Beloved

The first thing I noticed upon waking was the lack of birds chirping outside my window. It was usually my favorite part about mornings, so the lack of song was disconcerting, but I was too exhausted from my late night of post-graduation fun, to really care. Yesterday I said, "Goodbye" to one chapter of my life with a late night of movies and gossip with my best friend LeAnne. Today, the real fun would begin. We had scheduled and planned every little detail months in advance so this day and this night would be perfect. We would start the day with a massage at our local spa, then shopping for the perfect outfit for my first night out clubbing as a college graduate. We had a hair, nails, and makeup appointment at 2 pm which would give us just enough time for lunch and a glass of wine. To say I was excited would be the understatement of the century.   As I stretched, I opened my eyes, fully expecting to see LeAnne sprawled across my bed. But when I looked, not only was she nowhere to be found, but I was not in my bed, let alone, my room. "Where am I?" I thought hazily. The only window, a small, arched thing, was about five feet too high for me to see outside, but from what I could tell, it was cloudy out. That was strange to me, considering the weather was supposed to be perfect and sunny all day. A detail LeAnne and I checked meticulously, considering she was dead set on having lunch and wine outside today. I swung my legs over the side of the bed, which I was now realizing was easily half the size of my bed, and immediately regretted it. The cobblestone floor was ice cold. I pulled my legs up to my chest and wrapped myself in the blanket, thanking God that it was made of thick fleece. "Where am I, a castle??" I thought sourly. I looked around at the brick walls and high arched ceiling and realized I might be right. I had never been anywhere like this before, at least not in real life. My dreams were another story altogether though. I had a very vivid imagination, which was making things much worse, at the moment.   A knock at the door had me looking for a place to hide, like a child, instead of a twenty-two-year-old woman. I didn’t answer the knock, instead I sat there dumbfounded, hoping whoever it was would just go away. Much to my chagrin, a young girl, maybe twenty sauntered into the room, looking very pleased and dragging a cart behind her. The smell of my favorite breakfast, chocolate chip pancakes, had my stomach growling, and I realized how hungry I was.   "Good morning Cassetonia!" The young girl said in a melodious voice. "I hope you slept well! My name is Bethany. I brought you your favorite breakfast. You'll need your energy. We have a full day planned, so eat up and get dressed." She said as she pulled something out from under the cart and set it on the bed next to me. As she stood there smiling at me, I realized she was waiting for some kind of reaction or response. "Cass" I said. " Everyone calls me Cass."  This seemed to please her and she picked up the box she had set on the bed before and sat down in its place. She wheeled the cart over to me and handed me the fork, motioning for me to eat. There was something about her that made me trust her instantly. As I began eating, she began talking, which sounded much more like singing, to me.   "I'm sure you're confused, as was I when they first brought me here. Everything will be explained shortly though, I promise. And, trust me, there's nothing to be afraid of. No one here wants to harm you. I can't say much, but I will tell you that you are a very lucky girl. Everyone has been patiently awaiting your arrival for some time and we're all very excited, so you'll have to excuse us if we're a little overbearing at first. This only happens once or twice a decade. Are you finished?" She asked, as I popped the last bite in my mouth. I nodded, still too dumbfounded to speak. "Drink your juice and get dressed. I'll be back in five minutes to collect you." She smiled as she handed me the box before I could tell her I didn't have any clothes. "A graduation present. The first of many, I can assure you." She said with a small smile and a slight roll of her eyes.  I lifted the lid to find a beautiful blue floral romper with puffy half sleeves and a plunging neckline. The same one I had been saving for since I first saw it at my favorite boutique in London. "Is this from Oxygen?!" I exclaimed as I jumped up and held it against me. "It's perfect! Thank you! How did you know?"   "Oh, don't thank me, darling. I didn't plan any of this. I'm simply here to be your friend and make you more comfortable." Bethany explained.   "If not you, then who?" I asked.  "I can't say. Once you're dressed, we'll head to the ball room where things will be explained better. There's shoes in the cart as well. I'll leave you to it." She said with a smile as she exited the room and pulled the door closed behind her. I wondered if she was waiting for me outside, or if I would have a chance to attempt an escape. I decided it wasn't worth the risk. Bethany was small but she looked like she could take me down, if need be, and considering how "excited" they (whoever "they" may be) were about me, they probably hadn't left me unguarded.   Once dressed, I pulled the pair of black flats from the cart and slid them on, as I looked around for a mirror. I was dying to see how the outfit looked on me, but much to my dismay, there was not a mirror to be found. I was just running my fingers through my hair when I heard a knock and Bethany poked her head in. "Are you ready?" She asked. I nodded and followed her out of the room, feeling my first twinge of panic. Calm down. I told myself. They wouldn't be trying so hard to make you comfortable and buying you presents if they were just going to slice you into a million tiny pieces. I tried focusing on the breathing techniques LeAnne and I had learned in yoga last summer, to help me relax.  We walked for what seemed like ages, passing multiple doors that looked just like the one I had come from and I realized that if I needed to find that room again, I would be out of luck. Eventually, we arrived at a massive spiral staircase and I followed Bethany down nine-hundred-and-seventy-two steps. I counted every one, in an effort to calm myself. Once at the bottom, we rounded a corner, and standing in the middle of a grand ballroom was the most beautiful, perfectly chiseled man I had ever seen, and it looked as though he was smiling at me. Although, that would be putting it mildly. In all reality, he was grinning from ear to ear, like he was trying to keep from laughing out of sheer joy. I walked slowly toward him, suddenly in a daze, and he began walking rather quickly toward me. I stopped about ten feet away from him, and he stopped as well. We stood there staring at each other for what seemed like an eternity, until I heard someone clear their throat and I realized we weren't alone. Bethany was several paces behind me but she had been joined by a beautiful man, and as I looked around I noticed several other couples surrounding us, smiling.  I suddenly felt self-conscious as i attempted to find my voice. "Bethany said everything would be explained...?" I half whispered.   At that moment, he seemed to snap out of his daze as well, and he stated simply, "You are my Beloved."