My eyes opened to a room I’ve never seen before.

I sat up slowly as the window to the right of me shined brightly in the calm blue sky. My head started radiating earthquakes of headaches that made me clutch my head. I sat up fully and felt the gauze around my neck as my hands dropped to my side. I held my hands and mentally started a count as the recent events assault my memories.

26. I’m still alive.

Now that I was fully awake, I decided to take in the new scenery. To the right of the bed had two doors and there was a door in front of me. A rocking chair sat at the window to my left and a bookcase stocked to the brim of books slept right next to it. At the foot of the bed was a dresser that had its back to the wall. The room had crystal blue walls that reminded me of the water running in a lake. I looked down and saw little saw a texture I never noticed before. It was different shades of brown and rose from the ground like hair from my head.

I wanted to touch it.

I pulled back the covers on the bed and noticed my white shorts and a white shirt that was cleaned of vomit. I mentally shivered with the disgust of that thought and tried to ignore it as I slipped off the pristine white sheets and into the dirt colored floor.

A surprising soft cushion comforted my feet as they landed. I bent down and moved my hand in a wave motion. The texture reacted and turned a darker shade, but I found out that if I waved in the opposite direction in the same spot- then the color would go back to normal.

I slid my hands away from me, and my forearms landed on the floor. My braid (that was still intact) fell near my face as my head caressed the ground in a loving matter. Soon, my whole body was elongated on the floor- dancing to the sound of my content heartbeat.

27. I love the floor.

“You enjoying the carpet?” I heard Donna’s voice from the hallway. I stopped wiggling on the floor when I saw she brought company. A woman that had Donna’s brown eyes and stature but blond hair instead of the brown hair stood next to her in the doorway.

“Kye, this is my sister Nicole. She was out on a retreat when you first came, but now, she’s back” Donna motioned to her sister as I sat up from being on the ground. Nicole walked towards me with a smile and my eyes followed her until she stood a few feet away from me.

In a flash of movement that my eyes couldn’t register, Nicole’s arms engulfed me in a hug similar to Donna’s hugs. She was careful of the veil around my neck but didn’t care about my shirt as I felt wetness on my shoulder.

“My sister told me everything!” She held me at arm’s length and looked me over. “How could someone torture a child so cute? He must have no soul!” She hugged me again, and I looked at Donna with my eyebrows raised. Donna shrugged as Nicole put me in arm’s length again and smiled wickedly.

“I made sure I gave Xavier the stern talking to of a lifetime! Do you know how hard it was to hear from your sister that a little boy has been trapped in a house for years under my husband’s careful eye? I just about had a heart attack!” Nicole seethed that last part and seemed to have anger burning in her eyes while confusion swirled in mine.

I tilted my head. “Xavier’s your husband?”

Nicole lost her train of thought and blinked at me. “Yes, he is.”

I leaned my head a bit to the right so I could see Donna. “Does this mean that you and Kyle are also married?”

Donna flashed a ring on her finger. “Guilty”

I looked back at Nicole who still looked like she had a loquacious war rattling in her head. I patted her shoulder, and she looked at me with soft hazel eyes.

“Don’t worry so much Nicole. Xavier redeemed himself when he saved me from my allergic reaction to peanuts.”

Apparently, that was the right thing to say because the war seemed to fade but was replaced by curiosity and caution.

“Are you okay? Is that why you have this bandage around your neck?” She raised my head and grazed the bandages with her fingertips before making me look at her in the eyes. She held me by the shoulders again and shoved me into a hug- mumbling words that jumbled into nonsense as soon as they entered my ears.

I looked at Donna for help, and she chuckled before coming over to us and forcefully prying her sister off. Nicole seemed like she didn’t want to leave my embrace and I felt a little sad when the warmth of another was gone.

Nicole stood up, and Donna held her hand out to me. I grabbed it, and she helped me stand up on slightly steady legs. Nicole saw my knees shake against each other like teeth in the winter time and helped me to the edge of the bed.

As soon as I sat down, Donna sighed.

“We have good news and bad news; Kye” Donna crossed her arms in frustration as Nicole mimicked her sister’s moves.

I bounced my attention between both of them before landing back on Donna. “Well?”

She released her arms from their grip while Nicole gaged my reactions.

“Well, the good news is that the trial has been moved up to tomorrow.”

This was sudden. “Why tomorrow and not next week?”

Nicole chose to speak. “Well, ‘next week’ is just a general term. Since this is a big crime that could be facing death, we have to get all the neighboring communities’, um, leader and his right-hand man to come to the meeting, so we all come into agreement on the death of a member.”

I nodded slowly at the information. “What’s the bad news?”

It was Nicole’s turn to sigh. “Since you are the main piece of evidence we have against Jeremy, we don’t want you to be swayed by the thoughts and opinions of others. Jeremy had friends from other communities, and they could be here to snuff you out before the trial tomorrow. So to keep you safe, you have to stay in this room until one of us, Kyle or Xavier come to get you tomorrow for the trial”

I eyed the bookcase next to the window and the rocking chair that basked in the fading sunshine of the sun’s rays. Something in me told me I could read, and that it’d be fine to chill and have some me time.

I looked back at the sisters and smiled. “I’ll be fine. I couldn’t leave a cage for twelve years, so one day won’t make a difference.”

The two ladies made a sound similar to a person looking at a puppy for the first time and gave me a double hug. They let go of me a couple of seconds after it started and smiled at me back.

Donna pulled a small bell from her pant pocket and put it on the dresser. “If you need anything, just ring the bell. Kyle and I are right next door.”

“And Xavier and I are near as well” Nicole added. Donna and Nicole waved goodbye to me and shut the door behind them. I stared at the door for a second before slowly moving to the chair like an old man.

I didn’t know how high up I was until I saw a full grown tree dancing to the muted sound of the wind and took up half of the window. I scooted my chair closer towards the window because my sight caught figures on the ground beneath me.

With the power of squinting, I was able to make out Xavier’s form on the ground.

I saw him surrounded by older men in dark colored shirts and jeans. They walked in pairs of two, and I soon realized that Kyle stood a little ways away from Xavier. I gazed over all the men, and they seemed to look in their prime, and all were buff and burly like Xavier.

All except one.

In the back stood a man that had made it evident that he was taller than everyone there. His hair was as dark as night with no moon and was pulled into a loose bun on the back of his head. His arms were bulging out of his shirt, and I could see from the window that his chest was stretching out the front of the shirt. His hands were in his pockets, and he looked like he didn’t care to be there.

Xavier started walking towards the house, and all the other men began to follow him inside except the man I was looking at.

Instead, he turned his head towards me in one swift motion.

I gasped silently and felt like I was transported into another dimension. It was just him and I, and I saw his eyes widen and whisper something that my ears couldn’t pick up. He angled his body towards me, and his height made me feel like an ant. I saw him reach towards me, but I closed my eyes and turned away- causing the dimension was replaced with reality. I opened my eyes and took in the room but cautiously looked over my shoulder.

The man was gone.

I sank against the chair and put a trembling hand against my heart. I felt like I just ran a marathon across the world in five minutes and my heart was about to jump right out of my chest.

Who was that man?