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Chapter 4
Shutting herself back in the room and locking the door, Nayome turned and took stock of her prison. It was beautiful, natural wood finishings mixed with stark white paint that bounced the natural sunlight around the room. The ornate four-poster bed in the center of the room reminded her of the yew tree from the clearing. The wood carvings decorating the posts were reminiscent of its characteristic twisted branches.
There was a small sitting area, with a wood-burning fireplace and a plush loveseat that looked inviting, despite Nayome’s first instinct to find an escape route. Moving towards the window in the sitting area, she unlatched it and slid it wide open.
Nayome groaned in relief, as a cool breeze danced its way throughout the room, teasing the sheer curtains on the bed frame as it swept inside. As she took everything in, she was surprised to see her bag set down on a bench at the foot of the bed, with her shoes laid out underneath. When had that been moved in here? Must have been when she was arguing with Balfor. Checking the pockets—yep, they hadn’t even confiscated her pen knife. Or her cell, though she hadn’t had a single bar of signal since the parking lot at the entrance to the forest. The battery was dead now, anyway, so it wouldn’t be of any use to her. Who were these people? Gabe, at least, had seen her use the knife earlier, so he knew she had it.
Making her way through another solid wood door, it did not surprise Nayome to see the bathroom was just as gorgeous. Natural light was filtering through a towering stained-glass window, with a vintage claw-foot tub underneath. In any other situation, she would have leapt at the chance to take a relaxing bath in that setting. But, despite the creature comforts surrounding her, Nayome was anything but relaxed.
She knew tabs were being kept on her somehow, even if they weren’t obvious. Thinking her best bet for now was to do as expected of her, Nayome turned on the faucet and began filling the tub. She wasn’t comfortable enough to take an actual bath, but she could at least clean herself up a bit. The clothes that were left hanging out for her looked silky and floral, definitely not suited for making a run for it through the forest, if it came down to that.
Grabbing her bag, she pulled the rumpled sweater out. It wasn’t exactly clean, but at least it wasn’t covered in dirt and blood. Stripping off her ruined tank top, she gave herself a quick sponge bath with a fluffy white towel, dried off, pulling on her sweater. It was cool enough now that it wasn’t uncomfortable in the extra layer. The tank top came clean after a hand wash, so she hung it up to dry on the side of the tub.
Washing her face, Nayome gave herself a once over—no infected wounds. She even applied a couple of Band-Aids from her pack to the scrapes on her knees to be safe. Nothing to be done about the blooming blue and purple bruises on her legs, which had to be from that first fall in the woods. Cutting the faucet, she watched the water, clouded from the dirt and grime she had rinsed off herself, disappear down the drain.
Alright, now what?
It had been quite a while since Nayome had a quiet moment to think. Everything had been happening so quickly, and the events leading up to this had all been so unexpected. Had it just been yesterday that she had been strolling through the rainforest, thinking one of her biggest problems was getting over her ex-boyfriend? She would give anything to go back in time to when that was her biggest problem.
Nayome gave herself a minute to let all the fear, exhaustion, and helplessness rush through her as she curled up on the rug in front of the tub.
This situation made no sense. There was something really strange going on with everyone she had met. They seemed almost…removed from humanity in their mannerisms and some comments she had heard. Not to mention the servants…there was something strange about them. She would have to be careful to remember that when she was trying to reason with them. The fact that they clearly did not know what to do with her could be used to her benefit. But it also made them unpredictable.
Frustration creeping in, Nayome decided it was time to test her boundaries and explore her gilded cage a bit more. She slipped the small knife into one of her pants pockets, along with her phone, because even if it was dead, she felt better having it on her. Then she rustled around looking for the camera—thinking she could get some pictures of this place when no one was watching, to use as proof if she ever got out of here. Her search came up empty.So, they took something after all.
That they were more concerned about photos than her knife was telling. She did not pose any physical threat to these people at all, so much so that they had no issue leaving her with a weapon. They must have something to hide, if their main concern was photos.
Unlatching the door to her room, Nayome peered down the hallway, which was still empty. She knew the kitchen, and living room were to the left, and that both were occupied. She could hear the hum of activity and clanging pots and pans from the kitchen. So, she headed right.
At the end of the hall was another stained-glass masterpiece, with a beautiful tree depicted, reaching up multiple stories high. As sunlight pierced the glass foliage, an ambient array of rays tinted differing shades of green lit up the corridor. Nayome was forced to hang a left to continue, where the only place to go was up a winding staircase to the second floor. She crept up the stairs, trying to make as little noise as possible.
Even if they were fine with her snooping around, she would prefer not to alert anyone that she had left her room.
At the top of the staircase, jaw dropping views awaited out the windows that lined the walls floor to ceiling. There was no stained-glass on this level, nothing to obstruct the scenery. On the left were doorways that appeared to lead to various other bedrooms. Most of the doors were ajar, so she caught glimpses of beds and sitting rooms as she tiptoed past. The doors and walls were all made up of unstained pine, coupled with the wall of windows to the right, giving the impression that this entire floor was outdoors. Facing the windows, it felt like she was standing on top of a tree towering over an expansive rainforest. It was surreal and beautiful.
Approaching a wide, sliding glass door in the center of the window wall, Nayome slipped out onto the deck. Squinting into the distance, desperate to find anything that may help her pinpoint where she might be, Nayome saw nothing but a sea of green.Wait, what was that?A strange flash to Nayome’s left drew her attention. Barely visible, but the sun definitely glinted off something that couldn’t be a treetop. It looked like glass in the distance…maybe another house like this? Did all these people live in fancy tree houses like this one? Moving slowly along, hand trailing along the curved railing, Nayome realized it wrapped around the entire residence in a perfect circle.
As she approached what would be the front of the property, there was a set of stairs that led to a lower deck, where she knew the front door exited. Expecting to see some kind of ladder or staircase leading down to ground level, Nayome spotted a delicate wooden suspension bridge instead. It disappeared below the canopy in the distance off the lower deck below. That bridge looked like the only way to leave this place, without suffering an uncomfortable forty-foot drop.
There was no obvious way to get down to the ground, so Nayome slipped back inside the glass sliding doors on the second level, and worked her way downstairs and back to her room.
Outside her door, Fitz, she presumed, had left a tray of water with lemon, along with some sandwiches. Nayome grabbed the tray and quietly locked herself back in her room. She could hear the faint sounds of clanging that meant there were still people working in the kitchen, and before she shut the door behind her, she caught the faint tenor of Balfor’s voice. He was probably still in the front room with Gabe, guarding the main exit.
Not quite hungry yet, Nayome stuffed the sandwiches in a Ziplock she had in her satchel, and packed them for later. She also filled her water bottle that was thankfully still hanging from a carabiner from her bag with the lemon water Fitz had left.
Grabbing her mostly dry tank top from the side of the tub, she wrapped it around the vials filled with her samples, thinking that may dampen that clinking sound when they shifted around in her bag.
She set her bag back on the bench in front of the four-poster. A faint knock at the door had her jumping out of her skin.
“Yes?” she called through the door.
“Miss, I am here to collect your dishes, if you have finished with your dinner.”
Glad she at least appeared to have eaten everything, Nayome unlatched the door and handed the waiting Fitz her empty tray.
“Thank you Fitz.”
“Of course, Miss”
Nayome felt slightly bad as she closed and re-latched the door right in his smiling, helpful face. Time to get a grip. Even if the cheerful butler appeared innocent in all this, she was being held captive, and if he wasn’t offering to help her get away, he was part of the problem.
The amount of light streaming through her window told her it must be later in the afternoon, or early evening, as the golden hour sunlight gave everything in the guest suite a soft glow.It was time to decide. Wait for the morning, or try to make a run for it?
On the one hand, she had some unpredictable cult-ish men whoclaimedthey wouldn’t bring her to any harm. On the other, she had an endless looking, dense forest that, if she got lost in, would likely mean starvation and a slow, unpleasant death. Not exactly a win, win.
Unfolding the map of the forest she had been provided at the park office, it became pretty clear that it wasn’t complete. The map basically ended at the river, only showing the ‘sanctioned’ tourist area. Guessing that she might be somewhere on the other side of the river, Nayome felt as though she was in an impossible situation, frustration bubbling up as she crumpled the useless map between her fingers. When she had been upstairs, there had been no sign of a town, or any end to the trees that she could discern. If she got away, she would be traveling blind.
She would need to pick a direction. If she was currently north of the river, it might make sense to keep heading that way, and hope for an end to the forest before she starved. If she went south, she knew there was a path somewhere, but how would she cross the river if she was currently north of it? And they would be sure to look for her on the tourist path if she got away. The only way from Gabe’s house was that single bridge though, and who knows where that led, or if she could climb down to ground level at some point. Sinking into the loveseat, Nayome weighed her options, teeth gnawing at her lower lip as she watched the fading light through her window.
