Chapter 30

Wednesday evening

I wake from a magnificent slumber. I stretch in between layers of slippery silk sheets still wet from our sex. Nothing quite feels like stretching out in a comfortable bed, not your own.  

It's completely silent in the spacious upstairs. I passively walk in sweatpants throughout the rooms. I try not to snoop, just glance over what adorns their walls. Pictures of strangers, all smiling the same. No awards. Nothing with a name. Anywhere.

I rush and try to silently find a shred of evidence to either girl's identities. A diploma. A letter. A phone bill. 

Nothing.

The rooms bare of technology outside a light. No televisions. A room larger than my living room, full of clothing. Just clothing, lots and lots of women's clothing. And shoes.

I'm somehow stumbled into a women's clothing store.

The sun setting, casts the open mansion in hues of oranges and yellows. I walk around the third floor, enjoying the master bedroom view of the surrounding wilderness. Far off in the distance, I see a heard of specs moving across the valley below. Deer, cattle or horses, I cannot tell, nor do I care.

I passively watch the world pass by me outside, as I wait for some noise from below, indicating I'm not forgotten. In the bathroom, a tuxedo hangs from the door with a note.

Dinner at 7. Don't be late.

It's written all girly and bubbly. I keep the note. 

I take the newly dry cleaned suit and carry the loud plastic to the bedroom. I have an hour, so I set in the silence and watch the sunset. The room slowly loses its light, and I'm forced to turn on technology to get dressed.

It's been so long since I wore a suit. I fumble with the cuff links and tie, and try to remember the last time I had to remember these dance steps. Prom. 

Almost twenty years ago. Where has my time gone? I wonder what my prom date is doing right then. I couldn't imagine telling her my abduction story. Those moments of thinking of someone from your past, and imagining catching them up to your life up till now.

I couldn't say I did anything worth mentioning, till recently. Honestly, this, has little to do with me, and more to do with silencing the disobedient. 

I've never just went along with the system. Yes, I've done the job, the house and grind. But I've stayed unattached, disconnected from the masses. I've never bought into voting or getting into petty online squabbles. Sports teams or television shows.

Staying focused on exposing corruption, has blinded me to the life I was supposed to live. I imagine what life I was supposed to live. What girl was I supposed to settle down with. How many kids suck my salary away. What town, state was I supposed to call home. Get used to. Do the daily grind without thought or sleep.

All these details of a life I was supposed to experience, and I walked my own path.

It's at 6:45. I look myself over in mirror one last time. Fucking, sharp.

I could have been an actor, maybe a big budget villain with these looks. I clean up well.

The second floor is darkened, lit only by holiday lights strung along the stair banister downwards. I follow the lights all the way to the first floor. No lights on, but the string of tiny yellow flares. Neatly strung and tucked throughout the rails, and over doorways, through the kitchen, and into the dining room. 

A long table is adorned with shiny silverware. Priceless China plates. Sparkling glass. Metal plates set covered, lit by white candles. The room is surrounded in hundreds of lit candles. 

At one end, a single plate sets. My spot.

I move to it, eyeing the expensive room. Setting uneasily, I wait.