the wheel of an expensive looking car. I don’t know anything about cars, but I know that this car is worth a lot. As the garage door starts opening, I jump into the passenger seat and buckle up.
“Are you okay?” I ask him.
Colton looks at me from out of the corner of his eye and nods. Putting his arm on the back of my seat, he turns around to see out of the rear window and backs out of the garage slowly.
When we get out of the garage, I finally see how massive their home actually is. I feel my eyes widen in surprise. I must have gasped for Colton turns towards me. I am too distracted by the sheer size of the house to try and regain any composure. It is beautiful. Large stones cover the whole exterior. The main focus is a central bay window with black metal swirls decorating the window panes. Muted green shutters are located on each side of all windows. Victorian style ornaments separate the two floor levels and run along the base of the roof. A large wraparound porch covers the exterior of the first level. It fits perfectly with its surroundings. I instantly love it. Something about it looks familiar though.
“Beautiful, isn’t it?” I just nod, unable to speak. “It’s been in my family for generations. Each family has added onto it. It wasn’t this big when it was originally built.” He continues to tell me the family story of the home, but I only half-listen. The closer we get to town, the harder I have to concentrate to keep the thoughts locked away. More and more voices are swarming into me, overflowing my mind with thoughts that aren’t mine.
When we pull up the driveway, I pause and collect myself. There doesn’t seem to be many people around, so it isn’t too difficult. “Colton, do you have my bag from yesterday? My key is inside.”
“What? Oh, yeah.” He reaches into the backseat and grabs my bag from the floor. As he moves towards me, I can smell the cologne he is wearing. It reminds me of the outdoors and I want to move closer to him to fully surround myself with it.
Wait. Where did that come from?
“Here.”
I blush at my own thoughts; as if he is the one who can read minds. I reach into the front pocket of my bag, take out my key, and open the car door. Stepping out of the car, another wave of vertigo crashes into me. I grip the door to keep from falling over. “Something’s not right.”
When the dizzy feeling passes, I nod to Colton, telling him that I am okay to go in. He walks in front of me and holds his hand out, “Stay behind me.” I hand him the key. He casually opens the door and walks inside, signaling me to wait. He surveys the area before waving me in. I walk past him into the living room and go up to my room. Grabbing a duffle bag from under my bed, I go to my closet and dump in random articles of clothing, hoping that I gather everything I need. My skin keeps crawling. Something doesn’t feel right and I want to get out of here as soon as possible.
I run down the stairs, taking them two at a time. At the bottom of the stairs, I pause. Hearing grunts in the living room, I slowly turn the corner to see what is happening. Colton is fighting a man wielding a large sword in the middle of the living room. Despite not having a weapon, Colton appears to have the advantage. He is bigger and visibly stronger. He swings out and kicks the man in the shins, causing him to lose his footing and fall backwards. Then he punches him in the face with so much force that he catapults into the wall. After hitting his head, he slumps to the ground unconscious.
I am so enraptured and frightened by what I am witnessing that I don’t hear the footsteps behind me. A large hand wraps around my waist, pulling me against someone’s chest. A dagger is pressed against my neck. I have got to become more aware of my surroundings. I struggle to get free, but that only causes the dagger to slice into me. I let out a small cry as I feel the warm blood sliding down my neck and pooling into the edge of my shirt.