Deceptive Captivity

One: Safety Repudiated

A knock. 

It echoes through the near-empty hallways, bouncing off glossy surfaces and dull doorways before dissipating, only to repeat itself.

Charlie Price rolls over in bed, a soft moan slipping past dry lips as the gossamer webs of sub-consciousness are painstakingly pulled away. What the… Who on earth would be coming to call at this ridiculous hour? 

Charlie burrows his face in the pillow as whoever it is knocks yet again. He absently wishes his parents were here--surely Father would’ve taken care of the stranger by now. Or perhaps, not a stranger. After all, who else would be knocking so early? Maybe a neighbor or relative, with an emergency. 

The thought spurs Charlie out of bed and to his feet, but he halts there, suddenly unsure. Answering the door when he’s home alone, in quite a large, obviously wealthy estate, doesn’t seem like the greatest idea. But surely he’s just being paranoid. Someone might need help. Securing his resolve, Charlie slides his feet into slippers and creeps out of his room. 

The spiral staircase seems to go on forever, every creak magnified in the glaring silence. There has been no more knocking, and Charlie wonders whether this is good or bad. The earlier idea of an injured party needing help comes back full fore, and Charlie rushes the rest of the way to the door, hoping they haven’t fallen unconscious--or worse. 

Then again, he is still assuming it’s someone needing help. There’s certainly a chance that its no one in need of help at all, but that doesn’t leave very many promising options. 

Now at the door, Charlie swipes his shaggy black hair out of deep, intelligent hazel eyes, considering. Home alone and well past jittery, he seriously considers trashing the whole deal and just going back to bed. But his ever too generous heart refuses to let him, and, with a steadying breath, Charlie pulls open the heavy, dark door. 

The cold outside shocks him for a moment, immediately seeping into his bones even through the cozy robe he threw on. And the dark only seems to accentuate the temperature, a thick frozen tar draping the earth. Charlie blinks, trying to adjust to the change in light. But before he can gather his bearings, there is a hard hit to the back of his head, pain ricocheting to his eyes and returning, then a complete absence of sense as the world surrounding him shatters into an unreal sleep. 

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A/N: Anything worth continuing?