed, no other survivors I'm afraid."
The woman frowned, thinking about the captain. The daughter. The cats.
"None at all?"
Miss Secoiya shook her head, pulling away from Yanire and slipping the supplies back into what looked like a re-fashioned sewing kit. When she'd gathered everything she entered with, she nodded a goodbye to the survivor and began to exit.
"Miss Secoiya?"
The woman turned to Yanire.
"May I wander around?"
The older woman chuckled and nodded.
"I don't see why not."
Yanire stood and realised she was still in the clothes from the crash. Dried blood and saltwater didn't seem the cleanest predicament to walk around a strange place in so she dug through the dressers in search of clothes. She found a pair of men's sweatpants and an old hoodie, deciding that would have to do. She discarded the old clothes in an otherwise empty hamper and pulled the new ones on swiftly, mildly uncomfortable with the prospect of being naked in an unknown place. The pants were a bit large but she tightened the strings and made do.
After the matter of garments was settled, she pushed through the basic wood panelled door and peeked down the hall. The floors in the hall were primarily wood and it looked like the hallway split two different ways. She walked first down the one opposite her room and saw an indoor swimming pool through some large set windows similar to those of the room she was just in. She turned then back down the main hall and started to move down it nervously. She passed what looked like a bedroom a little down the ways on her left and didn't dare wander down the dark stairway just after the room.
Eventually she was met with a generously sized kitchen and connected dining room. Miss Secoiya was in the kitchen, wiping down counters while European dance music played from the walkman in her back pocket. Yanire opted not to disturb her yet and turned to the opposite side of the hall where the entryway to a living room was. The furniture was modern and well-kept, but the television set was an antique, set atop an open cabinet system full of VHS tapes. The floor here was carpeted and the windows were beyond huge. It was a rather impressive estate, Yanire admitted to herself.
Passing the living and dining areas, Yanire emptied into another hall which ran perpendicular to the other. On the right was what appeared to be another bedroom door and Yanire veered away from that and favoured the left. The left was instead a set of french-windowed double doors, through which an office with two men inside of it could be seen. Before Yanire had the good sense to turn and rush off, one of the men opened the door and gestured for her to come in. The man was old, with a reddish grey beard and brilliant eyes. He wore a decent suit, not of the modern variety and glanced at Yanire uneasily before excusing himself from the other man and leaving.
Yanire made to follow him out when a voice halted her.
"What's your name?"
She turned to the other man and eyed him. She couldn't be sure how old he was exactly, but he was certainly younger than either Secoiya or the suited man. He bore a head of sandy blonde hair and dark blue eyes, eyeing Yanire back indifferently. His eyes lingered on the clothes she wore for a moment.
"Err, I borrowed these, sorry."
The man shrugged, standing from his desk chair and moving to the front of the desk, but not too close to the woman.
"I'm Yanire."
He nodded.
"Alright Yanire, I'm Adriel. Welcome to my home."
Adriel spots the curiosity in her dark eyes and decides the woman will need her own sort of briefing if she is to stay there on Alvarsson island.
"You are currently on a small, private island off the coast of Iceland."
Yanire nods, listening closely.
"My family owns the island, we have two employees here. The first is Secoiya, who I believe has been tending to you. The other is Zayn, the man you just saw."
"When will I be able to leave?"
Adriel pauses at the question, rubbing a hand on the back of his neck.
"Or when will the next ship be coming in? I can pay my own fares."
Adriel looks at the woman calmly before speaking.
"Yanire, I'm afraid you can't leave. There is no ship coming."
Her face contorts to one of confusion, but not yet anger.
"Why not?"
Adriel motions for her to sit and moves back to his own chair behind the desk. She does so, keeping a safe distance between them still as she tries to keep an open mind.
"My family is in a very particular type of business. A dangerous business. Because of that, being their only heir, I do most of my business from this private island so as not to give away my location."
Yanire said nothing, waiting for him to go on.
"Nobody comes near this island. In fact, we have a weapons defence system meant to kill anyone who steps foot here, it's actually an enigma that you weren't gunned down."
Yanire's expression darkened but she said nothing.
"Now, ma'am, I do not know you. I have no way of knowing if you were paid to find my location or whatever the case may be. Due to that, my letting you leave would be a safety issue both for me and for everyone on this island."
Yanire went to protest when Adriel cut her off.
"Yanire, you are lucky to be alive. Secoiya rescued you out of the kindness in her heart and used our resources to nurse you back to health. I had initially wanted to kill you and dispose of you- do not make me reconsider."
Adriel had spoken the words softly, matter-of-factly, and with zero hesitation in his tone. His face held no sign of malice but also no sign of regret. Yanire was temporarily stunned. To hear such a well groomed and frankly attractive looking man say something so ugly had enraged her.
She cursed in her native tongue and nodded a goodbye, storming out of the room with a fury. While his logic was not to be faulted, Yanire was angry. The swings just kept on coming and she felt that she'd never get a damn break at this rate.
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