Two Thousand Years

Chapter 2-1

2Alex’s head hurt.

A lot.

She felt as though an entire troupe of Irish step dancers were performing behind her eyelids and she couldn’t close them tight enough to make the throbbing stop.

A light appeared above her, but whether it was natural or artificial—she couldn’t say. She tried to open her eyes, but discovered the light was too harsh for their precarious state and let them close again.

Her head was the heaviest it had felt, and worse than any hangover she could remember. Her body ached with more than a week’s worth of effort at the gym. As Alex attempted to push herself up into a sitting position and lift her head, a blinding pain came crashing through her skull all over her again and she fell back onto the bed she was lying on, clenching her eyes shut and praying this t*****e would go away.

She felt a hand on her shoulder, helping her steady herself back onto the bed, and a comforting lilt cut through the raging migraine behind her.

“Easy there. Traveling via Keys can be difficult for newcomers. You’ll get used to it as time goes on.”

Keys?

The memory of the confrontation within her living room flooded back to her and slowly Alex opened her eyes in the direction of the voice. As her vision adjusted, she remembered why. The same stranger from earlier stood before her. Or was it yesterday? She had lost track of time. He was standing over her, a candleholder in his hand. He looked down at her as she lay on the pillow, his blue eyes reflecting concern, pity and perhaps even amusement.

His eyes.

Then she remembered how she got into her current situation in the first place.

She wasn’t sure how long it had been since he abducted her, but before she could ask him, even at the thought of moving to sit up, the pain within her increased even at the slightest movement.

He hushed softly. “You are only going to make it worse. Just try to sleep it off, and we will talk when you wake…”

She stopped listening when the pounding behind her eyes and overall exhaustion overcame her and she let her eyes fall.