05.06.2024
Lily Taylor
Six days had passed since I was kidnapped. My hope of being rescued was slipping through my fingers like grains of sand with every passing hour.
The thing that terrified me the most was the twisted sense of relief I felt when I realized Richard had no intention of killing me.
I had been abducted by my best student; as if that wasn't humiliating enough, I was now feeling grateful to him for keeping me alive.
"I must be losing my mind," I whispered to myself.
"How can I feel thankful toward someone who has me chained in this room? Think, Lily, you have to find a way out. I have a life out there... Or do I?"
No matter how much I thought about it, I couldn't find an escape. I was chained to the bed by my ankles. Richard only unlocked the chain when I needed to use the toilet or the bath, and the bathroom was already inside the room. The only way out of this room was through that heavy door, which opened with a fingerprint scanner. Without Richard's fingerprint, getting out was impossible. Despite how thin and delicate Richard appeared, he possessed a dark strength that could kill me with his bare hands at any moment. The idea of him being bullied at school seemed ridiculous to me now; he could have leveled those bullies with a single move if he wanted to.
So, why didn't he? Why did he play the role of the victim?
My attention snapped to the door as it opened. It was Richard. He arrived at the same time every day, carrying a meal he had prepared with great precision. Even though I hated eating what he made, I had to let him feed me with his own hands. To refuse would be to trigger that calm-looking madness of his.
Hate it as I might, I was eating more regularly than I ever had in my life.
During my years in the orphanage, and even in my solitary life afterward, I always skipped meals. Now, I felt more energetic, and I found myself internally thanking Richard for this vitality.
"Are you really going to thank him just because he makes you food? Don't be a fool!" the voice inside me screamed.
"He almost killed you! You should feel nothing but hate for him. Pure, unadulterated hate!"
It was true; I should hate him. But for the first time in my life, someone was looking after me this closely.
"I wish things were different," I thought. "If only the person who cared for me wasn't my student, and if only he hadn't imprisoned me here..."
"Would it really be different?" my inner voice mocked.
"Wasn't being alone your own choice?
Weren't you planning on dying with no one by your side?"
Yes, I had accepted dying alone from the very beginning. If Richard hadn't kidnapped me, I wouldn't have realized that there wasn't a single person outside who actually cared about me.
"Stop thinking!" I shouted silently.
Even if I have no one out there, I am still a teacher. At this rate, I was going to lose my job; I didn't want to lose the only thing I had ever succeeded at in life.
"You were going to offer Joe your friendship, remember!"
I was no longer that excluded child in the orphanage. I was an adult woman, and I had to break these boundaries. I lifted my head and looked at Richard.
"Richard... You aren't being bullied anymore, are you?"
"No, my dear teacher. Not anymore."
"Please tell me the truth, Richard."
An innocent smile appeared on his face.
"I am telling the truth, beloved teacher. Trust me, have I ever lied to you?"
He had never lied to me until now. Even if I hated him, I couldn't stand by and watch a student get hurt like that.
I was a human being first, and a teacher second. But in my current state, there was nothing I could do.
06.06.2024
When I opened my eyes, I saw myself lying in bed next to me. I was inside that dream again.
"Again?" I muttered. "Why do I keep watching these memories over and over?"
The door opened, and Richard entered. He left the breakfast tray on the table and rushed out of the room. Normally, he would wait by my side until I finished eating and talk to me. But this time was different; he was in a hurry, and there was a dark agitation on his face.
Succumbing to my curiosity, I began to follow him like a shadow.