by K.N. Lee
The door opened for a second time.
Again, the light from outside the room shocked her eyes, but after blinking a few times her vision began to clear. There was a woman, not much older than Anais herself, standing in the doorway with, of all things, a dustpan and brush. She moved forward into the room and began to sweep up the glass, and feathers and bits of broken table. The woman didn’t look up at Anais, but kept to task, dumping the whole lot into a small plastic bin that she had also brought with her.
Anais found the whole thing slightly surreal; this woman, who had just minutes ago shackled her to the bed, was now cleaning as if it was the most normal thing in the world. It wasn’t the normality of sweeping that struck Anais though; it was how the woman looked. Now that she had stepped into the room, Anais was able to get a good look at her. She was, to put it simply, beautiful. She was stunning. White blonde hair cascaded freely over her shoulders in waves that shone. Her face was perhaps slightly too pale, but its symmetry, almond-shaped eyes under perfectly arched eyebrows, straight, slender nose and full lips more than made up for its lack of colour. Anais estimated her to be of similar height to herself which, although unusual, explained how, to some extent, she was able to tackle Anais earlier. She was wearing a tight red t-shirt which showed the woman’s trim waist and pert breasts to full advantage. She also wore low-slung fitted black jeans and strangely, was also wearing gloves, black leather gloves which covered her hands to the wrist. On her feet were red fluffy slippers. The whole ensemble, coupled with her strange beauty and the inane task which she was doing made it all the more surreal. So much so that Anais had not uttered a word, but just watched this woman going about her work.
When the last of the feathers had been placed in the bin, the woman stole a look at Anais. At once her face fell and her perfect features dropped into a look of shock and concern which only served to make her somehow even more beautiful.
“Oh, I’ve hurt you!”
Anais followed the woman’s eye line and felt up to her forehead. It was warm and sticky. Blood. With all that had happened in the last few minutes, Anais had not even noticed that she had banged her head in the earlier struggle. The woman ran out of the door, only to return seconds later with a bit of tissue which she held to Anais’ head. Anais looked at her more closely. Up close, Anais could see the woman’s skin although pale was flawless, and Anais could tell it was naturally this way and not with the aid of makeup. Her eyes were black. Not dark brown, but so dark that Anais couldn’t see where the pupils ended and irises began. They sparkled with flecks of light. The woman’s mouth, now smiling, was red with the only makeup Anais could see. Scarlet lipstick coated full lips. The woman’s smile did not extend to her eyes which only held a concerned look.
“Sorry it’s not much, but it’s clean. Hold it to your head while I go and get you a bandage.” Her voice had a friendly singsong quality to it which left Anais mesmerised.
Being left alone for a third time, Anais had time to analyse her situation. She had not felt threatened by the woman, quite the opposite. Despite being shackled and held against her will, she had actually felt safe and weirdly protected. It was partly because the strange woman had been visibly upset that she had caused injury to Anais, but it was the woman’s whole demeanour that had put Anais at ease. She didn’t look like a serial killer either. Serial killers don’t wear fluffy slippers for a start, thought Anais. It was a stupid thought, Anais knew that killers came in all guises, but at the same time she knew that this woman had meant her no harm. It only threw up more questions, though, such as, if not to harm her, then what exactly did the woman want with her?
Anais thought back to the scene that had just unfolded, and there was something not quite right that she couldn’t put her finger on. The whole thing was strange admittedly, but it was something else. Something she had seen that didn’t add up.
The door was now open, which allowed some light into the room allowing her to see it properly for the first time. It was as opulent as she had suspected with the swirly wallpaper turning out to be a complex damask pattern in black and gold. The carpet was a rich, deep red. It glittered with tiny slivers of glass still littering it which the woman had not managed to sweep up. The ruined table was a dark wood and looked like an expensive antique which, in any other situation would have made Anais feel guilty for breaking. Her father had instilled in her a love of antiques which had only grown when she had met Winnie and started working in her antique bookshop.
She moved as far as her shackles would allow so she could see out through the door. Outside was a corridor in which the red carpet continued.
She could only see a small part of the corridor, but it was decorated in the same opulent style as the room.
Anais looked again at the carpet. The light from the hall was hitting the glass fragments creating a pretty sparkling effect and bouncing the light in pretty flashes on the wall.
That’s when it hit her, what had been wrong before. She had quite clearly seen the woman’s face when she had held the tissue to Anais’ head. The only light in the room was coming from the hallway. Anais was facing the doorway and the woman had been between her and the door. The woman would have been able to see Anais clearly, but Anais should have only seen her silhouette. There was no way that Anais should have seen the woman’s face so clearly. The flecks of light in the woman’s eyes had no source to reflect. Anais wondered if she had banged her head harder than she thought she had. She brought the tissue down and saw that there were only a few spots of blood and although she could now feel the spot where she had banged her head, it wasn’t really causing her any discomfort.
As she was pondering this new development, the woman came back. Her hands were full. She carefully laid everything on the bed and then turned to Anais and spoke.
“It’s not so bad, but I’d like to clean it and cover it,” she said this whilst brushing an errant hair away from Anais’ eyes.
The gesture was strangely comforting but made Anais feel self-conscious. Now that the woman was so close to her, Anais was surprised that she had been right. She could see the woman’s face so clearly that it was like a soft light was shining on it. Anais nearly looked over her shoulder to find the source of the light but knew there was nothing behind her, just the wall with its damask pattern. The room was still dark, with its only illumination coming from the light in the corridor, behind this strange woman.
The woman picked a bottle of green liquid from the bed and removed the stopper with a slight pop, bringing Anais out of her thoughts.
“Antiseptic,” she said as she dabbed it on Anais’ cut forehead with a bit of cotton wool. It stung for a second and a cold dribble ran down her face which was expertly mopped up.
Anais sat perfectly still whilst the woman ran a bandage around her head. She watched the woman’s face. Her eyes, full of concern were endless pools of blackness but they reflected the light so perfectly that they sparkled--light that wasn’t there. She could see the woman so very clearly, even in the dark. Her skin, pale but flawless and those scarlet lips, lips that were now smiling at her. The woman looked her in the eyes and smiled, making Anais feel uncomfortable once again. She still had her hands on Anais’ head and was looking at her intently. Anais was so close she could see her own reflection in the woman’s eyes.
“That should do it.” The woman finally dropped her hands and then handed Anais a sandwich which she had placed on the bed. “It’s ham and mustard, I hope that’s ok?”
Anais realised that she had been holding her breath, so hypnotised she had been by the presence and closeness of this woman. All at once the spell was broken and Anais realised she was actually hungry. She took the sandwich and ate greedily despite her dry throat. Just like her previous meal it was delicious. She devoured one-half and then grabbed the other. Putting it into her mouth she looked up at the woman. She was watching her eating. Anais suddenly felt self-conscious and bit just a small corner off the sandwich.
“I gu
ess banging you on the head has not affected your appetite. How does it feel?”
“Fine, thanks,” Anais answered. It was the first words she had uttered since this woman first arrived. “Please, can I have a drink?”
The woman threw her a bottle of water, which Anais opened and drank down in gulps. The cold water soothed her throat and quenched her thirst.
“What am I doing here?”
“You are here for a very special reason, we need you. I can’t really say much more, but we will not hurt you, Anais. You will know everything shortly, but for now, just eat your food and get your head better.”
Anais noted the use of her name. This woman obviously knew her and hadn’t just kidnapped her randomly.
“You obviously know who I am. Do I get to know who you are?”
“I’m Aethelu, pleased to meet you.” She held her hand out to shake hands with Anais as if they had just met at a business meeting instead of being kidnapper and captive.
With all the other weirdness of the moment, Anais took it in her stride. She swapped the sandwich into her other hand, quickly wiped her mustardy hands on her pyjama bottoms and shook Aethelu’s leather-clad hand.
“I have to go, but I’ve left you another bottle of water there on the bed. I’ve left you some slippers just here on the floor. Wear them. I don’t want you cutting your feet on the bits of glass I missed. I’ll come and vacuum tomorrow, but it’s a bit late now. I don’t want to keep the others awake.”
“I’ve also left loo paper, Clean PJs and some magazines.” She pointed to the bed.
“How do you expect me to read the magazines if you keep me in the dark?” Anais asked.
Aethelu stood up, walked to the door and put her hand up. She pulled a cord and light flooded the room. With a wink, she picked up the dustpan and brush and left the room bolting the door behind her.
Anais mentally kicked herself. How could she have missed the light pull? She felt like such a dolt. She must have just missed it when she was feeling her way around the room. In her defence, it was just a bit of string hanging down from the ceiling with a ceramic end. Easily missed in the dark if you were expecting a switch. Not that seeing the room had improved her situation any. She was still locked in it and being able to see the room didn’t make it any more escapable. She looked around. The floor glittered more than ever in the bright light. She put her feet into the slippers and absentmindedly chewed on the remains of her sandwich. The light came from a chandelier on the ceiling. Crystals added to the rooms twinkling brightness. The bed was indeed a four poster bed made from intricately carved dark wood. It was all very old-fashioned and reminded Anais of the one time she had visited a stately home as a member of the public with her parents shortly before they died. She followed one of the posts down to the bed and saw the pile that Aethelu had left. There was a neatly folded blanket of ruby red, the magazines she had been promised and a key with a label attached to it. Anais picked up the key and studied it. It looked like a perfect fit to the shackles on her wrists. She awkwardly twisted her arms to be in a position to turn the key in the lock and straight away the shackle fell off. She quickly turned the key in the other shackle which fell on the bed to join the first. She read the label on the key. It simply said ‘Sorry.’
Moving the shackles to the floor she picked up the bottle of water. Having had nothing to drink except for gravy for the last day or so had left her extremely dehydrated. The first bottle of water had soothed her somewhat, but her throat still felt like sandpaper and her tongue was rough. She unscrewed the bottle top and drank the whole lot down though sipping it more slowly than the last one. Feeling refreshed she turned her attention to the pyjamas that Aethelu had left on the bed. They were a men’s style cotton with blue stripes. Nothing like her pink ones, but they were clean, so she changed into them, neatly folding hers and placing them on the floor. She then picked up the magazines, the toilet paper and the blanket to see if Aethelu had left anything else. There was nothing else there so she wrapped the blanket around herself and flicked through the first magazine. It was full of ridiculous stories of people’s lives, pictures of babies and tips of the week. It reminded her of the trash that Winnie used to read.
Throwing them aside she instead concentrated on Aethelu. What had she said? ”We need you.”
So there were more people than just the woman holding her captive. She had felt inexplicably safe in Aethelu's presence, but was she just there to put her at ease before the others did unspeakable things to her? Aethelu had also said that she didn’t want to wake others up, which suggested there were other people sleeping in nearby bedrooms. Were they other captors or other people kidnapped and locked in just like her? She didn’t know. None of it made sense. She wasn’t sure if she should shout and wake the other people up anyway. She decided it was pointless. If they were locked in a room just like her, what could they do to help her, and if they weren’t, well then, what would they do to shut her up? Either way, she’d be in no better place than she was now. She put the sheet back on the bed, laid herself down, and closed her eyes. Aethelu’s image remained in her consciousness as if it was burned into her retinas, and it was thoughts of those cherry lips that led Anais into a deep sleep.
Chapter 4
Dreams of flying were interrupted by a strange whirring noise. Anais opened her eyes to find Aethelu vacuuming the carpet and finally getting rid of the glass particles. When Aethelu noticed she was awake, she smiled.
“Morning sleepyhead. It’s nearly 10 am.”
Anais had lost all concept of time, but she felt marvellous after a long nights sleep. She sat up and yawned immediately spotting the plate of breakfast which was now sat on another side table. She walked over to the table, picked up the fried breakfast and took it back to the bed. She knew it was going to taste amazing even before the first bite and she was not disappointed. She took a bite out of one of the three sausages on the plate. Bacon, eggs, hash browns, mushrooms and beans filled her plate. Each mouthful tasted better than the last.
Aethelu looked at her with a quizzical expression. “You didn’t try to escape?”
Anais looked at Aethelu and the wide open door. She could have easily escaped. She was much closer to the door than Aethelu was. With the element of surprise, she calculated she’d have easily got through the door and perhaps half way down the corridor. So why didn’t she? It was partly fear of the unknown, but she knew that the real reason she had not attempted to escape was because a little part of her didn’t want to. Aethelu had intrigued her. She should have felt scared, but fear had long since left her and was now replaced by curiosity.
She had lost the element of surprise, as it was her captor who had pointed out that she could have escaped. Her failure to escape yesterday was in the forefront of her mind, and she knew it was pointless to even try to escape right now. She would think about it and try to escape later.
“Are you going to tell me why I’m here yet?” Anais asked “and just where is here?”
“We are in Baildon.”
“Baildon?”
“It’s a small town, less than 50 miles from where we took you. This is our house.”
“Our?”
“I live here with my family. At the moment, there’s my eldest brother August, my brothers, Alexander and Raphael, who are twins and our family friend Andrew. They are all dying to meet you. I’ve told them all about you, but my father won’t allow them to meet you until he gets back in a couple of weeks. He’s abroad with my mother at the moment.”
“Look. As much as I’d like to sit around here for the next week or so waiting until your father gets home, I think I’d rather just go home now if you don’t mind.” Anais tried a sarcastic tone.
“I hate this.” Aethelu looked at her with a pained expression which did nothing to diminish her pure beauty. Anais wondered if they were having the same conversation.
“Sorry?”
“I hate having to keep you locked up; He should have given the job to Al
ex or Raphael.”
Anais took ‘he’ to be Aethelu’s father and ‘the job’ to mean keeping her locked up.
“Why are you then?” Anais was now trying to sound sympathetic, but it was difficult when Aethelu was purposely not telling her why she was here.
Aethelu gave a sad smile but didn’t answer.
“Let me look at you.” Aethelu made her way over to the bed where Anais was still eating her breakfast.
Anais wasn’t sure exactly what Aethelu wanted to look at until she put her hand up to Anais’ face.
Anais got another close-up of those amazing eyes and realised Aethelu was unwinding the bandage from her head. Her hands once again lingered just a fraction of a second longer than Anais was comfortable with.
“Healing nicely. It was just a small cut. I don’t think we’ll be needing this anymore.”
She took the used bandage, balling it up and putting it into her pocket to throw away later.
“You don’t look how I imagined,” said Aethelu. She was still uncomfortably close to Anais despite having finished seeing to the cut on her head.
Anais wasn’t sure how to take this, so she replied with a question of her own.
“What were you expecting?”
“Not sure, really.” answered Aethelu “I don’t think I was expecting your hair to be so dark.”
Anais self-consciously twirled the end of a lock of hair round her finger.
“Don’t get me wrong,” Aethelu said apologetically. “It’s beautiful, really shiny. It’s just so black.”
“It comes from my mother’s side of the family.”
“Ah, I see,” said Aethelu as if this was a great revelation to her. “Well, it’s pretty gorgeous.”