Chasing Euphoria

Chapter Five

Cassie

There was truly nothing better than waking up to clean, fresh bedsheets and a hint of the sunlight glowing through pale curtains. True peace and no cares in the world.

A floral scent hit my nose and a strong sense of comfort embraced me.

Mom's favourite laundry smell.

Not a chance, unless I had gone back in time then my mom was still well and truly gone, and I don't believe in ghosts. I never have done. She was the one who taught me that they aren't real and to never be afraid of such a thing. Whatever doesn't exist can't hurt you.

It was just Liam's clean duvet.

I exhaled a long and stressed breath, then inhaled another in an attempt to calm myself a little more. Except Liam rarely cleaned the bedding when it had been less than two weeks and his bedroom didn't have curtains.

My body went rigid and I felt a lump in my throat as my heart skipped a beat.

Where was I?

Hesitantly, I peeked open one eye slightly and hoped that my worst nightmare of being kidnapped hadn't become a bitter reality. It would be another thing to mark off the checklist of hell coming down to earth. When I gathered the courage to take a glance, instead of being met by a masked killer with a knife in one hand and a rope in the other, it was another pillow.

Raising my head for a better view, a drum played behind my eyes, pounding into my skull. My eyes only opened again after I turned over onto my back to make it easier. Directly above me looked like a miniature chandelier and my attention was snatched to finding out more about the unfamiliar room.

Trying to avoid my migraine getting any worse, I propped my head up against a few of the many, many pillows spread behind me and took in the view better. The feeling that I was getting worse subsided and I allowed myself to roam the space.

The bedroom alone was bigger than Liam's whole apartment.

To the left of me was a huge window stretching from one side of the room to the other, delicate lace curtains covering them to shield me enough from the morning sun yet still letting in some light to see better. To the right, there was an open door revealing a full en-suite bathroom with various pieces of black and white art framed on either side. Directly ahead was a huge flatscreen television on an extra wall that came out in front of the rest of that side of the room with another sliding door on the left which was also open, revealing a walk-in closet.

I leaned sideways to grab a bottle of water from the mini fridge next to the bed and practically inhaled the whole thing in less than a minute. I really needed that. My throat felt like sandpaper and my mouth felt dryer than the Sahara.

It was clear that I was in a very high-class hotel room, but it posed more questions. How did I get here? What happened last night? Most importantly, who on earth paid for this room? I know I didn't bring any money out with me and I doubt I would be let in a room without some sort of payment. Liam wouldn't pay for me to stay in a hotel, especially not without him.

In a wise effort to find some answers to my questions, I patted the side of the table until I managed to find my phone and switched it back on after I had clearly powered it off sometime during the night. It was something I never did in case of emergencies.

Immediately, the blue light made my vision strain and my eyes squint until I could adjust to the intense brightness. As soon as I unlocked it, notifications started popping through like there was no tomorrow and I silenced it until they were all done about ten minutes later. Once it had calmed, I started reading through everything, the first thing being all of the missed calls I had from Liam and Sierra.