Cast The Die

Chapter Twenty

The sun is radiating onto the river, reflecting off the ripples that the rowing boats create. A young couple in a wooden boat are talking and laughing; their smiles are infectious. The boy rotates the oars anti-clockwise, pushing them down the river whilst the girl takes his photograph. I lean back on my deck chair and take another sip of my mango and pineapple smoothie. I close my eyes and take in the sound of children laughing, the trees moving with the light breeze. I take a deep breath, focusing on the feeling of the sun on my skin.

"Macey wake up sweetie" I don't want to wake up. "Macey, you need to wake up" please, Mum. Let me sleep. "Macey, wake up, now!"

When I open my eyes, I'm in complete darkness. There is no river, the sun is not shining, I don't have a smoothie, my Mum isn't here. I'm not in the South of France anymore. I bring my hand to my throbbing head; my hair feels like its covered in hairspray. The blood has dried, and my hair is solid. I feel around for the bowl of water, but I grab a bottle instead, how did that get here? I remember the nice man helping me, bringing me more water and cutting my hands free. But he still left me in here, alone. Have I really been in here four days? How long have I been asleep? I bring the bottle to my lips and gulp the rest of the water, it's warm but still nice. I look up to the light shining through the small holes in the shutter and imagine it's the sun, that I'm still in the Dordogne with my parents and my smoothie. That thought is interrupted by the heavy footsteps coming down the corridor. The shutter opens and I quickly shield my eyes from my imaginary sun. The nice man walks over to me, probably examining my deterioration.

"I've brought you more water" he said, placing another bottle of water by my side.

"That's brilliant...thank you so much...really, thank you" I said, over-sarcastically. He kneeled next to me. I managed to get a proper look at his face, he has the darkest eyes I've ever seen, and his bone structure is flawless. I grabbed the water, but my weak hands couldn't even unscrew the lid.

"Here, let me help" I watched him as he loosened it and flicked the lid on the floor. When he handed it back, it was too heavy for my frail hands and the water spilled over my already ruined dress. He took the bottle from me and held it to my lips, but I didn't move. "Let me help you" he said willingly. I parted my lips and tilted my head back and I felt the cold, refreshing liquid hit the back of my throat.

"Why?" I asked.

"Why what?" he replied.

"Why everything?" I thought I was making sense. It made sense in my head, but I think I've lost my mind. Nothing makes sense anymore.

"Once I get you out of here and somewhere safe, I'll tell you everything. But for now, I..." he looked down. "It's not safe, I can't get you out of here because there's people watching" he said.

"Who? Who's watching? Did you put me here? Did you attack me?" my voice was full of fear.

"No!" he answered immediately. "No, I didn't attack you and I didn't bring you here" he said seriously.

"Well who did?" I asked.

"It's complicated" he said, clenching his jaw. Why can't I stop looking at his jaw?

"Why are you helping me?" I didn't sound scared anymore.

"Again, it's complicated" he said, looking at me. Our eyes met for a few seconds, there was no light in his, just darkness. I looked down at my hands and I heard him sigh. It was silent for a moment, but it wasn't awkward. "I'm Cole" he said. I looked up at him again.

"I'm guessing you already know my name" I said jokingly. I don't know why I'm trusting him, I probably shouldn't considering the situation I'm in, but I'm not in the right frame of mind to be making rational decisions.

"Yeah" he nodded.

"What else do you know?" I asked.

"More than you think" he said.

"Creepy" I said, with a small smile. I've lost my mind. He smiled back; his teeth were obviously perfect to match the rest of his face.

"I have to go. I'll be back though. I promise" he said. In seconds I was alone, again.