Ephemeral

Selflessly Selfish

I woke up when the sun's rays hit my eyes, causing me to let out a tired, cranky groan from the depths of my throat. I blinked my eyes open, one eye at a time and found myself in a sprawled out position in front of the door.

It looks like sometime during the night, I must have slouched to the side...forgoing my sitting up position.

Slowly, I rose my body up, unable to ignore the kink in my neck. My entire muscles were sore, and the hardwood floor had only added to my bodily injuries. Looking down at my wrists, I could see the faint outline of Aidan's fingers lingering there – a remnant of our encounter nearly a few hours ago at the latest time frame.

I got up to my feet, rotating my neck gently from one side to the other, testing out the movement of it. It was still sore, but I wasn't in excruciating pain. I walked over to the window and rose my hand up to it – like I had done the previously.

Unlike at night...it had felt hot to the touch --

Probably because the sun is coming up...

I lowered my hand and tore my eyes away from the beautiful forest view. The trees hadn't looked nearly as threatening as they had when the sun had went down. My eyes wandered over to the closet doors and I pulled them open to investigate what was inside. It made a low, eerie creak as I forced the doors open gently.

I stared into the closet, not bothering to light up the dark, enclosed space.

Whose clothes were these-?

Feeling self-conscious about my own clothes, I then down at my ripped, tattered articles of clothing that were currently covering my body. I had worn for the past day or so – they, much like myself, must have had an odor at this point.

My hands went to my shirt, and I pulled at the bottom of it to examine the state of it.

I didn't think I'd be kidnapped when I wore it for the day...

Esther had bought me this shirt from the store that we both liked – it was the one thing that was familiar in this horrid, strange place I had woken up to. I hadn't wanted to part with it, but the shirt itself was barely holding itself together from the threads it was composed of –

Electricity wasn't helping its condition at all...

"Arianna?" Came a knock on the door that accompanied the disembodied voice of Zander. "Can I come in?"

"Uh..." I trailed, letting go of my shirt. I blinked, trying to gather my thoughts and not let them wander anymore – I couldn't afford to let my guard down with the Mathis family.

I unlocked the door and opened it to see Zander in a white tank top and blue basketball shorts. He wore sandals on the bottom of his feet, and I could see his toes dance to a non-existent rhythm. He grinned and performed a small wave to greet me.

"Good morning," I spoke dryly.

I still had my morning voice since I hadn't talked to anyone yet – I was also severely dehydrated from my slumber and the past night's events. My tongue felt dry in my mouth and my throat was slightly sore from all the yelling I had done – the useless demanding and screeching that I had directed at Aidan.

A lot of good that did me –

Even if it did alleviate some of my frustration and anger in the moment...

Zander smiled, though it had never reached his eyes. I examined that borderline forlorn expression that he was wearing on his face. "So...?" He trailed, clapping his hands together to hype either himself or me up. "Did you have a good sleep?" Zander asked.