In the corner of the room was a mint green fabric chair and small bookcase. It looked like there was a lot of Eternal Light literature on there and I was undecided if I wanted to read it. Knowledge was power after all, and if I stood a chance of stopping the sacrifice or getting away, I had to know. On the wall above the bed was a photo of what looked like all of them. It was relatively recent; Noah didn’t look much younger than he did now. I hated that he was in this room, even in photo form.
“There are clothes in the wardrobe. If you would like something to eat or drink, please come and let me know. Donald and I will be in the living room tonight.”
I stared back at an older version of me and felt nothing. “I won’t want anything.” Besides them taking that picture down, which I didn’t think they would. It looked like an everyone-has-one kind of thing.
“Very well,” she said, closing the door behind her.
As soon as I heard her footsteps getting further away, I tried the window, shoving the glass to see if it would budge. It didn’t, of course. Dropping my hands, I leant my forehead against the glass and tried to hold it together. I was close to crying. I hurt physically and emotionally. I missed my family and, damn it, I missed Noah. My heart ached for the person I thought he was, the one I loved and thought I had a future with.
Think, Scarlett.
Breathing deeply through my nose, I tried to compose myself to think of a plan. I refused to believe there wasn’t a way. Appeal to the mother in Fiona? If she even had anything maternal inside her. Run for it and hope I found someone to help. Try to find a phone or computer to contact my parents and the police.
Knowledge is power.
Yes, that’s it. I was going to learn about them, be one of them until I found a way out. They hadn’t told me when the first ceremony was going to start but there would be seven days of rituals. I could do this. It was live or die, and I wasn’t dying without one hell of a fight.
I grabbed the first manually bound book off the shelf and flicked it open. With a deep breath, I started to read, mumbling words aloud. “Nature regenerates, should live in harmony with what naturally grows on the earth, eat well, blah blah blah.” I rolled my eyes until I came to a part about The Light. Me.
It was hard reading. “The Light will be born in human form, it will provide a link between this life and eternity.” Closing the book, I closed my eyes. It spoke of me like I wasn’t real. But I had to do this. I opened it back up and continued. Seven rituals must take place before the sacrificing of The Light.
Nope. Not now.
Slamming it shut, I shoved it back on the bookshelf. I wasn’t ready to hear it. Jumping on the bed, I buried myself under the layers of blankets and closed my eyes, thinking of anything else other than what Noah had done and where I was.
Scarlett
I WOKE UP to the two crazy people – who were my parents – watching over me. They looked perfectly normal, well dressed, and friendly. It was only when they opened their mouths that you realised how bat-shit crazy they were.
“Good morning, Scarlett,” Donald said. “Did you sleep well?”
“You kidnapped me yesterday, didn’t sleep too well, no.”
“You are our daughter; we are not the ones who took you from where you belong. But that doesn’t matter now because you are home,” Fiona said.
“I’m not your daughter. You don’t murder your daughter.”
She shook her head. “No, Scarlett, you don’t understand.” Damn right, I don’t. “You are The Light. You are going to lead us to a higher plain, a better existence. It is not death; it is eternal life in a much better place than this.”
“But I’ll be dead.”
Donald covered Fiona’s hand with his giant one. “Perhaps we should show our daughter around and explain properly.”
I didn’t want to go anywhere with them, but I did want to look around and try to find a way to escape. I also wanted to scream and shout at Noah. His betrayal stung deep. I felt sick whenever I thought about what he’d done. Not only had he brought me here to be killed but he made me love him first. He was evil.
“That is a good idea, love,” Fiona said to Donald, returning his sickening smile. “We’ll give you ten minutes to get dressed, Scarlett.”
I watched them stand in sync and leave my prison cell of a room. They were my parents. They made me, and they wanted to kill me. The door closed and was locked. My room was nice, I’d give them that much. They gave me nice things to what, soften the blow for when they stuck a knife through my heart?
Ignoring the hysteria building, I got out of bed and opened the wardrobe. Everything in there was pretty. Lots of long dresses. I dressed in a floor-length white and yellow sundress and brushed my hair through. It felt pointless, but I had to keep it together.