"So, did you figure it out?" a voice rang in my head just before I passed out on my bed.
"Is it you? The void?" I asked as I again stood in the darkness.
"Yeah, it is me. Did you solve the riddle and find the answer?" said the void.
"No, actually. How do you expect me to do it in a day? I am also very much not allowed to leave the house, too, you know," I said in a sad tone.
"Yeah, I do. I also know if you were allowed to leave, you would still stay with him," the void replied, guessing it knows me too well maybe.
"Yeah, anyways, can you like give me another hint maybe?" I asked.
"If I could, I would, but that would take lots of power, and talking to you drains my power, so I might not talk with you tomorrow. But I need you to find out, and go to Ryan's office. You are going to find something useful in there. Also, ask for your phone. I am pretty sure he will give it to you,"
"Wait, what do you mean?" I asked, but the void disappeared. I slowly opened my eyes; the sunlight was peeking through the closed window. It's morning already, I thought and went to the bathroom. After refreshing up, I wore a long robe-gown, I don't know what that is, and went downstairs.
"Hey, good morning! How was your sleep?" Christine asked me.
"Oh, it was okay. What about you?" I asked.
"Oh, we had fun. You went to sleep and Mr. Crimson went to sleep early, too. So, we were bored. We all decided to play games and those were fun," she replied.
"Speaking of Ryan, is he like gone or at work?" I asked.
"Mr. Crimson? No, it is Sunday, remember?" she replied, and it hit me; it's been like 2-3 days since I was here.
"Right, I forgot. So, he came for breakfast?" I asked.
"No, actually, I was about to call you to wake him up, since he is a little grumpy in the morning," she replied.
"So, you are using me as a sacrifice? Got it," I said sarcastically.
"No, of course not. But the way he looks at you, he is not gonna be grumpy with you, and that's for sure," she replied, making me laugh out loud naturally.
"Very funny, but still, I will go and wake him up, since I need to ask him something," I replied while laughing.
"Hey, Ryan?" I said as I stepped into his room. If my mind wasn't that off of things yesterday, I would have noticed the interior of his room, too. It's pretty, wine red and black color, with black dahlias and red roses on the nightstand. I walked over to his bed; they're wine red, too, real pretty if you ask me. I shook him gently.
"Ryan, wake up," I said, but he didn't budge.
"Ryan—" I was cut off because he pulled me into the bed with him. I tried to wriggle my way out but recalled what happened last time, so I just stayed quiet. Ryan wrapped his arms around me, hugging me like a koala, cute if he wasn't the one who kidnapped me.
"Ryan, the maids are waiting. Come on, we have to eat breakfast."
"Don't worry about it," he said in the deepest voice of him yet. I could melt away in his arms with that, and he would never know. He opened one of his eyes, looked at me, and smiled.
"Looks like my savage was eager to meet me."
"No! I was not—wait, I was. I have something to ask, but we can do it after breakfast."
"Yeah, sure," he said and then finally got up and went to shower. I sighed and walked out of the room. As I was about to leave, I noticed something really shiny in his drawer. It was shining too brightly. I was about to grab it but then decided not to and went downstairs.
"Hey there, Carol. Hope we are cool about what happened yesterday?" I said as soon as I saw Carol. She gave me a rolled eye and said,
"You took away the only peace I could have had. Now I am doing double chores because of you."
"You are saying that as if you have done any chores. Girl, I see you all the time. You did nothing and stayed in your room."
"I have some issues, and now I am going to my room again, because you gave me anxiety," and she stormed out. What a temper she has.
"So, what do you want to ask me?" asked Ryan after we finished breakfast.
"Well, you know I get quite bored, so I was wondering if you could, like, give me my phone? Got to be really polite if I need to find out what he has been up to,"
"Actually, yeah, you can," he said, making my heart jump in excitement.
"Oh my God, really?" I asked eagerly. I couldn't stop smiling.
"Yeah," he said and smiled after I smiled. I gave it some thought. He's not that bad. He did kidnap me, but he hasn't done anything worse to me, so maybe he really is a nice guy? I wondered. Ryan came back to the living room and handed me my phone. I quickly turned it on. Lots and lots of texts from my friends, and some calls from Auntie Ellie. Also, a text from an unknown number. I opened it,
"Don't be too happy. Remember, your brother sold you to him. Your world is going to crash when you find out the truth..."
I opened it, heart pounding, fingers trembling. The words on the screen sent a shiver down my spine. "Don't be too happy. Remember, your brother sold you to him. Your world is going to crash when you find out the truth..." Just as I tried to process the message, the phone slipped from my grasp, clattering to the floor. What truth? What did my brother have to do with all of this? My mind raced with questions, but before I could make sense of anything, Ryan's voice cut through the haze, "Is everything alright?" I glanced up, meeting his gaze, uncertainty swirling in my chest. "I... I don't know," I whispered, the weight of the unknown pressing down on me like a suffocating blanket...