“Ouch,” I said, lamely. “I hit my head.”
“Hit your head,” he mumbled darkly. “You’re lucky you didn’t break your neck.”
I made an attempt to get to my feet, but fell into his arms as my ankle gave out from under me.
“I think I twisted my ankle,” I said. “Give me a few minutes. I’ll be alright.”
His muscular arms guided me to sit down on a nearby rock, and bending down, he took off my boot and gently removed my sock. My body was in a state of shock, but even so, I could still feel his flesh against my ankle as he examined me. His touch was odd, as if his skin was synthetic. But somehow even though it felt wrong, it felt good as he caressed my lower leg making sure I hadn’t broken any bones.
I felt sleepy as I looked down at the top of his sandy blonde head. In my haze his hair called to me and I reached out and touched it. It felt soft, like silk. I wanted to run my fingers through it and probably would have if he hadn’t looked up.
“You didn’t break it, but it looks like a bad sprain. You’re going to need to stay off it for a while.”
“You sound like a doctor.”
He sort of coughed as if to cover the laugh he was obviously trying to suppress.
“I’ve – uh – sort of tried a few other professions on for size over the years.”
He got to his feet and looked down at me. I must have looked like a bedraggled beast covered in dirt and leaves.
“Well, we can’t stay here. It will be getting dark before you know it and the temperature will take a real nose dive tonight. I could leave you here, but you’d probably die of exposure.” He paused for a moment like he was remembering something. “That has a familiar ring about it, doesn’t it?” he remarked in a sweet but mocking tone.
“What are you proposing?” I asked with some trepidation.
“I’m not proposing, Sara.” He looked down at me with a sly smile causing me to blush a deep scarlet.
Suddenly he reached down, threw my backpack over his shoulder then scooped me up in his arms.
“What are you doing? You can’t carry me all the way!”
“Ye of little faith,” was all he said as he started off.
I was too tired to fight him, although that’s exactly what I wanted to do. My ankle burned and my head wasn’t far behind with its incessant throbbing. I could also feel a dozen or so painful black and blues beginning to form all over the rest of me.
As we walked for a while, the steady rhythm of his footsteps was beginning to make me more and more drowsy. His chest and arms didn’t feel warm or particularly soft, but hard and strong as they encircled me. His muscles must have been taut carrying my weight, but when I looked up at his face, he didn’t seem to show any signs of strain. He peered down at me occasionally and smiled comfortingly, but my eye lids were growing heavier and heavier and eventually they closed completely.
“Are you still alive?” I heard him ask as I cuddled closer into his arms.
I was on the verge of sleep or passing out, I couldn’t tell which one.
“Have you been watching me?” I murmured.
If he answered, I never heard it.
Chapter Five
SARA
I dreamed of things that made no sense. I saw blue eyes watching me, then they were gray eyes. Gray eyes that stared at me in silence but seemed to speak wordless volumes. These gray eyes looked like mine, like a mirror, but were framed by a different face, one that was obscured just enough for me not to be able to distinguish its characteristics. Yet I felt I’d seen it many times before. I often dreamed of things that made no sense, like my own personal Dali paintings in my mind. I guess I was used to them, but sometimes I still found them unsettling.
My eyes were closed, but I was awake now. Still too sleepy to even know that I should be wondering where I was, and more importantly how I’d gotten here.
I opened my eyes and saw only glaring white. I rolled over and the white pulled away. It was a sheet. I must have gotten tangled up in it as I slept. Slowly my eyes came into focus. I was in a bed, but not my bed. In a room, but not my room. I sat up too fast and the unfamiliar room spun. Steadying myself, I looked around. My backpack and jacket were slung over a chair in the corner. My shoes and socks left neatly at its base.
Where was I? The room looked modern. It had stark white walls and beautiful dark honey floorboards the color of amber beer. The same wood was in the beams of the ceiling and support structures. The wall behind me was solid floor to ceiling glass with no curtain. The sun must have just set as I could see its last throws of light on the horizon. How long had I been here?
With great effort, I swung my legs off the bed. My ankle still throbbed, but I managed to get to my feet and hobbled over to the closed door. As quietly as I could, I opened it and peaked outside.
Silence.
I staggered down the hallway to what looked like the main room. To the left was an almost two story glass wall looking out over a lake that was some distance below the deck outside the window. Tucked off to the right was a kitchen and dining area with windows looking out over a grassy patch of lawn. In the kitchen, I spied a door that led out back. It was open, and hobbling as quietly as possible, I headed in that direction.
As I got closer, I spotted Daniel down on the lawn about fifty feet from the house. He was talking to someone on his phone. I could hear his voice only because the conversation he was having seemed to be a heated one. He was angry. Hard as I tried, I was only able to make out bits and pieces of it, but not enough to glean anything of its substance. My head started spinning again as I clutched the counter top for support.
I heard “I don’t understand why you can’t tell me.”
I swayed to the left and caught myself on the counter again.
“I’ve done as you asked. – No, there’s been no sign of him yet.”
The pain in my ankle increased two fold when I accidently put weight on it to catch my balance.
“No, Randall, she doesn’t suspect anything, but I don’t know how much more of this I can take. She’s just so –” and then I fell.
I was hazily looking at the amber baseboards in the kitchen when I saw his shoes in front of me.
“How on earth did you get in here?” he scolded as he gently picked me up, cradling my body to his chest.
“I should have known to lock the door or tie you down or something.”
My eyes were closed, but by his tone I’d have guessed he was trying not to laugh.
I found myself awake again, alone in the bedroom. The light woke me up. The sun was up and because there were no curtains, it was flooding the room with bright, blinding light. When I sat up, my head didn’t spin which was a relief.
Attempting to assess my injuries, I reached up and felt the bump on my head. Thankfully, it seemed to have gone down considerably.
Pulling back the sheet, I spied several large black and blues on my legs. How long had I been asleep and, more importantly – where were my pants!
I got up and hobbled over to the door. My ankle was swollen, huge really. I wasn’t sure I could get my boot on even if I tried. As I opened the door, I could hear music coming from the direction of the main room. It sounded like some scratchy old jazz recording. I must be in Daniel and the Professor’s house. I guess I should be grateful for his hospitality, but in that moment, I wasn’t sure how I felt about seeing Daniel. I wasn’t entirely sure I hadn’t been kidnapped or something at this point.
With a blanket tied around my waist, I quietly made my way out the door and down the hall in the opposite direction of the music. I didn’t exactly know what I was looking for, besides my pants, but a bathroom would be a good start.
I opened the first door only to find a broom closet. Seeing nothing of interest, I staggered down a few more feet and quietly opened the next door. I peered in. It was a large storage closet. A light automatically came on when I opened the door illuminating shelves neatly lined with cleaning supplies. At the far end of the
long closet were what looked like shelves of medical supplies. I heard a strange humming sound coming from the back wall and, too curious for my own good, I hobbled over to see what it was. As I got closer, I saw it came from a half size refrigerator. I couldn’t help but wonder why anyone would keep a fridge in a closet like this. As I stood there staring at it, I remembered the old adage that if you really wanted to find out about someone, you should check out what was in their refrigerator or medicine cabinet.
Insatiable curiosity about my host / captor compelled me to put my hand on the handle. Hand firmly on it, I paused. I felt like I was about to invade his privacy. Was this something I really wanted to do? Well, I was already in the closet, what difference did it make now, I thought to myself in justification. I tugged on the handle and swung the door open. Unable to move, I stared at the contents for a few moments in silent disbelief.
“What on earth?” I finally whispered to myself.
Looking like an inner city ER’s stockpile, the stainless steel shelves were filled with units of blood. I quickly shut the door, but unmoving, continued to stare at the stainless steel of the closed door. Why would anyone have a fridge full of blood in their closet? Maybe he has one of those blood disorders where you need constant transfusions. He was very pale – or maybe he was a vampire.
I thought it in jest, but just the thought stopped me in my tracks.
Oh, don’t be stupid I thought to myself.
I quietly toddled out of the closet, and as silently as possible closed the door behind me. Readjusting my blanket, I made my way towards the main room. My stomach growling, I was too hungry to think straight.
At the end of the hallway, I rounded the corner and found Daniel sitting at a desk off to the side of the room, working on a computer. He looked up at the sound of my approach.
“Ah, you’re up. I was beginning to grow concerned.”
“How long was I asleep?”
He looked at his watch. “It’s almost noon. You should probably call your roommate. She’s probably wondering what happened to you.”
“I doubt it,” I replied casually, looking around the large airy room.
“Why? You didn’t come home last night.”
“Well, neither did she … most likely. She usually doesn’t.”
He suddenly looked concerned. “What do you mean?”
“She spends most nights with her pledge class, so I pretty much have a single.”
“Humm … I hadn’t realized that,” he said, his voice trailing off in some private thought.
“Why would you?” I asked, confused by his response.
“No reason, I suppose,” he replied, shaking off some deep unspoken thought.
“So I thought you were going to tie me up. What happened?” Suddenly realizing what I’d said, I blushed.
He smiled. “Well, don’t think I didn’t consider it, but I figured you wouldn’t run off without your pants. I apologize for that by the way.”
I gave him a leer.
“I swear on my honor as a gentleman, I didn’t peak at anything.” But he was smiling a little too much for my taste. So much so that I wasn’t exactly sure whether I believed him or not.
“So?” I said.
He cocked his head to the side and looked at me with a quizzical expression.
“Yes?”
“My pants?”
“Oh – yes. I took the liberty of washing them. They’re on top of the dryer. I’ll get them.” He got up and headed towards the kitchen. “You must be hungry. I don’t have much by way of food in the house, but I’m sure I can find you something. Have a seat. You shouldn’t be on your ankle anyway.”
I took a seat at a table in the kitchen. It was a gorgeous, antique, wooden farmhouse table. Running my fingers across it, I couldn’t help but think how much my mother would have loved it for our kitchen back home. A moment later he walked back in and put my jeans down next to me.
“They were covered in dirt. I didn’t want to send you home looking like that.”
He got down on one knee and carefully picked up my foot.
“It looks less swollen than yesterday, but you’re really going to have to try to stay off it as much as you can for the next few days.”
He pulled out an ace bandage from his pocket and started to wrap it around my ankle.
“This should help.”
His touch was gentle, like practiced doctor’s hands, and for the first time I wondered what they would feel like if not used for purely medicinal purposes. When he finished it looked like a professional job. I’m sure mine would have looked like my ankle had been attacked by the bandage and lost. I’d always sucked at first aid.
“Thanks,” I muttered when he finished. He looked up into my eyes and smiled. I wasn’t used to this kind of attentiveness and it made me a little uncomfortable.
“So – food. Let’s see what I can find. I’m pretty sure all I have is water to drink.” He pulled out a glass and filled it from the tap. “This is great water though. Comes from our own well.”
He put the glass down in front of me and went back to the cabinets leaving me to silently watch as he opened them up one by one. When he reached up to open the upper cabinets, I noticed how the muscles of his back and shoulders rippled under his thin white tee-shirt. Well, that and the way his old blue jeans hugged his well-toned backside. Turning my head away before he could catch my roving eye, I glanced around the kitchen. It was small, strangely small for such a large home. Compared to the living room, it was practically a glorified closet.
“Humm … Guess I really need to go shopping,” he mumbled.
As he opened them, I could see that most of the cabinets were empty. When he finally opened the high cabinet where most people probably would have kept the good silverware, he came across an unopened bag of potato chips and a couple of cans of fruit cocktail.
“Well, it’s probably not the healthiest breakfast in the world, but you could do worse.”
He took out a can of the fruit cocktail, opened it and poured it in a bowl. Putting it down in front of me with a spoon, he said “I hope you like fruit.”
I didn’t mind. I was so hungry I could have cared less as long as it made my stomach stop growling. He took a seat across the table from me and watched as I quickly devoured the entire bowl in silence. As I finished, he got up, opened the other can and walked back to refresh my bowl. Again he sat down and watched me eat in silence. As I ate the last piece of pineapple, my raging hunger had been abated, for the time being anyway.
“Wow,” he said quietly. “You really seemed to enjoy that. I’ve never seen anyone eat so intently before.”
Getting the last of the syrup up with a spoon, I looked up at him from under a fallen lock of my hair.
“Do you make a habit of staring at people while they eat?” I blurted out as a vision of him in the dining hall appeared in my head.
Suddenly he looked embarrassed.
“No … forgive me. It’s just … I guess I’m something of a student of human nature.”
In the mood to change the subject, I asked “So what were you working on when I came in?”
“Oh that, I was prepping my lectures for next week. I have my homework too.” He paused for a second, appraising me. “You know, if I take you back to campus looking like that and with a sprained ankle, I think people will talk.”
“What are you talking about?”
Raising an eyebrow, he answered “I’m guessing you haven’t looked in a mirror yet.”
I hadn’t, but could only guess what I must have looked like.
“Why don’t you go take a shower and wash up. Give me your shirt and sweater. I’ll wash them as well, that way you can look presentable. I wouldn’t want your friends thinking I’d abandoned you in the forest and made you walk back to town on your own.”
“They wouldn’t think that.”
“Why not? I know I’m not – the most popular guy on campus.”
“Well, for one, they do
n’t know I’m with you.”
Open mouthed, he stared across the table at me, shocked at my answer.
“I never bothered to tell them I was going with you. They still think I went hiking alone.”
Now he looked really concerned, angry almost. He got to his feet and began to pace the length of the kitchen as he ran his fingers through his hair.
“You should be more careful, Sara. You don’t know me. What if I was some ax murderer and lured you into the woods? I could have buried your body up in those hills and no one ever would have found you.”
His voice started to grow angrier, and with his hands now squarely on his hips, he stared down at me.
“You have to be more careful about your safety, Sara. You have no idea what’s out there. You! Of all people have to always be on the lookout. Don’t go anywhere without telling your friends where you’re going and when you expect to be back. Is your phone in your backpack?” he demanded. I nodded yes. “Good. It probably doesn’t work too well up here, but you should always have it nearby.”
I sat there shocked. I think my mouth was hanging open. Why was he so angry at me?
“Go take a shower,” he ordered dismissively, pointing towards the back of the house. “There’s a bathroom off the bedroom you were in. Take some clothes out of the closet to wear until I can get you yours back. Leave your dirty ones on the bed and I’ll collect them.”
Then he waved his hand for me to go. Too tired to argue with him, I got up and silently did as I was told.
There had been a bathroom off the back of the bedroom I’d woken up in. I must have been too out of it to notice before. After I lifted my tee-shirt over my head, I opened the closet and pulled out a shirt to put on. It felt nice, like silk, so I looked at the label. Armani. I rolled my eyes, I should have guessed. Daniel always dressed impeccably, like a model in some glossy, high fashion magazine. I put the shirt back, not wanting to ruin something I couldn’t afford to pay for, but ended up pulling it back out again anyway. Upon closer examination, everything else was of the same quality. Fortunately, the royal blue long sleeve, button down was long enough to be a dress on me.
The Purity of Blood: Volume I Page 11
