Who is the Fool?
Hayden
"Hayden, can I come in?" A knock sounded at the door. It was him. It was nice to hear my name roll out his lips. But I didn't plan to go easy on him just because he had a husky voice. Well, obviously, he had more than a nice voice.
"You have me locked in this room and you ask me if you could come in?" I answered in a sarcastic tone, lying sprawled on the bed.
The key turned in the lock after a sigh. He walked in with a tray in his hands. I quickly sat up on the bed and eyed him suspiciously. What was the trick he was playing?
"My maid Tia said you refused to eat anything since yesterday. I brought you some food." He placed the tray on the coffee table. I swallowed my saliva at the delicious smell. I hadn't eaten anything in one day and a half. I was going on a hunger strike and right now I was starving. I started to doubt my stupid decision.
I stared at the steaming meal with hungry eyes. "Dive in. It is all yours," he encouraged.
I narrowed my eyes at him, trying to figure out what he was thinking. Right now, he was standing in front of the bed, looking tall and devilishly handsome in his black t-shirt and denim jeans.
Well, I had to say that he was the living incarnation of male beauty. His face was so perfect as if it was carved out by the master Michelangelo himself. His blue eyes twinkled like blue diamonds, so beautiful and enchanting. And his body…his biceps bulged under the black fabric and the outline of his abs was very visible. I had seen his abs and his…
My face blushed beet red at the thoughts.
"Like what you see?" he smirked.
"Jerk," I flipped him the bird. He let out a low and husky chuckle.
"My name is Ryan, Ryan Brooks," he corrected. Gosh, he was a Ryan. Why did every Ryan have to be so gorgeous?
"Come on, you need to eat," he continued. As if deciding to stand on the same side with him, my stomach let out a loud grumble. He chuckled and slid the tray closer to me.
My starvation finally beat my stubbornness. I slipped off the bed and took a seat by the table, diving in like a hungry animal.
"Umm…it is so good," I mumbled while taking bites of the steaming steak. He watched me in amusement. But I wasn't going to let that amusement last long.
"So where did you bury my dog? And what is your cult's thing?" I asked while chewing the steak.
You might think I had a death wish for asking these questions in a situation like this. But I was not. Strangely enough, I didn't feel intimidated by him when I should have been. I didn't know why, but there was a voice in my head telling me that he wouldn't hurt me, even when he threw me in the backseat in a rough manner yesterday.
He pondered my question and took the seat across from me.
"I didn't kill your..your dog," he said. The way he said "dog" looked as if he didn't want to say that word. That made me even more suspicious.
"I don't believe you," I snorted.
He sighed in frustration. "Look, I didn't kill your dog. He…he ran off by himself."
"How? He must be a magical dog to be able to get out of a well-closed cabin," I challenged, raising my eyebrows.
He ran his fingers through his unruly midnight hair. I found that gesture extremely sexy. This man was sexy even when he was frustrated.
"I passed by the cabin at night and saw the dog jump out of the window," he said deadpan.
"Lie. The window was closed when I got to sleep," I retorted.
"You probably had a bad memory because I saw the dog run with my own eyes." He shrugged his shoulders.
I considered his words for a while. Did I forget to close one of the windows? No, I didn't. The cabin only had three windows and I closed every one of them. I remembered that night was a little chilly so I closed all of them.
He was lying. But I wondered what more lies he would spew. Apparently, he thought I was stupid. I was going to let him continue to think so. I would play dumb. I was an actress. I was good at this acting thing. Maybe I could get some useful information from him to help me escape this place.
I knitted my brows, feigning uncertainty. "I do forget things sometimes," I whispered.
Peering from the corner of my eyes, I caught him visibly relieved at my words. Ha! Look who was the fool right now.
"You mean you jumped in through the window and chose to lie naked on my bed?" I asked with a neutral face.
He blushed and moved on the seat uneasily when I uttered the question. Muscled body, beautiful masculine facial features, combined with a blushed face. This was an adorable combo. I swallowed hard.
"I'm a nightwalker. I tend to wander at night and wake up in different places," he said.
Well, this sounded like a plausible explanation, right? Except for one loophole. James and Chloe also made their appearance in the cabin naked. One nightwalker seemed true. What were the odds of three nightwalkers? Not to mention their weird facial expression in the cabin with their eyes glazed over. They had to be a cult. I mentally applauded myself for my cleverness.
I pretended to think of his words and nodded at last. His tense shoulders visibly relaxed.
I decided to tease him a little bit. "Do you always wander naked?"
"Uh, I sleep naked," he coughed for the awkward question.
"Do you always wrap your arms around another people's waist when you end up lying on other people's beds with no clothes on after your night walk?" I continued to batter him with my question.
"I wrapped my arms around your waist?" He seemed to be taken back by this question.
"Yeah, very tightly," I answered, snickering inwardly at his fluster.
His face went as red as a tomato. God, why was a blushed adult male so endearing? Meanwhile, his facial expression changed into confusion and disbelief. Another evidence that he was weaving lies. He was not a good liar.
"I…I apologize for my improper behavior," he stuttered.
"Well, apology accepted. But you haven't answered my question," I said, not planning to cut him any slack.
"I…I sometimes did that," he said sheepishly, rubbing his neck with his hand. One lie led to another. Eventually, he would find that he couldn't keep up with his lies.
"Even if the other person is a male?" I teased. There was no way he was gay. But I might be wrong. Nowadays most handsome guys were gay. "Or is a female if you are into guys," I quickly added.
"No, I'm not into guys," he quickly denied. My heart was overjoyed at this denial.
"What if the other person is a male? They just let you go easily?" I pressed.
"Most of the time I woke up before they found me on their beds," he said, breathing a hard-to-notice sigh of relief probably for coming up with this crappy lie. He probably didn't know that I was observing him. That was the perk of being an actress. You had to improve your acting skills by learning from real life. Observing people's behavior without being noticed and applying them to acting was what I did for a living.
I nodded my head, acting like I was buying his explanations. Now, I needed to know the crucial question that involved my life.
"Then if all you said is true, why did you take me here against my will? Why not let me go?" I narrowed my eyes on him.
"Because I think your life is in danger. You will be safer here than being outside in the open," he said, surprising me with the sincerity in his blue eyes. I swore I could swim in them. This time he didn't lie, I could tell it.
"How do you know I am in danger?" I asked in confusion.
"You didn't deny me. Then my guess is true. You picked up a call in the cabin and you visibly became nervous and started packing in a hurry." he said, resuming to his confident self.
I opened my mouth then closed it. He was an observant man, too. Did it mean he saw through my little scheme?
"What does your cult do?" I tossed this question to him instead, trying to avoid his question. He had no business in my life.
"We are not a cult, believe it or not," he said, a little exasperated.
But I didn't believe him. I didn't expect an honest answer from him, either.
"When are you going to let me go?" I asked. He pursed his lips. This was not a good sign.
"Ryan, I need to talk with you about an urgent matter," Chloe's voice sounded at the door after a knock.
"Coming," he quickly stood up, desperate to get out of the room and dodge my question.
"Finish your food and stop starving yourself," he said to me before shutting the door. No, locking the door.
I glared at him for his order. I was not his cult member.
I did eat all the food as he ordered. That was because I'd made up my mind to escape this place. I needed strength for the escape. He may not look like he wouldn't hurt me, but I couldn't say for sure about his friends. Who knew what they would do to me? The horrible scenes I watched from detective dramas flashed through my mind. I didn't want to die as the victims who were sacrificed by the cults.
I started to pace back and forth in the room. I'd watched the guard's patrolling routine from the window. I needed to watch more to make sure I observed their routine right.
There was a forest behind the house. I could leave this house by night without being noticed. I hiked a lot with my brother Taylor so I was sure I could make it out of the forest. Then I would find another place to hide from Scar.
I groaned, covering my head with my hands. Why was I in so much trouble?
"Miss Ramirez, can I come in?" the maid Tia asked in the hallway.
"Yes," I answered. She must be here to take the tray.
Tia unlocked the door and stepped into the door with a heap of clothes in her arms.
"What is this?" I asked.
"Alpha…uh…Mr. Brooks asked me to buy some clothes for you at a local boutique." She laid out the clothes on the bed.
"Thank you," I smiled at her. She seemed to be a nice girl. Too bad that she worked for a cult leader.
"I just fetched the clothes according to the list he gave to me." She smiled back at me shyly, took the tray, and left the room. And of course, she locked the door.
I looked at the clothes spreading on the bed. He may be a cult leader, but he did have good taste. The clothes were simple yet very chic. I peered at the price tag. Good lord, they were pricey. The price of a white blouse was enough to cover the rent of my tiny bedroom in LA.
The clothes came right on time. I was going to need them to keep me warm when I ran away at night. I went to explore the closet and found a backpack. I picked a few items of warm clothes and packed them in the bag. Then I hid the backpack under the bed.
All that was left was for me to find an opportunity to leave this house tomorrow night.
I will be walking free tomorrow.