CHAPTER SIX

I sat on the couch as the girl treated my arm. In the meantime, I had asked the girl her name, Aurora was her response. I watched as she focused her mind on my wound. Her touch was gentle on my arm as she wrapped the bandage around my injury.

“Done,” she said and finally looked at me. Her blue eyes shone and she passed me a smile. It was reassuring and for a moment I forgot that I was kidnapped by a jerk.

“You should clean up,” she spoke again as her eyes went to my body. I craned my neck and looked at myself. I was still in my office attire that was dirty and worn out while my hair was tattered all around my shoulder but I didn’t care about that. All I wanted was to go home.

“Freshen up and I’ll take you downstairs,” she said. I was taken aback.

“You will?” I said, surprisingly.

“Yes, we can have dinner together,” came her simple response while I clenched my teeth together. How come she was so calm. First, I was kidnapped by that asshole and now she was acting like everything was normal. How dare they?

“No,” I stated. Aurora stopped as she was about to leave the room. She searched my face and stayed quiet, noticing I had more to say.

“Why did he bring me here? I never did anything to him,” I voiced. I didn’t mean to be rude but my voice came out a bit harsh. I felt guilty being rude to her after she helped me. I sighed as I couldn’t take my words back now. She closed the remaining distance between us and placed a hand on my shoulder.

“Talon didn’t kidnap you,” she voiced as if she read my thoughts. My eyes went slightly wide but I kept my composure. Talon. So, that was his name.

“He had his reasons…”

“Oh really, he had ‘reasons’ to kidnap me,” I stated sarcastically. I met her eyes when she squeezed my shoulder reassuringly. Even though I was being mean, she never lost her calm. I was left alone by Aurora later. She told me to take shower and change into any clothes from the closet. I wanted to argue. I couldn’t stay here. I had to go home but it was not in the option. At least not yet.

Heaving a sigh, I decided to do what I was told. I strolled to the closet and was surprised to find various pairs of clothes. What was even more surprising was, they were all my size. I felt like Talon planned to kidnap me for a long time. I felt chills all over my body when his face flashed before my eyes.  I shook my head and chose a comfy-looking jogger and a black tank top.

I entered the modern-looking bathroom which was covered with white marble tiles. I took off my clothes and stood under the shower. As the cold water dropped on my body, I felt my tensed muscles relaxing. I ran my hand through my hair and closed my eyes. The water soothed me. I stayed under the water for a while and then dried myself. I put on the clothes and walked back to my room and to my surprise, Aurora was back, waiting for me.

She told me it was dinner time to which I nodded. I let my hair loose on my back and followed Aurora outside the room. I had many questions I wanted to ask her and the very first was, why was I here? It was not like I was a captive, if I was, they wouldn’t be letting me have dinner with them. So, Why was I here? My eyes roamed everywhere around me as I followed Aurora. We stepped downstairs and walked through a hallway. It was huge. The house was big, bigger than mine. It was like I was in a castle but a very modern-looking castle. Everything was so stunning and it added to the beauty of the mansion. As we were walking through another corridor, I watched the huge paintings that hung on the wall. They were of different people which I obviously didn’t recognize but one, in particular, caught my eyes.

It was of a woman. The painting looked ancient but the woman still seemed gradient as if she was alive in the painting itself. Even though the painting was old she was young and beautiful. Looking at the painting felt like the woman was watching me but I couldn’t tear away my eyes from her beauty. Her sapphire eyes shone in the painting and her long golden hair that reached to her waist, fell over her shoulder elegantly. As I stared at her, I felt something weird. A connection, somehow. I lifted my hand and reached towards the painting, to touch it. It was like a voice was calling me. I stared at those blue eyes in the painting and took a step closer to it with my fingers in the air. Almost touching it.

I felt a jolt of electricity ran through me as soon as my fingers brushed the painting. Darkness fell over me and I was no longer in the huge mansion instead trees and ground surrounded me. I heard a cry which made my heart jump. I turned around and my feet shuffled on their own accord. I had no control over my body as my leg followed the direction the cries came from. I tried to stop as it became darker and darker. My heart was pounding and I was scared. Where was I? I looked everywhere to find my way back but the forest was the only thing my eyes could see. The cries became louder as my feet took steps forward.

I stopped and my jaw dropped to the ground when my eyes landed on the girl from the painting. I watched the girl in horror that laid on the ground with blood pouring out of her body and a huge black beast was lingering over her. I placed both of my hands over my mouth, muffling any noise. My eyes stared at the beast as he tore the girl’s skin with his giant claws. I didn’t even realize I was crying until I felt wetness over my cheeks.

“Talon,” the girl cried again in pain. Her painful screams shattered my heart. I choked on tears and took a step backward in fear.

“Crack…” I looked down at the fallen tree branch on which I had mistakenly stepped. My eyes widened in pure horror and blood drained away from my face as I noticed the golden eyes of that beast which were now fixed on me. The beast growled and I gulped. The girl under him was lying unconscious. The beast jumped from the girl and fully turned towards me. I gulped and took another step backward. It showed its big fangs to me and the vein throbbed in my throat. I knew I was going to die. I couldn't believe it. A part of me wanted it all to be a dream. I wanted to open my eyes and wake up in my bed but it felt all too real for my liking. My heart raced as if it was going to come outside anytime. I backed away and that was my wrong move as the beast leaped on me. I cried and closed my eyes, scared for my life.

“Rose,” called someone.