TWO    

      I WAKE up to the distant sound of leaves rustling along with the wind and to a heavy, acrid stench. It takes me a moment to open my eyes, but once I do everything looks bent and turned. The only color vivid is a blazing red that feels like I'm in the middle of. I rub my eyes with the bottoms of my hands until uncanny patterns are drawn onto the insides of my eyelids, but the minimal movement causes a sharp, heavy pain to tug the lower part of my abdomen.

      I hear a muffled cough from somewhere outside and I hastily take my hands away from my eyes and tuck them underneath my muggy thighs. My vision begins to clear and I become aware of my surroundings. I'm in a colorless room with long planks of wood as walls and a towering door. There seems to be a small closed window sitting on the right side that is cloaked with leaves of a tree from outside.

       I lay on a bed that's pushed against a wall with a flimsy sheet over me. Unsure of how I got here or what has been done to me, I do know I'm in a bad place.

      The ray of sunlight that steeps through the cracks of the leaves outside the window makes my eyes hurt, and my throat feels like it has pieces of shattered glass digging into the flesh. I gag at the taste in my mouth, but immediately swallowed down whatever is coming up before making any sound.

      I close my eyes and take short breaths. I pull my hands from behind my thighs and run them over my body. No part of me is missing. I wiggle my toes and fingers to make sure everything still works. Taking a deep breath, I run my hands over one more time and realize my legs are bare that threads of the sheet cling  onto my wet skin.

      Rowdily kicking the sheet off me in panic, the headboard pounds against the wall as my legs slap the mattress. I look down and see I'm wearing a dress, not the ragged jeans and baggy T-shirt that was on me before.

      No...no.

      With terror welling up in the corner of my eyes and the terrible pain in my abdomen only increasing, I slip my hands underneath the dress and touch around. My fingers graze the thick waistband of my underwear; the same thick waistband I had put on before leaving the house for school. I pant in relief and place my hands on my chest to control my breathing and discomfort I'm feeling in my stomach.

      I think I'm okay.

      The doorknob clatters and a squall of wind breezes over my skin. The bolts of the door groan as it opens and I instantly sit up, pressing myself closer to the headboard. I pull my knees to my chest and wrap my arms around them to shelter any part of me that is exposed. I drop my eyes down and focus on the lines of the wooden floorboards. Mentally, I trace the curves in attempt to soothe the attack coming.

      The floor creaks beneath the steps that keep getting closer with each line that I trace. The floor stops squeaking and the heel of a shoe clangs against the leg of the bed, causing a resonant echo to ring in my ears as the bed faintly shakes. I take my eyes from off the floor and level them up enough, seeing the front pockets of a familiar pair of jeans. I can hear them breathing, but nothing is said. My lips shudder as I try to make a voice out but a whimper is all that leaves.

      "Vanessa,"

      Clutching the tops of my knees, I impel myself to look up until I see a face. My stomach churns and the horrible taste in my mouth returns. Sebastian is at the end of the bed, gripping the footboard of the bed with one hand while the other holds a glass of water.

      Part of me expected it would be someone else; I don't want to believe that the person I was admiring in front of the showcase is the same person who has taken me wherever is here. I know I saw him reach out for me, but I wanted to trust that my eyes weren't seeing correctly. The person I met isn't the same one who's staring at me now with blank eyes.

      "You need to drink some water," Sebastian stretches his arm out, "The effects of the drug are making you feel sick. It will wear off soon, but in the meantime, drink."

      Sebastian's face fogs and his words slur around me. My heart batters in my ears and my chest feels like it's being cracked open. I unwrap an arm from around my knees and slap the glass of water out of his hands. The pieces of glass screech on the floorboards and the spilled water marks the wooden floor with a deeper tinge.

      I scream, my voice finding its way back to me. Losing control of my movements, I scream louder and thrust my arms at Sebastian. I claw at his face and manage to stab my nails into the scratch he already has on his cheek. I dig my nails down along the scratch and pull until I feel bits of his skin underneath my nails. Sebastian shouts in agony, his eyes wide with surprise and his face chalky and gaunt. His snarls go unheard as my screams turn into wailing sobs, continuing to throw my hands at him and scraping his face.

      Sebastian grabs my wrists, "Calm down, please. I'm not going to hurt you." His voice is desperate as he pins my wrists to my chest, his knuckles turning white at the firm hold.

      I vehemently cry louder as he pushes my back onto the mattress. I convulse under his grip, no longer being able to fight against his strength. My cries come to an end when I find myself struggling to breathe. With one hand, Sebastian pulls out a rope from his back pocket and ties it around my wrists. Shaking as I choke for air, vomit raises up my throat. Sebastian doesn't seem troubled at my current condition as he ties another knot.

      I want to speak but everything becomes unsteady around me. My heart feels like it's beating slower and slower with each pant, and my legs and arms feel like they are no longer attached to my body. The ache I feel on my lower abdomen slowly fades away as liquid trails down my legs. The colorless room suddenly blackens and a pitched ring vibrates in my ear.

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      The room is tenebrous when I get out of bed at the feeling of bile in my mouth. With a sudden retch, I vomit all over the side of the bed. A digested smell contaminates the air as I spew out the fluids of my body onto the floor. I croak at the fume sensation in my throat while coughing out the lasts of my liquids.

      A hesitant light streams into the room as the door opens, catching me arched at the end of the bed. Sebastian walks in and halts at the entrance, his forehead creased as his stare scurries between me and the vomit on the ground. He rubs the hair under his chin as I bring my tied hands to my mouth and wipe it with the back of one of my hands, and gradually start to sit up straight.

       I keep my eyes on him, fearing he will do anything at the vulnerable state I'm in, and push myself with my elbows over the bed onto the other side where the light doesn't beam. I walk backwards until my shoulders hit the corner of the wall, hiding within the shadows.

      Sebastian walks out the room but quickly returns back with a towel in his hand. He flickers the light switch on which causes me to squint my eyes at the unexpected brightness. Sebastian kneels down on the side of the bed and starts to clean up my throw up. His back is against the open door and all his attention is pinned at scrubbing the vomit off the floor.

      Run.

      But I don't. I am terrified that I won't make it far and, mainly, what he's willing to do if I do run. It's a risk I'm not willing to take yet.

      I push myself deeper into the wall wanting to make myself as small as possible, almost invisible. Sebastian stands up, leaving the towel on the floor, and rubs his hands on his jeans. He glances over to me with a pleading look, his lips turned downward. I rank down his frame, noticing the change of clothes and washed hair. I look back at his face and see a few new scratches on the side of his temple and cheek.

      "Untie me." My voice is strangulated but orotund as I demand him.

      Sebastian ambles over to me. I ram my arms in front of him, causing him to stubble back. He reaches his hand over to his back pocket and pulls out a pocket knife. He softly grabs my wrists and runs the blade over the knots. The rope falls onto the ground with a muted thud, and I bring my arms back to me.

      "Sorry, but I had to tie your hands because you were hurting me and I was scared you were going to hurt yourself too." Sebastian tries to grab my hand but I flinch away. I cross my arms to cover my hands from him.

      It's silent between us, like he's almost scared to say anything to me, but I soon hear the raucous sound of rushing water from outside the window, I'm the first to speak.

      "Where am I?"

      "On an island," I frown. "On the Pacific Ocean." He finishes saying as I press my arms closer to my chest and nip the skin on my forearms with my nails, staring at Sebastian's tight smile.

      Wake up. Wake up. Fuck, wake up.

      "Why?" The word comes out tremulous and brittle. Wet droplets fall onto my lips, tasting the saltiness, and down my neck, into the collar of the dress.

      "I brought you home,"

      "No, why me?" I hiss, the sentence hardly leaving my clenched teeth. I bite my tongue to stop myself from bawling in anger and hysteria.

      Sebastian's smile drops but he swiftly masks it with a set simper, "I had to, but you're here now."

      I slide down against the wall and drop to the floor. I bring my hands up to my temples and violently start to massage the skin there. The sobs I've been chocking back break through and I clutch my hair from the root, pulling as the uproar of cries escalate.

       Looking up at Sebastian, his hand is inches away from my head. There's a doleful gleam of color in his eyes that reflect under the rill of light.

      "Don't touch me. Leave me alone," I roar while crawling away from him. "Leave!" He stomps the opposite direction and keeps the door ajar, leaving me alone in the tenebrous room again. 

      I lay on the floor and cry with the skirl of the wind. The wind is harsh as it whistles through the gaps in the walls and the branches of the trees tap on the window, and over the sound of my cries, I hear Sebastian speak from another room and hurl something onto the floor.

      Then nothing, but the sound of the ocean and the trees whispering to each other to in a hush.

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