Caged Byrd

Chapter 10 - Promises

 The next few days, we settled into a pattern. We'd eat breakfast in silence, I'd escape to the greenhouse for a few hours, lunch, Alex would try to engage me with a movie or game, greenhouse, dinner, and finally our dreaded night time ritual.

The journal Alex gifted me remained untouched on the nightstand. Part of me wanted to open it and write, just to have somewhere to put my thoughts. To document what was happening. The other part refused to entertain any ideas that Alex might have that I appreciated the gift.

"I promise I won't read it." I jolted where I sat, in a chair by the window. I had been alone in the room moments before.

My eyes met his. "I don't want it," I said, irritation seeping into my voice. Every day, he brought up the journal. Reassured me that the journal was private and he wouldn't invade that privacy. He rolled his eyes as he walked past me.

"Sure you don't," he muttered under his breath, going into the bathroom. My eyes shifted back to the window, annoyance settling in. That is, until I heard him open the cabinets underneath the sink. I jumped up, running to the bathroom door.

"Hey! Can we do something today?" I winced. It didn't come out as casual as I hoped. Alex raised an eyebrow as he pulled a set of clothes out from under the sink. I let out a small huff of defeat. I didn't bother trying to lie about how a set of clothes and shoes had found themselves hidden away.

I left the room completely then, storming into the living room. Alex followed me. This wasn't our first event like this over the last few days. I tried to hide supplies somewhere, and he'd find it. No matter where I hid it. I had searched the room, bathroom, and closet for cameras but hadn't found any. I wasn't sure how exactly he managed to head straight to every hiding place. I had only put the clothes there this morning while he made breakfast.

"You're cute when you pout." I could hear the smirk in his voice.

"I'm not pouting!" I snapped, glaring at him.

"And you're sexy when you're mad," he laughed, reaching out to tip my chin up towards him. I slapped his hand away, my face flushing a deep red. The corners of his eyes creased and his lips twitched as he held in a chuckle.

He plopped onto the couch next to me, throwing an arm over the back of the couch. I leaned away, deliberately looking the other way as my heart climbed into my throat. He was always so casually inserting himself into my space. Like he was unaware how much his presence affected me. "Do you really want to go do something today?" he asked, saying it quietly into my ear, as if to conceal it from the nonexistent company in the room.

He had my full attention now, though I tried to act casual. "Depends..." I said, just as quietly. "What would we go do?"

This was it. This was my chance. He said, 'go do'. That implied leaving the house, right? If I could get away from this house, I might have a chance to escape. But Alex wasn't stupid. Nothing he did was unplanned. Everything had a purpose. A reason. That much, I had quickly learned. Whether that reason was to relate to me on some level, lower my defenses, or trick me into thinking I had control while getting me to comply, it was a planned outcome.

"I was thinking we could go camping," he said casually as his thumb brushed against my shoulder. "You've always enjoyed it, but haven't been able to go since you started college last fall. I thought it might be nice to get outside of these walls. There's an amazing waterfall a couple miles from here with a good area for camping nearby."

My heart rate kicked up a couple notches. This was my chance, but what was his angle? "It's fall? It gets pretty chilly in the evenings. Won't it be too cold, especially up here in the mountains?" I asked hesitantly.