Young Writers Society

Author's note::A lot of secrets are unfolded in this part, but not all of them. If you haven't read the other chapters, you can find them in the same folder as this one. I had a lot of fun writing this, so I hope you enjoy! (Previously on: Taken 😁: A girl finds herself in the middle of the ocean, on a stranger's boat, with nowhere to run. A few arguments break out over why she is in this situation to begin with. What will happen next?)

I got the courage to get up out of the bath awhile after waking up. My skin was all wrinkly, but I felt nice. I walked out of the room clean, smelling nice, with fresh clothes on.

When I saw Torin next time, I was sitting at the edge of the small boat counting the stars. It had been a full day that I had managed to avoid him. Or maybe he was avoiding me. But sure enough, the sound of footsteps in the distance made me aware of his presence.

“Hey Lia, I have something to---” he trailed off as I held up a hand.

“357, 358, 359, 360!” I turned toward him and grinned brightly. “Sorry, what were you saying?” I asked.

“Oh. Uh. Nothing, “he stammered. “Where you counting stars, or seconds?” He asks.

“Stars, and well, I was hoping to be alone long enough to get to a thousand, “ I muttered, hoping that he got the message.

He didn’t and sat down next to me anyway. My arms curled around myself automatically, and I hoped that I didn’t look too vulnerable.

A long silenced stretched between us, and I wondered if I should break it or not. I decided against it, hoping to make him as uncomfortable as possible. After all, he had taken me here, without a reason, and still wouldn’t admit why.

“I need to tell you something,” he finally said, looking sheepish. “So, don’t freak out, but---”

“Don’t freak out? How can I not freak out about anything? You kidnap me, put me on a boat in the middle of nowhere, and won’t let me go,” I interrupted, nearly yelling at him now.

“I know. I am sorry, but please just listen to me for a minute,” he sighs looking down at his hands.

“Listen to you? A complete stranger who won’t. Let. Me. Go.” I emphasize each word, trying to make him understand how crazy he sounds.

“I know, but—” I cut him off again, “No just listen to how crazy you sound right now! I want to go home, and you’re—”

He finally loses his temper and yells, “Aurelia Raeann Greenwood!”

I stare at him in stunned silence. My full name, he knows my full name. No one has called me by it since the day that my mother remarried. But then, how did he know?

“What I have been trying to tell you, is that I know you. I can’t tell you exactly how just now, that might ruin your recovery,” he continued, now staring at me intently.

He gave me a few seconds to recover, and slowly, I asked “so what exactly can you tell me?”

My thoughts raced in my brain, looking for an answer. Had I gone to school with him? Maybe seen him at a coffee shop? I shook my head in frustration, felling a headache coming on.

He sighed in answer, obviously wanting to keep the next part to himself. “I shouldn’t have even said that, so I am already in trouble. You might not believe it, but I can see the future.”

I barked a laugh, thinking he was joking to release some of the tension, but when his face remained stern, my mouth rolled open in shock again.

“No, I don’t believe you. It is impossible. What’s next, aliens are real, and they have come to take the planet?” I rolled my eyes, ready to brush it off.

“You shouldn’t joke about such things. Words have power, even if it is a small power," he said.

He looked at me with pity, and just for a moment, I saw the familiar flash of disappointment. That look haunts my dreams, and right now, it feels like a stab to my gut. It is the same look that Dominic and Isabelle had given me, just before humiliating me in public.

They had left me on the side of the road for the rats at school who decided it was better to throw my backpack into the little river. I had to take a bus home because it was too far to walk. The next morning, I saw it again in the teacher’s eyes as I tried to explain what happened to my homework.

No one was ever on my side, I think. All of the sudden I feel so alone, fighting a battle that no one can even see. I look up slowly, finding Torin’s eyes.

“Just let me go,” I plead once more.

“I can’t. I literally can’t Lia. It isn’t that I don’t want to, because I do, but the next part, I am sworn not to tell a soul. If you really want to know, you have to figure it out on your own, “ he says, looking deep into my eyes.

I think he is secretly hoping that I jump off the boat and drown. That would probably be best for both of us. Maybe that is what I will do….

Without another word I stand up, turn, and walk away. I’ve had enough of whatever game he wants to play. I am almost to the little bedroom before I feel a stab in my head. I bend over in pain.

My head felt like it was going to shatter right out of my skull. Pictures flashed in my brain, and I tried to grab hold of at least one of them, but it was no use. Not pictures, I realized. Memories.

It took a few minutes for the pain to go away. I put a hand on the wall to stabilize myself. I straightened my back, but I think it was a tad too fast. Black dots danced on the edges of my eyes and dizziness swept over me.

I squeezed my eyes shut, willing the nausea to go away. When I got the courage to open them again, I was not on the boat anymore.