The Emperor

09

ADELINE

I wake up in a stranger's bed.

The weirdest thing is that I don't wake up from a nightmare like most of my restless nights.

       I'm not waking up because of Dawn's strong perfume either. What wakes me up is the feeling of being watched.

       It's unsettling.

       I cannot recall where I am. Why did I sleep here. Who put me to bed. And certainly not whose bed this is. What I definitely can tell is that somebody is intensely staring at me and they woke me up.

I don't dare to open my eyes, to scared of what I might see, of who I might face. So I squeeze my eyes shut as hard as I can. The silk sheets feel quite thin on my body and I just want them to be a dozen times thicker and to help me hide from whoever is watching me sleeping. I'm genuinely terrified.

I hear a few steps, coming closer to me, stopping me from breathing. And then, I smell them, I feel them near me, I hear them and every breath they take. They're right next to me. Oh Lord. They're right next to me.

They don't talk, yet, they just stand close to my sleeping body as if this was the most normal thing to do. I can hear my heart in my ears, the heat of my fear reddening my cheeks, the exhaustion fading away to leave room for terror.

"I know you're awake, doll. Open your eyes." Crap. It's a man, I think. But I don't know this voice. Where am I? He brushes a strand of hair away from my face, like a lover would ; softly, gently, tenderly. The movement is not as crude as the orders coming from his mouth, it's like the hand and the lips were not from the same person. But then, a second later he forces my eye open with his thumb and forefinger. Crap.

"A girl in Chaos's bed, how odd." He whistles with disgust. Not letting my eye go. He watches me like a hawk. The stranger has deep green eyes, as green as a forest, long black lashes and a few freckles on his nose and cheeks. He's beautiful. But something is off. It's not only from the fact that he has been watching me sleeping, not because I'm sleeping in —whoever that might be— Chaos's bed, but in his eyes there's something. And it's creepy.

It's dark and the more I lose my own in the green of his irises the scarier it gets. It's almost like a shadow.

       "Why are you in his bed? Did he pay you? Are you a whore?" He tilts his head, looking at me with all the curiousness of the world. His features feel familiar, he looks like someone I know for sure. Still, I don't dare to answer. I don't care if he mistakes me for a prostitute, I just need him to leave and let me go. I'll be on my way far from wherever this is. Plus, my eye is starting to dry.

"No, you look far too innocent to be a whore." He then adds. Should I say thank you? Should I be offended? I'm confused and scared. My heart beats so hard in my chest I'm convinced he can hear it more than I do and my legs are numb, completely numb. I couldn't move them even if I tried.

"Did he kidnap you?" The stranger's eyes widen in excitement, he finally leaves my eye and allows me to blink to wash the new tears away. Kidnap me? Why would that even be an option.

"We already talked about this, he can't kidnap people without telling us." Who's he and who is us? Who is this man? Who is Chaos? Why am I here? Did he really kidnap me? Why put me in a soft comfortable bed if I were kidnapped? Nothing makes sense to me. I did sleep good for the first time in years, I didn't wake up once until I felt the heavy eyes of this man. This night, it was restful.