Challenge Accepted
Hours went by and Nineve didn't know what she was supposed to do. She didn't even know if she was safe anymore. The man had walked away after saying she knew too much and Bade had quietly walked her back to her room before leaving her without another word.
She didn't know what to expect, but she hoped someone would tell her something soon. She just wanted to go home, but she had no idea where that was, or who it was with. She still couldn't remember if she even had a family, but that same image of walking beside a tall blond was in her mind. It kept flashing back to her and she couldn't help but to wonder who it was.
Could he be her brother? Did she even have a brother?
Her food was long gone, and it was more delicious than she remembered food could taste, but perhaps that just meant she wasn't a good cook. She had no idea how many meals she had had to cook for herself. She could remember a few times she didn't cook, but she didn't know why, she could just remember coming home and being surprised when the food was already cooked.
It was frustrating remembering some things, but not knowing what any of it meant.
Just then, Nineve realized she didn't even know when her birthday was. She knew she was sixteen, that much she could remember, somehow, but she couldn't remember for the life of her when her birthday was.
That probably wasn't the most important thing at the moment, but she didn't want to think about what may lay ahead for her.
It didn't necessarily make sense for them to kill her because she had seen too much. They were the ones that apparently saved her life in the first place. Would they just use that excuse to make it seem more okay for them to just kill her to get rid of her?
But she didn't even know what she had apparently seen. She knew it was a school, and so obviously eventually she'd see students somewhere, right? What else had she seen? There was obviously going to be a food fight going on in the kitchen, which she thought it was weird that Bade hadn't tried to stop it before it got to a full blown food fight, but she was glad he had gotten her out of there before it did.
Her door opened and Bade and that same man walked in. A few moments later another man walked in, someone that was oddly familiar, but she had no clue why she recognized him.
"Nineve, I'd like to introduce you to Skylar. He is our... principal." Bade motioned to the man and he stepped forward, stretching out his right hand.
Taking her right hand in his own, he said, "Nineve..." For a moment she thought she saw a strange look in his eyes, as if the name was strange to him. "It is nice to meet the woman that has been the talk of the school. I'm very grateful Dylan here was able to save you." Letting go of her hand, he reached out and patted the other man's shoulder.
It was nice to finally be able to put a name to the man that seemed to be so against her very being, but she didn't understand it. "You were the one that saved me?"
The man, Dylan, rolled his eyes, but slowly nodded. "It was me." He seemed reluctant to give that information, but Nineve didn't understand why. Wouldn't he want her to know it was him so she would be able to thank him for saving her life? She just didn't understand it.
"Well, thank you. I'm grateful you did so. I honestly can't remember why I was in the water in the first place, but I do know that I'm not ready to die." She didn't know if she had thought differently before, and that was why she was in the water, but she definitely didn't want to die now.
"I believe Bade mentioned this, but that bridge is so remote that there's no likely hood you were just going for a walk and happened to be walking across it and fell. It doesn't happen with that bridge. There had to be a reason you were on that bridge, without a car. And there had to be a reason you went over the side and fell into the water." Dylan sounded annoyed, but there was also something else in his voice. Worry? Curiosity?
"Dylan," Skylar gave him a stern look. "Thank you for expressing your worries, but I believe we are fine. I'm sure Nineve here never meant to jump into the water. There's a logical explanation behind it, we just have to wait and see when she remembers it." He turned to leave, but Nineve stopped him.
"Wait," He turned back to her, his left brow raised in question. "What do you mean we have to wait until I remember it? How long are we going to wait? Am I trapped here? Do I have to stay in this room the entire time?" She was dying to get outside and get some fresh air.
The room was quiet for a moment and she feared that he was going to make her just stay in there until she remembered everything she had forgotten, especially her family.
"If you will, I'm going to ask that you remain in here for the time being. I will work on getting you into the system, and if you'd like to, you can join our school."
Dylan looked furious and Bade was obviously shocked. "But... But... Sir... How can she...? Is it safe for her or for us?" Bade was the one that spoke, and Nineve wondered what he meant. What could possibly be the problem? It was a school, right?
"Sure, I think I'd like that. If you can get me into the system and get me out of this room as soon as possible, I'll endure any classes you throw at me." She now felt a strange determination and excitement to be able to prove to Dylan and Bade that she could be successful in whatever classes they had taken before.
A strange light appeared in Skylar's eyes. "The challenge is accepted."
Three weeks passed and Nineve was beginning to think that Skylar had forgotten about her. All her meals were brought to her, and the only way she knew what time of day it was, was because of the different contents of food on her trays. For breakfast they'd bring her pancakes, eggs, bacon, hash browns, and orange juice.
Lunch had a little more variety to it, but not near as much as dinner always had. For lunch there was always some kind of meat: beef, chicken, turkey, steak, fish. There was always the option of a salad. And just about any side anyone could think of.
For dinner, it seemed like the options were endless. Bade had told her that she could simply ask for anything she was in the mood for, and they'd definitely have it. Any main dish, side, or dessert; they had it. One day she had decided to do a crazy combination of freshly baked salmon seasoned with lemon pepper and butter, snow crab legs, steamed vegetables, freshly cut pineapple, a fresh mango, and some vanilla ice cream.
Not only did they have everything, but they had had everything cooked so perfectly she was sure she had never eaten food so wonderful before arriving at that school.
Although the food was wonderful, Nineve was beginning to feel trapped more than ever before. She couldn't remember the last time she had seen sunlight. She wanted to be outside, feel the wind blowing on her face under a beautiful blue sky.
If she closed her eyes long enough and imagined she was outside on a beach she could sometimes almost feel the soft winds blowing against her skin, but it always went away once Bade entered the room. When she couldn't feel the wind anymore the strong desire to be outside immediately returned, stronger than it had been before.
Nineve heard the door close but she kept her eyes closed, waiting for Bade to ask her what she wanted for dinner. That was the only meal left for the day, and meal times were the only times he visited her lately.
For the first few weeks he tried visiting her more often, but he just didn't have the time right now. He told her it was testing time around the school, and he guessed that was what Skylar had been waiting for. If testing was over, she would be able to start fresh in her classes, but if she joined right before testing she'd have to do the testing whether she was ready or not, and it would be a mark on her grades for the rest of her life, if she did indeed continue going to this school.
She continued seeing more and more flashes of the tall blond man, but still couldn't figure out who he was. There was also another blond in her memories, but he had green eyes, not blue. This one always seemed to be much more serious and quite a bit protective when he was around her. While she wasn't exactly sure who the first blond was, brother or lover, she was sure this man was an older brother of hers, but she had no idea what either of their names were.
At least she knew she had family.
After a while, the silence made her wonder if something was going to be different about this visit. "Is it time for dinner?"
"There is still a few hours until that time." That voice wasn't Bade's and Nineve quickly sat up, spinning to see Skylar standing there with his back leaning against the door.
"Skylar." She didn't know what else to say.
"Are you ready to begin your classes?"