Haunting Eyes

Chapter five

He looked down, golden eyes searching my shoes. This was not the first time he had done this with me. I knew this look. He didn't want to tell me, he was hiding something important, something he's ashamed about, something he's worried about. Not hard to realise, but with Alfie, it worried me, more than being kidnapped did. Much more.

Chapter five.

"Beth..."  He looked up from his shoes, his eyes darting around my face trying to inch his way back into my mind. It was working, with each movement of those golden eyes I was forgetting why I was angry, forgetting why I was here. Only remembering my Alfie.

"There's a lot you need to know, " he paused, blinking, making me aware of the words he used. My stomach got that feeling, that feeling you get when you find out something devastating. Or more exact the tense moments just before you find out. It twisted into heavy knots that I felt all the way up to my heart. A lot?

I looked up at him, expectantly. Yet his mouth didn't move, I heard no words escaping. We just stared at each other, eyelashes communicating with each other. We let the seconds turn into minutes until it got hard to stand still. I moved back to the bed and sunk into the mattress. Staring at Alfie. Being alone with him used to make me feel so special, so adored, so... so loved. But now I guess it makes me worried.

There was a bang outside the door, it sounded like metal on metal. The scraping, tinkling noise that make the hairs on the back of your neck stand up straight. Alfie took his eyes off me and looked at the door, it felt like he could see straight through it. His eyes darted straight back to me,

"Beth, I have to go. You mustn't leave, I promise I'll come back and tell you everything. I just, I need you to stay here. Please." I looked up at him, showing him that I wouldn't move- I couldn't trust myself to speak back to him. I would've either shouted or cried.

He walked to the door, looked back at me and left. He was silhouetted in the brightness from the other side of this room. I was alone in this place. Alone.

Oh screw this, I thought as I jumped off the bed, pulled on my boots, jumper and scarf and took three steps across the room. It was a cold dark room, the only light reaching me came from the slit-like windows that were just below the ceiling. I could see the rain spattering on the glass and those raindrops created shadows across the room. It was beautiful in an odd sort of way.

I looked down towards the floor, it wasn't concrete as it first looked, but rather beautifully varnished wooden floorboards. The walls were whitewashed, apart from the oak door that Alfie had just walked through. It was wonderful, this room it was more like an artists studio than any bedroom I had known.

Then I heard it, a scream, a womans' scream. It made the memories of yesterday flood back to me. That shrill scream, her pleading. That couldn't of been her, they took me instead. Alfie took me instead of her. He said that, didn't he.

The scream came again. Weaker than before, it was like she had almost given in. It came from just outside the door. The rain started to beat down on the window harder than it had before and louder in a seemingly threatening way. It pushed me to walk towards the door. I reached out toward the handle, I pulled my hand away just as quickly, it was freezing cold. I could hear muffled breaths outside and it sounded like the woman was being dragged away from this doorway.

It all went quiet, yet I still couldn't bring myself to open the door, it'd most likely be locked anyway. I mean who's heard of kidnappers who don't look their doors?

I backed away from the door, just as I heard more footsteps outside. The floorboard creaked as I stepped back onto it. I jumped, just as the door opened a little. Golden eyes stared through the gap. Golden eyes that widened as he looked me up and down, sneering a little as he got back to my face. The door opened more. And I realised, those golden eyes didn't belong to my Alfie. Those golden eyes hadn't promised to protect me. Those golden eyes came closer with every beat of my heart. An arm reached out and grabbed my elbow roughly, pulling so hard my whole body shook toward him.

"C'mon you," he sneered through his tight lips, "You're coming with me.."

I stumbled, tripping up on my own boots. The man merely snickered at me and pulled me with more strength toward the door. I wanted to shout. I wanted to scream with all my might. But what use would it do now, the other woman screamed and no one came, no one helped. She was alone as they took her, and now I was too. We were alone together.

He pulled me through the barely open door, cracking my wrist on the door handle. It felt like a cold burn ran through my entire body as pain seared within me. Then the brightness struck me. I was blinded temporarily by what seemed like a row of energy balls floating around the ceiling of a long, narrow corridor. He pushed me in front of him, taking both my palms in one of his, staring through my back, pushing me on painfully.

I would not show weakness, I wouldn't show the pain, the fear, the worry that pulsed through me quicker than my blood.

Alfie, Alfie where are you?

He pushed me towards a door, bigger than the rest, darker than the rest.

"Here we are deary."