The Number Of Six

Chapter 17

It's been two days now. I was getting tired of the cold dark room which was supposed to be my prison. No light, no sense of time, no cell, no talking. The only time I saw someone was when they brought food. They had brought me twice breakfast, from which I knew it was two days ago I might've made the biggest mistake in my life. I didn't know whether they had given Stefan back, I hoped so. If not, I was in here for nothing and my siblings would be very pissed off. The little room seemed to close in, getting smaller every day. The sleeping bag in which I slept was not thick enough to keep me warm nor did it sleep well. Every time I woke up, I discovered new blue stains, from the uneven stones underneath me. 

Two days, with no computer, no social life, no reading. I was bored as hell. The only thing I could do was sleep, which was also very hard since it hurt to sleep. The fourth day was a little more exciting. A loud bang, followed by voices and light, made an echoing noise. Footsteps came down a pair of stairs and I stood up, so I could see through the bars in the little window at the top of the door. If I stood on my tiptoes, I could see the tops of the heads of the people coming down. The door swung open and I almost fell out, but quickly stood back straight.

 ''See how skinny she's become! How could you do this without telling me?'' Jake was almost shouting when he took my arm and practically dragged me out of the room. Too amazed to react, I stumbled behind him. The stairs were difficult, him pulling me up most of the time, and my legs who seemed to have forgotten how to walk. Jake opened the metal door at the top, and everything became bright white with darker figures and it hurt so bad I couldn't even squint. Trusting Jake where to go, I kept my eyes closed until I felt it safe to open them. 

Adjusting, I looked around and saw we were near his mother's house. Conchobar had been shouting a lot of things while we walked away but I didn't care for the man anymore. Lots of people were staring, like I was the weirdest thing they had ever seen. Strange, was the only word I could come up with to describe how everyone suddenly stopped doing whatever they had been doing and just stood staring at me. Glad we were inside, away from all the following eyes, Jake's mom welcomed me like I was a long lost daughter of hers. I smiled and smelled pancakes, my stomach growling in response. She pointed at the table behind her. 

''I just baked them, go ahead.'' Too fast, I ate the delicious meal, almost choking at the last piece.
''I can't believe he did something like this.'' Jake was pacing around the room, me and his mom just waiting for him to explain. When he didn't, Annabelle spoke first.
''Jake, honey, did what?'' Jake kicked at the chair near me, I inched away a little. I had never seen him react out like this.
''Conchobar kidnapped Elena. Without telling anyone, he just took her!'' Jake had calmed down a little and sat down next to me, giving me worried looks. Annabelle frowned.
''He wouldn't do that.'' I was about to explain he indeed hadn't , but Jake spoke first again.

''Well, he has. The last couple of days, he was acting very weird. You know I don't trust the man, '' Jake looked at his mother, who nodded, '' so I followed him today. I saw him going down the Grave and followed. Not soon after he noticed me and told me to leave. Which made me only more suspicious and then it hit me, seeing the food in his hands. '' Jake shook his head and started pacing again.
''You know the rest.'' Annabelle gave me a shocked look, like she only saw me now for the first time.
 ''How long did he held you captive?'' Jake asked, his and Annabelle's eyes on me, his filled with rage, hers with disbelief and compassion.
"I, '' I didn't know where to start explaining so I first answered his question, '' four days, I think.'' I wanted to say more but didn't get the chance. Jake wanted to walk out the door, furious but I couldn't let him believe Conchobar was that bad. I needed to stop him before he made wrong decisions.
 ''Wait!'' I called after him. Only one foot away from the door, he turned around and looked at me, barely in control of himself.
''I, I need to tell you something. '' I breathed in deeply, '' Conchobar didn't kidnap me, I came here myself.'' Annabelle let out a sigh of relief, that she hadn't misplaced her trust in the old man. Jake nodded, like he had expected such a thing but hadn't thought of it before.
''You don't seem surprised.'' I said. Ever since my 'escape' earlier, I had though Conchobar had been lying about Jake trying to abduct me, about coming up with the idea himself. Maybe I was the one who had been wrong after all.
 ''Jake, what's going on?'' Annabelle asked, exactly saying what I was thinking. I crossed my arms and gave him a look that didn't accept any protest. He was going to explain right now, right here. Jake closed the door and sat down, rested his head in his hands.