I’m scared…
I’m really scared…
A flash of light blinded her for a moment and a crystalline castle came into view.
What is that place…? Have I been there?
Why is my head spinning? Why is the surface so hard? No, more to the point…
Where am I…?
Pain throbbing her head, Luna got up and took in her surrounding. She’s in a fancy room with fancy furniture and sweeping curtains - no, to be more precise, a suite…?
Panicking, Luna got off the bed with steel frames and ran to the door, trying to open it but somehow it’s locked. No matter how she much she twisted the knob or hammered at the door hard, it won’t open, nor did anyone appeared, making her feel frustrated.
A delicious smell seemed to tempt her, making her stomach growl. Shaking slightly, she found a tray of meal on the table. Still warm. Hesitantly, she reached over for one of the warm buttered bread rolls… about to touch it…
“You’re finally awake.”
Luna gave a yelp as though she had been caught stealing and stumbled, but a smooth movement caught her from slamming onto the floor just as the same time a door swung shut.
“Shhh, it’s alright. I won’t hurt you…” He chided her, who is struggling helplessly like a bird trying to free itself from its cage. “Demise and Sigan are not here. I’m having you all to myself.”
“Stop it.” Luna said. “Why do you keep saying that? I don’t even know who you are.”
“You don’t need to know anything, all you just need to know is that no one will tear us apart again.” He reached over for one of the bread rolls and put it in her hand. “You haven’t eaten anything much. Here. It’s still warm.”
Silently, Luna took a bite of the bread roll. Warm and buttery in her mouth. She crammed it into her mouth hungrily, without bothering to swallow the first bite, which is pretty unlady-like, chewing hungrily, but this tall dark handsome man doesn’t seem to mind. He just stroke her gently, like a delicate flower that is fragile to the touch.
“You haven’t changed at all. That’s good.” His fingers started braiding her hair. “I always liked doing this to you. You never seemed to mind it.”
Luna swallowed the entire bread and said, “Why? Just tell me why you are treating me like this?”
Seymour tilted her chin to face him and leaned near her, his voice carrassing her like silk. “…Because I love you.”
Luna felt stunned for a few minutes. Did he… Did he just…
Without thinking, she shoved herself away from him, falling flat on her backside, which reminded how she fell flat when they first bumped into each other. Deja-vu much?
“That’s…That’s absurd.” She spluttered.
“It’s not.” Seymour joined her on the floor, stretching his legs out. “It’s real.”
Luna hugged her knees tight, thoughts spinning wildly around her head. This is crazy really crazy. She’s only 16, for God’s sake! How old is this guy? In his twenties… He’s nearly half her age, from the looks of it.
“Okay…” She said outloud. “I must be stuck in a crazy dream. I’m going to pinch myself and I’’ll probably be back at the shrine.” She pinched herself hard on the arm and yelped in pain and-
“You’re not dreaming, princess.” Seymour said, holding her hand. “It’s real.”
Luna slapped his hands away and bolted, making her way for the door but he caught her in mere seconds.
“As I had said so earlier, I’m having you all to myself, princess.” He pulled her to him and she felt herself hitting his chest hard. “And I meant it.” He steered her to the sofa and said softly. “You are only allowed to move around in your room, and I had paid the staff to take care of you. I’m not letting anyone near you and they’ll be watching your door at all time, so don’t bother trying to escape. I’ll be out attending some errands so just be a good girl and stay in here quietly.”
He then vanished into thin air, leaving her alone with the tray of bread. Feeling a flicker of doubt, she tried the door again, but somehow, he seemed to have locked it without her knowledge.
I’m scared… No! She straightened up from the sofa. This is not the time to be scared. You have to think of something to escape. Not moping around! Come on, girl! Pull yourself together!
Let’s think. Those guys are only after her right… And they think they are all so smug about keeping guard at her door. Well think again. They forgotten the window.
With renewed determination, she went over to the window and yes! It’s unlocked, but when she peered over the window, she then saw why. She’s at least ten floors high up. There is absolutely no way she can jump down from here unless she wants to be flat pancake.
Sighing, she let the window open by a few inches to let in some fresh air. Great. Just great. They have the right to be smug about it. First of all, it’s too high up. Secondly, the walls are smooth, making it impossible to be gripped by hand. And the direction of the window being faced has been carefully chosen. No one can see her, nor can she see them because of the tall buildings. In short, no one can see her and she can’t see them.
Frustrated and feeling a dreaded sort of feeling, she picked up the tray and bring it over to the bed, careful not to spill any oil on the clean fitted linens. She picked up another buttered roll and chewed it thoughtfully, letting her clean fingers of her other hand running the surface of the bed-
The linens… She grabbed at it with her fingers. Okay, it might just work. It’s a crazy idea, but it just might work.
Reaching over to the service phone, she dialed a number and waited to be put through.
“Hi, um, I’m just wondering…Do you happen to have any clean linens…”
***************
“Blitz, we got a surprise for you…” Gemini’s eyes are sparkling with excitement.
Blitz glanced up from today’s breakfast, cream of mushroom soup with toast, Scorpio’s style and said, “It had better be good, Gem.”
“We’re going to blindfold you.” Virgo said, holding out a black cloth.
Scorpio, who had been frying sunny side up eggs went, “Oh, it’s here already?”
“Yep.” Virgo had finished blindfolding him and gem grabbed his hand. “Come on, follow our lead.”
Blitz followed their lead, but to be honest, his mind wasn’t with them. He was thinking of what Scorpio had said about staying away from Luna.
He can’t believe Scorpio, Scorpio of all people, the most friendliest among all the three. Gemini is a little prickly and guarded, and she doesn’t open up to others that fast. Virgo is a rebel, so everything he says is really blunt. Scorpio is the only one who is laid back and often relaxed, and he often jams on Tuesdays and Thursday nights with his own rock-metal band, Metallica Scorpions.
“Blitz? Hello?” Gemini’s voice broke him out of his thoughts. “Are you ready?”
“Ready for what?”
He could feel the blindfold loosening around him. “On the count of three…”
“One, two…”
“Surprise!”
The blindfold was whisked off his eyes and he found himself in the Angelo’s garage, with all of their vehicles parked inside. Carla’s van, faded cream and with the paint flaking; Scorpio’s Toyota Corolla, second handed and out of fashion since it’s the old model; Virgo’s 400cc Suzuki Bandit bike outshined among them, not because it’s the only bike but because it looked relatively new ( according to Scorpio, Virgo got it through “special means”.)
And standing beside the three, it’s a car he had never seen before. An old-fashioned Honda, its paint touched up into flawless white and looks good as new. On the wind screen, someone has placed a card on the wiper. With fumbling hands , Blitz reached out and flicked it open. This is your welcome present, take good care of it and have fun. Love from Aunt Carla, Scorpio, Gemini and Virgo.
“It’s yours.” Gemini said, cracking a smile.
Blitz run his hand up on the roof, feeling the smooth, cool surface of the car. This is just brilliant. Really brilliant. He don’t have a car back in Washington because he had a Metro card and all the part-time salary he received go to the bills and his education, so he haven’t needed a car but now…
“It arrived few days ago, but we wanted to make sure that the engine’s not run down.” Gemini said.
“Take it out for a spin.” Virgo threw something in his direction and he caught it neatly in his hand. A key ring.
“I owe you guys and Aunt Carla, big time.” Blitz said, flipping the key ring in his hand.
“You can owe us by working as our chef.” Gemini said as he opened the door and stepped in, putting the key into the ignition.
“Sure do.”
Gemini went to open the garage doors and the Honda vroomed out and into the road.
****************
Luna paused at her knotting as the footsteps sounded nearer. It can’t be the staff, they come in only every hour, and it’s only forty-five past the hour.
The footsteps stopped at the door, but made no attempt to knock or walk past. It seemed to stop in front of the door, waiting.
Please don’t come in, please don’t come in…. She prayed feverishly, tucking the linens out of sight, where there’s a long bundle tucked out of sight behind her like an oversized ball. If the staff really did come in, could she fib her way out of this?
It seemed a very long time when the footsteps finally went away, causing her to take lungful of air, not realizing she had been holding her breath for so long.
It was another ten minutes before she’s finally done. Her fingers are numb and clumsy as she secured the final knot on the bed stand and flung the linen rope out of the window.
Trembling with excitement, she felt the need to whoop but stopped herself in time. There’s no time. The staff is going to come back in five minutes time and she needed to get out, fast.
She swung herself out of the window and made her way down carefully but with quick movements. Once or twice the linen threatened to snap but it managed to hold. Surprisingly, she felt calm as she made her way down. Somewhere, in the back of her mind, a voice seemed to keep telling her she had done it lots of time. Well, then that’s a good thing, because she’s going to need to tap that part to get out of here.
When she finally made her way down to the last two floors, she let herself go, landing lightly on all fours like a cat.
Free at last.
“Hey! Where did the girl go?!’ A voice came from above.
Without even hesitating or looking back, she ran.
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