The red and the soldier

Chapter eight

One day, when the soldier brought Anna her food, she couldn't help but feel a sense of despair and loneliness. She was tired of eating alone, tired of the same meals day after day, and tired of the endless silence that surrounded her.

As the soldier placed the tray on the bedside table, Anna looked up at him, feeling a sudden urge to try to make a connection with him. "Would you eat with me?" she asked, her voice barely above a whisper. "I'm tired of eating alone."

To her surprise, the soldier responded. "Yes," he said simply, his voice cold and dismissive. "As long as you don't talk."

Anna felt a flicker of hope. This was her chance to break through his stoic facade, to get him to see her as something more than a captive. She nodded, still feeling a little giddy from the adrenaline rush of the situation, and waited for him to sit down on the bed next to her.

As they ate in silence, Anna couldn't help but feel a sense of awkwardness. She had always eaten alone, with no one to share a meal with, no one to talk to about her day. But something about eating with the soldier, even in silence, felt comforting in a way she couldn't quite explain.

Finally, after what felt like an eternity of eating, Anna worked up the courage to speak again. "What's your name?" she asked, her voice barely above a whisper.

The soldier looked up from his plate, his eyes sharp and piercing. "Why would you want to know that," he said, his tone clipped.

Anna felt her heart pounding in her chest, the sense of hope and adrenaline evaporating in an instant. But she refused to back down, refused to let him hold all the power. "Because I'm tired of calling you the soldier," she said, her voice firm.

The soldier looked at her for a long moment, his eyes full of a strange mixture of hostility and curiosity. "My name is Noah," he said finally, his tone almost clinical.

Anna felt a rush of relief. Finally, after all this time, she knew the name of the man who held her captive, the man who decided her every move. For a moment, she felt almost invincible, as though she had finally conquered a part of him, even if it was just his name.

Anna looked up at Noah, seeing a glimmer of something in his eyes that she couldn't quite place. Was it sadness? Pity? Maybe it was just her imagination, but she couldn't quite shake off the feeling that he was feeling something for her.

She watched as he finished his plate, his movements slow and methodical, as though every step was carefully calculated. She felt a twinge of envy at the way he was able to simply exist, to move and eat and live in a world that was so different from her own.

Finally, after what felt like an eternity, he stood up, placing the empty plate on the bedside table. Anna felt a sudden surge of desperation, her heart pounding in her chest. "Before you go..." she said, her voice barely above a whisper.

Noah looked at her, his eyes flickering with momentary surprise. "What is it?" he asked.

Anna took a deep breath, gathering all her courage. "Why did you save me?" she asked, her voice quivering. She didn't know what she was expecting, but she had to know.

There was a long moment of silence, as though the two of them were the only ones in the world. And then, just as Anna was starting to worry that he wasn't going to answer, Noah spoke. "I don't know," he said finally, his voice barely above a whisper.

Anna felt her heart sink. His response was everything she had feared, the ultimate rejection. She had hoped for some sort of answer, some sort of sign that he cared about her, even a little. But instead, all she had gotten was a cold, clinical response, one that only served to deepen her sense of hopelessness.

Tears started to well up in her eyes, and she looked down at her plate, trying to hide them. She didn't want him to see her cry, to show him the weakness that had been lurking just below the surface for so long. And yet, despite her best efforts, the tears wouldn't stop, and she felt the familiar lump of despair grow in her throat.

"Can I at least cook?" she asked, her voice barely above a whisper. "I feel like I'm a corpse just sitting here."

Noah hesitated for a moment, his eyes fixed on her. And then, just as he was about to leave, he spoke " you can cook, just don't try something stupid."

Days went by, and with each day that passed, Anna found herself cooking more and more elaborate meals for them both. They'd sit together, Anna watching intently as Noah took his first bite, a small flame of hope igniting inside of her. She tried to ignore the way that Noah's eyes seemingly followed her every movement, the way that his gaze would linger on her with an intensity she couldn't quite place.

But she had to be careful. She didn't know what Noah was capable of, didn't know what would happen if she broke the unspoken rules of their arrangement. So she focused on the food, on getting every single dish just right. Maybe, just maybe, if she fed him well enough, she could find a way out of this nightmare.

And yet, every time she caught Noah staring at her, she felt a sense of fear creeping up her spine. Why was he looking at her like that? What did he want from her? She didn't want to make him angry, didn't want to give him any reason to harm her.

But despite her fears, she couldn't shake the feeling that there was something more to Noah's looks. That beneath the coldness in his eyes, there was a hint of something else, something that she couldn't quite put her finger on. And against her better judgement, she found herself wanting to know more, wanting to peel back the layers of the man she had come to know as her captor.

So she cooked, and she cooked, and she cooked, hoping that with each dish, she would gain a little more insight into the man that had taken her prisoner.