Unexplainable Thoughts

My eyes squinted open, and a few loud coughs echoed out of my throat as I awoke. A strange feeling of fatigue seemed to be enveloping my body as I started looking around. I was seated (and tied) to an old wooden chair, sitting in the middle of a somewhat dark room. A few feet from me, there was a single lightbulb hanging from the ceiling, allowing me to see the multiple boxes upon boxes of various things, piled on top of one another against the walls. In one corner of the room, there was a full size bed, covered in a rather old, and musty-looking velvet duvet.

I really don't want to know why that's in here...

I looked up, seeing what looked like insulation shoved up into the ceiling.

Okay... I'm definitely in someone's basement.

After I had examined my surroundings, my hands quickly set to work on the rope wrapped around my wrists. My fingers couldn't grasp onto the knot, but I tried twisting and wriggling my hands as much as I could to loosen it, making harsh red marks on my wrists in the process. After maybe ten minutes, I had somehow loosened the rope enough so I could pull one of my hands loose, and then the other. Swiftly, I leaned down and untied my feet from the legs of the chair. Quietly, I wandered around the basement, until I came to a corner where a staircase awaited.

My eyes narrowed in contemplation before I took the first step; the step creaked quietly and I quickly jumped back.

Okay... How can I do this?

I moved over so that my foot would rest against the wall as I took a step on the first stair once again. No sound was made, and as quietly and quickly as I could, I reached the top stair. An old looking door stood menacingly in front of me, and I placed my ear against it, struggling to hear anything at all behind it.

After I stood there for who knows how long, just listening, I grasped the doorknob and twisted, opening the door. I could feel my heart pounding incessently as I took the first step out the door.

After I had shut the door, I looked around, seeing that I was in a large kitchen. There were marble countertops, stainless steel appliances, and pretty black cabinets decorating the room. My eyes shifted left to right, noticing a doorway in either direction. My instincts told me to go right, so I hesitantly peeked into the next room, being met with an extravagant dining room. A long table was placed in the middle of the room, with plates all set up with silverware and decorative placemats in front of each chair. A chandelier hung from the ceiling, and an old fireplace roared behind the head of the table.

I quickly ran to the other side of the room, and through yet another doorway, before meeting a long hallway that ended with a large engraved door. My feet carried me as I passed multiple doors, running down the hallway like my life depended on it. My hand grasped onto the door handle, and I pulled, opening one of the doors, to reveal the darkness of night. I ran out, standing there for a moment, noticing that it looked like I was in the middle of a forest somewhere. I looked up and noticed the moon shining brightly above, lighting a small portion of the woods.

But before I decided to run anywhere, I turned around to see the enormous mansion that I had been brought to. There were multiple white pillars on the front of the house, while the siding itself was a strange color of brown. Both of the doors on the front of the mansion had a door-knocker, in the shape of a beetle.

James...

I shook my head, then decided that I needed to get as far away from here as soon as possible before they figured out I had escaped. I looked around before deciding on a random direction, and ran, blindly, into the forest. For the first few minutes, I focused on one point in my vision and ran as fast as I could towards it. Then, as my energy decreased, I slowed down and walked. A few times, I could swear that I heard leaves crunching from different places around me, but I would look in that direction and see nothing.

After a while of walking, I could feel frustration set in. My thoughts kept going to Laurence and why he didn't lock up his house better.
Why he couldn't have just stayed home with me? If he had stayed, then this wouldn't have happened. It's all his fault. Why didn't he come home early to check on me? Why didn't he think about this happening? He should have done something to keep me safe.

My frustration then turned into sadness and self-pity. Thinking of how I could have been so foolish to not look at the clock, and realize that Laurie wouldn't have been home at that time.
I should have realized that he wasn't even Laurie. I should have realized that he was James because of how he was acting. He wasn't even acting like Laurie! How did I not notice it?! I'm so stupid. It's my fault that I'm out here. Why did I ever even talk to James fucking Reglara?

At that point, I started crying. My vision was blurry as I continued walking, wiping my tears as they continued to flow down my cheeks.

"Stupid, stupid, stupid..." I muttered to myself over and over again, trudging through the woods, kicking at leaves.

Laurie... Where are you? I struggled to get my thoughts clear enough to try and contact Laurence.

I'm lost... and I don't know what to do. All I know is that I got out of the Reglara mansion and I'm in the woods. I need help.

The tears seemed to be literally pouring out of my eyes at this point, but my feet continued to push forward.

After maybe ten minutes, I decided to rest. I sat down and leaned against a tree, closing my eyes to rest. I soon realized that I was too paranoid to sleep, so I just sat there for a while. Strangely enough, I could feel a small headache coming on, and I groaned quietly. It became intense after a while, and a soft voice echoed within my head.

I know that you're out there, Ver. I'm will find you, and when I do, you're going to be mine. Your idiot of an English teacher won't save you. You're mine, and he can't have you. Mark my words, Ver, if you won't willing come to me, I'll kill him. I'll kill him with my bare hands. I swear it. You'll see one day, Ver. You'll see.

The intensity and anger within his voice increased with each sentence, and it took everything in me not to scream with the excruciating pain he was causing me. After he was done speaking, I couldn't help but shake in fear. I felt like I was going to vomit, but I focused on breathing, and I felt slightly better.

A minute or two later, while I was intensely struggling to contact Laurie, I could clearly hear the crunching of leaves as someone walked through the forest. My ears strained to hear as they came closer and closer. I visually stiffened as an ominous figure could be seen walking towards me. In my head all I could think was "please be Laurie, please be Laurie, please be Laurie."

I closed my eyes as the person stopped in front of me and leaned down. Their hand brushed some of my hair away from my face, and I opened my eyes to Laurie's beautiful face.

"Laurie!" I shrieked as fresh tears fell down my cheeks as I threw my arms around him.

He chuckled a little bit and hugged me back, rubbing my back soothingly.
"Everything's okay, Ver. I'm here now. Don't you remember what I said?" He spoke softly to me.

I nodded, but he said it anyways, "You'll always be safe with me. I love you, Ver. I couldn't live if anything would happen to you. You're my mate, and you always will be." As he spoke, I could hear his voice waver just the slightest bit, and as I looked up at him, his eyes were glazed over with unshed tears.

"I love you too, Laurie. I really do. I was afraid that I was going to end up wandering around in these woods forever, or that James was going to find me again." I sputtered out to him, struggling to breathe, speak, and stop crying all at the same time.

"You don't need to say anything right now. We can talk about it later. You've gone through enough for one night. Let's just get you home, and let you rest for bit." He smiled gently at me, and as I looked into his eyes, I knew that I would never confuse the real Laurence with James' copy ever again.