A lavish residence

That night the voices from my vision echoed in the darkness of a dreamless state of sleep.

Once again, I heard familiar voices speak in bits and pieces of a conversation, unable to make out any sort of context or meaning.

I was aware that the vision was trying to tell me something, as they always had some connection to me, my past or my future, but this time it was all one big mess.

I let the words slip away as quickly as they came, but a few managed to imprint themselves in the back of my mind.

I drifted further into sleep and let the voices slowly fade away into the darkness.

"Something..."

"Something must be done!..."

"It's not safe..."

"Not safe..."

I woke up when the sun shone onto my face through a narrow opening between a set of long heavy curtains, in the other end of the room.

I winched and pulled up the covers to shield my face, but too late.

I was already awake.

With a dissatisfied groan, I sat up in bed and rubbed my eyes sleepily.

I found being woken early by the sun, equally annoying to when my sister wanted me to get up at 4'am because she couldn't sleep anymore.

''Ara...''

I murmured to myself as I quickly got out of bed and stepped down onto a dark wooden floor that I did not recognize.

As I stood there studying the floorboards, I got a glimpse of my clothing, or lack of same.

''What!?...''

I exclaimed, horrified to realize that I was wearing nothing but underwear while finding myself in some strange new place.

I had no recollection of undressing myself or even being brought here in the first place.

The last thing I remembered was the strange man in the woods approaching me and a strange sensation creeping up on me, before I lost consciousness.

Had he brought me here?

And where even was 'here'?

I scouted the room for a way to get some light, but soon gave up and instead went to push aside the curtains.

A large window with a rounded top was revealed behind them and the sunshine shone brightly through, causing me to squint and instinctively turn my head away.

How long had I been sleeping?

I pulled one part of the curtain back to cover the window partially and in the now subdued lighting, I could start making out different pieces of furniture in the room.

The room was a lot bigger than had first noticed.

It had high ceilings and stucco around a beautiful chandelier in the center, right above the bed.

It almost looked royal.

I stumbled past the bed to find a closet standing in one of the corners.

To my great disappointment, nothing but a single set of clothes was revealed as I opened the closet doors, creating a strange contrast to the rest of the room.

What had I imagined. A ballgown?

I frowned as I pulled out the clothes and brought them back to place them on the bed.

I took a look at each of the pieces by turn and was pleasantly surprised to see that It was a fair set with a pair of black skinny jeans, black socks, a simple T-shirt with a v-neck and a grey hoodie.

I couldn't help but smirk as I put on the clothes, and turned to look at myself in a mirror that was hanging on the wall next to the closet.

''...Not bad. Not bad at all...''

I muttered to myself as I admired my humble reflection, turning slightly in front of the mirror in a princessy manner that did not at all match my current attire.

I was startled when I heard a knock on the door and almost stumbled over my own legs as I rushed to open it.

I practically slammed the door in his face as soon as I had seen who was standing there.

The man from the night before knocked once more, slightly impatient.

Immature as I was, I called out to him from behind the closed door, as if he was invading my space.

''What do you want!?''

I could hear slight annoyance in his voice as he replied, his voice husky as if he had just woken up.

''You do realize that it's quite rude to slam the door on the master of the house, don't you Stella?''

My body froze as I managed to utter my next question in a somewhat confident and calm tone, much to my own surprise.

''How do you know my name?''

For some reason, I dreaded the answer that I was about to receive.

I was sure I had never met him before, but yet there was something familiar about him.

Had I perhaps seen him in one of my visions?

That had to be it, I convinced myself.

''Everything in due time...'' was all he said.

His voice was calm and he did not seem to be the least bit interested in giving me the answers I was so desperately asking for.

I could have torn the door and slapped him right then and there.

Instead, I resorted to yelling at him through the door, making no effort to hide the annoyance in my voice as I did so.

Who did he think he was??.

''Listen up you creep, I demand to get some proper answers. If you refuse to tell me what I want to know, I will be out of this place before you can say sorry. This is kidnapping you know!"

It seemed like an eternity passed with awkward silence.

My words floated in the air between us for a while, before he finally resigned and answered.

His voice was low and husky, much like I had heard it the night before, but there was a warning tone to it.

''I couldn't deny you the truth even if I wanted to, but you have no idea what you're asking for...''

"Unless you're some sort of stalker or murderer, I doubt it can be that bad"

Silence filled the air once more.

Why did he get all quiet all of a sudden? surely he knew I was joking?

My thoughts were churning in my head, countless different scenarios playing out and only adding to my anxiety.

Thankfully, he interrupted my thoughts.

"Make yourself decent and find me when you're ready..."

I heaved a sigh of relief as I heard the sound of fading footsteps coming from the other side of the door, and dropped to the floor with my back against the doorframe.

The sooner I could get some answers, the sooner I could leave this place and continue my initial mission.

Admittedly, I had no idea where I was and therefore no way of knowing where I came from.

Still, I did my best to stay optimistic and reassured myself that I would find a way to navigate around the woods, no matter how long it would take.

Perhaps the strange man would provide answers for me in that regard as well as who he was and why he had brought me to this place.

The words "all in due time" seemed to echo in the back of my mind.

Did he intend to keep me here against my will?

Surely he meant that he would explain everything, perhaps over breakfast?

My stomach rumbled at the thought of food.

I had not eaten since I left home and I was starting to feel the consequences.

Before anything else, I needed to find something to eat.

Then I could plan my escape and figure out where to go from there.

I snuck out of the room, trying to be as quiet as possible and avoid bumping into him again.

I had expected a large house from what I had seen in the bedroom, but what met me was a large corridor with doors along either side.

The place was huge, like an indoor maze.

It was unlike anything I had ever seen before and I could barely make up my mind about which direction to go in first.

I had passed about ten doors before I got to a railing that led to a staircase.

The staircase led down to a grand entrance hall below and another one beside it led up to a second floor.

Further ahead of me, the corridor continued with even more doors.

How big was this place?

Unsure of where to go next, I decided that the kitchen in a place like this had to be on ground level, and so I carefully walked down the stairs, trying not to make any noise in the process.

I was not surprised to see that there were more doorways leading to other rooms, directly connected to the entrance hall, yet found myself slightly annoyed at the size of the place.

I walked through one doorway, then another, through a large parlor, and then a grand hall that was undoubtedly a ballroom. Confused as ever, I turned to make my way back, only to be met by a man leaning against the doorframe, blocking my exit.

"Lost?" he asked, clearly amused by my little adventure.

How long had he been watching me?

I rolled my eyes in response, tired of whatever game he seemed to be playing with me.

"YES, I am lost. I was trying to find the kitchen but there were so many doors, and... What is this place?"

The words tumbled out of my mouth, which only seemed to add to his amusement.

To my relief however, he responded in all seriousness.

"First of all, 'this place' is my home. Secondly, I was wondering when you'd want to eat something. You slept for a while... I can take you there if you'd like?"

"Why are you talking to me like I'm a guest? You brought me here, remember?"

"I never said you were my prisoner"

"Oh, so does that mean I can leave?" I gestured towards a door in the far end of the ballroom.

"I'm afraid not"

He seemed a bit embarassed and a perplexed expression crossed his face as he spoke.

"Then how am I not a prisoner??" I yelled, both frustrated by the situation and slightly affected by my increasing hunger at this point.

"Trust me, if you were a prisoner you would have found yourself locked up in the dungeon, rather than sleeping in a bed"

I could not argue against that logic, but still something seemed off.

"Now, if you're done questioning me, can I show you the way to the kitchen?"

Slightly embarrassed by my outburst, I looked down at my feet as I mumbled a yes in response.

This gave the walk of shame a whole new meaning, yet it was no less humiliating to me.

I felt like a child.

I kept my eyes locked on the floor as I followed him, too embarassed to look him in the eyes.

We walked in silence through countless other doors and corridors, and honestly, I did not bother keeping track of any of it. My stomach was growling loudly at me and I cursed myself for not having eaten anything the day before.

The smell of food coming from the kitchen, hit my nostrils way before we arrived.

It was unlike anything I had ever smelled before and I felt my mouth water.

The kitchen was a large room, buzzing with the conversation between countless maids and chefs who were preparing breakfast.

The countertops were packed with different types of bread, fruits, cakes, and a bunch of things I had never even seen before. It was like a food haven and I could not help but marvel at the sight.

At home I had been lucky to even have a full plate of food, if even any at all.

The man asked one of the maids to prepare a plate for me, and she replied with a kind smile.

I was then told to go sit at the far end of the kitchen, where a couple of maids were having their share of breakfast and chattering away.

I only just managed to catch the man telling me that he would be back for me in thirty minutes, as I was too focused on the food being put on the table for me, to lead a proper conversation.

I managed an absentminded "yup" before rushing to the table.

He left me to myself and I dug in immediately, too hungry to worry about etiquette or table manners.

I blankly ignored the countless giggles and comments from the maids as I feasted on the delicious food in front of me.

This was just what I needed.