Into the unknown

Chapter 5.

Cristian left me sitting alone in the dining room with a table full of food. Bad idea, sunshine, I thought as I plucked a red grape from the vine and popped it into my mouth, the sweet juice covering my taste buds as I bit into it. The last time I had laid eyes on a food spread like that was about two weeks ago, on the television, and I hadn't eaten a good, proper meal in a few months, so I was like a kid in a sweet shop.

Three of the four walls in the room were painted in a charcoal black colour, the fourth side was fitted with floor to ceiling windows which looked out into a freshly trimmed green garden. In the middle of the room was a long black table, which could sit a total of ten people, two head chairs and four chairs on either side. I sat in one of the head of the table chairs, leaning into one of the back corners, allowing me to diagonally gaze out into the garden, giving me a view of the trees and bushes blowing softly in the wind. The blue sky, which was dotted with white fluffy clouds told me it was daytime, but other than that I didn't know the exact time or day.

On the table was an array of breakfast type foods, from exotic fruits and yoghurt to scrambled eggs and pancakes. This allowed me to narrow my timeframe, suggesting it was currently anywhere between eight o'clock and ten o'clock, the time most people enjoyed their first meal of the day. I carefully picked up the crystal glass I had half-filled with orange juice and took a sip. The glass was thick against my lips, telling me it was not cheap and I would be in deep shit if I got so much as a scratch on it.

Honestly, if I didn't feel so on edge or if I hadn't been kidnapped here, I would have accepted this as being a luxurious stay at an all-inclusive five-star gothic hotel. Not exactly my first pick of venue, but beggars can't be choosers.

"I see your table manners need some improvement." A smooth voice bounced around the room, causing my heart to nearly jump out of my chest.

One of my hands pressed against my chest, making sure my heart was still there, whilst the other shakily put the glass down on the table. After a couple of deep breaths, I managed to slow the speed of my heart down, my eyes watching a pair of long legs walk around the table and take a seat at the opposite end of the table.

"I see the decor needs some improvement." I sarcastically replied, finally lifting my head to look at him. My eyes instantly widened as I saw mystery man, who I had recently come to know was called Valentino, sat across from me.

Shit! I was going to die. My big mouth and slow brain were going to get me killed, someday soon.

"You don't like it?" He asked, leaning back in his chair, his eyes focused on me.

He was dressed in a pair of black suit trousers with a crisp white shirt tucked in, which had the top two buttons undone. Even from this distance, I could still see the different shades of brown and green in his powerful eyes. They held a thousand tales.

"Sure, it's lovey." I shrugged. "It's just not what I would choose, personally."

He raised one of his manly groomed eyebrows, as he took a sip of orange juice. "It's a good job you don't live here then."

I nodded, my fingers fiddling with the stem of the crystal glass. "Speaking of, why did you kidnap and bring me here?"

I noticed his eyes turn a little darker, showing that my words had some kind of negative effect on him. The rest of his face, however, didn't change one bit. His eyes were the give-away that displayed his emotions, if only you could work out what each change represented.

"Straight to the point, I like it." He softly smirked, dissolving any and all signs of irritation from his luring eyes.

My eyes involuntary rolled back at his attempt to re-direct the conversation. If he was going to keep me locked up in this beautiful palace, I at least wanted to know why.

"We might as well get straight to it, considering that I'm not going to be here for long." I stated, wanting, or rather needing, answers.

I picked up another grape, a green one this time, and bit half of it, as my eyes still stayed glued to his. Little bursts of juice splattered against the side of my lip, which I wiped with the back of my finger before resting my hand, which held half a grape, onto the table.

His eyes turned even darker and his lips twitched the slightest bit as he watched my every movement. His face soon returned to its stern and strict look.

"I don't know how long you'll be here. That all depends on your dad." He explained casually, as though kidnapping girls was something he did on a daily basis.

I gasped ever to slightly. "My dad?"

My heart sped up a little. All I knew about my dad was that he left the minute mum told him she was pregnant with me. I often wondered what kind of person he was, what he looked like, whether he was dead or alive, which by Valentino's words, he was alive. I knew nothing, had nothing, of my father, other than his surname. My full name is Sofia Lily Hernanez Archibald. Mum said that all my father had requested of her was that his surname, Hernanez, was written on my birth certificate, which was much more than he even deserved.

She wouldn't even tell me his first name or how they met. The less you know about him, the better it will be for you, is what she would always say to me whenever I enquired about him. She shot me down like he was Lord Voldemort or something, he who shall not be named. I am slightly ashamed to admit that I did search the name Hernandez on Facebook one time, turns out that it's a very popular name and didn't help me one bit.

"Yes." Valentino confirmed. "Darren Rothers." 

Oh. Stupid me. Of course, he meant my step-father. If I didn't even know who my dad was, how could I expect anyone else to.

"He's not my dad." I sternly said, popping the other half of the green grape into my mouth, biting down on it with a clenched jaw to take out the anger that was erupting inside me.

"But you live with him, no?" He cocked an eyebrow at me. Just because I lived with the monster did not make him my father, or even a father-like figure. Just the thought of him began to make my blood boil.

"So, you're a stalker, too?" I rose my eyebrow, also, in a questioning manner.

Now it was my turn to re-direct the discussion. Darren was someone I most definitely did not want to talk about. If someone was to develop a machine that could erase a part of your memory, I would be at the front of that queue requesting to remove all traces of Darren Rothers from my mind.

"Stalker, not so much." He replied casually. "I'm just a man who needs to know everything about the people I have to associate myself with."

A yes or no would have sufficed. I was not in the mood for some type of riddle and vague explanation to a very simple question, from a guy who both kidnapped and stalked me.

Valentino stood up from his chair and made his way towards me. He placed one of his hands on the back of my chair as he walked around it and placed the other on one of the chair arms. His face was right beside mine, his lips hovering next to my ear, causing the hairs on my body to stand up.

"I have somewhere I need to be, but we can continue this conversation later." He breathed into my ear, causing a shiver to run through my body. I swear, someone must have opened a window somewhere, that was what made me shiver, not this stranger.

He moved his hand from the arm of the chair, and reached forward. His chest brushed against my bare shoulder. His long index finger and thumb picked off a grape from the vine, which he brought up towards my lips, before moving it past my face and into his mouth. The crunching sound vibrated through the air as he chewed on it.

"You look really pretty, by the way." He whispered tenderly.

Before my mind had time to register what he had said, he was gone, leaving no trace that he was just here a few seconds ago. Like a puff of smoke, he just disappeared, minus the residue of smoke. For all I know, I could have imagined the whole interaction. A part of me hoped I had imagined it because then the effect that he had on me would not have been real; but the other part of me hoped that I had not imagined it because that would mean I was thinking about him.

My eyes scanned the perimeter of the room, before landing back on the table. Shrugging to myself, I picked up a juicy red strawberry. Looks like I had found a way to spend my day.

Food coma, here I come!