I lay in the darkness. I was dozing in and out of sleep for the past hour until I finally fell asleep. A picture of Luke filled my dreams, and I had nightmares of the horrible past hour being replayed in my head over and over again.
"Leah? Are you in there?"
I recognized that voice. I was the teen from the car.
I willed myself to stay silent. He knew anyway.
He crept into my room from the hallway. He seemed to be really nervous.
"Come with me. I'm getting you out of here."
"Great!" I exclaimed.
"by the way, my name's Darek."
"Super. Now can you get me out of here?" I asked him.
He didn't answer, he just went to work untying my straps. "Man, that Luke sure can tie a knot."
"What the heck is he talking about? Does he have a brain disorder? What's the deal with the gods? That's not real."
Darek looked me in the eye. "'Fraid so."
"Super. You're crazy too!"
It took almost an hour for Derek to convince me it was true, and you don't want to know what it took. Finally I was in the doorway, untied, with Derek in the hallway.
We walked down several halls and turned into countless doors.
"So, do you like to draw?"
"Shhh," I whispered, scared someone would wake up.
"It's O.K. They all sleep on the other side of the ship."
Good. Wait... ship?
"Oh, no," I breathed.
Darek noticed my concern. "What's wrong?" He asked.
"I'm not good on boats. Not good."
"Well, that's one..." He muttered.
"One what?" I asked.
"Nothing. Um, do what do you like to do? Do you draw? Or write? Or think a lot?"
"I don't really do anything. I can't draw, I'm a terrible writer, and I have some disorder thingy..."
"ADHD?"
"Yeah, I think so."
"Wel, do you swim? Or ride horses?"
"I lived in an orphanage, Derek. Do you think we got to swim and ride horses?
I stopped. "Well, there was one thing..."
"What?"
I turned to him and looked him in the eye. "Derek, you can't tell anyone this."
"O.K.," he said.
" At the orphanage, I had a weird power. I could control people. Not all the time, I couldn't control when it happened. It just did. I could make people do things that I really wanted them to do, but only at certain times. That's why I couldn't control you or Luke. I don't know when they'll be what I call 'chargede' enough to use."
Derek was silent. We kept walking. I could tell he was trying to process all of that information.
We finally stopped in front of a large oak door with a brass knocker. "Well, here we are," Derek said.
"Let's go!" I started to open the door but Derek stops me.
"Wait!"
I paused.
'Um..." He blushed. "Leah, I haven't known you for a while, but..."
He stepped towards me. His mouth met mine. And I didn't pull away.
Oh, gods. My first kiss. All the boys in the orphanage were nasty, rotten, and smelly. He did kidnap me, but he was helping me escape. I can't say I hated him.
After around thirty seconds (it felt like hours) We pulled apart. He stared at me, and then turned away and blushed. "I'm sorry," he muttered. "I shouldn't have. I just... you're so beautiful- and smart. I was impressed how you didn't give in to Luke." He seemed to be talking more to himself than to me.
I smiled at him. "Don't be sorry," I whispered, "Let's just leave-together."
I turned and opened the door...
...and walked into Luke.
"Well, well." He said. "The lovebirds are escaping. It's so sweet. I can't believe you didn't figure it out! Ha!"
Turning to Derek, he said, "Did you figure it out?"
"Yeah," Derek mumbled, "I think she's an Amnious."
Luke turned back to me. "You didn't figure it out! Oh, gosh. Derek isn't really your friend. He doesn't really like you. He was just trying to figure out what god/goddess your parent was. And he did! You are the daughter of Amnious, a banished goddess. The goddess of control. He did his job well."
"Derek, it isn't true! Tell me it isn't true! You don't work for him...right?"
As Luke's minions chained my arms up and dragged me down the hallway, all I could see was Derek standing still, and all I could hear was Derek's last words before the doors banged shut:
"I'm sorry, Leah."