Page 80 of Soaring Free
I wasn’t drinking wine last night. I drank my nightly chamomile tea with honey and went out to the patio and then … and then … what the hell happened? I groan as I try to open my eyes, but thankfully, the room is blissfully dark. Light may be my enemy right now, but I wouldn’t be mad if an angel brought me a giant glass of water and two ibuprofen.
Angel.
Why is that tugging on something in my memory? Did I call someone that or … did someone call me that? Oh my goodness, my stomach flips as a foggy memory comes back of an unknown male’s voice telling me,“Go back to sleep, my angel. It’s all going to be okay, shhhh. I’m here now.”
He’s here now? Who is he?
I roll over to reach for my phone, but my hand doesn’t connect with anything. My phone isn’t on my nightstand—there is no nightstand next to this bed—because I am not in my bed and this is not my bedroom.Where the hell am I and what happened?I pat down my body and exhale, thankfully feeling the clothes I remember putting on last night when I got home from Cider Fest.
Clothes are good, unknown dark rooms are bad.
I won’t be able to escape until I figure out where I am and possibly who brought me here, but the last point is debatable if it’s necessary at this moment. This is really fucking bad and I need to get the hell out of here.
But first, I need a bathroom or I’m going to pee my damn pants. I’m in a bedroom and there is a walk-in closet between two doors, one of which is open, revealing a connected bathroom. I slowly get out of the bed to seek relief for my poor bladder, but any movement is like tightening the vice my head is in right now.Why in the fresh hell does my head hurt so bad?I close the bathroom door and reach for the lock but notice there isn’t one. I take care of my business and wash my hands with soap that smells very similar to the berry scented soap I use at my own house. Using my hands to make a cup, I get some water from the faucet to rinse my mouth, which feels like I swallowed cotton balls.
Disgusting, dirty cotton balls. I can’t focus with how revolting my mouth tastes right now. Checking the drawers, I find an unopened toothbrush that … huh, it actually matches the ones I buy, and there’s even my preferred toothpaste brand. But that’s not that strange, any person that shops at Target would probably buy the same brand too.
I quickly brush my teeth and redo my hair so my ponytail isn’t so tight on my aching head. I initially tried to use the lights when I walked in here, but the bright lights sent stabbing pain to my head. Running my fingers along my scalp, I loosen my hair a little more, but it doesn’t help my headache that much. As I move around, my brain comes more online, and the self-defense classes Liam made Viv and me take over the years pokes something in the back of my memory. I don’t know what’s waiting for me outside of that bedroom. I check the other drawers but unfortunately, I do not find anything that could be used as a weapon to defend myself, and I don’t think I have the time to whittle the toothbrush into a shank like on that television show. If my asshole ex is behind this bullshit, I swear to everything that is holy, he’s going to discover that vasectomy heconsidered getting years ago will be unnecessary because I will rip his damn dick from his body.
I won’t need a weapon beyond my own hands.
Taking a deep breath, I try to look strong and brave before I open the bathroom door, when I really feel weak and like absolute shit. I walk back into the still darkened bedroom and take slow steps, in part because I’m unsure what I’m going to find, but also because if I move too fast, there’s a good chance I’m going to dry heave and lose that small amount of water I just drank. As softly as possible, I try to open the bedroom door without making a sound and carefully open it enough to slip through.
My eyes dart around and look at the room to try and figure out where the hell I am, but it looks like a typical log cabin that you would find anywhere in Tennessee. The main room is open with a large stone fireplace, kitchen, and dining area.
It smells and looks new, but care was given to make it look rustic and … charming? There’s a staircase to my left that leads to a second level, and as I take a hesitant step into the living area, I can see the stairway leads to an open lofted hallway with a few doorways off of it. That’s not helpful right now, I can’t get out of here by going up a level. The large stone fireplace is anchored by built-in bookcases on either side, and the matching plush chairs and couch look inviting, but I will be declining any invitation to curl up with a book and hang out to see what kind of fuckery is going on. The rear of the cabin overlooks a large deck area with a stone path leading to a lake. Which lake is that? Maybe if I can get closer, I can recognize it if we’re near Forrest Falls.
I don’t hear anyone else, but I don’t want to take any chances. I tiptoe as softly as possible to the sliding door and try to quietly slide it open.
It doesn’t move.
I look for a lock, but I don’t even see a lock on the door. Why can’t I open this?
Click.
I hear a door close behind me, causing the hairs on the back of my neck to stand up as I slowly turn around. There’s a hallwaythat likely runs next to the bedroom I was just in, and I can hear the footsteps of whoever just closed the door at the end of it.
My jaw drops as the last person I expected to see this morning walks into the living area.
“Kyle? What are you doing here? I mean, thank God you’re here! I don’t know how you found me, but we need to get out of here before Shane gets back. He has officially lost his damn mind!”
Kyle hums before stepping into the kitchen to set some groceries on the island.Why the hell is Kyle bringing groceries into the cabin right now?“Good morning, Savannah. How are you feeling? Did you find the toothbrush and toothpaste in the bathroom?”
“I feel like shit. But it’s fine, I’ll rally. Let’s go, Kyle. Or do you have a phone? I don’t think I have mine.”
“No.”
“No, what?”
“No, you don’t have your phone, and no, you don’t need to call anyone.”
The room sways a little as my brain is trying to catch up to what’s going on right now.
“Listen, Kyle. I can’t deal with whatever bullshit Shane roped you into right now. If you aren’t going to give me a ride back, then just tell me where he is so I can scream at him for being an asshole and get the hell out of whatever charade this is.” I wave my hands around the vast room, but I am not in the mood for any more games, and whatever game we are playing, I feel like there are major pieces I’m missing right now.
Kyle crosses his arms and leans his hip against the island. Shaking his head slowly, he says, “Shane’s not here.”
“Did he leave?” I relax a little at that news, but I’m still pissed. “Perfect, then you can just let me slip out of here and I’ll leave your name out of this whole thing. If you can’t give me a ride, then you can tell him I got away because I’m so sneaky.” If Shane isn’t here, I can get out of here and this will be fine, fucking weird, but fine.
