LJ Idol Chapter 12: I Don't Care About Apathy, What I Should Care About But Don't
I feel sunlight burning my eyes and blink them awake. My mouth feels like it is full of cotton candy. I'm not in my hotel bed. I'm on a dirty floor with a thin carpet. My arms and face are embossed with the texture of that carpet. I also can't help but notice that these aren't my clothes.
I go to the window, and see that I'm only about ten feet from the ground. The window has been nailed shut. And, there isn't anything else in the room to try and get it open with. I try the door and it opens.
Wooden stairs creak as I descend. There is no need for stealth, they know I'm here. I want to know why I'm not dead in the park.
"Good morning," Jason says. "I'm glad you are awake." I am too, and I say so. He offers me breakfast and I join him and his two companions. I should be upset that they are Carol and Andrea, but I'm not. A lady I don't know comes from the kitchen. She is wearing a diaphanous red nightgown that matches her hair and slippers. She brings me a plate of eggs, bacon, sausage and toast and a cup of coffee. "Thank you, Nina," Jason tells her with a smile.
"I am surprised to be alive," I admit. "I wonder where your friends are." He tells me that they are here, but busy. He says that he left me alive because of my intelligence and persistence. I take that to mean he wants me to talk to him.
He wants me to know how important it is that Carol stay here with him. He wanted a friend for Carol, so the two of them left clues so that Andrea could follow her here of her own accord. Carol seems to think that once Andrea and Jason met, she would also want to stay here with him. The redhead drapes her arms over Jason's shoulders and gives him a kiss before saying, "People just can't say no to my Jason, can they?" All three of my breakfast companions agree.
This isn't right. Andrea was very worried about Carol. Suspiciously worried. If she thought Carol was in danger, she would try and rescue her. She wouldn't join her. Maybe she is faking? Buying time for me to come up with a cunning plan to save the both of them. On the other hand, after the way she has jeopardized this investigation, up to and including causing the two of us to get captured, do I want to save them? To be specific, I was hired to find Carol, not rescue her.
I found her. She's across the table from me munching on a hard boiled egg and sipping tea.
Jason reaches over his head to give Nina a reverse hug. "We like you, Jack. We would like to offer you our hospitality until your return flight." I look around. Besides the redhead, there are other people in the house. Partially dressed men and woman. I've heard of places like this. I think they are called compounds. Maybe Jason has them hypnotized. Maybe they drank the Cool-Aid willingly. Maybe they need rescued. Maybe they don't.
"Thank you for your offer," I tell him as I stand, "But, I think I shall have to decline."
I just can't find myself able to care about Carol and Andrea's fates anymore. I tell the group that I'll see myself out.
This is my entry for Week 12 of LiveJournal Idol, Season 6. My partner is Flashpapertiger. To read the other entries in the contest, click here.
I go to the window, and see that I'm only about ten feet from the ground. The window has been nailed shut. And, there isn't anything else in the room to try and get it open with. I try the door and it opens.
Wooden stairs creak as I descend. There is no need for stealth, they know I'm here. I want to know why I'm not dead in the park.
"Good morning," Jason says. "I'm glad you are awake." I am too, and I say so. He offers me breakfast and I join him and his two companions. I should be upset that they are Carol and Andrea, but I'm not. A lady I don't know comes from the kitchen. She is wearing a diaphanous red nightgown that matches her hair and slippers. She brings me a plate of eggs, bacon, sausage and toast and a cup of coffee. "Thank you, Nina," Jason tells her with a smile.
"I am surprised to be alive," I admit. "I wonder where your friends are." He tells me that they are here, but busy. He says that he left me alive because of my intelligence and persistence. I take that to mean he wants me to talk to him.
He wants me to know how important it is that Carol stay here with him. He wanted a friend for Carol, so the two of them left clues so that Andrea could follow her here of her own accord. Carol seems to think that once Andrea and Jason met, she would also want to stay here with him. The redhead drapes her arms over Jason's shoulders and gives him a kiss before saying, "People just can't say no to my Jason, can they?" All three of my breakfast companions agree.
This isn't right. Andrea was very worried about Carol. Suspiciously worried. If she thought Carol was in danger, she would try and rescue her. She wouldn't join her. Maybe she is faking? Buying time for me to come up with a cunning plan to save the both of them. On the other hand, after the way she has jeopardized this investigation, up to and including causing the two of us to get captured, do I want to save them? To be specific, I was hired to find Carol, not rescue her.
I found her. She's across the table from me munching on a hard boiled egg and sipping tea.
Jason reaches over his head to give Nina a reverse hug. "We like you, Jack. We would like to offer you our hospitality until your return flight." I look around. Besides the redhead, there are other people in the house. Partially dressed men and woman. I've heard of places like this. I think they are called compounds. Maybe Jason has them hypnotized. Maybe they drank the Cool-Aid willingly. Maybe they need rescued. Maybe they don't.
"Thank you for your offer," I tell him as I stand, "But, I think I shall have to decline."
I just can't find myself able to care about Carol and Andrea's fates anymore. I tell the group that I'll see myself out.
This is my entry for Week 12 of LiveJournal Idol, Season 6. My partner is Flashpapertiger. To read the other entries in the contest, click here.