Page 29 of Sparks of Insanity
“Ethan? Where are we going?”
He shot me a glare, but focused on his driving instead, heading out into the country roads out of town, clearly with a destination in mind, although I had no idea where we even were already.
“Ethan, seriously. Talk to me.”
He steered down a lane with no street lights, and trees on either side of the narrow road. Was it even wide enough for two cars?
“Ethan?”
“Can you just shut up for five fucking minutes?” he snapped at me, turning onto an incredibly bumpy lane that threatened to rattle my bones right out of my body.
I was still smarting from that tone he’d used, when he pulled up and parked the car.
“Get out,” he hissed, getting his bag from the back seat, and opening my door when I hadn’t moved. “Now.”
I followed him down the dark lane, leaving mum’s car way behind me, safely locked up, but literally in the middle of nowhere. We’d been walking for ages in the dark, and cold, when he stopped and turned, so suddenly that I walked right into him.
“Ember?” I ignored my reaction to his use of my full name, because I couldn’t really see him, with his phone’s torch aimed at the ground, but then he held mum’s keys where I could see them.
“I don’t get it,” I said uncertainly, but then I realised he’d drawn back his arm and thrown them out there, somewhere in the darkness. Somewhere I couldn’t possibly find them! What was he playing at?
“Ethan! How will we find them again?”
He grabbed my arm and started walking again, towing me along beside him.
“We won’t.”
“What? That’s my mum’s car, Ethan. We need to get it back to her.”
“Fuck the car, and keep moving, dammit. We have a long walk ahead of us.” I had no idea what he was doing, but I knew that he was starting to freak me out. Where was the Ethan I thought I knew?
“I don’t understand, Ethan.” He stopped again, grabbing my chin and leaning close to me, which again I couldn’t really see, but I could feel his breath on my face.
“Then let me make it fucking clear, Ember. I threw the keys away so you can’t find them. You won’t need them where we’re going, because you’re not leaving. You wanted to be mine, so congratulations, guess that’s exactly what you are now.”
He started moving again, marching at a fast enough pace that I was practically running beside him, stumbling now and then on the uneven surface. Finally we came upon a small building, and he strode up to it, unlocking the door with a key he produced from his pocket. What the hell was this place?
He flicked on some lights, and I could see it was a really small cottage. It was a bit run down, and cold, like the heating hadn’t been on in years. Why did he have keys to this place? I turned to ask him a question, out of the millions rushing around my head, but his glare shut me up.
“Sit on the sofa and shut the fuck up, Ember. I need to think.” He locked up behind us, and dropped his bag on the floor by the door. I watched as he clenched his fists, rubbing at his face with them, pacing back and forth with agitation.
I was locked in a strange place with him, and I was starting to realise that I didn’t really know him at all, did I? He was my tutor, and we’d spent months working together on my studies, but I didn’t know who he was outside of that. I guess I was about to find out.
“I’m cold,” I said finally, and his pacing stopped, as he turned to stare at me for long enough that I fidgeted under his fierce gaze. “I’m sorry. I’ll shut up.” I pulled my legs up and huggedthem for warmth, but my short skirt was doing nothing to keep me warm.
Ethan walked out of the room, and returned a few moments later with a folded fleece blanket, which he tossed at me, and I gratefully wrapped around me.
“Thank you.”
The cabin or cottage we were in was small enough that the living space and kitchen were pretty much the same room, and there was a hallway beyond the kitchen that probably led to other rooms, or stairs to another floor. The decoration of the place was dated, and the place smelled a little musty, but the electricity was clearly connected, and the place wasn’t dirty or too dusty. It clearly hadn’t been empty as long as it first appeared.
“Whose place is this?” I asked, then covered my mouth when I realised I was risking pissing him off by speaking again.
Ethan groaned, dropping onto the chair opposite me and resting his head in his hands.
“What the hell am I doing?”
Ethan
