The Scroll of Knowledge

Chapter 4

Derek? I was in danger from him?

I rolled over on my bed to face the wall. I'd been thinking about it for hours. Nothing made sense. I couldn't be in Russia. Derek wouldn't want to hurt me. This must be some kind of prank. He'd been so supportive over the past few months while Mom was in the hospital. He'd even helped with the funeral arrangements.

I rolled onto my back to stare up at the ceiling.

Mom had never liked him though. She did tell me that it was my choice who I dated but that she didn't think he was the guy for me. Maybe she knew something I didn't.

The door opened again. I sat up. It was the man from before. He had a bag in his hand.

"Come," he said.

"Where are you taking me?" I asked.

He handed me the bag. "Thought you might want to take a shower and a better room." I peeked in the bag. It was a fresh suit of clothes. "Follow me. Once you're dressed, I'll take you to the dining room. Some people want to meet you." He stopped and looked at her then sighed. "You don't have to look so frightened. You are a guest here."

"A guest? Of who? For all I know you could be part of a terrorist group," I say.

The man stopped and dragged a hand down his face. He muttered something to himself in another language.

"I'm not a terrorist. I'm not even Muslim. I'm Buddhist. I've never even lived in a Muslim country."

I took a step back. "Uh. Well, I just thought, you know, because of the kidnapping and well--"

"Just follow me," he said. He walked even faster.

We went up three flights of stairs, then he showed me to a room.

"Someone will check on you in half hour and escort you to the dining room," he said, then left.

The room was massive. Plush carpet on the floor, a king sized bed in the center, a window seat. I ran towards the window. It was snowing outside. Everywhere was white. We were on a hill. I could see lights in the distance. Was it possible that we really were in Russia?

He's said someone would check on me in half an hour. I went straight to the bathroom. The bathtub was full and smelling of scented oils. It felt good to be clean but after that warm bath, my eyes began to droop. The clock said it was only twelve noon.

Every single thing I looked at gave me a headache. Information wouldn't stop trying to push itself to the front of my mind. I closed my eyes and sunk under the water. I stayed like that until my lungs were burning then came up. Someone would come for me any moment and I needed to get dressed.

I looked in the bag. The clothes were simple, a jeans, sweater, jacket and underwear. They fit perfectly and were completely my style. I wondered for the millionth time who these people were.

There was a knock on the door.

"Come in," I said.

A maid walked in. "Are you ready for lunch?" she asked in highly accented English, though if we were in Russia wouldn't that make me the one with the accent and not her?

"I guess," I said. I didn't think I had much say in the matter.

I followed her down some stairs and into a large dining room. Four people were already seated at the table. There was the man from before, a woman with hair longer than I could grow, a teenaged boy and an old man sitting at the head of the table that looked to be in his late sixties.

"This must be the woman you told me about," the old man said. His accent wasn't as strong as the man with the weird eyes. Both of his eyes were orange. There was a resemblance between all the males at the table. Those must be his two sons, though the younger didn't look as Middle Eastern as the other two. "Sit."