Cabin of Axes - Bea Paige Page 0,13

looking between me and Franklin.

Franklin holds his hands up and shakes his head. “No, no I didn’t. This is the first time we’ve talked.”

“No. I woke up in this room in the pitch black. All three of you were here… You spoke to me.”

“What’s she talking about, Franklin?” Berrin asks, looking at me like I’ve grown another head.

“I don’t know. It could be something to do with her memory loss…” Franklin replies, studying me like I’m some kind of specimen under a microscope.

“You’re lying!” I shout, my teeth beginning to chatter. “I know what I saw, what I heard, and you,” I accuse, pointing a finger at Berrin, “Don’t stand there and pretend you don’t know what I’m talking about. You were there when he said that to me. Mathieson too!”

Berrin looks nothing but confused which makes me even angrier. “Please, just tell me who I am, who you are. I need to know!” I begin trembling in earnest now, my teeth clack loudly as I fold myself up into a ball and bury my face into my knees. Tears cascade down my cheeks as I sob helplessly.

“Berrin, go help Matt with the food. Keep him up there.”

“But…” he cuts in.

“Go help Matt with the food. Now!”

Berrin mutters something indistinguishable under his breath then stomps up their stairs. As soon as he’s gone, Franklin sighs heavily. “Look at me,” he says.

I keep my head down. I don’t want to look at him. “No,” I mumble.

“Look. At. Me,” he repeats, firmer this time. The tone of his voice garners no argument and despite myself, I lift my head and meet his gaze, unable to ignore his demand.

“This is the first time we’ve talked,” he repeats slowly, and whilst his tone is now soft, warm, soothing, there’s still something in his gaze that has me questioning his sincerity and my sanity.

Chapter Five

“I don’t believe you,” I whisper. I know what I heard, what I felt. It happened.

“It’s the truth whether you choose to believe me or not. We came home yesterday afternoon after getting caught out in the storm, and you were asleep upstairs. It was a bit of a shock in all honesty. I brought you down here for privacy, so that when you woke up it wouldn’t be face to face with three men you didn’t recognise. This is the first time we’ve had a conversation.”

“No, that’s not what happened,” I retort, shaking my head whilst trying to make sense of everything. “I know what a dream feels like and what I experienced wasn’t a dream. It wasn’t.”

“It’s the truth,” he insists earnestly.

I shake my head, not willing to believe him. “I’m not imagining this.”

He reaches for me, but I flinch. Sighing heavily, he folds his hands into his lap. “Perhaps it was a past memory? Some kind of trauma from before?”

“With your voices in it? I recognise them.”

Franklin frowns. “It’s entirely possible that when you were out our voices filtered in subconsciously and got screwed up with a dream.”

His argument has logic to it that I can’t deny. It makes me question myself. “It was real. I swear, it was real…” My eyes well with tears that I blink away fiercely. “Why have you kept me prisoner like this if it wasn’t? Why am I practically naked if you didn’t have some nefarious reasons for keeping me here.”

“A prisoner? You’re not a prisoner. You’re free to go at any point, though right now I wouldn’t recommend it given the storm is still raging and there are several trees down around us. They’re currently blocking the road leading up to our property.”

“That’s convenient,” I snap.

“No, just the truth.”

“And the clothes? Why am I naked?”

Franklin grins, and his smile is warm this time. “You’re wearing my t-shirt and your underwear, so you’re hardly naked.” He chuckles, then holds his hands up in mock surrender when I scowl. “Your clothes were drenched. When I found you your lips were blue, I didn’t want you getting hyperthermia, so I removed your clothes.”

“Oh,” I say, feeling my cheeks heat. “Why am I down here then? Why was the door locked?”

Franklin cocks his head to the side, studying me. “If you’d turned the handle on the door earlier instead of eavesdropping, you would’ve found it unlocked. You’re not a prisoner. As for being down here, this is our spare room. I didn’t think you’d appreciate waking up in our bed.”

Our bed? Singular. So they do sleep together then… Cassidy was right. That thought makes my