1906 [h.s.]

ten

"It's a pleasure to meet you, Emma" he said with a little smile. "How are you doing?" He continued ironically, and I snorted at his behaviour.

"Can I sit down?" I asked him glancing around in the room surrounding us, the darkness that deep that I barely saw him nod.

"You can, as long as you do not fall asleep" he replied, stepping back to give me a little room.

I frowned. "Why shouldn't I fall asleep?"

"I would have to wake you up if you fell asleep" he simply replied, sitting on the floor as silently as possible.

"And that would be a problem because...?" I asked, but he didn't reply, just signalling me to shut up as we heard the sound of steps coming from outside.

"I don't fancy being murdered by a girl inside a storage room just yet" he said when the steps went away.

"But I'm tired" I replied glancing at him. "I haven't slept in I don't even know how many hours."

He sighed. "You're allowed to sleep. I will wake you up when the time comes."

•  •  •

"Emma. Emma!"

I opened my eyes at the faint whisper, blinking a few times when I was met by the darkness of the room.

"Emma" he called me again, and I turned around, barely seeing the outline of his face a few inches away from mine. "You need to wake up" he added shifting a bit closer to me, his smell hitting my nose.

I breathed in from my mouth even though it wasn't too strong. It wasn't a perfume, but it wasn't a bad smell for sure. He just smelled clean, with a hint of something that was just him.

I sat up better against the wall. "What?" I asked him, trying to keep my voice as low as possible.

"It's ten minutes to midnight" he replied, moving away. "You have to change your clothes, or else they will stay here, and it could potentially be a disaster."

I hummed. "What could be a disaster?" I said, and he gave me a weird look.

"Wake up please. We don't have a lot of time" he replied standing up and retrieving my clothes, throwing them to me. "I will turn around."

I stood up grabbing my clothes. I looked at him to make sure he really had turned around, even though I didn't really think he would've not. He seemed too kind to engage on that kind of stupid games. I took off the dress I had been forced to put on and put my clothes on again, instantly feeling warmer.

"Done" I said, and he glanced at me, nodding slightly before taking the dress I had left on the floor, folding it and putting it into the wooden box he had found it in.

"Now what?" I asked him, leaning against the cold wall again.

"We will wait until we cannot hear anybody walk outside, and we will go to the room" he simply replied leaning against the opposite wall and sliding down a little bit, making me realise how tired he actually was.

I wondered when was the last time he had actually slept, because something told me he probably hadn't closed an eye for the past 24 hours at least.

"Are you tired?" I asked him, and he nodded.

"A little, but it's fine. I will not fall asleep" he just replied in a deep whisper.

"So" I said again, wanting to talk more to him. "Now that we're on a first name basis, what about you tell me what landed you in this place?"