There was an immense pounding pain in my head. I jerked my eyes open and wheezed while clutching my head. The vibrant natural light only felt like it made my headache more intense. As I tried to sit up, I got a whiplash. I rubbed my eyes to rid of the blurriness. The first thing I could tell was I was obviously outside, and that I was on the dirt ground.
Gentle prickles were picked up on my sensitive skin. Brushing the tangled mess I call my hair away, I find that I was not sitting on any ordinary grass. First of all, it was as soft as a new blanket. The tips of the blades were a pure white, while the rest of each one was a light blue. I pinched myself on the arm and didn't think; I squeezed shut my eyes and felt the alarming pain come back. As rapidly as I had shut them, I reopened them.
Groaning loudly, I scanned the place of where I was. The London Eye was off in the distance, but from what I could see, it wasn't in motion. I wasn't anywhere near my Kentucky home. I was drugged at a theme park, and now I was hundreds of thousands of miles from home. The only problem I had was the oddly colored grass. Maybe the drugs were only just wearing off.
I unsteadily stood from my spot and almost fell right back on the ground. Just as I thought I was going to be okay, the wind was knocked out of me. The impact of the fall wasn't as hardly as bad as I thought it was going to be.
"Oh, I'm so sorry, love," a soft British voice said from over me. "Need a hand?"
I kind of smiled at her and nodded. She reached down and firmly gripped onto my arm, pulling me back onto my feet. I brushed the dirt of my pants and cleared my throat. Her blonde hair was platinum, probably because she was self-conscious of her natural hair. Her bright blue eyes held that youth that was almost gone. I guessed that she was in her thirties.
"Thank you."
She smiled and said, "Not from around here, are you dear?"
I wasn't sure of what to say. She didn't seem like she wanted to harm me, but you never know until it's too late. I held my breath and shrugged.
"No, not really."
She slightly moved her head and smiled again. "You give the impression that you are in need of some coffee. How about I treat you to some?"
I froze and was unable to move. A stranger was asking me to get some coffee with her, and I wasn't even in my country. My hands were starting to shake badly and I had the worst feeling.
"Thanks for asking, but I really should go," I said with my voice wavering.
She places her hand on the small of my back. "You don't have to stay very long, and I promise it's on me."
By the tone of her voice, I knew she wasn't messing around. I curiously stared at her eyes, which were now a darker shade of blue. Wordlessly I gave in, not able to speak. She didn't say anything else until I started gawking at the wide open sky. Like the grass, the sky was abnormally colored. Instead of a medium blue, the sky was orange. It was tinted with pink and purple also.
"Is something wrong?" She coughed within her throat and sniffled absentmindedly.
The drizzle that I had somehow just noticed was dampening my clothes. I was starting to question my sanity. Raising my eyebrows, I used my forefinger to point up at the sky.
"The sky is... I don't know why..." I rambled unobtrusively.
She furrowed her eyebrows and placed a hand on her hip. "I don't see anything wrong."
She shrugged to herself and started towards our destination again without making another comment. How far the coffee shop was, I didn't know. I had many questions that needed to be answered. I figured that I could start asking questions when we got to the coffee shop, and see if the woman knew anything. Maybe there had been a kidnapper in the area. The one thing I couldn't comprehend was that the kidnapper left me in the middle of nowhere. Usually if someone were to be kidnapped, they would be tied up or locked in a room. Logic was clearly out of the equation.
"Should be just around the corner," she said without facing me.
Without replying, I distractedly follow her to the coffee shop. She suddenly became motionless and almost caused me to knock into her. The green themed shop was cutely done, but that was honestly the last thing on my mind. I wanted more than anything to just sit down and ask what I couldn't figure out.
"Here we are!" She grins, opening the door.
I try to smile at her as I walk inside. She follows behind me, but gets in ahead when we got to the front of the shop. The atmosphere was very friendly, but I had a hard time feeling comfortable. The chattering people filled my ears and the squeaks of chairs moving made me cringe.
"What would you like?" She said while scanning over the menu.
"Uh..." I said. "Any icy drink, please."
She curtly nodded and mentioned for me to go sit outside to wait. Without hesitation, I fumbled my way outside. Whenever I was nervous about something, I would bump or trip over everything.
While I waited uneasily for the woman to return, I couldn't sit still. The longer she took, the worse it got. When the door finally opened, I was happy to see she was ready to sit down. She handed me the drink she had gotten and softly smiled.
"I have a few questions, if you don't mind me asking," I said, biting my lip. "Oh, and thanks for the drink."
She waved it off. "I don't mind at all, and it's my pleasure."
I closed my eyes and breathed in deeply. I would have to word this correctly or this would be a disaster. Swallowing, I placed both of my hands in between my legs.
"I'm just a little curious about the crimes around here. Are there many kidnappers?" I chewed on my lip nervously.
She laughed loudly. "Kidnappers? Honey, this city is as safe as a prison. I've never heard of any kidnappers."
I laughed it off, but I was having an inner battle. "Okay, just wondering."
There was no way I was going to be asking any more questions. They wouldn't be answered, or at least in the way I wanted them to be answered. Maybe this was all a dream, and I was still knocked out in Door Fifteen. That was where all this started; Door Fifteen.
"Well I must be going. Thanks for having coffee with me, but duty awaits. I'm Daniella, by the way," she said, standing up from her seat.
"Thanks again for the coffee, Daniella."
She waved as she left me alone. Now that I had no one else around, I needed to figure out what to do. There was no money in my pocket and I didn't have a phone. If only I had remembered to bring one last night, or whenever I had gone to that theme park.
Sipping on my drink, I got lost in my thoughts. It had been barely there, but I felt the gentlest of breezes come across my face. I peeped up at his frame, and then his eyes. As much as I tried not to, I shrunk back away from him.
"Uh, yes," was the only thing I could come up with.
He sheepishly grinned and placed himself right into the seat beside me. Bewildered at what he did, I stared at him with large eyes.
"Hope this seat isn't taken, darling."
Just in the slightest, my mouth opened and closed. Speechless and unable to think of any words to say, I sat there in silence. Half of my brain apparently wasn't working. Finally, with the only ounce of courage I had, I spoke up.
"Uhm, sorry but my boyfriend will be right back."
He placed his elbow on the table and rested his cheek against his hand. Holding in a giggle at his ridiculous facial expression, I waited for what he was going to say next. My heart pounded against my chest and my hands started to get clammy.
"You mean you're imaginary boyfriend, right?" He laughed through his nose.
"No..." I trail off.
With squinted, darkened eyes and furrowed eyebrows, he suddenly burst out of his chair. He slammed his palms against the table and glared.
"Don't you know who I am, you stupid girl?" His eyes darkened even further.
Before I saw it coming, I felt the pain set in my cheek. His hand retracted and he breathed heavily. Flinching away, I cringed. That was certainly pain, and it was certainly real. I don't recall having any dreams of where I had physical pain. That ruled out my option of this being a dream. Confusion whirled and only got worse the longer I tried to figure out what was going on here.
One thing that I was stumped on was the fact that this Door Fifteen was supposed to be part of my biggest dream. Or that's what the screen had told me. I was started to not trust anything that screen that said. Then again, I really didn't in the first place.
"Cat got your tongue, little naive girl?" His lips lifted on one side.
"Uh, uhm," I stuttered without any thought.
Before he could get anything else out of his mouth, a figure appeared in my vision. From the distance, I could tell that the person was obviously a man. He was practically storming down the sidewalk. His intense gaze was set on the idiot who had just slapped me. Sucking in a breath, I had no idea of what to do.
"Kade!" The man raged and gripped onto the boy who I now knew as Kade.
They had a conversation with just their eyes. Kade's anger soon turned into a sheepish look. I could see right through his act. There was no way I would believe him.
"I apologize for the inconvenience. We'll be leaving now," the man spoke calmly, but I could tell he was controlling his anger.
"Wait! Who are you?" I asked before they could leave, or before I think it through.
He kind of hesitated. "That's none of your business. Sorry again, miss."
Taken aback by his blunt response, my heart ached as I watched them disappear into the distance. Both of them didn't seem to care that they were being rude.
I sat there with stress pulsing through me. Running a hand through my hair only helped some. I took a deep breath. It was a buzz that snapped me out of my daze. Even more confused, I grasped the phone out of my pocket.
I was a hundred percent positive that I didn't bring a phone with me into that amusement park. I held the phone in my hand, and knew for a fact that it wasn't mine. An unknown number lit up the screen, the new brightness slightly startling me. Jerking away was only a automatic reaction.
Are you alright?
There was no possible way to reply to the message; the reason being, it was from a blocked number. Scowling at the phone, I wondered why they would even ask if there was no way to respond. It didn't matter anyways, there was no way I would even think on texting back. Shoving the thought in the back of my mind, I stuck the phone in my pocket and sighed to myself.
I aimlessly wandered through the streets and wondered what I was going to do. It took me a second to realize it, but I found myself kicking something in front of me. Inspecting what the object was, I quickly found that it was a purse.
"Does anyone care about anything around here?" I rolled my eyes.
There was no one sight, meaning that the person who this formerly belonged to was long gone. Scrunching up my nose, I gingerly clutched the bright, pink bag. A wallet fell to the ground as it was in my hands. I heaved another sigh, picking up the other article. I scanned the wallet for an ID, to at least give me some sort of hint. My entire frame froze when I saw the tiny picture placed inside. My smiling face was plastered on the driver's ID. I've never owned a purse like this before. I did have a driver's license, but my picture was far from that. Lines appeared in my forehead; maybe I really was in Door Fifteen. That was the only realistic thing I could come up with, as unrealistic as it was.
"This is insane." I rubbed my temples and tried to get rid of the on growing headache that pounded against my skull.
This couldn't be a dream, pain isn't possible in dreams. I have to get out of here, somehow. I pinched the bridge of my nose in annoyance. Why did I even have to step into that room? This whole thing was a mistake. The date, the theme park, and letting my friends go off on their own.
The wallet was full of cash, money bursting through the compartments. It was American money though, which didn't make sense. The more I dug into this case, the more worried I became. Something was seriously not right.
Mine as well use the money to my advantage and check in at a hotel. It felt wrong though, I felt as if this was a trap and I was being lured in. Who would leave a purse full of money on the street, with my driver's ID in it? It wasn't my actual driver's ID though.
"Why do things have to be some complicated?"
I searched the surrounding area, searching for any hotel. The only place around here was a small motel, placed in the corner of the street. Then again, how was I supposed to use American money? I had no other option than the motel. It would due for one night, if I could get in.
My feet lead me to my destination. The outside alone made me cringe. The walls were a dull, yellow color; cracks giving no mercy. I crunched my nose up in disgust. Let's just hope that the inside was better.
It appeared abandoned but I distinguished from the light that, it wasn't. The front door was wooden and worn down. I made sure that there was no other possible place before entering the old motel. What people do, I thought.
The inside surprised me; it reminded me so much of home. Now that I think about it, it looked like a hotel I once stayed at back home. The furniture was brand new and the walls were freshly painted, the smell lingering in the air.
"Welcome, love. How may I help you, young lady?" An older British voice happily asked from beside me.
I jumped, turning to face the older man who stood there, just watching me. My heart was pounding out of my chest. My hand flew up to my chest, out of reflex. He surely gave me a fright. I breathed heavily and tried to calm down.
"Didn't mean to scare you there," he chuckled to himself, his eyes bright.
"It's all right." I play it off, even though I still had a racing heart.
He appeared friendly enough, but something was just plain off. A small frown formed on my lips as I stared at the odd figure.
"How much is a room?" I awkwardly cleared my throat, fidgeting with my shirt. My voice was still shaky.
He smiled warmly but I could see right through the performance. His personally wasn't what it truly was. He walked behind the counter, typing frantically on the computer in front of him.
The longer I stared at him, the more I had this gut feeling.
"It's about a hundred dollars per night with tax. Is that in your price range? He sniffled loudly, scratching the top of his head.
I dug through the purse and took out the wallet. When I opened it, the only money in sight was American currency, just as before. I let out a breath and gave him a false smile.
"Yeah, that's fine," I have him a curt nod, pulling out a hundred dollar bill with a few ones.
I hesitantly walked up to the counter, the money slightly crumpling in my hand. An unpleasant smell entered my nose, making me quietly gag. I tried to cover it with a cough but I don't think the man noticed.
"That would be a hundred and three, dear." He laughed loudly, making me stare directly at him.
Keeping my eyes on my feet, I handed him the money without touching his hand. The weird smell seemed to be coming from him, strangely enough. This was going to be one interesting night.
A thought crossed my mind; weren't you supposed to pay when you leave? It's almost as if he knew something was going to happen and he was taking the money before it was too late.
"You're in room fifteen. It will be down the left hallway, second door." He nodded to himself, handing me the key to the room.
"Thank you."
He didn't have to tell me twice, I was out of that room the second he gave me the key. The hallway was the same as the other room, freshly painted. I stopped at room fifteen.
My mouth hung open from shock; it looked just like my room at the dorm. My welcoming zebra blanket was spread across the king size bed, the walls were light blue, and a window was on the back wall.
"Wow," I gasped, gazing out the window.
What seemed like my former neighbor stood outside, taking the trash out. I shut the door behind me, breathing in deeply. The smell of home swirled around me, giving me comfort. My feet padded across the carpet floor, heading in the direction of the bed.
Yawning, I sat down on the bed. The worn out bed creaked under my weight. The soft blanket came in contact with my skin, making me sleepy Even though this was not normal, I couldn't help but relax. Maybe after a few hours of sleep I'll be able to figure out what was going on in Door Fifteen.
I had a sense that I wouldn't be getting out of here any time soon.
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Happy Thanksgiving!
© piercingwings 2013
*Edited*