Trial & Error ✓

22 | fatigue & fate

2 2

fatigue & fate

—

MY BODY MADE the decision for me. And she had decided on neither of those things, in fact. That was something I became painfully aware of when I was awoken by a searing pain in my skull, causing my eyes to flutter open. The first thing I saw was a plain ceiling, just like the one I had, but that was where the similarities ended. The rest of my surroundings were unfamiliar and new, an apartment bedroom of my size but more masculine and minimalistic in its decorative style. There was a chair with a leather jacket hung over the back of it, a laundry hamper in the corner with a pair of boxers at the top of the pile, a biking helmet propped up on a desk next to a pristine desktop computer, and a soccer ball by the door. Gym shoes and slippers were lined against the far wall, an impressive footwear collection for what was sure to be a man who took good care of himself.

But what was by far the most peculiar thing I noticed was that I woke up in a bed. Of course, waking up in a bed was the standard for these situations, but not when it was someone else's bed. Considering the fact that I was more or less a spy against the owners of a major corporation, the easiest thing for me to assume was that my cover was blown and I had been kidnapped. I had gotten a stomach ache from eating a lot of cotton candy the day we went over our girls' self defense unit in high school, so I wasn't sure of any specific defensive measure I could go to, but I had seen enough movies to know that men had a certain sweet spot when it came applying blunt force. Not to mention, I had my perfect throwing aim if I needed to use one of the many things lying around in this room to defend myself. And if my captors were female, I had fought with Laney enough times in college over silly stuff to probably hold my own against another woman. But whatever I needed to do, I needed to do it quickly.

Of course, there were now some other things I had to consider. Importantly, I remembered that I had been with Louisa before I blacked out — if what happened could be called that. Not only was she just Laney's cousin, but she was also just a young girl and she was most likely in more danger than I was in this situation. Meaning I had to protect her not only to save my friendship, but just because she needed it the most. She had a life to live and she deserved not to live it in fear.

If I could've found my cellphone, I could've called Teddy and Theo to help bust me out of here or tell Louisa to send out a distress signal to the police — wherever the hell I was — but it didn't seem to be anywhere near me. Whoever this devil was that kidnapped me thought some things through.

Speaking of the devil, the door to their room was beginning to open, the doorknob twisting slightly while someone mumbled on the other side. I instantly shot up, my fists balled and ready to do some damage. Sure enough, the sound of their voice was masculine, and quite deep, making me worried that I wasn't strong enough to take them.

But that didn't mean I couldn't blind him and make a run for it while he's preoccupied. I grabbed the blanket, my plan beginning to come together bit by bit in my head. When the door finally opened, I left no time for anything to go out of my favor and utilized all of the element of surprise that I had on my side. I quickly rushed my captor, tossing the blanket over their head before ducking around him and out into the hallway while they cursed in confusion. Now I just needed to find Louisa and make sure she was alright.

"Marilyn, what the hell," I heard the voice of my captor which was awfully familiar groan. "Can you take this thing off of me? I brought you some grapes."

"Caleb?" I gasped, having no idea what was going on. Not only had I assumed I was kidnapped, but I attacked my supposed kidnapped who just happened to be the boy of my dreams. I mean, sure it was plausible in real life that I had been kidnapped, but Caleb Anderson was not that kind of guy. Not to mention we lived in the same apartment complex. I could've just climbed the fire escape back to my place. But that was besides the point. "What in the world am I doing here? Also are they red or green grapes?"