Alice's Secret Obsession

Chapter Seven: Buried Memories

My legs feel like glass that is about to crumble at any second. I feel smaller, my hair is at my chin, and my chest feels lighter than before. I can feel my heart fluttering and can see my seventh-grade art teacher, Mr. Hope. It appears I am the last student in the classroom. He beckons me again with an overly sweet voice that makes me feel sick. "Alice, come here, please." His left hand reaches out to me and has a twisted look in his eyes with a welcoming smile. 

"Am... Am I in trouble?" leaves my lips in a quiet voice. 

Mr. Hope's smile is unwavering, and his eyes shimmer, "Oh no, my dear Alice, you are not in trouble." 

I hesitate to approach his desk because I feel scared. But I am unsure why I am afraid. Nervously playing with the ends of my hair, I approach Mr. Hope's desk. I have never favored being alone with adults. It makes me afraid. I watched movies, shows, and videos about bad things happening to children when they were left alone with adults. Even though Mr. Hope is my favorite teacher because he is genuinely friendly and patient, and always praises my art, I still feel scared. Mr. Hope's face turns into worry as he asks me, "What is wrong, Alice?" 

My lips twitch before falling into a frown. "I am not certain, Mr. Hope. I think I consumed too much dairy again." 

Mr. Hope smiles softly and says, "I can take you to the nurse's office after we finish talking, and please, call me Derek." 

I cannot help but smile sheepishly and feel my cheeks warm at this. "Are... Are you sure that it is okay for me to call you D-D-Derek?" 

He nods, placing my tiny hand in his huge hand, and gently pulling me closer to him. Gazing into my eyes intensively, he says, "I wanted to thank you for drawing me a beautifully-drawn sketch today." 

I feel too embarrassed to respond and quickly remove my hand from his. Mr. Hope or Derek then gets up and says, "Let's take you to the nurse's office now." 

I silently turn around, walk to my desk to pick up my backpack, and then feel a cloth that smells awful forcefully pressed against my mouth and nose. 

----time skip---- 

I yawn as I open my eyes, only to find that I am bound to a chair in a dark basement. "Why am I here? Where am I? Why am I tied up?" I ask myself, feeling very scared. I hear footsteps descending the stairs. I am surprised to see Mr. Hope when the light turns on because I do not remember anything that happened in the classroom. 

Mr. Hope smiles at me as he walks closer to my chair. "Good evening, Alice. I am always--" He pauses for a few seconds as his eyes observe me, "Happy to see you." He then goes down on his knees in front of my chair, gazing up into my eyes with a hunger that causes me to feel like vomiting. My eyes narrow at him in confusion, "Why...? Why did you take me!?" 

He laughs as if I am being cute. "I want you to draw me." 

"You kidnapped me so I can draw you? You could have asked me to draw you during class, and I would have said yes." I reply in a monotone voice. 

He nods, then whispers, "There is another thing I want you to do, but I'll tell you about it later." I feel my stomach churn, and then he gets up and leaves. After a few minutes, he returns with a sketchpad, mechanical pencil, a wooden pencil, and new garments I have never seen him wear, a knight cosplay -or any cosplay on that note-. 

I can feel myself blushing. I have never been interested in kids my age. They have always felt too immature for me. So it always felt wrong when I favored a classmate. As if I am a pedophile. But I did not feel that way when I desired a teacher, although I felt scared of being in love with a teacher because I am still a child and they are an adult. It is extremely inappropriate for me to think about a teacher that way. I had a crush on Mr. Hope, but now that he has kidnapped me, I feel confused. I appreciate how he looks in the knight cosplay, but I still feel scared.