Wednesday morning at 3:00 A.M…

The entire time I was asleep, I dreamt of death.

I imagined a man on a black horse charging towards me. He wore robes of night and eyes like that of stars. His face was gaunt and pale. A dragon fell into step behind him. It breathed smoke and shot lightning at me. I felt the fingers of electricity singe my hair.

That dragon was Chaos. The man’s steed with Abyss. And that man was Death.

He was coming for me. I knew it.

Waking up, I felt a cold sweat cover my face. There was still that lingering fingers of electricity that claws at my clammy flesh. My hair seemed to stand on end.

And that’s when I remembered about my ipod.

Ghost was still snoring heavily, so I decided to make a break for it. The wall clock rang out three in the morning. The ticks were heavy and settled in the air. The chain on my neck rattled needlessly, as if it was trying to wake the others. Everyone was asleep in their bunks.

Ricky’s was just across from Ghost’s on the bottom. Ghost had his face buried in my shoulder. I felt kind of bad trying to leave him; His face looked so peaceful and at rest.

But then I remembered that he was one of my captors.

With a sigh, I carefully snaked out of his arms and settled them back on the pillows. Once I made sure his breathing was easy, I crawled over him. My movements were slow and measured. Taking my time, I dropped down to the floor. I froze as my landing made me gasp. I had forgotten about my ankle. That would take another week to heal.

Glancing down, I saw that Ryan’s bunk was underneath Ghost’s. Making sure that Vinny was asleep, I took note that the bus wasn’t moving and had been parked on an old shoulder of a broken path.

With an easy sigh, I turned to Ricky’s bunk. The curtains were drawn. Kneeling by the green fabric covers, I pulled back the curtains and winced as the rings slid against the bar. Once again, I was making noise. I heard everyone keep snoring, so I took that as my sign to keep going. Without hesitation, I pulled back the curtains fully and leaned into the bunk.

Ricky had his arm over his head, most of his pale makeup taken off. Holding my breath, I silently searched for more evidence to where my ipod was. No, it wasn’t visible.

Wait! There was a glimmer in the corner by the window!

I never had a case for my ipod. Before I was kidnapped, I was going to get a case. Now, I couldn’t.

I saw it sticking out from the tossed covers. The metal glinted barely a hint of moonlight, but enough for me to tell that it was there. It would require me reaching over Ricky, but I had to do it.

After a moment of steeling my courage, I placed one hand on the mattress, trying not to push it down, and I reached over. Holding my breath, I resisted breathing until I was back out.

If I could get my ipod, then I could escape. The bus was stopped. Everyone was asleep. This was my one dash to liberty.

My fingertips brushed the surface and I leaned forward even more to grasp it. I grimaced against the pain of putting weight on my twisted ankle. And then I realized….

Someone wasn’t snoring anymore.

In my moment of fear and hesitation, I bumped into Ricky’s hip. It wasn’t much, barely a touch, but then I realized….

Ricky was the one that had stopped snoring.

Game over.

One hand had grabbed my waist. The other was clamped over my mouth. He pulled me into the bunk and rolled over so that he was on top of me. I almost yowled in pain if it wasn’t for the hand over my mouth. Panting heavily, I saw his eyes glow brightly in the darkness.

“Trying to steal, Little One?” He clucked his tongue at me. I shivered back into the pillows. I lay still as he hovered over me.

“Come now, pet. You know better than that.” He shook his head. I felt my mind beg to be released from this. His foot twitched so it was right over my twisted ankle. He pressed down on it and I squirmed under his grasp, feeling a tear trickle out of my eye. The pain was growing and growing.

After what seemed like a torturous eternity, he released his hold on my foot and I went back to panting from exhaustion. He hovered there silently for a moment.

“Be quiet.” He commanded. I nodded viciously. He slowly removed his hand from my mouth and I let out a quiet breath of relief. My lungs craved the fresh air and when I was full of it, I locked onto his eyes again.

“Better?”

I nodded for my response. He sighed in relief and then reached over with one hand to snag the ipod. I silently pouted.

“I’m going to have to tell Chris.” He informed me. My eyes went wide.

“No, please, Master!” I silently whispered. He clamped a hand over my mouth again.

“Is your ipod charged?” He asked. I shook my head no. He seemed to be mentally weighing some options. Crossing my fingers I hoped that he wouldn’t tell.

“Fine. I won’t tell.” He growled quietly. I pushed against his hand. He pulled it away as I kissed him on the cheek.

Woah, where had that come from?

He turned back and kissed my nose. I wrapped my arms around him, pulling him down to me. Okay, okay, I know that he’s my captor and he bought me from the kidnappers, but I couldn’t help but love him a little more for this.

Wait, did I actually say “love”!?!?

Maybe, just maybe, I was falling a little more for him.

He struggled to support himself so he wasn’t crushing me. I made it twice as hard and kept pulling him down to me. I snuggled my face into his neck. It was warm and I fit perfectly there, like it had been made together and then broken apart. It was as if the lost pieces were reunited.

“Thank you.” I whispered to him. I felt a hum rise from his chest. He chuckled quietly.

“It’s our little secret.” He murmured back. I let go of him. He seemed to radiate from pleasure. He pushed me out from under him. Ricky fell back into place on the bed and pushed on my shoulder.

“Now, get back to Ghost. If he wakes up, just say that I was getting you a glass of water and I was already up.” He told me. I nodded and scooted out of the bunk quietly.

As I returned to Ghost’s bunk, he had turned over. I crawled back over him and curled up next to his side. He let out a loud snore as I started to drift off.

Maybe, just maybe…my secret was safe for yet another day.

Notes

OOoooooHHhhhh! Looks like little Rory's got a friend on the bus! Will this last? Just wait until the next few chapters.

I.
Will.
Break.
Feels.

Prepare them...