A Dangerous Woman

Chapter 3

Blaise Taylor

"Purple."

I whispered, my voice barely enunciating the word, to the point that I had convinced myself he couldn't have heard me. Until he replied.

"Purple is a nice colour, but you have to know that green is superior."

This elicited a small childish giggle from me.

My reaction caused Aidan to smile in response, he was seemingly amused at being found funny, but as fast as his smile had appeared, it dissipated into an emotionless face that he was constantly revisiting.

"Who are you?" He spoke very quietly, imitating the way I had spoken.

I took my time to reply to his question, and the silence engulfed us. I was unsure as to whether I could trust him with my identity but then I surprised myself by the boldness of my sudden reply, "Blaise!"

With increasing courage and confidence, I spoke again, "Why are you here? What did you do?"

My questions were panickily spoken, as although I had mulled over the many possibly things that could have led to Aidan ending up here, I was still unsure if I actually wanted to know the answer.

Aidan took a second to think before answering, which increased the anxiety pooling in my stomach. It was becoming a weight, slowly dragging me down.

"I guess I was born into the wrong family."

The sincerity and metaphorical shrug in his voice was obvious but before I could ask for an elaboration, louder movements and chatter came from the room down the hall, pouring into the previously quiet cell-lined room.

This only reminded me of the inevitable, that soon my father would finish his dinner and if I did not hurry, he would come to find his keys were missing from his office. I could not be caught and my panic to not be caught, lead to my rushed decision.

I made the split-decision to finish what I had started, despite not knowing whether I could trust Aidan as his vague replies never gave me further context on the situation.

I was going to free him.

I got to my feet and came closer to the cell that he was in, which enabled me to see his horrifyingly damaged face in more detail. I placed one of the three keys, that I had used to enter the basement with, into the lock. My dumb luck allowed it to be the correct key, and despite my subconscious screaming for me to turn back, I twisted the key in the lock.

Aidan looked more confused than he had this whole time, but my response in an attempt to sate his curiosity, was as vague as all his answers, "I don't know why I did this but I did, and I really hope you are someone who is good and my decision to free you was right. No one deserves this."

I backed away from him in the fear of what Aidan was now capable of committing, "The cell is unlocked but please do not leave until you hear that no one is around. Don't be stupid and use this opportunity well. I hope they leave you alone tonight and I wish you luck in escaping."

I left the basement in a rush, hurrying to put my father's keys back from where I had stolen them from, in the new race against my father's footsteps that could be heard leading away from the dining room.

I placed the keys accurately in their previous position and ran to my room, where I hid under the covers, as if they were a protective shield that would have saved me if anything went wrong. 

 My door gently opened after a few minutes of hiding, and my body shook in fear. Until I heard my brother speak, "Blaise, are you awake? I brought you some bread because you weren't allowed to eat dinner."

I popped my head out from under my covers and smiled. I snatched the bread from my brother's hands and began engulfing it, but in between chews I made sure that I thanked him.

My brother was sweet and had helped me survive my Father for all these years.

"Thank youuuuuuu, I thought my stomach couldn't get louder with all its rumbling."  Crumbs spilled out of my mouth as I mumbled to him.

My brother laughed in reply at the mess I was creating, and left his sit on my bed, to look at my bookshelf. His fingers ran across the books' spines as he observed them all. He suddenly landed on the book that I was currently reading; it was about chemistry, specifically chemicals used to make different medicines and poisons.

He looked at the book and then back at me, "You are an odd child."

"Just because I'm smarter than you, Jordan, does not mean I'm odd!"  I humourlessly replied.

He laughed and then gently placed himself down on my bed. He sat there waiting as I went to the bathroom to get ready for bed. I clambered into bed and he began reading to me as he did every night. After a while, my eyelids began to droop. I felt him kiss my forehead and listened to him walking away, before I let myself sleep. 

Once I had fallen asleep, I dreamed a beautiful dream that was all too familiar to me. One of the few day trips my mum took my brother and me on. We had gone to the beach that day. My mother's smile could have brightened the darkest of hearts and my brother's laughter still echoed comfort. It was the best day of my life and I know the reason I dreamt about it so often, was because it was a safe place, an escape from my dark reality.

I was torn from my dream, by loud screaming that made my whole body convulse in fear.