Paradise

Chapter Ten

I stood in my bedroom, door locked, lacy, white curtains drawn. Both my muscles and my brain felt busy, almost jittery, as if possessed by an electric current. My breathing came through my lips in quick, hard gasps that left my chest aching.

You just left her there! My mind screamed accusingly. If anything happens to her it'll be your fault!

Eventually Yvette will find out, and then what will happen?

What if there are more that know about that place?

What if they find out what you did, and come for you?

I forced myself to sit on the edge of my bed. My hands were shaking so badly, I balled them into one fist, knotting my fingers together.

One question still plagued me more than the others:

What did they want from me?

Don't forget 'why did they bring me there'. My mind shot. That's important too.

Whatever reason ... it must have been something of great importance. And if it was something of great importance then they wouldn't just leave me alone.

Panic crawled up my throat, threatening to burst from my lips into a scream, but I couldn't scream here. What would my parents think? Screaming wouldn't be beneficial anyway. I needed to come up with a plan. The only problem was that I had no idea what to plan for. It would be impossible since I still didn't know what they wanted from me in the first place. The only thing I could do was be on guard, and that would eventually turn me into a paranoid mess.

I fell backwards with a sigh.

"What am I going to do?" I whispered aloud.

Bang! Bang!

My heart about jumped in my throat as I jolted up. "Huh?" I cried, breathless.

"Time for dinner," came my father's booming reply from behind my door.

"Uh-okay," I stammered, feeling relief wash over me, and hoping it would calm my pounding heart. I closed my eyes for a moment, taking in a slow, steady breath, and was just about to feel better when:

Bang!

"Hurry up! I'm hungry!"

I jumped to my feet, my heart skipping a couple of beats. "Okay, okay!" I cried, feeling exasperated. My door practically shook with that one!

He was waiting outside my room when I opened the door, his darkly-tanned face narrowed in scrutiny. "I work all day, remember?" he snapped.

I controlled the urge to roll my eyes. "You don't have to wait for me," I said, flicking off my light. "I'm not that hungry anyway."

My father was a quick-tempered man prone to impatience. I suppose he inherited that trait from his father's side since they were both redheads (though his was of the lighter variety these days). Like most redheads, his eyes were very pale, a lovely blue-green that I wish I would have inherited instead of my drab brown.

"Well, you'll either eat now or not at all. You're going to bed early tonight," he said, leading the way down the hall.

"Fine," I submitted. You couldn't argue with this man unless you wanted to start a war, and I was in no mood for that kind of emotional toil now. I was already exhausted beyond measure!

* * *

We ate quietly, my parents absorbed in the local news stories on TV, and me picking uninterestedly at a piece of fried chicken. My appetite was nonexistent.