“Don’t do that—it’s pointless,” the man whispered in my ear.
Numb with shock, I tried to understand how he could possibly be standing beside me. I hadn’t seen him following me, or even getting up from the sofa in the library chamber. And yet, there he was, standing beside me, with his hot breath caressing my shoulder. I kept my face turned toward the huge door, but out of the corner of my eyes, I sought to see the shape of his body. He was a tall, slim man with shoulder-skimming, slept-in ice blonde hair.
“Do not be afraid, I am not going to hurt you,” he said, taking a few steps backward with his hands up.
“Who are you and what do you want from me?” I tried to give my voice a decisive tone and hide the fact that I was about to faint from fear.
“The question is who you are,” replied the man kindly.
I cautiously turned my back to the door and came face to face with the man.
“Hello, gorgeous,” I almost uttered but I somehow managed to keep that thought to myself.
He placed the silk mule shoes I had dropped in front of my bare feet, and then moved back again, creating a safe zone between us.
“I told you that you should put your shoes on. Are you hungry? I am going to have an early morning snack. Would you like to join me?”
Noticing my unwillingness to follow him, he added, without turning to look at me, “Do not waste your time trying to leave this place. We are all bound to it by a spell.”
I watched him disappear into the darkness of the vast hall. The place looked like a Gothic mansion from another era. I went back to the huge windows and looked outside. The dark silhouettes of the trees that encircled the building were all I saw. I tried once again to open the door, but it was in vain. I tried to flash forward in time, with no luck.
Unable to find another way of escape, I decided to follow the advice of my empty stomach and go the way where the mysterious man had vanished.
A shiver ran through my body as I crossed the huge room. The sound of my heels broke the disturbing silence.
“Open the door on your right.”
A gust of warm air hit my body when I entered what seemed to be a kitchen. A large lit hob warmed the place up nicely. Two stalls with kitchenware and a tawdry kitchen table with a few clay crockeries on it filled the place.
“Wrap yourself with this. You shouldn’t have left your room so lightly dressed. This old building is as cold as an igloo,” the young man said and put a green velvet blanket over my shoulders. I welcomed the well-maintained blanket. As the adrenaline left my system, I realized how cold the place was.
The young man pulled out a wooden chair near the table and dusted it. He nodded for me to sit down and went back to the hob. When he returned, he had an earthenware bowl in his hands. The smell of steaming hot soup filled my nostrils as he placed it in front of me. Next to the bowl, he put a silver spoon and a clean napkin.
“Sorry, but this is all that was left from yesterday’s dinner,” he said, and a timid smile was painted on his face.
“Did you cook it?”
“Oh, no, I am not the cook of the Academy. I am a student just like you are.” The dimples in his cheeks deepened as he smiled. He sat in a chair opposite me and crossed his ankles.
“You know who I am?”
“You must be the newcomer everyone has been talking about all day yesterday.”
“Am ... am I?” I stammered.
“Yeah. Why don’t we start eating?”
I reluctantly took the spoon in my hand and tossed the soup. Slices of chopped veal floated on the fatty surface and the smell was quite heavy. However, my need for food overcame the disgust I felt at the smell. The first spoonful of the soup did not amaze me but did not disgust me either. The second went down easier, but it was after the third spoonful that I realized I was devouring my food. With both hands, I lifted the bowl up and sucked down the last drops of the soup. I left the bowl on the table and wiped my mouth delicately with the napkin.
The man was watching me with a polite smile on his face. I now felt safe in his presence, as if he were not a stranger, as if I had not just met him. It was a feeling that I could not control, nor could I explain.
“What was in the soup, the filter of sympathy?” I asked. I wrapped the blanket tightly around me, clasped my hands in front of my chest and sat cross-legged. “Now we can talk.”
“I’m glad to hear that. I was looking forward to it.”
His blue eyes exuded sweetness, but they also gave away that his life had not been easy. The black clothes added a rocker’s touch to his look.
With serene movements, he stood up from his chair and moved close to me.
“I suggest that we do not stay here. This room is very cold. Allow me to convey to you a warmer room.”
“Convey? Okay.”
I did not expect what followed. The man grabbed me abruptly in his arms and in a flash, he took me back to the library and placed me onto the leather sofa in front of the fireplace.
“Um... What just happened?” I asked, trying to catch my breath.
A feeling of serenity flooded my heart, as if I were in my mother’s arms. If I ever had one. My muscles relaxed and my body sank deeper into the old-fashioned leather sofa.
“Don’t you know how dangerous it is to wander in the woods at night?”
