The Nemesis Syndrome

35. Eliza

She woke to sunlight high in the sky, a sight that hurt her eyes. How long had she been trapped inside that building, sleep or otherwise? Long enough for her eyes to forget the colour of the sky and the pattern of clouds.

The hut was quiet- too quiet. She should have heard the quiet breathing of Leo, but there was nothing except birds singing outside.

'Leo?' She called out.

Nothing.

She sat up, looking around, her eyes falling on the simple piece of paper on the table.

Eliza swore, once, then again, as she decided it was the only perfect response to it all.

'Don't look for me.' She muttered, picking up the note and screwing it up in her hand. 'You are so melodramatic. Find someone better. Seriously you need to sort out how you see yourself.' She wanted to snarl at him- and then she remembered she didn't need to. Not when he would feel her anger. She gave a low chuckle instead, one that had no hint of humour in it. 'Fine.' She muttered, grabbing the supplies he had left for her and storming out of the hut.

She was pretty sure the door broke behind her, but she didn't bother looking.

She walked, in the direction she hoped was north. Hours past, but finally she started to see signs of civilisation- the trees started spacing out, and she could hear wheels on tarmac. Cars had long ago stopped sounding like they were moving, their engines completely silent. Eliza remembered reading about it in school- a place that seemed so long ago now- how it was better for the environment even as the amount of people who were hit by cars rose year on year.

The village was small, but it was still big enough to have a main street, complete with shops and a tiny, cheerful looking Bed and Breakfast. Eliza smiled, hurrying towards it. All she wanted was a bath. Or shower. And a proper toilet. Anything remotely normal would have done in that second.

She pushed open the door, the bell above it ringing. The woman at the desk looked up- and froze.

Eliza didn't even want to think about what she looked like.

'Hi.' She said, plastering on her most charming smile. 'So... I was meant to be camping in the woods with my boyfriend.' The smile fell slightly. 'But it...it turned out he didn't think I was enough for him...He left me there and took all my money and my phone.' Only half a lie, really. 'I'm really sorry, and I don't expect anything, but I was hoping to use a room for an hour and clean up? I can get myself home just...' She shrugged, trying to look helpless.

The woman was staring at her, a frown on her face.

'I can pay you for it.' Eliza said quickly. 'I can phone my parents. They can pay you. I just...I don't know what to do.'

She didn't need to fake the pain in her voice at that, and finally the woman sighed.

'Doll.' The woman smiled softly, picking a key off the wall and handing it over. 'It wasn't your soulmate was it?'

'No. Just a boy. I guess this is why people say not to date, isn't it?'

'Not all of them are bad, doll. Go on, get yourself cleaned up, the rooms empty till tomorrow. Up the stairs, second on the right.'

'Thank you.' Eliza whispered, taking the key and walking off. She could feel the woman's eyes on her, and she tried to walk normally. Part of it was guilt- she hated lying- but the other part was fear. Fear of not knowing who to trust, what to say. Where she was or where she was going.

The second she was in the room, she slammed the door shut and went into the bathroom. The shower was steaming seconds later, and she stripped off, throwing her clothes into the bin- she would rather carry on walking naked than putting them back on- and stepped in.