This time when Kyle awoke, he was energized. Almost hyper-aware.
He remembered the straps holding him down. They were gone now, and he quickly threw aside the covers and sprang from the bed, as if to make sure the bed couldn't grow restraints and trap him again.
The room was warm, and plenty of morning sunlight shone through the windows, but Kyle felt a draft on himself and quickly realized he was only in his underwear. With a yelp he spun to make sure no one had seen him, and calmed down when he was sure no one else was in the room.
He found his clothes resting on a nearby chair. They had been washed and neatly folded. A new pair of underwear had been provided for him.
His cell phone was gone. He was only rarely separated from it. Clearly they had taken it. There was also a handwritten note left on top of the pile of clothes. It read:
Shower, then step out of the room and someone will take you for breakfast. All of your questions will be answered. You are SAFE.
Kyle realized just then that he was extremely hungry. How long had he been asleep? Who were these people? Where was he?
He thought back on the last thing he had remembered. He had been at home with his parents. He was showing his chemistry homework to his dad. Then someone rang the doorbell. His dad answered it. He remembered his dad answering the door…
…and the next thing he knew he had woken up here. That man…Eric? And the woman…Caroline? That was the next thing he remembered. Were his parents here?
Kyle's stomach growled. He turned to see if he could locate the shower, and he caught a glimpse of himself in a full-length mirror nearby. There he was, the same tall, somewhat lanky boy. His brown hair was a mess and his skin seemed almost white, blasted by the harsh morning sunlight as it was.
Since he was only in his underwear he took a moment to check himself over. He didn't know if it was far-fetched or not to be looking for incisions, but maybe they implanted a tracker or something in him?
Then again, he was nobody. Why would anyone want to keep track of him?
Why would they kidnap him?
Even though Kyle was hungry, something else was forming in the pit of his stomach. It was fear, yet Kyle thought he should probably be even more afraid than he was.
He walked toward the door on the other side of the bed which led to an attached bathroom. He closed the door and locked it, then froze before he turned on the shower.
Would he hear them coming if they came for him while he was in the shower? They would be on him before he could react.
Then he thought that they could have killed him or done anything to him while he was unconscious, so he hoped that they wouldn't kill him now. They said they were going to answer questions. Surely he wasn't going to be killed.
Kyle turned on the shower, stripped off the underwear and got in.
Time to get this show on the road, he thought.