The Cost for Freedom

Chapter 4

Softness. Silence. Except a small, rhythmic humming that reverberates through my body. My hands squeeze together the silky material in them as I twist my head around. My eyes flutter open as I immediately am forced to adjust to the minimal lighting. The lights bounce in and around the room, as the passing scenery chooses when to illuminate the generous compartment I was in.

But then I see the shadow of the man across from me, and it was no one I knew. My mind quickly recalls the events that had gotten me here. I jerk upright in the bed I had been sleeping in. No restraints had been holding me down but I still felt threatened. Automatically, the mystery man in the corner steps forward into my view and I am momentarily caught off guard. He cocks his head at me in confusion, slowly taking steps closer to me.

The light fully shows him now as I find myself staring into unbelievably intense, dark blue eyes contrasted by thick eyebrows and long, dark eyelashes. His hair was a sexy, disheveled black that was just longer than a crew cut, connecting to his five o' clock shadow that perfectly framed his square jaw and chiseled features. My gaze lowers to his muscles bulging underneath his black v-neck shirt, just begging to be let out. His large veins pop, standing out against his lighter skin tone. My eyes wonder back up to meet his brooding blues as his eyebrows begin to draw together.

"You shouldn't be awake yet..." He points his finger at me, his voice a velvety smooth deep baritone.

Still on the bed, I shake my head and slowly get up. He continues his slow march towards me, "Stop." My hand is up, showing a confidence I didn't feel. "Where am I?"

He snickers at me, sliding an annoyingly attractive smirk onto his face showing shockingly white teeth. "Now, I don't think that's important right now, do you?" He throws his hands up as his eyes roam the room, then me, as he comes to a stop. "Were all alone in this little room, on a train, in the middle of nowhere..."

"Wh-who are you?" my small voice manages to stutter out. I falter, stepping back against the bed, immediately aware I had nowhere to run to. My mind was screaming in confusion, begging for answers I had no inkling of. Yet I was peaceful, the most immediate threat was in front of me and somehow the only threat I felt was to my innocence.

Resuming his slow walk towards me, he held both his hands up, as if to say he really wasn't a threat. "I'm no one of importance, really." They were large, rough and calloused, most likely from some kind of hard labor. "The size of that bed though..." he winks at me.

"Seriously?" I voice my disgusted reaction a little too quickly, as I escape, darting to the side. Having successfully avoided his first approach, he swung around for another one. I was now facing the windows, watching as the rolling mountains and green grasses passed us by. But then his head blocked my view as he once again was way too close.

"Would you just stop, please?" I pause for a breath and he only smiles at me knowingly. "Your advances are pointless."

"Are they?" He seemed amused, "Didn't get that vibe earlier when you were checking me out." His eyes wonder down on me, a flirty smile forming. 

"I was sizing up a threat," I deny him while clenching my jaw. His proximity was beginning to affect me a little too much.

"If that's the case, what was your conclusion?" He holds his hand thoughtfully, yet mockingly on his chin.

I scoff at him, "Were getting off topic. Weren't you going to answer my questions?"

His eyebrows momentarily raise in surprise at my gumption, yet they soon recede into a frown. "Was I? Didn't realize I had to do what you say."

My lips press into a thin line, "We both know you don't." 

It didn’t occur to me I had been staring into his eyes until I watched them squint infinitesimally together before he leans in, a scant distance from my face. My gaze, almost instinctively, risks a peek down at his parted lips as he turns them to the side. I feel his breath on my ear as he whispers to me, “Exactly why I’m about to do the opposite of what you want, or maybe do.”