Misplaced

Waking Up

Picture of Rhea- Not the outfit though. All credit goes to anndr on deviantart

Pain seared down her spine in waves of sharp agony. Rhea awoke with a scream as it trailed through her body, unbearable and unforgiving in intensity. Surely a wildfire would be more bearable. Even her hair wasn't untouched, aching and pounding to the beat of her frantic heart.

Rhea wasn't aware that hair could hurt.
For unknown minutes or even days, Rhea withered as her body was assaulted by the unknown wound.
But eventually it slowly started to recede. Starting from her toes, the beautiful absence of pain crawled up her body. It left her an aching shell, but it was better than the onslaught.
Just as Rhea began drifting to sleep, she was shocked awake. Cold struck her face, sending her barreling to consciousness.
Coughing and shaking, Rhea looked around to snap at the person.
A young man stood beside the bed, an empty bucket in hand. Silky, night black hair fell to his shoulders, framing a richly dark tan face. A smile was spread wide over his face, revealing chipped white teeth. Outlined with kohl, doe brown eyes glittered behind long eyelashes. His face was well-defined, and his body slim. But Rhea noted that although thinner than most, his arms were muscled.

With an easy smile in place, the stranger asked her something. It wasn't English. Rhea couldn't even define what region it was from.

"Dochira sama desu ka? Watashi wa doko ni iru no?" Rhea asked, but the young man merely furrowed his brow in confusion. She tried again in English, "Who are you? Where am I?" When that elicited no response either, Rhea tried once more in Spanish, "Quien es? Donde estoy?"
With her third attempt, the young man shook his head and sighed. He said something that Rhea got the impression was along the lines of, "It seems we don't have a common language."
Rhea nodded, hoping her translation was near the mark. Sighing in frustration and wary that the pain would return, she carefully looked around the room. She was lying on a cot in a small room made of wood. It was incredibly warm and the air was dry, but Rhea welcomed it after the agony she had endured. And they were moving. The bed shifted beneath her and a gentle breeze could be felt through the spaces in the wood. She heard some kind of animal clopping outside.

Was she still in Japan? Had she been kidnapped?
The last thing she remembered was being at school. She had an exam and had decided to meet up with Shika and Yori before to get coffee.

Everything began to blur after that.

"Have you kidnapped me?" she asked in Japanese.

The man tilted his head and shrugged. He replied in his own tongue, probably telling her that he couldn't understand her or that she was crazy.

Rhea wanted to scream in frustration, but she needed to think. She wasn't tied up, although she had been tortured. Was it done by this man? She didn't feel any wound.

The stranger shook his head and tapped on the roof. He shouted loudly, spooking Rhea, but they stopped moving. With a wink that had Rhea tensing, he opened the door and exited. Reaching a hand out behind him, he asked something.

Was he giving her the choice? He seemed to be. There was a patience and perhaps kindness to his mannerisms. She could follow him to the unknown world or rest and wait.

There was no choice.