Mantis

23. Victor reveals his hand

I woke up several hours later surrounded by a strong scent of vanilla. I looked around, glanced at the car clock, and widened my eyes in astonishment. I had lost a few hours of my life, and I was still sitting in Victor's BMW, even though by all geographical and temporal rules, I shouldn't have been there for a long time. Moreover, we weren't even in the city; we were speeding down the highway, and no buildings were visible on the horizon.

– Well-rested? – Victor asked in a cheerful tone.

– Where are we? – I asked, confused, looking around for some point of reference. – Do you have something to drink?

Victor rummaged with one hand in the back seat and handed me a bottle of mineral water, and I grabbed it as if I had just finished running through a desert.

– Not far from the Polish-German border – he replied to my question in a tone as calm and measured as if he were telling me what he had for dinner yesterday.

I nearly choked on the water I was drinking when I heard that and spluttered it onto the dashboard.

– Where? – I wheezed, coughing.

Victor smiled gently and spoke in a voice as if explaining something very obvious to a small child.

– As I said – he said, behaving as if everything was perfectly fine. – Not far from the border.

– I heard you – I snapped, glaring at him. – I'm asking you what I'm doing here? You were supposed to drop me off at my apartment.

Victor glanced at me quickly and then fixed his gaze on the road ahead.

– You were sleeping. What was I supposed to do? – he asked, shrugging his shoulders, as if he wasn't just taking me to the other end of Poland but merely late for some unimportant meeting by five minutes.

– Don't play dumb – I snarled, not hiding my irritation. – No sane person takes someone on such a trip without asking. You should have woken me up. No one sleeps so soundly that they can't be awakened. Unless... – I trailed off mid-sentence and looked at Victor, but he didn't look at me; he was stubbornly watching the road ahead.

Thoughts raced through my mind like mad, and the facts slowly connected into a logical and terrifying whole. My heart raced, and I almost felt the adrenaline reaching every cell in my body along with the blood. Oh shit!

– What did you give me? – I asked, still unable to believe he managed to do it. – And how? I mean... – I fell silent again and saw everything clearly in my mind. – The coffee...

Victor finally looked at me.

– Diazepam – he replied shortly.

I stared into his chocolate eyes, and all the thoughts that had been swirling madly in my head since I woke up stopped, and a small figure with a white flag stepped into the middle of the chaos, waving it in surrender. It was simply incomprehensible.

– Are you fucking insane? – I asked very quietly because I couldn't wrap my head around what I had just heard and didn't have the strength to shout. – Who the hell do you think you are?! Do you think you have the right to give me any medication!? Medications are not candy for fuck's sake!

Victor remained silent and fixed his gaze back on the road.

– What game are you playing, Victor? – I asked weakly, for I had no more strength to deal with him. – What do you want from me?

– I need your company – he shrugged innocently.

The little figure ran out of words. Did any rules apply in his world at all? Was there any way he didn't get what he wanted?