The Memory

Part 4

When I woke up, we were pulling up in front of a huge manor house. It was green with white trim. The taller woman opened my door and half-dragged me through the front door. I was dragged up three flights of stairs. When we finally got to the fourth floor, the woman dragged me into the first door on the left. I was thrown into the room and the woman left the room, locking the door.

The room was a brilliant white with a dark purple and black bedspread. It had a dark blue carpet and a large window with a brilliant view of the sky peeking through the curtains. Sadly, the woman left me on the fourth floor and I couldn't escape. I went over to the window and pulled back the curtains and tied them with a silver spindle hanging on a hook next to the window. Then I sat on the bed and opened my locket. To my surprise, it started softly playing my favorite song, Wanted. I stared at the pictures inside with tears filling my eyes.

One was Jake's yearbook photo from the seventh grade, and the other was a picture that they had taken on their ninth-grade field trip to Nashville, Tennessee. I covered my mouth with my hand, and closed the locket before going to explore the rest of the room. I opened a door next to the bed and walked into a small walk-in closet. I saw a small set of curtains on the wall, to big to be another window, though. I opened it and saw a set of french doors. I looked through and saw a small balcony outside and my eyes widened. I slowly opened the door and stepped out. I took a large breath of fresh air and exhaled to lean on the railing.

"Enjoying your view?" I turned to see the taller woman standing behind me. She walked to the edge and leaned on the railing next to me. She turned her head her head and flashed me a genuine smile. "I forgot to introduce myself in the rush." She looked forlorn for a moment. It disappeared after a short moment before she held out her hand to me. "I'm Astora. My friend in there is Cassandra, but she likes to be Cass." She smiled as I took her hand and shook it. "So. What is your name? I never really asked." I looked down as I thought of Jake. I lifted my head back up to meet her eyes and whispered, "I'm Amie."

She grabbed my hand and pulled me inside, closing the french doors behind me and covering them up with the curtains. She pulled me into my room and sat me down next to her on the plushy bed. She grabbed my hands in her own and help them tightly. "Look, I know you miss home, but you knew to much. We weren't looking for you, though. We were actually looking for a teenage boy about your age. His parents were at your house, but he apparently wasn't. I need you to tell me why you were in the closet." She looked into my eyes and I could feel her deep stare reach into my soul.

"I got in a fight with my mom and I ran in there to cry. I then heard you come up and wiped my tears, thinking you were my mom. I didn't want her to see me cry." She looked in my eyes asked, Do you want to go shopping with me? You start school tomorrow." She smiled weakly. I nodded and she helped me up and led me out the door. I wiped my tears as we walked out the door of my room. I watched as we walked past all the empty rooms and locked doors.

She walked lightly down the stairs into the living room. The living room was decorated half black and half blue. They each had that color of furniture and walls. Not to my surprise, Cass was sitting on a black couch in the black side. "I'm taking Amie here to the mall." Astora stated. Cass nodded slightly and Astora led me out to the car and I walked around to the passenger's side. I climbed in and sat in her designer seats. I grabbed my buckle and buckled up. Astora climbed in next to me and buckled up before turning the car on and putting her hands on the wheel.

She pressed the pedal to the metal and asked, "So, where do you want to go to buy clothes? We have almost every store you can think of." She smiled without looking at me. "I wonder if she always smiles this much", I thought in my head. "How about Delia's?" I said aloud. She turned to me and smiled, again. She then turned to the road and finished driving around the corner and we pulled up in front of a small store called Delia's. It obviously isn't the store I was talking about, but it would have to do.

We hopped out of the car and she pulled me inside, her face gleaming. Much to my surprise, the girl behind the counter greeted her by name. Astora just smiled and pulled me along. We reached the back and she pulled me up to a rack of T-shirts and jeans. I picked out a few sets and then we moved to the next rack. It was a rack full of beautiful dresses and amazing jewelry. I felt my eyes widen and I started looking through them. I picked out a beautiful silver dress that had a corset top and long, flowing ruffles that led to all the ruffles pooling at the bottom. I picked out a pair of dangling silver earrings and a silver necklace. She smiled, probably at my choice of outfit. She took it all from me and carried it to the counter. The girl looked bored as she rung up the purchases. She gave Astora the amount, which I didn't catch since I wasn't paying attention. She handed a bag containing my stuff and I carried it out into the car. I put the bag by my feet as I buckled up.

Astora hopped in next to me and buckled up.Then she turned to me. "I'm surprised you haven't tried to escape yet, Amie." She looked me right in the eye. "I looked around and realized that even if I tried, I couldn't escape." I shrugged casually.

"Okay." She turned back to the road and turned on the car. We drove back to the house in silence. She sent me to my room and I dragged the bag up the stairs and through the long halls. I dragged it into my room and threw it into my closet. I thumped down on the bed and curled up into a ball. I finally broke down and cried over the people from home who I would never see again. I fell asleep whimpering and wondering if Jake was thinking about me.