Lost at Sea |

IV

Caroline. Caroline. Caroline.

The name swam through his dreams and now was being chanted in his head like a prayer. It was as if a part of himself was calling out to her but he couldn't understand why. Come to think of it, he couldn't understand anything about how she affected him. Maybe that's what happens when you come in contact with an angel and live to tell the tale.

It was already the second time today that James felt like never leaving the bed he felt himself in. He was on his back again, this time a fluffy pillow beneath his head as he fluttered his eyes open. Once again, he was greeted by the tiny bedroom he found himself in before, only this time he felt like he wasn't alone. The fan continued to blow against his face in the corner of the room, and squeezed his eyes a few times to make sure he really was in this bedroom again. What the fuck had happened to him?

He brought his fists to his eyes and rubbed some of the sleepiness out of them, trying to recall what happened before being placed in this bed again. Oh yeah, he had fallen down on the kitchen floor and right into the arms of the angel or the girl from the photograph...whatever same thing. Who the fuck knows what happened, but all he knew was that he had to figure out a way out of here. He sighed, before moving up to sit against the wire iron head board of the bed, and instantly tensed up at what he saw in front of him.

Once again, it was the girl from the photograph only this time she was seated on a chair, biting her nails as she stared out the giant window overlooking the sea shore. Okaaaayyy so she did seem to actually exist. Which James wasn't quite sure how he felt about that considering the show she witnessed on the kitchen floor not too long ago. James didn't get embarrassed often, usually because he doesn't put himself the position of getting embarrassed but he wanted to shove his head in a blender at the moment.

Almost as if she could feel his eyes on her elegant profile, her head snapped to the side to meet his gaze and her eyes widened.

"James," she breathed, a small smile brightening up her face as she pushed herself off the chair and folded her arms together in front of her chest. James sat up in bed, frozen with the sheets clutched in his hands as she seemed to be collecting her thoughts.

"Hi." He responded lamely, swallowing as her whole expression seemed to light up like a Christmas tree. He saw her eyes begin to water, and he immediately scolded himself for saying such a dumb response.

"Hey," she whispered, her eyes traveling all over him as if she was assessing any damage for some reason and she padded over to him on the bed. She was dressed in a pair of tight grey yoga pants and oversized rugby shirt that looked way too worn in, her feet and face bare as a tumble of hair fell around where her shoulder blades would be. As physically attractive as he found her, he couldn't help but notice the bags under her eyes and the exhaustion her body language expressed. Just as she hit the corner of the bed, James tensed up out of habit. Even though the girl-Grace-was a bundle of pretty and softness, he had no idea who she was or why she was here in this place with him. For all he knew, she could be just a super hot fan that drugged and kidnapped his mother and him.

But just as that thought crossed his mind, he knew it couldn't be the case by how his reaction to her approach seemed to upset her. The smile that once seemed to light up the entire room had now turned into a frown as she instantly retreated back to her chair and blinked away the tears welling up in her eyes.

"I'm sorry, you must be so confused and here I am acting like an idiot." She commented, shaking her head as if she was scolding herself before taking a deep breath and turning to him. She opened her mouth but before any words came out James had to cut her off.

"Who the fuck are you?" He asked, feeling a small pinch of guilt as she flinched at the harshness of the question. But right now he had to focus on getting out of here and he had no time to be polite about it.